Sermon Aug 19, 2012

Ephesians 5:15-20 (p 952) 15Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise,16making the most of the time, because the days are evil.17So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.18Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit,19as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts,20giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the word of the Lord….thanks be to God Mark 8:22-38 (p 820) 22And they went to Bethsaida. And they brought to Jesus a blind man and entreated Jesus to touch him. And he took hold of the hand of the blind man and took him out of the village, and, having spat on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And having regained his sight, the man said “I see the people, for I see (something) like trees, (only they are) walking about. Then Jesus laid his hands upon his eyes again, and the man saw clearly and was cured and looked at everything with a clear view. And Jesus sent him home, saying “Do not go into the village”. 27And Jesus and the disciples went out to the villages of Caesarea Phillippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, saying to them “Who do people say that I am?” They then said to him, “John the Baptist, and others Elijah, and others (say) that you are one of the prophets.” And Jesus asked them “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him “You are the messiah”. And he rebuked them so that they would speak to no one about him. 31Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer much, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise.32And he was speaking the word openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.33But Jesus turned around, saw his disciples, and rebuked Peter and said, “Get out of my sight, Satan, because you do not set your mind on the affairs of God, but on human affairs.” (translation Adela Yarbro Collins, Mark, Hermaneia, 2007, Fortress Press) This is the Word of the Lord…thanks be to God Sermon This is a very strange story. Jesus heals a man—but apparently it doesn’t take the first time, it isn’t a complete healing. Maybe Jesus is having an off day—because after the first time Jesus lays hands on this man, the man reports he now can see, but in a strange or partial way. The man knows what he is seeing are people, but they look like trees, walking around. Some people say that this is proof that Jesus actually, physically healed people because there is a medical condition, called agnosia, in which those who have regained sight report just this kind of thing—that is, their eyes see the images, but their brain cannot yet make sense of what they are seeing, cannot yet integrate the input from their eyes. In the Gospel story, Jesus takes the man a second time, lays hands on him, and the man is fully restored, can now both fully see and make sense of what he is seeing. With Peter…not so much. He sees Jesus, alright, and he thinks he knows what he is seeing. But he doesn’t really understand what he is seeing. We might say he has spiritual agnosia. Peter and the disciples have been traveling with Jesus, learning from him, hearing his stories, seeing his miracles. They are wrapped up in this journey of healing and exorcism, forgiveness and joy. Jesus has just fed another 4,000 people. The people want to make him king. And Jesus asks the disciples who the people are saying he is. Then he turns to them, and asks: “Who do you say I am?” Peter, ever impetuous, seeing the truth without even realizing it, says “You are the Messiah” Jesus’ depiction of what the Messiah is like, and of what the life of a follower of Christ is like, is bounded on both sides by stories of blind men. This first man has no name, and is told not to go into the village. We know nothing about him after this story. The second story is different. There, the man has a name- Bartimaeus. He cries out for Jesus to help him, and instead of disappearing from the story, becomes a follower of Jesus, even to the end. In between, we have Jesus telling the disciples the not so happy news of what they have signed up for. Peter does not want to hear this—this is the Gospel equivalent of Peter sticking his fingers in his ears and singing “la la la”—this is not what a Messiah is supposed to be about, this is NOT what he signed up for, not the kind of Messiah he is expecting. Peter wants a messiah, a savior, with a cape like a super hero, somebody with a shine to him- one who can keep the bread coming, one who will ride into Jerusalem on popularity and white horses, one who will kick the Romans out and restore the throne to the Jews, one who will, of course, include his friends in the new wealth and freedom. But surely, Peter knew there was opposition to Jesus? He had been right there, all along, hearing both the crowds who wanted to make Jesus king, and the plotting and scheming of those who made up the power structure. It should have been no surprise that there would be danger ahead. Jesus talks quite openly about this: “It is necessary for the Son of Man to suffer….” Jesus, apparently, struggles with this, too. He sees this as such a temptation- to not do what is necessary, to not be the kind of Messiah that God has called the messiah—THIS messiah—to be. So much so that Jesus shoves Peter behind him, not daring to look at him, not wanting to see the fear and anguish and hurt in Peter’s eyes. Peter has called Jesus Messiah, Christ- the anointed one, the one they have been waiting for, the one the prophets foretold. Peter sees something, but what he is seeing won’t become clear until later—after the suffering, and the cross, and the resurrection. What Jesus says about Peter’s protest aptly describes the situation: “You are setting your mind not on divine things, but on human things”. Peter’s objection to a crucified Messiah comes out of common sense, out of a clear but wrong-headed way of viewing who the messiah is, and how God can act to bring life out of death. Peter is seeing in a human perspective, and Jesus is offering God’s point of view. The notion that there is a way to Easter other than through the pain and suffering of Good Friday continues to be offered as good common sense; it is a view many of us hold. But that is not the view God takes. Jesus sees what is ahead, and tells the disciples, quite openly, about the coming suffering, and rejection, and death. But he also has one little word in there, just a small portion, after all the warnings about suffering and death: did you hear it? “and after three days, rise.” A guarantee of newness, of new possibilities, of life after death. Jesus openly tells them about death, but also openly tells them about life and resurrection as well. What does Peter see? Only the death part—and that doesn’t jive at all with his view of a Messiah. And most often, it doesn’t jive with our view of what our lives should be like. We don’t want to see that—we don’t want to see suffering, and death, and rejection. But we do. We are Christians, and our story is about death—and resurrection. Our story is about the end of things—and new beginnings, through the grace of God. Our story is about the love of God, which always, always, brings new life, even when we don’t want to hear it, even when we can’t see it. Maybe this is what the story of the blind man—given his sight twice- is all about. That we need to see, and then see again, more clearly, just what it means to be a Christian, what the life of discipleship is like, what Christ is really like. Maybe we can’t take it in all at once. There are a lot of songs about being blind and receiving sight: Amazing Grace. Open My Eyes that I may See, Johnny Nash’s “I can see clearly now the rain has gone.” Johnny Cash, the man in black, has one based on this text. In it, the blind man sings: “I see men as trees walking…I’m beginning to see”- and then later, after receiving the second touch from Jesus, he sings: “I can see all men clearly…..I’ve begun to see.” Pastor Jim and I have worked with the Sessions, and with the congregations, in visioning: that is, to look around and see where God is calling us to be and do in this world. The PC(USA), at General Assembly this year, launched an initiative called 1,001 Worshipping Communities. And people in those communities, those churches, those Presbyteries have been looking around—looking keenly, just like the man who was blind, looking around to see what was needed in their communities, and how they could meet that need. For many people, in many places, what is needed is just that—a community. A community where people could eat, and meet, and talk. A community where people are gathered by the Spirit to meet Jesus Christ in Word and sacrament, a community where people are sent by the Spirit to join in God’s transformation of the world. (http://www.onethousandone.org/About/new-worshiping-community-definition.aspx) And in each instance, it is different, because the people looked around, really looked, to see where God was calling them in that particular place. Carol Howard Merritt, a Presbyterian pastor and a leader in the “emergent church” movement, says: “This is a difficult time in ministry. There are generational, technological, and cultural shifts occurring right now—and the church is not faring well in most of them. Many people look at decades past and imagine that church leaders must have been much more awesome forty-five years ago. Yet, I tend to see things a bit differently. God has called us in this particular season of the church because we are innovators and imaginative risk-takers. The Spirit is moving among us, giving us the prophetic imagination that we need to lead. We are enough. We have enough. And I’m excited to see what happens in the decades to come.” (http://www.christiancentury.org/blogs/archive/2012-08/leading-bold-imagination) Did you hear Carol’s use of the word “see”? Here’s the thing: when you ask the leaders of these new communities, they will tell you that while they have a vision, they do not see clearly—that God’s Spirit is leading them, but they do not have a picture perfect, 20-20 vision of the future mapped out ahead of them. And yet, they rely on God to guide them. Into the neighborhood, and into the future. That is the life of faith. May we all begin to see.

When Jesus Got Cranky Sermon Aug 12, 2012

Ephesians 4:25-5:2 p 951 25So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another.26Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,27and do not make room for the devil.28Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy.29Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.30And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption.31Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice,32and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. 5Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,2and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. This is the word of the Lord….Thanks be to God Mark 7:24-37 p 819 24From there Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice,25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet.26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.27He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”28But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”29Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.”30So she departed to her house, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone. 31Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.32They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him.33He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue.34Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”35And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.36Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.37They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.” This is the word of the Lord….Thanks be to God We are back in the Gospel of Mark, after spending some time in the Gospel of John. And Jesus has just been preaching and teaching about impurity and defilement, and talking about how God has changed the rules, that the old rules no longer apply. That what defiles us is not what comes into us, what we eat or touch, but what comes out of us, from within us. And now, he has a chance to live out his words. Or eat his words. It’s hard to tell. Perhaps it’s happened to you--you know, the moment when you’ve been teaching your kids, or saying to yourself, or talking in a church meeting or at work about generosity, or opening wide the doors, or living in love and peace with your neighbor…and then God gives you the chance to actually live out what you’ve been preaching. Don’t you just hate when that happens? Well, it happened to Jesus. He goes away, for a break—to, of all places, the seacoast. A week at the beach- a private retreat—sun, sand, silence… All he wanted was some peace and quiet, to be with God. And then in comes this woman, this foreigner. Granted, he was up in Tyre, in Gentile territory. Still, she ought to have known better. You know how they are- pushy- marches right into a place she has no business being—she should NOT be talking to a Jew, she should NOT be talking to a man, she has no business interrupting his week off- and yet, there she is. The first thing she does is kneel at his feet. How she found out he was there, we don’t know, but she gets right to the heart of the matter. She has a daughter who is suffering, and she will do anything to get help for her. Immediately, we are told, she goes in and kneels at his feet, begging for her daughter to be cured. And Jesus. My sweet Lord. Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, says to her “no.” We don’t know if he is tired, if he just wants her out of there so he can have some peace and quiet, or if she got on his last nerve. But he is cranky. And then, after telling her no, he insults her. She turns to him in faith: she has confidence that he is able to cure her child. And he says that healings are for the children of God, of which her daughter apparently is not one, and uses an ethnic slur against her and her child. And what does she do? Does she back down? Down she slither away? Does she go home weeping? No. She answers back—and she uses Jesus’ term in her argument. Call me a dog, she might say. I don’t care. I know you have the power to heal my daughter. She tells Jesus: “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” She doesn’t dispute his calling them dogs. Rather, she insists that they do not need to wait for the children (the Jews) to finish their food first before they may have some crumbs. Apparently she believes that crumb sized blessings will suffice for her and her daughter. (Matthew Skinner, Word and World, http://wordandworld.luthersem.edu/issues.aspx?article_id=1143, 08/08/2012.) She tells Jesus that, in fact, the grace of God is not a zero sum game, that grace for some people does not take away God’s grace from others. It is her argument that changes the story and moves Jesus to act on behalf of her daughter. Her faith is great. She has come to a man she should not, she has risked condemnation—and promptly got insulted for it, and she has entered into theological argument with Jesus. It is interesting to note that Jesus does not praise her faith. That is part of many healing stories, the “woman, your faith has made you well” part. Not here. Here Jesus praises her logos—her word, her reasoning, her argument. Jesus himself, in the Gospel of John, is called The Logos of God—the word of God. And she is handing the word right back at him. In this woman’s arguing is her faith: she believes so strongly in the grace of God she is convinced that only a table scrap of the gospel is necessary to cure her daughter. She understands- perhaps even more than Jesus, at this moment-the scope of the reign of God. And she sees no good reason why it should not begin, right there, right now. Her faith is seen in her beseeching, contending, and in her going back home. For that is what she does—she goes home. She leaves Jesus, walks out of that house, after he has proclaimed that the demon has left her daughter. She travels home alone—there is no mention of husband, of father, family or friends. She is fueled by Jesus’ promise, but she still has not yet seen her daughter, seen the final certainty of her faith made real. She goes home, and in doing so takes Jesus at his word. His performance of the exorcism in this manner—long distance--does not attempt to re-humiliate this woman or drive her back into a life without him. He gives her what she wants, but it will still take an additional act of faith for her to realize this for sure. What was that journey like? Did she run all the way home, eager to see her daughter, or did she walk on feet frozen with fear? It is in her going home, in her willingness to take Jesus at his word, to know that it is time to leave off contending and to start traveling home, that she exhibits great faith. (Matt Skinner) She has to do what Jesus did- live into her words, live into her faith. We talk about faith as living “as if”. “As if” miracles were real, “as if” the kingdom of God was here, right now, “as if” God were acting in the world, “as if” people were all fed and safe and welcomed at the Table—as if we all were already forgiven and receiving grace. Her faith is so great, that it influences Jesus- because after meeting her, after being convicted by her logos, her words, he goes –not back home—but to Sidon, and to the Decapolis- all areas of gentiles…and continues healing Gentiles, extending the grace of God, even the crumbs, to others. Because with the grace of God, a crumb is enough. May we all live into that faith, may we all live out of that faith.

May 6, 2012 - Fifth Sunday of Easter

1 John 4:7-12 7Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. Acts 8:26-40 26Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) 27So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” 38He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. Divine Coincidences “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” Seems like a simple question, a rhetorical question with an obvious answer. Philip has just interpreted scripture to an Ethiopian and shared with him the story of Jesus Christ. And the Ethiopian has responded to this good news of God’s love and grace. He wants to be a part of the new growing community of disciples. “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” Well, frankly, just about everything. For one, he’s a foreigner. For another, he’s probably not a Jew, but a God-fearer. The first disciples were Jews. If you wanted to become a follower of Christ and you weren’t a Jew, you first had to be circumcised. God-fearers stopped short of circumcision. The reason we suspect the Ethiopian was not a Jew is another issue: he’s a eunuch. According to Jewish law, eunuchs were barred from worshipping in the temple. The Ethiopian in this morning’s story is a remarkable and unusual character. He is devout, having traveled a great distance to worship at the temple in Jerusalem (though he could only listen from outside the doors to the sanctuary). He is educated, being able to read Greek. He is wealthy, possessing his own scroll of the prophet Isaiah (few could afford one). He is important, in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia and riding in a chariot. Yet, in spite of his faith, his education, his wealth, and his status, he is also humble enough to know he needs someone to help him understand what he is reading. The disciple in this morning’s story is another remarkable and unusual character. Philip, is not one of the original twelve, but is a Greek-speaking Jewish Christian, a convert himself. He is a deacon, appointed to tend to the needy, especially the widows. He has a gift for evangelism, having recently baptized large numbers of Samaritans after proclaiming to them the good news of Jesus Christ. He is also one who is open and attentive to where God is leading him next. So when a voice or intuition or gut feeling seems to be telling him to go, Philip goes. In this morning’s story there is one other character that makes everything happen – God’s Spirit. It’s the Spirit acting through a messenger that sends Philip south on a wilderness road to where he just happens to encounter the Ethiopian’s entourage. It’s the Spirit’s voice that prompts Philip to draw near (actually run) to the chariot. By coincidence, the Ethiopian just happens to be reading Isaiah’s description of the suffering servant providing an opportunity for Philip to share the story of Jesus Christ – two stories of God’s redemption, restoration, and hope. By coincidence, the travel party comes upon water. It would seem coincidence has brought these two people together to this place in their journey. “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” Well, frankly, just about everything…except, when God’s Spirit is involved the answer is “Absolutely nothing.” God is the one who has given the faithful the law as a way of life. But God is also the one that inspires the faithful to challenge the limits of the law when right relationships with God and neighbor are at stake. The higher law is the law of love. And the Spirit of God, who is love, blows down another wall of prohibition to restore one who was excluded, and to reveal to another the wideness in God’s mercy. Maybe all of this was just coincidence, like my discovering the assigned reading for today was about a baptism on a morning when we will baptize the infant daughter of Julie and Stan Malecki. But some have suggested coincidences and chance encounters are just God acting anonymously. So how many of our chance encounters with other people are really divine appointments? How can we learn to tell the difference? And what will we do when presented with these opportunities? I pray we will listen to the promptings of the Spirit, who tells us to “get up and go”, looking always for where God is acting in this world, breaking down barriers, calling all to be disciples of the Risen Lord.

Second Sunday of Easter April 15, 2012

1 John 1:1-2:2 p. 989 1We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—2this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us—3we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.4We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. 5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.6If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true;7but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.9If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 2My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;2and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. This is the word of the Lord…….Thanks be to God John 20:19-31 p. 883 19When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”24But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.25So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” 26A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”27Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”29Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”30Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.31But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. This is the Word of the Lord……..Thanks be to God If we look at the characters in the Easter story, not much has changed- It is Easter evening. And despite hearing the good news, despite seeing an empty tomb, despite the stories of the women, and Peter, and the beloved disciple, there is no change. The disciples are huddled in a room. With a locked door. In fear. Now, we often talk about Doubting Thomas. In fact, that’s how he is known. And in church traditions, this Sunday is known as Doubting Thomas Sunday. But look at the other disciples: despite seeing and hearing testimony that Jesus is alive, is resurrected, despite having heard Jesus’ himself tell them that this would happen, they doubt. And Jesus comes into the room, the locked room, where they are huddled together, full of fear. And they don’t understand, they doubt. Jesus even speaks to them, saying “peace be with you.” And they don’t say “welcome back” or “nice to see you” or even “how come it took you so long?” (David Lose, http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=577) No- It is not until Jesus shows them his scars, his hands and his side that the disciples “rejoice when the saw the Lord” And Thomas, who has been out- I always think he is the bravest of them all, out getting food so the whole group can at least eat, comes back from Wal-Mart, and hears their testimony. And he doesn’t believe them. Perhaps he is from Missouri, the “show-me” state. Thomas wants real, tangible proof, not somebody else’s report. He wants to experience it for himself. He is not any more faithless than the rest of them: he only wants to experience what they have experienced. And what do the disciples, the earliest church community, do? Do they shove Thomas out the door? Do they ignore him in painful and awkward silence? Do they barrage him with comments and treatises about why he must believe? No. None of those things. Thomas is still with them, a week later, fully part of them, fully part of the church. Last week, on Easter, we said that our call, like the women’s was to look, and go, and tell. And we said that your task, this week, was to look for signs of life, signs of resurrection, signs of the impossible made possible by the action and grace of God. But what if…..what if you didn’t see any? What if there was nothing there? What if, even when you looked very hard, very diligently, and all you saw was death, or despair, or depression? If that was your experience, then, like most people, you probably blamed yourself. “I’m not faithful enough—I’m not holy enough. I’m not—something enough—or I would have seen something, I would have had a sign from God, I would have seen some kind of resurrection, however small.” But if that is what happened to you, if that was your experience, I hope you will be honest with yourself- and with us, the church, and say so. Thomas certainly says so. Thomas doesn’t blame himself, doesn’t see a lack or a problem with himself- for not seeing, for not believing, for asking for proof. In the passage from 1st John, which we read earlier, we hear a testimonial. “This we have heard, this we have touched, this we have seen with our own eyes- the Word, Jesus! Which is life!” It is a wonderful testimony and witness- but what strikes me most is that it is in the plural—the “we”. Not “I have seen the Lord”, but “we- we have heard, we have known, revealed to us”. Nearly every Sunday, we say one of the creeds- and that word comes to us from the Latin, credo, which means “I believe”…..but I think it would be better if we said it as, the plural, as “we”- because belief is not housed only in individuals. It resides in the community. Oh, don’t get me wrong. We, each, have beliefs. We, each, have faith. In a few weeks, the confirmation class will share their faith statements, their own, personal “I believes” with the elders. And each of the new elders has to share their own, personal statement of faith, when they are elected by the congregation to be an elder, with the rest of the Session. And it is a very moving experience—just ask the elders. We pretty much all get teary—at people’s honesty, at people’s witness, at the individual’s account of how God has shaped and formed them, how God has acted in their lives. But there is also a way in which our creeds, our “what we believes” belong to the whole group, the whole family of faith—and they are what hold us up when we can’t believe. A good friend of mine confessed to me that, after the death of her infant daughter, and her subsequent divorce, she could not say the Lord’s Prayer. She went to church every week, she sang in the choir, but she could not say that prayer- it was as if her throat clamped shut. But she took great comfort in the fact that even if SHE could not say it, she could rest in the prayers of the church, those other voices, praying, every week. A story is told about a young man, a student, in an Orthodox seminary. And he had come to the part of his studies where he was working on the creeds. And he went to his advisor, in much agony. “Father,” he said, “I can’t say these things. I don’t believe all these things. I’m not sure I believe any of these things.” “Young Man,” the priest thundered, “These creeds are not your creeds—they belong to the church. If you can’t say them, we will say them for you, until you can join your voice with ours.” There is room for doubt in the church. There is room for doubt in the life of faith. There is room for you, when the burdens get too heavy, when you get too weary, when you can’t find the words or voice to say much of anything. We will carry you—and we will love you, and we will hold you. Until you come to believe- or continue believing, or take up believing, again. Look at what Jesus does. He does not chastise Thomas, Jesus does not exclude him, he goes to him, and answers his request. “See my hands,” Jesus says, “reach out and touch…” and Thomas believes. And then, in an aside worthy of the tv show the Office, Jesus turns from speaking to Thomas and speaks to us: “blessed are those who have not seen and have come to believe.” I don’t think that Jesus is rebuking Thomas. Instead, I think Jesus is blessing all those -- from John's community up to our own -- who have managed to believe without the benefit of direct experience; all those, that is, who have managed to come to a faith that is not the opposite of doubt but which lives with doubts and yet still finds a way to believe. (David Lose, http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=577. ) As people of the resurrection, we don’t have to have it all together. We have faith along side of, mixed up with, our doubts. The church, the family of faith will hold you up. Christ, The Risen One is strong enough to bless our faith, bear our doubts, and use even people like us to make a difference in this world God loves so much. And, who knows, maybe a week or three, maybe a year, your questions will be answered or that doubt assuaged. Or maybe not. The point is that being faithful resurrection people isn't having no doubts, but living with them. (David Lose, http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=577) And John, the Gospel writer, says this: “Jesus did many other things, but these things are written so that you may come to believe…” or continue believing….the Greek is unclear. But that’s ok. Jesus comes, to wherever we are, in our journey, comes to us in doubt and in faith, and says “Peace be with you.” Amen.

Easter Sunday 2012

Isaiah 25:6-9 p 568 6On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.7And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever.8Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. 9It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation. This is the word of the Lord….Thanks be to God Mark 16:1-8 p 829 16 And When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome go and buy spices, in order that they might go and anoint Jesus.2And very early on the first day of the week, they go to the tomb, as the sun was rising. 3 And they had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”4And they look up and see that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.5 And as they were going into the tomb, they see a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they are astounded.6But he says to them, “Do not be afraid; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised up; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, being seized by terror and astonishment; and they said nothing to no-one, for they were struck with fear. This is the word of the Lord….thanks be to God An empty tomb changes everything. It was the dawn of a new day. The women, headed to the tomb, don’t seem to understand that—yet. They have gotten up very early, to care for, in the only way left to them now, their friend Jesus, who is dead. They have gotten the spices, and they are, rightly, concerned with the logistics—the tomb is sealed by a stone—a very, large and heavy stone. But when they get to the grave, the stone has already been rolled away. That should have been their first clue. An empty tomb changes everything. And they find inside the tomb not their friend, their beloved, but—a stranger, dressed in white. And he says: “Do not be afraid” Which, in the Bible, is always a cue to be afraid—because it means that the things we know, the things we understand to be the bedrock of reality, the things we are so sure of—are about to get changed. The whole world is about to be changed. We are about to be changed. And the young man says something else: “you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who has been crucified.” As if, in their grief, they didn’t understand who they were looking for, or what had happened to him. As if, in those 3 days, they might have, somehow, forgotten what happened to their leader. As if they couldn’t know the terrible death he had suffered, the terrible news of his death, the terrible truth that there was no more hope. The women were there, at the foot of the cross! They saw what had happened! They knew just how bad things were. And in their grief, they came anyway. “He is not here. Look- there is the place where they laid him. He has been raised.” An empty tomb changes everything. And the women are stunned, struck silent. Because what do you say, when everything you have known, is turned up side down? What can you possibly say when the impossible has become possible? What words can you summon to talk when even the dead won’t stay dead—how could you possibly go back to the disciples and try to explain that. Listen to what the angel says: for that is what he is, a messenger from God, an angel: Look. Go. Tell. The women are told to tell- and yet, as we read at the end of the chapter, the end of Mark’s gospel, that they told no one nothing—a double negative, in case we didn’t get it the first time—they told no one nothing—because they were afraid. So, it was a total fail. If Jesus was the king who was to come into the city on Palm Sunday, the conquering hero, then that was a failure, wasn’t it. If Peter, that fiery disciple, denied his lord, well, that was a disgrace and a failure. And if the disciples, afraid of what would happen, afraid of the authorities, afraid for their own skin, ran away, well, that was a pretty big failure. And if Jesus, the king, the savior, the Messiah, the One we have waited for, was arrested on Thursday and crucified on Friday, then that was the biggest failure of all. So it should be no surprise that the women fail at their task—to go and tell. But apparently, someone told. This news is so big, so good, so on-going, that it reaches out to us today. Did you hear the way we read the Gospel this morning? The Greek in this story uses almost entirely what is called “the historical present”—that is, things are happening now, written as if we are right there—because we are both there and here, and God is here, and the story is still on-going. The Good News is still good- that God is with us, that God is wiping away our tears, that God continues to be with us even in our failures, that God removes our disgrace, that even in our darkest moments, God is still saving us and loving us. So our call, this Easter morning, is the same as the women’s that first Easter morning. To Look. And Go. And tell. We are to look: to see where there is new life, impossible life, made possible only through the action and grace of God: People fed—where there was no food. A new church—born out of the death of the old one. A life restored, after a jail sentence; life healed, after addiction. New life—when the old life was gone, but we still clung to it because we were terrified, even when the messengers of God said “Do not fear”. Resurrection, an impossible thing, made possible by God who is still acting and moving today. We are not to stand around empty tombs, but we are to look, and see the new life that God brings. There was a story recently in the Presbyterian News Service, about St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There were a small church—and they were dying. Fewer and fewer came. A neighborhood school for children with disabilities asked if they would be willing to sell their property. We wanted to be a missional church, said their pastor, the Rev Anne LaMar. “We looked at what scripture has to say about what kind of building God wanted us to have, what kind of building did our members need to help them grow in faith, and what good news did our neighbors need to hear,” Rev LaMar said. What they soon realized was that the aging building no longer met their needs and that the congregation’s participation in mission was more important than its location. “Then we realized that the Little Lighthouse (the school) was our neighbor — good news to them would be for us to tell them, ‘Yes, we will sell you our property,’” LaMar said. So they did. They moved, and are now worshipping in a converted garage. Which sounds like failure. Now it’s interesting, that the angel on that Easter morning tells the women first to go and tell the disciples and Peter, that Jesus will meet them, is going ahead of them, into Galilee. That’s home territory for them. They are to go back home. Here’s an amazing thing: despite what Thomas Wolfe wrote, you can go home again. That with God, reconciliation and peace may take place within families. But also, in light of the amazing, life-changing resurrection, we are called to go to our ordinary, everyday lives, among the people we already know. Because God is there. In the Galilee of our everyday lives, we shall see and recognize the Risen Lord. That church in Tulsa, St. Andrew’s, was in a kind of Galilee- a regular neighborhood, still in Tulsa, and they met, every Sunday, in that converted garage. Ordinary, everyday worship. Rev LaMar still preached from a lectern. And the people still sat in chairs, set out in neat rows. But one day, one of the deacons looked out the back door, and said “you know, that backyard would make a wonderful garden.” Now, they just happened to be situated across the street from an apartment complex that housed many families with at-risk youth. So in the ordinariness of their everyday lives—in a backyard garden, they invited the youth to come and join them. The youth work in the garden, and are allowed all the free produce they can carry. Fresh produce that would be too expensive for many of those families. They are spreading the good news—one zucchini at a time. What started as failure was turned by God into new life. This is the God that changes our disgrace, our failures, into new life and hope. That Easter morning, the angel has one last instruction for the women: they- and we—are to tell- or, really “begin telling. Start telling.” Because the telling is not ever finished, not ever done. Just as Mark’s gospel opens with “the beginning of the Good News”- there really is no end to the good news- we are to begin telling, and keep telling. With our words. With our actions. With our lives. Easter is a holiday when many families get together. At Thanksgiving, many families have a tradition in which each person at the table tells something for which they are thankful. Make this Easter the time you and your family begin to talk about new life, impossible life, the good news- where you see it in your everyday day lives. An empty tomb changes everything. Amen.

Palm Sunday

Philippians 2:5-11 p954
5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This is the Word of the Lord…….Thanks be to God

Mark 11:1-11 p 823
11When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples2and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it.3If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’”4They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it,5some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”6They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it.7Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it.8Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields.9Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,
“Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
10Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
11Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
This is the Word of the Lord…….Thanks be to God


Imagine a parade. A parade with someone really important—the Pope, perhaps—his appearance in Mexico, in the Popemobile, was just recently on tv. The Governor, appearing with all his “people”. Or the President—with Air Force One and a full rank of security enhanced limousines and the secret service. Imagine all the reporters, all the tv crews, all the pomp and circumstance.
Imagine-the One who will save the country, the One who will get us out of this recession, the One who will get us out from under the yoke of the oppressors, the one who will bring gas prices down to a reasonable level- is coming!! Is entering OUR town, our city—what would we do?
Why, we would join the parade of course—stand at the side and wave, bring our lawn chairs out at dawn, stand in line for hours, do whatever we needed to do to get there, to see him, to be part of it—whatever it turns out to be.
Although, in the case of Jesus, it turns out to be a lot less spectacular than we had hoped.
Because Jesus appears not on a white charger, not in the first century equivalent of a limousine, but…..on a colt. A working man’s car. A poor person’s vehicle-
And comes in, not through the front gates, not through the main thoroughfare, not down Fifth Avenue, but, apparently, through a back gate.
He does not look like a king. At least, not the kind of king we think of. Not the kind of king we are prepared to follow and worship.
The people that morning join in—the spread their cloaks down on the road, so that even the colt won’t have to dirty its feet, as a sign of respect. They take branches from trees in the fields nearby, and wave them, and put them down on the road as well. They cheer- Blessed is HE! Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is he who comes to restore the kingdom of our ancestor, the great King David! Blessed is he- and blessed are we- because we have backed a winner.

There was a parade here, right here in Hector the other day. I imagine there are similar ones, in Lodi, and Ovid, and Interlaken. What? You didn’t see it on the news? You weren’t part of it?-They were there, lined up in the chilly spring morning, more than 75 people—children, some of whom were crying, old people, young people, working people, unemployed people- quite a parade- lined up in front of the church. There were no tv crews. Nobody was waving flags, or palm branches, for that matter. Nobody was yelling “Blessed is He!” but there were quite a few “thank yous” and several “God bless you’s” and one or two “You are a God-send”.
The parade was people lining up for the Mobile Food Pantry truck. They were mostly a quiet crowd, mostly a well-behaved crowd. A parade of people- who spent more time waiting than it took to get the food, more time lining up than it took to be in the parade.
And Jesus was there, with them. With us. In the embarrassment, in the joy, in the tears, in the cold spring morning.
Because that is the kind of King Jesus is.
I know most of us grew up on “king” language for Jesus. It is Scriptural, after all. The people on that morning in Jerusalem even talk about King David- when Jesus comes in, they shout “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!” But I wonder about the “king” language. We are Americans! We don’t have kings! We don’t want a king- didn’t we fight a war to get out from under the yoke of a tyrant? Wasn’t our country founded on that? Isn’t a king oppressive?
But this is the kind of King, the kind of Lord, Jesus is—one who humbles himself, to come and be one of us. One who is glorious, and gives up his glory to come and live with us. One who embraces downward mobility. One who became poor that we may be rich, loving the world, and leaving his throne, in the words of a song.
Now, as Americans, we grew up with another kind of story- not of kings, maybe, but of the rags to riches, Horatio Alger, work hard and you’ll make it, be extremely lucky and buy the winning Mega-millions lottery ticket story—
But that is not the story of Christ. Christ came to be with us—Emmanuel, God with us—and share our lives—even when—especially when—our own lives do not make an uplifting story or a glittering parade. Christ is one who lines up on a Tuesday morning to join us in feeding and being fed. Christ is the One who is here when people gather for a free lunch on a chilly Friday. Christ is the One who invites us to come and feast at this Table.
At his name every knee should bend, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Christ empties himself, pours himself out—for us and for the world—even to the point of dying on the cross. Some king. Some savior.
Hosanna. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom. For come He surely will.

Fifth Sunday in Lent

Jeremiah 31:31-34
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31The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

John 12:20-36a
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20Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

27“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 34The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”

Seeing Jesus

For the last few weeks a group has been reading and discussing the book, “Amish Grace.” The authors consider the nature of Amish forgiveness in light of the tragedy of October 2, 2006. On a Monday morning down in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, a non-Amish man, who lived in the area and had regular business dealings with the Amish, walked into a one-room schoolhouse carrying several guns. He sent all of the boys out of the building along with the adults. After nailing shut the doors and lining up the ten girls along one wall, he shot all of them. Five died. The gunman then took his own life as police were breaking into the schoolhouse.

What surprised the world was hearing that the Amish had gone to visit the family of the gunman that evening to tell them they forgave the shooter and to offer grace to his family. The Amish realized that the killer’s widow and children were victims, too. A few days later about forty Amish attended the funeral of the gunman. The Amish continued to keep contact with the gunman’s family, helping his widow with their presence, with food and with money. While there were skeptics and critics, most found the response of the Amish to be amazing and profoundly moving.

Reading this book seems especially relevant in light of recent events. I’m thinking about Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the American soldier charged with killing 17 Afghan citizens including women and children. I’m thinking about George Zimmerman, the Sanford, Florida man who killed teenager, Trayvon Martin. And I’m thinking of Steven Eldridge, the Penn Yan man who killed 6 Amish in a horrible car accident while under the influence of drugs.

In the case of Steven Eldridge, the Amish have been in communication with him while he has been in jail and they've offered him compassion and solace. But the word heard most frequently in these cases and others is “justice.” And when people speak of “justice,” usually they mean punishment or retribution. The victim or her family has suffered and now someone has to pay for it. Regarding the case in Florida, I’ve even heard someone quote the Old Testament law called “lex talionis” – an eye for an eye. There hasn’t been much talk about forgiveness. That’s not surprising in our world today. The primary message is about judgment and justice. The way to eliminate threats from enemies is to eliminate them violently or make them suffer. Consider any recent movies or video games and the main character that has been wronged finds redemption through violence. I’m not sure many of us can think of alternatives.

We are nearing the end of the Lenten season – Palm Sunday is next Sunday and Easter the Sunday after. During this season we customarily reflect upon the meaning of Christ’s death on the cross for the world, for us. This week’s text from John’s gospel is rich with images and descriptions. A group of Greeks have asked to see Jesus. By the way, that’s probably code for wanting to come to believe. When the request finally reaches Jesus through the disciples, he responds with a lesson that’s directed not just to the Greeks, but to all of us. The climax of his speech comes when Jesus says his crucifixion judges the world. And when Jesus talks about the world here, he is not referring to the world that God created and so loves; he is referring to human institutions and systems.

These systems determine Jesus is a threat and plan to kill him. But Jesus refuses to respond using the same violence as the system. During his trial before Pilate, Jesus responds to one question by saying, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over” (John 18:36). On the cross Jesus publicly and dramatically judges human institutions and systems by exposing them for what they really are – opponents of God’s purposes; not a way of life, but a way of death. And by exposing them, Jesus takes away their power. This frees us to live fully and freely in the way of Jesus Christ (Charles Campbell – Feasting on the Word – year B, vol. 2).

For the Amish, forgiveness is practiced regularly because it is a part of their culture, part of their understanding of scripture, part of their faith, part of their spirituality. At the core of their faith is following Jesus, and following Jesus means letting go, “uffgevva” in Pennsylvania German, and trusting God in all things.

If you have a chance to read the book, you will discover it’s not easy for the Amish. One of the fathers shared how his son’s nightmare months later about an armed man breaking into their house made him angry. And he realized he had to forgive the shooter all over again. Anger is like an addiction; one has to work at forgiving again and again – days, weeks, months, even years later. The Amish would be the first to admit how often they fail.

It’s important for us to know that forgiveness is not forgetting. Forgiveness does not mean there are no consequences for actions. Forgiveness is not pardon or reconciliation. But forgiveness is freedom: it is about not letting the offender become one’s master. Forgiveness is choosing to overcome our resentment toward the offender, not by denying our right to the resentment, but by trying to offer the wrongdoer compassion, benevolence, and love. Forgiveness is to take the offense seriously, to recognize one’s “moral right to anger,” but to “give up” one’s right to anger and resentment, to “give up” holding a grudge. And it is unconditional. In our discussions about the book, we are finding forgiveness does not require regret on the part of the offender, does not require an apology, does not require that the perpetrator even acknowledge us. No- forgiveness is about, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, our letting go. And that means freedom.

For Christians, forgiveness is possible because of Christ’s death on the cross – a sign of God’s new unconditional covenant with us. For freedom Christ has set us free. Choosing to forgive is one way to “hate (or turn away from) our life in this world” and refuse to give in to institutions and systems. It’s choosing a way that brings life and bears fruit.

A few years ago a movie came out that is set in a small village in France during the Lenten season. The village is ruled by a mayor, descended from a long line of mayors, who considers that his role is to maintain order and tranquility in their peaceful village. This includes “mentoring” the young priest assigned to the church, and making sure the townspeople are living proper, Godly lives. The mayor, of course, is the model Christian citizen, refusing even to drink tea during Lent, but only hot water with a very thin slice of lemon.

Into this seemingly ordered world a single woman with a child comes and opens of all things a chocolate shop. It is bad enough she is selling something that people are supposed to give up during Lent. But her shop becomes a safe haven for all those whose lives are not neat and orderly, who don’t fit in, who feel stifled. The mayor, sensing in the chocolate shop owner a threat to the tranquility of the village, works secretly to undermine her business and her reputation among the villagers. Isn’t that what institutions and systems do? For the mayor it’s all about rules and order; nothing else matters.

The mayor tries a number of tactics to drive the chocolate shop owner out of the town, and each time they are thwarted by one of her allies in the town. Finally, during holy week, the mayor breaks into the chocolate shop in the middle of the night and begins destroying a beautiful display the owner created using her secret recipe chocolate. Chocolate is flying everywhere, and one small sliver lands on the mayor’s lower lip which he is instinctively licks. Then it’s all over for him.

He is driven now by an insatiable urge to eat her chocolate. After consuming huge amounts of it he collapses and falls asleep fully visible amongst the now half-eaten display in the front window of the store. Just as the sun begins to rise, the priest walks by the window and sees the mayor fast asleep. Together, he and the shop owner whom he has awoken, quietly and privately care for the mayor. They quickly move him out of the display window, so he will not be seen by the other villagers. The incident is never mentioned again or used against him, and the mayor in gratitude for her discretion gains a new respect for the shop owner who has shown him a loving heart. Of course in the movies everything wraps up neatly and love conquers all. But we all know real life is rather messy.

I don’t know how the cases of the soldier and the Florida man will turn out, but I pray forgiveness will work its way into each situation. Christ’s life and death on the cross show us a better way, a nonviolent way. Probably only God can truly remember our sin no more. But perhaps our forgiving is a way of witnessing to the love of God – a love that lifted up Christ from the cross. And through our lives as children of light, God can help others who wish to see Jesus.