This past Sunday at church, I spoke a bit about the story we read from the Gospel of Matthew for today, how I could very easily imagine myself in that boat, shaking Jesus—wake up, we’re sinking, we’re perishing.
I’ve always read this story as a story about faith—it sounds a lot like Jesus critiquing the disciples—why are you afraid, you of little faith. And you could read this story that way: don’t panic, have trust in God.
But as I prepared this reflection, a note caught my attention, saying this story was probably intended as a metaphor for following Jesus. And I like that interpretation better—rather than being a judgment on having too little faith, it’s a description of the difficulties we’ll encounter on the Christian journey and a promise that that the storm won’t overwhelm us.
This story comes immediately after Jesus approached by a series of potential followers. To one he says, the birds have nests, the fox have dens, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. To another who wants Jesus to wait while he buries his family, Jesus says let the dead bury the dead. In other words, the journey isn’t going to be easy, the journey cannot wait… and now this story: we’ll encounter storms, but the one who we are following can overcome those storms. Even the wind and waves obey him.
I’m drawn to the disciples’ exclamation: “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
It is a cry that is both true, yet incomplete. They were perishing but they had not yet perished. In the story, Jesus rebukes the winds and waves and they do not perish; he rebukes them like he would a demon—further evidence that there are parallels intended to be drawn to the Christian journey.
Jesus asks, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?”, which makes sense as a metaphor. While actual boats do sink, God does promise to walk with us on our journey. This story can be read as part of that promise: that God will rebuke the demons that assail us; we will be loved, even if our boat sinks.
I want to suggest to you today that we are perishing. Find your favorite reason: is it the destruction of the environment? Economic collapse? Terrorism? Individualism? Corporatism? Racism? We can legitimately cry out, “Lord save us, we are perishing!”
Like it has been for millennia, this world is perishing, and it is perishing while it is also filled with promise.
We shouldn’t deny that we’re in trouble. I think the disciples had it right—they were in trouble. And so they turned to Jesus—Lord, save us. It wouldn’t be such a bad thing if we were to run to Jesus and wake him up, have him calm the storm.
If we do the hard work of calling on God, and following Jesus, reconciling with our neighbor, challenging power—then we can calm the storm of racism, at least enough so our boat doesn’t sink. And if we call on the word of God, and live in the way of Jesus in harmony with creation, then we can calm the rising storm and rising tides of environmental destruction.
And that is the good news: the Word of God, active in our lives, can calm the storm.
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Joseph of Arimathea
It’s evening, the day before the Sabbath, and Jesus has been murdered by the Roman authorities with perhaps the complicity of the Jewish leader, and Jesus’ body hangs on the cross. Before Jesus was crucified, his friends deserted him in fear, saw the crowd that had come & denied even knowing him. Even the closest of Jesus’ followers were scared.
Enter Joseph of Arimathea, who is mentioned by all four gospels. Mark says that Joseph of Arimathea was a respected member of the council, who was “waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God” and emphasizes that Joseph went boldly to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.
The gospel of John, which was the sacred text for today, tells us that Joseph was a secret disciple of Jesus, because he was afraid of the temple authorities, who John--a Jew himself—refers to as “The Jews”. And, John alone mentions Nicodemus, also a member of the ruling council, who had come to Jesus by night, in secret. And they go, boldly, risking their position—perhaps their lives—to ask for the body of Jesus so that it could be buried.
We reflected here together on the story of Esther two weeks ago, and I am surprised at the parallels between the stories. Both Joseph and Esther have a secret identity—Esther as a Jew, Joseph as a Jew following Jesus. All this secrecy—perhaps a necessary part of being faithful in a dangerous world? Or is it just fear of being different, the fear that keeps my faith too often hidden outside this church?
There is a time to keep quiet, to be wise in the disclosure of the truth, to work for the kingdom of God in secret. In that secrecy we can still draw close to God, to gather strength or simply just be held by the God who loves us. There can be danger in speaking out—we still may face losing a job when coming out as gay, or joining a political or religious group. The recent terrorist murder of Dr. Tiller shows that even this country, the threat of violence might face those who step out.
But if there is a time to keep quiet, there is a time to step out, to stand up. Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple in secret, but the time came when had to act boldly. Can we speculate why? Maybe he acted boldly because this was the last chance he might have to really follow Jesus. Maybe he acted boldly because he couldn’t just abide letting Jesus hang there. And maybe he acted boldly because keeping quiet, keeping his secret was bringing him further, not closer to God.
There is a group of people today, one group among many, who are not just waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, but acting boldly to bring it about. Thousands of Iranians throng the streets, and resist the stolen election, the totalitarian state that lashes out in violence. Let us hold them in our prayers, and pray for their courage.
There is no evidence that Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, did anything to try to stop the execution of Jesus, and there may have been no way he could have even tried. His bold action was too late to save Jesus from death, but it may have saved Joseph from a spiritual depth. God is on the side of those who proudly live their God-given-truth, who do not hide their faith, who cannot remain silent in the face of oppression, who step out and speak the Word that God has given them.
There is a saying: “the tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut down”. And you can stay low, avoid getting cut down, but also never grow. And there is another saying, by Jesus himself: “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”.
And so I leave you with this question: is there somewhere in your life that you need to step forward? Do you believe that God will stand by your side?
Amen.
Enter Joseph of Arimathea, who is mentioned by all four gospels. Mark says that Joseph of Arimathea was a respected member of the council, who was “waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God” and emphasizes that Joseph went boldly to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus.
The gospel of John, which was the sacred text for today, tells us that Joseph was a secret disciple of Jesus, because he was afraid of the temple authorities, who John--a Jew himself—refers to as “The Jews”. And, John alone mentions Nicodemus, also a member of the ruling council, who had come to Jesus by night, in secret. And they go, boldly, risking their position—perhaps their lives—to ask for the body of Jesus so that it could be buried.
We reflected here together on the story of Esther two weeks ago, and I am surprised at the parallels between the stories. Both Joseph and Esther have a secret identity—Esther as a Jew, Joseph as a Jew following Jesus. All this secrecy—perhaps a necessary part of being faithful in a dangerous world? Or is it just fear of being different, the fear that keeps my faith too often hidden outside this church?
There is a time to keep quiet, to be wise in the disclosure of the truth, to work for the kingdom of God in secret. In that secrecy we can still draw close to God, to gather strength or simply just be held by the God who loves us. There can be danger in speaking out—we still may face losing a job when coming out as gay, or joining a political or religious group. The recent terrorist murder of Dr. Tiller shows that even this country, the threat of violence might face those who step out.
But if there is a time to keep quiet, there is a time to step out, to stand up. Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple in secret, but the time came when had to act boldly. Can we speculate why? Maybe he acted boldly because this was the last chance he might have to really follow Jesus. Maybe he acted boldly because he couldn’t just abide letting Jesus hang there. And maybe he acted boldly because keeping quiet, keeping his secret was bringing him further, not closer to God.
There is a group of people today, one group among many, who are not just waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, but acting boldly to bring it about. Thousands of Iranians throng the streets, and resist the stolen election, the totalitarian state that lashes out in violence. Let us hold them in our prayers, and pray for their courage.
There is no evidence that Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, did anything to try to stop the execution of Jesus, and there may have been no way he could have even tried. His bold action was too late to save Jesus from death, but it may have saved Joseph from a spiritual depth. God is on the side of those who proudly live their God-given-truth, who do not hide their faith, who cannot remain silent in the face of oppression, who step out and speak the Word that God has given them.
There is a saying: “the tallest blade of grass is the first to be cut down”. And you can stay low, avoid getting cut down, but also never grow. And there is another saying, by Jesus himself: “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”.
And so I leave you with this question: is there somewhere in your life that you need to step forward? Do you believe that God will stand by your side?
Amen.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Faith and Doubt, April 22, 2009
Sacred Text: Excerpts from John 20
It’s been a week and a half since Easter, and the urgency, the activity, the fear of Holy Week—in which Jesus was captured and executed—this activity is passed. The surprise of Easter has also passed—the discovery of the empty tomb, the wonderment, the rejoicing… That too is now passed, and we are left wondering what do we do after Easter?
The story of Thomas provides a realistic model of how we might continue in faith in a world full of doubt. It may seem a bit odd to think of Thomas as a model—growing p, calling someone a “doubting Thomas” was a way of dismissing them as overly skeptical. It comes from this story—Thomas wasn’t with the group when Jesus originally appeared, and claims “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands…. I will not believe”.
Maybe Thomas is the realist—I certainly see myself in his character. Thomas knew Jesus was taken, and killed. He had been dead for three days. Peter and some of the disciples saw the empty tomb, but what a tragedy: they didn’t understand, says the gospel of John; someone had taken Jesus body. There’s the story of Mary, but this is only second hand. What is Thomas to believe: Jesus is dead, not alive.
Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples that first evening. The others were gathered, doors locked for fear of their persecutors. Jesus appeared to them then. But Thomas wasn’t there when Jesus came. The story doesn’t tell us why—was it too painful to be gathered together in the memory of their dead teacher? Perhaps Thomas had drawn away to be alone, to think, or to pray. Or perhaps, even, to despair.
Thomas wants proof that such a miraculous event could actually happen. Thomas does not want to succumb to wishful thinking. He rejoins the disciples. And after what must have been a long week, Jesus came among them again and Thomas answers with joy “My Lord and my God!”
We often draw on second-hand stories, stories from the Bible that teach us about God, stories from each other, when we’ve seen God in our own lives. But sometimes, we need more—and we rightly cry out to God “I want to see you in the flesh!” We may not be given an apparition of Jesus saying “Behold”—but I do think that if we look hard enough we can see God in our lives.
I said before that Thomas might provide a realistic model of faith. If he makes the most famous statement of doubt in the Bible, he also makes what I think is one of the most powerful statements of faith. A few chapters earlier in John, Jesus is going to back to Judea because Lazarus has died. “But haven’t they just tried to stone you there?” the disciples ask. But Thomas says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him”.
Thomas rightly recognized that following Jesus was a dangerous enterprise. But he believed in Jesus’ message, he loved his teacher so that he would follow him, even unto death. Again this was no wishful thinking faith—that everything would be fine.
This was true faith, true trust in following God even unto the valley of the shadow of death.
And so may we live in faith like Thomas, in a world in which we are so not sure that everything will work out right, in a world in which we have to keep going, even if we don’t have the benefit of a tangible presence of God. Let us seek God, and walk confidently with God even into the darkness.
It’s been a week and a half since Easter, and the urgency, the activity, the fear of Holy Week—in which Jesus was captured and executed—this activity is passed. The surprise of Easter has also passed—the discovery of the empty tomb, the wonderment, the rejoicing… That too is now passed, and we are left wondering what do we do after Easter?
The story of Thomas provides a realistic model of how we might continue in faith in a world full of doubt. It may seem a bit odd to think of Thomas as a model—growing p, calling someone a “doubting Thomas” was a way of dismissing them as overly skeptical. It comes from this story—Thomas wasn’t with the group when Jesus originally appeared, and claims “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands…. I will not believe”.
Maybe Thomas is the realist—I certainly see myself in his character. Thomas knew Jesus was taken, and killed. He had been dead for three days. Peter and some of the disciples saw the empty tomb, but what a tragedy: they didn’t understand, says the gospel of John; someone had taken Jesus body. There’s the story of Mary, but this is only second hand. What is Thomas to believe: Jesus is dead, not alive.
Thomas wasn’t with the other disciples that first evening. The others were gathered, doors locked for fear of their persecutors. Jesus appeared to them then. But Thomas wasn’t there when Jesus came. The story doesn’t tell us why—was it too painful to be gathered together in the memory of their dead teacher? Perhaps Thomas had drawn away to be alone, to think, or to pray. Or perhaps, even, to despair.
Thomas wants proof that such a miraculous event could actually happen. Thomas does not want to succumb to wishful thinking. He rejoins the disciples. And after what must have been a long week, Jesus came among them again and Thomas answers with joy “My Lord and my God!”
We often draw on second-hand stories, stories from the Bible that teach us about God, stories from each other, when we’ve seen God in our own lives. But sometimes, we need more—and we rightly cry out to God “I want to see you in the flesh!” We may not be given an apparition of Jesus saying “Behold”—but I do think that if we look hard enough we can see God in our lives.
I said before that Thomas might provide a realistic model of faith. If he makes the most famous statement of doubt in the Bible, he also makes what I think is one of the most powerful statements of faith. A few chapters earlier in John, Jesus is going to back to Judea because Lazarus has died. “But haven’t they just tried to stone you there?” the disciples ask. But Thomas says, “Let us also go, that we may die with him”.
Thomas rightly recognized that following Jesus was a dangerous enterprise. But he believed in Jesus’ message, he loved his teacher so that he would follow him, even unto death. Again this was no wishful thinking faith—that everything would be fine.
This was true faith, true trust in following God even unto the valley of the shadow of death.
And so may we live in faith like Thomas, in a world in which we are so not sure that everything will work out right, in a world in which we have to keep going, even if we don’t have the benefit of a tangible presence of God. Let us seek God, and walk confidently with God even into the darkness.
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