Invitation to Abundant Life: The Body of Christ - Together!

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.  --John 9:1-41 (NRSV)

I’d like to share a story of something that happened to me on Friday evening. It had been a pretty busy week. I was working at home, as I often do on Fridays. To catch up after a busy week and to find some quiet to write my sermon.

At around 4p I received a text message from Steven Renner. I think most of you know him, but, for those of you who don’t, he's the former pastor at Third, now serving a congregation in Alabama.

Every so often, it happens that I receive a text message from him, letting me know of a communication he’s received from someone, thinking he’s still the pastor at Third. So, on that Friday evening, as I was beginning to wrap things up, I got a text that read like this:

I just received this text.

I have no idea who this

is. Neither of us know 

a Joshua. Given the 

grammar, etc. it could 

be spam. Up to you of

course. Pease, S

my name is Joshua

I'm trying to reach

Steve Renner of the 

third Lutheran Church

can you give me a

call back as soon as

possible I have a family

emergency you reach

me at this number....

I'll be here at the number

for a little while thank

you

So, this is sometimes what we do as pastors. Make a call that we have no idea where it will go. I called this Joshua. And the minute I identified myself, out poured this incredible story, this nearly unbelievable story, of the experience he and his family had been living through for the past few days. He had been calling church after church, just wanting to be heard. 

You see, Joshua, his wife and their two kids, 3 and 6, were driving from Florida to Columbus, Ohio. He’d been offered a job where he could make $9 more dollars an hour. They’d decided to move. Had found a house to rent and paid a deposit. And were on their way there, when they pulled off I-65 at Fern Valley Road to get gas, where they were promptly broad-sided.

After the police had taken the report, the van was taken away by a towing company. In the stress of the moment, according to Joshua, he left his phone and his wallet in the van.

Now, I know where your minds are going. Because my mind went there, too. I’ve been scammed before. I know some of you have, too. 

But, here’s the thing. He never asked for money. The towing company had a strict policy. It was a policy that had been developed because of their own experiences with potential scammers. Once a vehicle was on the lot, no one - no employees, not even the owner - could enter the vehicle until fees were paid and it was restored to the vehicle owner. As much Joshua begged and pleaded over the next two days, the tow company would not relent. They would not let him get his phone and his wallet with his bank card out of the van. This also meant that he could not get the money he needed to pay the fees and retrieve his van.

What he was asking wasn’t for money, but for someone to talk to the towing company. To act as a go-between. To hopefully get them to change their mind. But, no one would hear him. No one would even listen to him. To his story. To his truth. No one would believe him.

In some respects, isn’t this what’s happening in our John text today? Our story is about a man who is speaking his truth. Who tells of his experience with Jesus - who witnesses to Jesus - over and over and over again. As he tells his story, we see his transformation - the deepening of his faith and eventual recognition of and confession of Jesus. Over and over he speaks this truth. Yet he is not heard. Or believed.

They've missed the point, these religious leaders in today’s story. They have not heard - or have refused to hear - the truth, the witness to Jesus offered by this man. Once blind. Now given sight. It is they, not him, who are unable to see. 

What’s most fascinating to me about this story of this man born blind is that he never asked to be healed. Look at the story. Nowhere, unlike other, similar stories in scripture, does this man ever ask to be healed.

So, what if. What if Jesus is healing this man, not for him. But for the community. So that he might be restored back into the community, that they might hear his truth - his experience with Jesus. And that they might believe. And that through the telling and hearing, all of them might be transformed. 

When we exclude people from community. When we refuse to hear their truths - their witness that often comes from the most unexpected people at the most unexpected times, I wonder if we don’t miss out on the abundant life God offers us. A life that is exclusive of no one. Or of no thing that God has created. A life that transforms. That changes us. A life that is worked out together. That is often messy. And that, as someone said this week in our Saturday morning study, is a crap shoot at times.

Yet, what if in this process of life together with all of our different truths - our diverse experiences of Jesus - we meet him more fully? And are all changed? Transformed to live more deeply into this abundant life as the body of Christ, together? Together.

At 1 a.m. on Saturday morning, Joshua and his family got their van back and were on their way, God willing, to a new life. A better life. A more abundant life. In the messiness of our experience together, all of us were transformed. Given a new understanding that we are all in this together. 

May we, too, understand this. That we are all in this together, living into this abundant life promised us by God - a life that is as diverse as all of our experiences. And may we also understand that, somehow, God, in Jesus, is not only with us, but is embodied in and through us. Radically changing us so that we, too, might invite others into this abundant life. Together.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Journey to the Cross: Insiders and Outsiders

In today’s story, Jesus and his group of disciples are nearing Jericho, which is only 15 miles from Jerusalem. We are nearing the end of Jesus’ ministry and of his journey to the cross. Before we hear our reading today, a reading that is in three parts, I’d like us to look back at the journey we’ve taken alongside Luke’s Jesus. 

If you remember way back to January, we heard Jesus outline this ministry, quoting from Isaiah 61: “...the Lord has anointed me...to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” What Jesus has been offering along the way is salvation that is open to everyone. But not salvation that is not a “cookie-cutter” approach, but healing is unique as we and our needs are. 

With all of this in mind, we now read the first of three parts of today’s lesson - stories that are all about seeing. Or not seeing.

We read, beginning Luke, chapter 18.

Then he took the twelve aside and said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon. After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again.” But they understood nothing about all these things; in fact, what he said was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

It’s the third time. The third time that Jesus has predicted his upcoming passion to the disciples. And yet, as before, they don’t get it. Whether it is that they refuse to see these events coming, or whether it is so far outside the realm of the possible for them to grasp, our text tells us that these things that Jesus is predicting are “hidden” from them. Those who are closest to Jesus - the insiders - do not see.  Are we like the disciples? The baptized, the church, the insiders? Unable to see how Jesus might be leading us to new things? To the death and resurrection in this moment? 

Our reading continues.

As he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard a crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” Then he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who were in front sternly ordered him to be quiet; but he shouted even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stood still and ordered the man to be brought to him; and when he came near, he asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me see again.” Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has saved you.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, praised God.

What’s interesting about this blind man is how well he sees! When he hears the crowd and asks what’s going on, they tell him that it is Jesus of Nazareth. He is the one who responds, for the first time in Luke, naming Jesus as the Son of David. A direct reference to the Messiah. It’s no wonder, then, that the crowd shushes him. Because to proclaim Jesus as Messiah is to risk upsetting the occupying powers, who would be threatened by this political threat. Be quiet - they tell the blind man - this outsider, who sees more fully than anyone else. 

Yet, he persists. He is not quiet. He is not orderly. After all, in their view, he is already an outcast. So, he begs for mercy more loudly, demanding Jesus’ attention. Notice that Jesus doesn’t immediately heal him, but asks him what he needs. Notice also that the blind man boldly responds. Naming his own need. And trusting, with a deep faith, that Jesus will provide. 

Do we see Jesus as the blind man did? As Messiah - as savior of the world? Who can save, or, more correctly, heal us? Or heal the church? Or heal the world? Do we have the faith of the blind man? Do we have his hope? His sight?  

Jesus sees his faith. Restores his sight. And welcomes him back into community. He will no longer be an outcast. This is the salvation Jesus provides. Not simply healing, but wholeness and belonging.

And, then, we come to the story of Zacchaeus. In chapter 19.

[Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.”

If we thought the blind man was an outcast, Zacchaeus takes the cake. Literally. He is a rich man. We’ve heard before what Luke thinks of wealth and how much harder it is for those with wealth to enter God’s kingdom. In large part, because wealth is a powerful master.

Zacchaeus is a chief tax collector. He’s the boss of the tax collectors - the one who has contracted with Rome to collect the tolls that must be paid to use the famous Roman thoroughfares.  The tax collectors are his subcontractors. He’s their boss. If tax collectors are despised in Judea, consider how much more Zacchaeus is hated. On top of this, Zacchaeus, who is Jewish, is viewed as a Roman collaborator, ostracizing him even more. And the cherry on top? Zacchaeus is short. 

Now, this isn’t an indictment of anyone here who is short. Today, being short isn’t viewed in the same way as in ancient times. Think tall, statuesque, chiseled-featured Roman soldier, and you get it. Zacchaeus didn’t fit that mold. Zacchaeus was an outsider in every way.  

But, Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus. Boss tax collector, collaborator with the enemy, rich, short Zacchaeus just wanted to see Jesus. But, the crowd was in his way. So, he climbed a tree. Now this was not a proper move on his part. After all, someone of his wealth and status should simply show more dignity. But, Zacchaeus was more interested in seeing Jesus than in preserving his reputation. Jesus saw that in him. Approached the tree and told him to come down. And then, promptly, invited himself to dinner.

But there’s something else here. A correction that we must make about Zacchaeus. I don’t know about you, but I grew up hearing this story told as a story of repentance. That, after meeting Jesus, Zacchaeus promises to change his ways. But, there’s a problem with that interpretation. Because the verb used in verse 8 is not a future tense verb, where Zacchaeus promises that he will give to the poor or that, if he has cheated someone, he will pay back four times as much. In fact, the verbs in this verse are in the present tense. Which suggests that Zacchaeus is already doing this. And exceeding what the law requires of him: giving half of his money to the poor instead of the required 10%, repaying those who have been cheated twice as much as the law requires. Zacchaeus isn’t in need of forgiveness. Zacchaeus is a model of how the wealthy can use their wealth to serve the kingdom of God. 

So, Zacchaeus doesn’t need forgiveness here. What he needs is to belong. To be part of a community that welcomes him. That no longer views him, wrongly, as a sinner. It’s why Jesus invites himself to dinner. To send a message to the insiders that this outsider is welcome in the kingdom of God.

---

For those of us on the inside, the most profound witness to Jesus can often be heard and seen through an outsider lens. Sometimes, we, like the Pharisees, get so caught up in our rules and our regulations and our way of doing things that we become blind to what God is really doing - what God is doing in our own lives, but especially what God is doing in the world around us. Yet, what God is doing is succinctly summarized in the closing verse of our lesson, in verse 10. “The Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost.” 

The truth is that we’re all lost. We’re all in need of being found. Of being seen. Of being healed. Of being restored to the community. We’re all in need of being saved, whatever that may look like. Salvation, full participation in the reign of God, is what Jesus offers. 

This is God’s truth in Luke. That, in Jesus, salvation is offered to everyone. No matter who you are. No matter where you came from. No matter what. Salvation is offered to all, insider and outsider alike. Because this is who God is. And what our God desires. For you. And for me.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

Preached March 21, 2021, online at Grace & Glory and Third Lutheran churches, Goshen/Louisville, KY.

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Readings: Psalm 84:1-4, 10-12; Luke 18:31-19:10

Good News Spreads: Believing

When 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.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to 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.”

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So 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.”

A 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.” Then 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.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But 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.  John 20:19-31 (NRSV)

Grace and joy to you from our Lord and resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Welcome to Holy Hilarity Sunday! Or as it is also called - Holy Humor Sunday. Or also - Bright Sunday. This is a tradition from the early church on this second Easter Sunday (There are seven Easter Sundays in this season!). After the grandeur and celebration of the first Easter Sunday, this is the Sunday in which we revel in the hilarity of God’s action--the resurrection as the last laugh of God’s over the devil. 

It is also, traditionally, the Sunday when we hear the Thomas story. Or “Doubting Thomas” as he has been nicknamed. So, thinking of both Thomas and Holy Hilarity Sunday, I went online searching for any jokes about Thomas.

Do you know that I couldn’t find any? Or, at least, not any that were good jokes. The best i found was this cartoon, where Thomas is frustrated with the other disciples…”All I’m saying is we don’t call Peter “Denying Peter” or Mark “Ran away naked Mark.” Why should I be saddled with this title?” And, then, the response, “I see your point, Thomas. But really, it’s time to move on.” 

Not funny!

So, then, I decided to search for different artist’s renditions of Thomas. I was pretty amazed at the volume of art that depicts the scene we heard in our reading this morning. This classic painting by Caravaggio. Or another by German Martin Schongauer. Or here’s one by another German, Emil Nolde--on the the first Expressionist painters. Or here’s one from contemporary Russian artist Andrey Skorodumov. Or another contemporary--Chinese artist James He Qi. And, then, finally, John Granville Gregory, who does a contemporary version of the classic by Caravaggio. 

As I looked at this different artistic interpretations of today’s gospel, I was particularly struck by their similarities. Do you see it? In each painting, every artist has captured Thomas’ need to experience the resurrected Jesus. Whether it is touching the wound on his side or viewing the nail holes in his hands, Thomas needs his own experience with the resurrected Jesus.

To have his own experience.  Have you ever had a friend say to you, “You’ve got to see this!”? Maybe it’s a movie they’re ranting about. Or a particular product. Or maybe it’s to see the sunset from this particular spot. Whatever it is, your friend comes to you and is enthusiastic about it. Even a little over-enthusiastic. To the point that maybe you begin to doubt it a little. Or to wonder about what is real and what is hype. It’s not that you don’t believe your friends experience, but more that you don’t have anything to compare to it yourself. You haven’t experienced it. And, so, to be able to offer your own testimony of the greatness of the movie, or the product, or the sunset, or whatever it is, you need to have your own experience. Just like Thomas.

The Gospel writer knows this. And writes in this pattern throughout John. Where someone hears about Jesus and needs more information. And, then, they receive what they need to come to their own experience of the life that Jesus is embodying. 

Remember Nathanael, our earliest example. “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Or the woman at the well. “Sir, you have no bucket and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” Or the man born blind. Or Mary Magdalene on the first Easter morning: “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

Each person who meets Jesus. Needing more information. So that they can have their own individual experience with him. 

I’d like to back us up a little in today’s story. In the section before the resurrected Jesus and Thomas meet, Jesus first appears to the rest of the disciples on the evening of that first Easter. He appears in the midst of them and offers them a blessing, “Peace be unto you.” Peace meaning shalom. That word from the Hebrew scriptures that connotes more than just peace, but a wholeness. A state of completeness. 

Jesus then shows them his hands and his side. They have their own experience with Jesus. An experience that brings them much joy. And, probably, a lot of laughter, too. Then, Jesus once again offers them a blessing of peace. And commissions them: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Jesus then breathes on them. In the Hebrew, ruach. That breath of God. The Holy Spirit. “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.”

There’s something interesting about this last sentence. Verse 23 in chapter 20. The phrase “the sins of” are not there in the original Greek. For years, translators have just assumed that these words are assumed. That they match the pattern of the first phrase--”if you forgive the sins of any.” But more recent scholarship has begun to question this assumption.  That perhaps these words should be assumed. 

So, what happens if we take the assumed phrase out? How does that change the meaning of this sentence.

In the closest verbatim translation, it would read like this “Of whomever you forgive the sins, they [the sins] are forgiven to them; whoever you hold fast [meaning embrace], they are held fast.

Or, to make it more understandable, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you hold fast to someone, they are held fast.”

If you hold fast to someone, they are held fast. This is what Jesus does for Thomas. He holds him fast. It’s what Jesus did for Nathanael, for the woman at the well, for the blind man, for Mary Magdalene, for the disciples in fear behind locked doors on that Easter evening, and for nearly every other character introduced to us in John, Jesus holds them fast through their doubt, or their fear, or their partial understanding or whatever else it is until they receive what they need to believe. Until they experience what they need for faith. This is what Jesus has been doing throughout John’s gospel. Holding each person fast until he or she has their own experience of belief.

And, when Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit onto the disciples, Jesus is making is possible for them to continue his work. To continue his work of “holding fast” onto those “who have not yet seen.” “Holding fast” to others along with the accompanying work of forgiving sins.

This, my friends, is what we are called to do in this place. In the midst of our doubt. Or our fear. Or our grief or our anger, we are called to hold fast to each other. To embrace and share in that brokenness. Because it is there, in the brokenness, in the embrace, in the holding fast, that God enters in. That God is incarnated within us. In, with, and under. God enters in, kills our brokenness and brings new life. Wholeness. Shalom. God brings life out of death. God resurrects us. Just like Jesus. And just like Thomas.

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Holly.
Holly who?
Hollylujah, Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Amen.

Preached April 8, 2018, at Grace & Glory Lutheran Church, Goshen, KY.
Easter 2

Readings: Psalm 145:13-21; John 20:19-31.