John 5:19-29: It's a "THRILLER"... Thriller of a Call!

Michael Jackson in "Thriller" click here to watch

My sister had, well technically I think she still has, a Michael Jackson doll. Michael, the doll, had curly black hair, he had on a red jacket with a black “V-design” and a red pair of pants. This doll was the spitting image of Michael Jackson from his music video “Thriller.” I can remember seeing my sister play with this doll in our childhood home, but I do not remember ever being allowed to watch “Thriller” when I was young. If you have not seen “Thriller,” it is much more than a typical 3-5 minute piece of four-dimensional “art” created to accompany a musician’s song. Made in 1982, this mini-horror film used state-of-the-art costuming, plus some memorable choreography to make a lasting impression on the music industry for decades to come. Yet, I never saw “Thriller,” I just saw my sister’s doll. That was until I was in high school.

I can remember hearing the song and thinking that it was catchy and a bit spooky, but it was not until MTV was celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the music video that I actually ever saw the full length (it’s about 15 minutes long) version. Even though I was in high school, and the zombies, werewolves, and creatures were no longer state-of-the-art, I was legitimately scared after watching it. In fact, when I again sat down to enjoy Jackson’s creative genius I got goose bumps.

Whether we like him or not, and whether or not we like any films about zombies or werewolves or vampires, registered somewhere within our collective, cultural identity is a fixation with the undead, the half-human/half-monster, and all creatures magical. Without being careful I tend to let this creative view of reality run amuck in my mind. Perhaps this is why Jackson emblazoned a message at the beginning of “Thriller” to warn viewers that he is not a member of the “Occult.” He did not want others to believe that he practiced such “demonic” behavior.

I struggle, and I believe, we together tussle with understanding what happens after death, what happens when we die, and what Jesus means when he says, “the time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear [the Father’s] voice and will come out.” Is it like “Thriller”? Will we crawl from beneath the surface of the earth to dance as rotting corpses? Are we going to be consumed with terrorizing the living? Do we become life-sucking creatures? Hollywood’s vivid imagination can be a tempting trap into which we can teeter, but the gospel according to John outlines a different path beyond the grave.

In the passage directly before today’s, Jesus heals a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. Even though he tried desperately to enter the pool of Beth-zatha, which supposedly possessed healing powers when its waters were stirred, it is not until Jesus tells him to get up and take his mat that his illness vanishes. The religious authorities eventually discover that Jesus did this miraculous deed, yet he did it on a Sabbath. When confronted about this Jesus says that even on the Sabbath, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” Enraged all the more, the Jews seek to kill him, not only is he breaking the Sabbath rules, but he also thinks God is his Father.

Jesus responds to these authorities in today’s passage by speaking about the unity of the Father and the Son. Not only do the Father and the Son work on the Sabbath, they also both have the power to raise the dead back into life. Actually, Jesus is the one who has explicitly been given this ability. Now, this is where we get back to “Thriller.” Certainly, it is fun to go see horror movies, to think about zombies, and to wonder what it is like beyond the grave; yet, the example of Christ Jesus shows us exactly where we are headed and it does not involve zombies.

Later in John right before Jesus is betrayed he prays to the Father that those who believe in him may be one with one another, and one with the Father and the Son. To be united with the Son means that we are united in his life and in his death and in his resurrection. Jesus is the one whom we follow into the resurrected life, so if we look at Jesus’ post-death life we get a glimpse of what life looks like on the other side of the grave.

Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, but at first she thinks he’s the gardener. When he calls her by name she recognizes him. Resurrection life may not mean looking exactly as we have, but we shall still be known by those whom we love.

Jesus comes among the disciples, even with their doors locked. He greets them saying, “Peace be with you.” His hands and his side, his scars from his gruesome death, he shows them. We retain those marks that we have obtained in our life and in our death. Jesus, then breathes on them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Post resurrection life is about the Spirit. It is about forgiveness of sins, even forgiving those who wound us.

Jesus appears to others including Peter, as they were fishing. They did not recognize him at first, but when he told them to cast their nets on the right side they hauled in an abundance of fish. In this multitude they recognize the LORD. Life in the resurrection will be full of abundance.

Jesus asks Peter if he loves Jesus three times. Each time Jesus gives a command: Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, and feed my sheep. This in many ways unbinds Peter’s 3 denials that he uttered before the crucifixion of Christ, and gives a charge for life in the Resurrection. Be forgiven, be love, and care for the flock.

Life after death, life beyond the grave is not about zombies or corpses or vampires. As good as Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is to me, it does not give an accurate picture of what is coming to us. Life on the other side of the grave is about redemption, forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, love, and care. The time is coming when we will hear the voice of the Father even in the grave! And, if we trust in Jesus Christ and his ability to lead us beyond this life, we can hear this call joyfully, and respond by following him into the resurrection of life!

Isaiah 42 and Matthew 3: We Wait Like the Coastlands, Like the River Banks

Those of you who have had the privilege of meeting my four-year old niece Emmeline might already know this, but she can be a bit of a handful… in a good way. She is the consummate extravert and rarely wants to do anything that involves being by herself or being quiet (save for bath time of which she said, “It’s the best part of the day.”). In addition to this she is what my family refers to as a “busy body.” A busy body is someone who cannot keep still, a boy who must touch all the buttons on the elevator or the girl who must touch all the books in the pew rack at church.  My sister, Emmeline’s mother, often says this element of Emmeline’s life reminds her of me. She’ll say to me, “You need to spend a little time with your niece to see what it was like to be around you as a kid.”

From my family’s stories, I was just like my niece. I could not keep my hands to myself, I wanted to touch everything (I think that is now referred to as an experiential learner), and I often got into trouble around this. Like when I put safety pins in the electrical socket not once, but twice or when I pulled a sewing machine down on top of my head or when I ran into countless other things because I was too busy “playing” to pay attention. I constantly wanted to go and do and achieve. This is just how I am wired. Yet, there was one week out of the year that was different.

My family goes to the beach for a week every year. We diligently prepare, we meticulously pack, we excitedly wait, we always stop at Redbar, we recount old trips, we cook together, we spend time in the sun, we explore something new, and even with all of these traditions mostly we do nothing. For a child who was a busy body this part of the vacation always confused me. I did not understand sitting still or being quiet. So it took some time for me to comprehend that this was part of why going to the beach was so highly regarded in my family.

One year, when I was just old enough to look forward to traveling to the Gulf, my parents allowed my sister to invite her friends to go with us to the beach. At first this really annoyed me, as it meant that instead of getting a bed in a room I had to sleep out in the living room area on a pull-out-couch…
And yet, one night, after everyone else had gone to sleep, and all the lights had been turned off in the beach house, and the stillness of the night had surrounded me something happened.

In the middle of the night I awoke from my sleep, which is not something that happens to me very often. I sat up on the pull-out. As I sat in the darkness, I felt something reach from deep within me, from the depths of my being, and it caused me to feel at once an intense fear and an overwhelming comfort. In the midst of this moment and this emotion I felt the urge to get out of bed. So I crawled from the creaky couch and I went to the gulf-side porch to observe the stars on this cloudless night. In the complete silence that was that night, the gulf’s pounding of the coastline reverberated in the air and in my soul. I began to gaze at the stars and I found myself feeling immensely small in comparison with the universe. Looking back, I understand this moment of feeling small by thinking I am this one human being, one of several billion people on a planet, a planet which is one of several billion in a galaxy, a galaxy which is one of at least 100 billion in the universe.

Still somehow in this moment of smallness I felt a tug within me to recognize that I AM here within this universe, this galaxy, and this planet, as part of what God created. I sat in the perfect tranquility of that moment and I just listened. The child born with an instinct to do in a family of doers, I just did nothing for the first time in my life that I can remember. So I sat there with a front row seat to the vast expanse of interstellar space, and I waited. I waited like the coastland waiting for God’s teaching.

Later in life I had more of those moments, and maybe you have had them too. Typically it was then that I would wonder, “What is the meaning of life?” “Is there life somewhere else out there?” “God, what am I supposed to be when I grow up?”

Words from Isaiah 42, “God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you: I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”

We are the coastland waiting. We wait to be taken by the hand. We wait to be kept. We wait for our eyes to be opened, to be taken out of our dungeons, to be given the light. We wait like the coastland, like a shoreline, like a river bank.

Waiting on the shore of Jordan’s banks, we see Jesus comes down to the waters of baptism. One who needs no repentance of sin enters into those waters to be like one of us, to take on our full humanity.  Suddenly as Jesus comes up from the water, the Spirit of God descends like a dove, gently landing on the Christ alighting on him. We hear a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”

In our waiting like the coastland, like the shoreline, like the riverbank we observe the fullness of God: Father, Son, Spirit coming together as one. We get a glimpse of the inner life of God, and as we wait we are invited to participate in this life. Jesus was baptized that we might be baptized with him, that we might die with him, that we may be raised with him. We wait for God’s teaching, we participate in the life of God, and we with Christ hear: “This is my beloved with whom I am well pleased.”

We are God’s beloved, we have been given the light of Christ, and now we are called to share that light with all those whom we meet. We are called to work with God, to hold the hands of those who are in darkness, to share with them the gentle light of Christ, to share God’s Spirit of healing with those who are blind, to give them sight that they are a beloved of the Almighty One.

We are God’s beloved, and we continue to wait like the coastland, like the shoreline, like the river bank to see the Trinity here among us, to participate in the fullness of God’s life, and to share the light we have been given.

John 7:37-52: Nicodemus, one of THEM?

“Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of THEM” (John 7:50). He was one of THEM! At least that is what it seems like on the surface. Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, the council of Pharisees, one of THEM, went to see Jesus before and now what? Well, if we dig a little bit and we look at the full picture that John gives us of Nicodemus, we find that he is NOT just one of THEM. Sure he is a member of the Sanhedrin, he is a Pharisee, he is part of the religious elite, but he is also a man willing to be vulnerable with Jesus, willing to stand up to his peers, willing to put his life on the line because of the Word of God.

When Nicodemus went to see Jesus before it was back toward the beginning of John’s gospel account. “He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God: for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus responds telling him that to be part of the Kingdom of God he must be born from above. Nicodemus doubts this teaching thinking of the literal definition of birth. Jesus attempts to expand Nicodemus’ understanding, as he explains one must be born of water and Spirit, referring to baptism, repentance of sins, and spiritual transformation. Nicodemus still does not get it.

Jesus, now seemingly frustrated with Nicodemus, wonders how a religious teacher cannot understand. If Jesus tells Nicodemus about earthly wisdom and he does not comprehend, how will he possibly grasp the heavenly wisdom that Jesus offers? Yet, Jesus continues this dark dialogue, as he says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that he world might be saved through him” (John 3:16-17). Nicodemus, a confused religious teacher shrouded in darkness, seeks wisdom from Jesus, the one true light, and even though he cannot possibly understand all that he is being told, this Pharisee is the one whom Jesus chooses to tell what many would consider the thesis of the gospel: God loves us so much that God sends his son, so that we may have everlasting life.
We do not hear about Nicodemus leaving that night. Still I can see him walking away shaking his head in perplexity. What stuck with him? Did something change in him? Was he still in darkness? Our passage from today sheds some light on what might have transformed within Nicodemus.

Jesus went up to Jerusalem to the Festival of Booths (Sukkot). This Jewish holy day is only five days after Yom Kippur, which is a very solemn affair. During the Festival of Booths Jewish people remember that their ancestors spent time in the wilderness. They do this by erecting booths, much like the temporary dwelling places Moses and others dwelt in while journeying in the desert. It is a festival when those celebrating would have been quite thankful for water. Then Jesus, chooses to reach to another level of thirst, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.” This causes an uproar within the crowd.

Some believe, some question, and some (the Pharisees, the THEM) want to arrest him. The Pharisees are disgusted by accounts of what is happening at THEIR festival. THEY want to persecute Jesus. THEY cannot believe others would believe in him. THEY wonder, “Do any of US believe in HIM?” Then, all of a sudden it happens. Whatever Jesus had said on that dark night, whatever seed he had planted, whatever living water he had given, whatever word he had spoken to Nicodemus comes alive within this Pharisee, one of THEM.

Nicodemus risks his status by saying, “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” What? Is HE one of THEM? The Pharisees wonder is Nicodemus from Galilee? Is he not one of US? Is HE with HIM? Nicodemus has the courage to stand up to his peers. He is ridiculed, but he will go one step further in his last appearance in John’s Gospel.

After Jesus is crucified, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, help to give Jesus a proper burial. Nicodemus risks much more than he did in standing up to the Sanhedrin, he risks his life just to bring myrrh to anoint Christ, the Anointed. We may wonder why he does this, why does he risk his life after Jesus has died? We may never really know on this side of the grave. Yet, I believe it is because Nicodemus at his most vulnerable had one conversation with Jesus, he turned to the Word of God, and he believed in the Christ.

We experience dark nights of the soul. We may wonder how it is that we are to respond. What are we to do? We have an example who can help guide us in our darkness. We can walk with Nicodemus to Jesus during our spiritual midnights. We may not understand exactly what the Word of God speaks to us on that night, but believing in Christ will transform us, will give us courage, and will strengthen us to face even the toughest moments. He is not just one of them he is an example of how to turn to Jesus in our darkness. Amen.

Epiphany: The Magi Finally Made It

When did it happen? Thanksgiving? The weekend after Thanksgiving? Did you wait until Christmas? Or, did you make it until today? When did the magi, the three wise men from Matthew 2:1-12, make it to your manger scene? Maybe you were tempted like me to put up your Creche scene this last weekend. Yet, today is the day. Only twelve long (and cold?) days after the birth of the Christ child these three strangers from the East show up to greet Jesus with gold (oh boy), frankincense (okay), and myrrh (what the heck is that?). That seems like an awfully long time to wait around a barn full of animals to me. Of course, I think I am missing the point here.

Today is Epiphany, which means "Manifestation" or "Appearing." Yes, it is the day on which the Church celebrates the magi visiting the Christ child and his family. Yet, we might be limiting ourselves if we think that this alone is what this day that is all about.

First, let's get this out of the way, in Matthew's account, the only place where we find the Magi, Jesus is not born in a manger. He is born in Bethlehem, but there is no mention of any barn or shepherds, although there are some angels.

Next, in many parts of the world today is the peak of the Christmas celebration. Epiphany follows the 12 days and nights of Christmas. It is seen by many, especially those in the Eastern Church, as the culmination of the Nativity season!

Also, those in Greece, Egypt, Russian, and else where do not just focus upon the wise men today. Epiphany (which means "Appearing" remember?) is a celebration of God's most fitting, clear manifestation in this world (aka Jesus of Nazareth) and people outside of Jesus' family recognizing it.* Today the Church at large also celebrates two other stories of God's appearing in the world and people actually noticing it. For some reason seeing God is hard for us to do, like when no one stopped to listen to world famous violinist Josh Bell playing a wealth of classical pieces on a $3.5 million violin in the metro station of Washington D.C. (Click here for the story.)

One of the other (Non-Magi) stories is of Jesus being baptized and others seeing the Spirit descending upon him like a dove, and the other is of Jesus' miracle of turning water into wine in Cana. Both of these stories helped people around Jesus to know that God is with us in the world. The trouble is that we often do not stop to recognize that God is being made manifest all around us.

Today we can move the magi and we can think that they finally made it to the Christ child, but the message of Epiphany is that God is made known to us in the world. Our challenge is to continue to recognize Christ being made manifest in the world. Will you stop and hear the music or will you rush on by?

*For some reason the church does not consider the story of the shepherds an Epiphany moment, perhaps because one understanding of Epiphany has been "Christ's appearing to the Gentiles," and the shepherds were part of the people of Israel.

The Feast of Holy Name: How Do You Celebrate New Year's Coming?

What do you do to celebrate New Year’s Coming? Do you stay up to watch the ball drop? Do you quietly make some resolutions for the impending year? Do you watch some football games? How about cooking up some black eyed peas and turnip greens? What ritual brings in the New Year for you?

Every year we celebrate Holy Name on New Year’s Day and we celebrate the circumcision and naming of Jesus in the Temple. Talk about a different type of New Year’s ritual! On the eighth day of a Jewish boy’s life, he would have been taken to a rabbi to take part in this ceremony, so that he would have been marked as one of God’s Chosen People. While this simple rite comes at the end of today’s reading from Luke’s Gospel, what tends to overshadow this ritual is the visitation of the angels to the shepherds and recalling Jesus’ virgin birth from Mary.

Often at this time of year we are bombarded by the miraculous! Angels visiting Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Shepherds, a virgin giving birth to Emmanuel (God is with us), and the magi coming from far away to bestow gifts on this new born king makes overlooking this Jewish rite very easy. This makes me think of how I tend to overlook the commonplace, everyday presence of God, as I seek out some amazing bolt-of-lightning type moment.

When Jesus came to earth we hear of all the miracles that took place for him to arrive. The Incarnation of Christ, the Truth that God would want to dwell within the Creation He made, is in and of itself astounding. Yet, on this day, the Feast of Holy Name what stands out to me is the simplicity and the quiet action of Joseph and Mary taking Jesus to be circumcised and named in the presence of the religious authority of the day. While it comes off as everyday, this rite helps me to know that God With Us was just like us.

We do not have too much about Jesus growing up. There is one story in Luke’s Gospel of Jesus’ trip to the Temple as a child, yet for the most part we are left to imagine what the Son of God was like as a kid, a teenager, and a young adult. Jesus walked around just like you and me. He scraped his knee and ran to Mary for comfort. He played with other children in the neighborhood. He stood beside Joseph watching as the carpenter went about his work.

Certainly, I love to celebrate the magnificence of God coming to dwell with us, the angel’s visitations, and the magi coming. Still what the Feast of Holy Name reminds me of is that God came down and was a little boy of whom Mary and Joseph took care. He was presented in the fashion of his culture. He became just like us and when he did he made our simple rituals and everyday practices holy. Maybe it seems silly to celebrate New Year’s traditions, but even actions as simple as these are made holy by Christ’s coming to be with us.