What We Believe is True- or the Blame Game Lent 4 in the midst of COVID19

Sermon John 9:1-41 March 22, 2020 Lent 4 in the midst of COVID19

What We Believe is True- or the Blame Game

This has been another really hard week.

It’s been another week in which everyday showed an increase in positive COVID19 test results and an increase in restrictions.

It has been a week of watching the news minute by minute and turning it off because it was too much to watch.

It has been a week of listening to friends and family talk about losing their jobs, having to work from home, having to leave college, having to miss favorite sports, having to only see friends through facetime, having to be hunkered down for a month.

States of emergency are everywhere.

None of it makes sense.

And in the confusion of trying to understand the uncertainty human nature resorts to the blame game. And in the confusion of uncertainty human nature resorts to gossip born out of worry and fear.

That’s where we find the disciples as they travel with Jesus.

They are worried.

They are confused.

They are filled with fear.

Everything that Jesus has been teaching them seems to create uncertainty and confusion. And confrontation with authorities too.

What is Jesus trying to teach them?

They believe the miracles he’s been doing.

It’s been some really cool stuff. He healed all kinds of people. He’s fed a lot of people with just a little bit of bread. He brought a child back to life. He turned water into wine. They really liked it when he did that. It would be great if he could do that in very town they visit.

They want to know what to believe about him.

They want to know what is true.

They want some certainty in their lives.

Don’t we all.

We too want to know what is true. We too want some certainty in our lives. We too want Jesus to clarify what we are to believe. Are the miracles Jesus does the reason for Jesus being there? Or is there something else? Why do bad things happen? Why can’t health and happiness and wealth be there for everyone? Why do people get sick and die? What is sin anyway?

We ask these question as if our debate over them will bring us the answers that will satisfy our hungry hearts and open our eyes to God. We assume there is a moral solution to everything.

This blind man becomes an object lesson he never intended.

The saddest thing about his story is not his blindness, but the fact that no one noticed he even existed.

No one knew his name.

He was an anonymous beggar on the side of the road that people didn’t want to know.

If they recognized him they would recognize their own poverty of compassion. They would have to acknowledge their own inability to help the poor, the disenfranchised, the one’s not welcome in the community or even the house of worship.

And when Jesus healed him he was cast out from his family, his house of worship, his community.

He had an experience with Jesus that no one wanted to believe.

He had an act of grace happen that could not be explained and rather than acknowledge it he was thrown out.

No one knew who he was before and no one wanted to know him now.

Perhaps that’s what’s hardest for us as we all sit at home and struggle against this unseen enemy.

We want to know who or what it is to blame.

If we can identify it then we can fix it.

That’s what our rationalizing humanness tries to do.

This blind man who has encountered Jesus and now has vision is our hero! He helps us as believers! He helps us as the church! He helps us as a community!

 

My Hero-truth teller-lover of Jesus

He doesn’t debate anything.

He just tells it like it is.

He tells the truth of what happened to him-straight up straight talk.

He tells the world what Jesus did to his eyes.

No one wants to believe him.

Three times he tells his story and each time he tells it the confrontation escalates.

He is still not afraid.

He is still not worried.

He is not confused.

He is absolutely certain of his experience with Jesus and what happened that

no amount of threatening of the world around him will change it.

The stronger the forces against him the stronger he tells his story and the stronger his belief becomes.

We the community, the church, believers, are face to face with a struggle. We are unable to be the church in the way we are familiar.

We are unable to be the church with touching hands. We may feel we are disenfranchised. We may feel we are unnoticed. We may feel are cut off from everyone. But, the truth is here. The truth is revealed in the telling.

The blind man tells the wonder and the joy of his experience over and over again. And each time he tells it his faith becomes a reality.

Isn’t that how our own relationship experiences grow?

We tell the story of our experience with a moment of wonder, a moment of compassion, a moment of generosity, a moment of grace. And the more we share it, the more we notice how our faith grows.

People don’t want us to believe there is compassion and grace in this world.

And yet, there on the side of the road with a flat tire someone comes to our aid and helps us. We lose our job and we are surrounded by people offering us places to apply for a new one. We have no place to live and we have people taking us to housing agencies to find a place. We have no food and meals show up on our doorstep. We discover the gift of love. We discover the unseen grace in the world.

We discover this unseen grace defeats an unseen enemy.

Each time we recognize an act of love, our eyes open to a God of love.

We do not have to be afraid to tell the truth of our experience.

Jesus touched us and we have been changed forever.

Francis Taylor Gench, Gayle O’Day, Neibhur, Calvin, all share how this story shows up to strengthen the church during difficult times.

This story is here to let us know today that if we tell our story over and over again, it will be heard.

And our faith will strengthen.

We will have a stronger and stronger resolve the more we talk about our experience with Jesus. The more we reveal the truth of love and compassion in our lives the more we will believe it ourselves. The more we believe it the more we will be able to share it. And that friends is the church.

We need heroes in times like these.

And in times like these, we the body of Christ,

discover that we are the blind man, healed and made whole and able to tell our story.

We, you, me, are the heroes the world needs.

We can share our stories from our couches.

We can share our stories from our homes.

We can be strong in what we believe.

We can be encouraged by the truth of Jesus in our life the more we share.

We will grow in our faith.

We will grow in our church.

As we look to the life of the blind man, our resolve is that he told the truth of what he believed no matter what struggles he faced.

There is no blaming in this life.

There is no need for gossip.

There are no moral dilemmas to be resolved.

There is only the truth of love, compassion, and grace.

We are the church.

We are stronger than ever.

We may not be the church the way we remember.

We may be confused, worried, conflicted by the world around us and by all that is happening.

Yet, we have the light within us to guide us and show us the way.

We have a story to tell.

No matter how hard the weeks ahead become.

No matter how challenging each day will be.

No amount of separation,

or isolation,

or lockdown can darken the light of the Word.

You are not alone!

We are not alone!

We are the body of Christ and we will keep the vision of love alive!

Friends believe the good news!

What we believe is true now and forever. Amen!

Resources: Encounters with Jesus by Frances Taylor Gench. The Meaning of Revelation by HR Neibhur. 

Sent Out in Jesus’ Name

Sermon Mark 6:1-13 July 8, 2018 Ordinary Time

Sent Out in Jesus’ Name

Sometimes we come to Scripture texts like this one in Mark chapter 6, and we prefer to listen to another story about Jesus. But, it is times like these when we need to gather to the hard lessons. It’s always easier to learn about a Jesus who was not only loving but also loved. It is always easier to learn about disciples who turned the world upside down and brought thousands to faith in Jesus, and not notice the times of rejection. Yet, we need to hear about the tough times, the rough times, and the especially about those moments of being turned away, unloved, and unappreciated.

We are not what others proclaim us to be,

but who God has called us to be.

We are children of God,

loved and redeemed.

Called and sent out in Jesus’ name.

These words-

Control, faith,

rejection, love,

reputation, mercy,

power, grace

come into our life, into our being, into our vocabulary, into our response to a world out there and a soul within.

These words and actions in our life can come to us to guide us,

help us,

hinder us,

deny us,

and/or heal and hold us.

We spend a lot of energy worrying about what people think of us and how we make them feel or how they make us feel.

Our hearts can be bursting with anxiety, fear, and worry hoping we can control the thoughts of others about who we are. It is a serious concern in today’s society as social media has a way of wrapping people up in the power of the opinions of others.

Today, we witness Jesus in his hometown-imagine what Instagram, or twitter would have said about him!

Jesus had a mission to tell all the world about the love of God.

And not everyone wants to hear that message.

Not everyone is happy about Jesus-the carpenter’s son-being the messiah with power and wisdom.

His own people mock him.

His family who one would hope would embrace him, rejects him too.

We want people to know about the love of God.

But, it is not in our control who receives it or who rejects it.

It is not in our control how people feel about us, or our message.

What is in our control is how we love and show compassion.

One of the greatest lessons in pastoral care in seminary was from a professor who said, “If you think you can get everyone to like you in ministry and that is how you function in the church of your calling, you will be doomed. Because, you will have made the ministry a mockery about yourself and not about God.” There was quite a bit of arguing with the professor. But, he held his ground. He made it clear that to be called out in Jesus Name meant that is the name on our lips as we offer love at every turn. It is the name that drives us to reach out and help without judgment. It is the name that calls us to open our arms with peace even when the rocks are being hurled at us.

There are a few things to notice of in this Scripture text of Mark 6. One-Jesus is unwelcome in his home town because they remember him as the boy of the carpenter. He is rendered powerless in the face of rejection.

 

Stoning of Stephen-museum-Corfu, Greece

It makes me wonder;

how do we limit those around us

because we expect them to be the same

as we have known them in their past?

How do we render people powerless because we judge

they are not worthy or not ‘good enough’

to be able to do the powerful and miraculous

things we expect others to do?

A second thing to notice - immediately following his not so pleasant going home experience, Jesus sends out the twelve on a mission to other villages to preach the good news. He gives them instructions about shaking the dust off their feet. This was an old Jewish custom to shake off the unclean gentile dust before they entered their clean homes.

Jesus gives the action another context.

Leave the rejection at the doorstep,

do not carry it with you to the next house.

Leave it at the doorstep,

wipe your feet and remember

this is not about you it is about them.

This rejection does not define you.

You have more places to go. You are mine.

Jesus didn’t differentiate between mission and evangelism. Doing and telling were one in the same. Perhaps, that’s what we’re most afraid of, the telling. Perhaps, we’re as unsure about our faith story as the disciples were. They didn’t know quite what to say or what to do. Jesus sent them out with little instruction. He sent them out to tell the good news and heal the sick and have power of unclean spirits.

So, the twelve went as Jesus sent them. Even with their anxiety, they went. Even with the fear of their reputation, they went. Even with the looming possibilities of all that could go wrong, they went. And perhaps, that’s the message for us. Even with all our frailties and our inabilities, Jesus is still sending us out.

I recently watched the movie Sully. It was the movie about the pilot who landed the plane on the Hudson River and all 155 souls on board were saved. The movie told the story of what happened after the flight. It told about the investigation and the probability of pilot error. Sully said, “I’ve flown for forty years and delivered a million people safely to their destination but, my entire career, my life and reputation will be based on 208 seconds.”

A woman pastor was upset because she was unable to do the funeral of young man who passed away. Only later she found out the man was the grandson of one of the members of her church. People in her congregation were upset at her for not showing the compassion they expected her to show. She did what she could to make amends explaining it was difficult to reach out when she was unaware. She became worried about her reputation among the congregation and the community. She was given sage advice from other pastors- “Your reputation-It was never in your power to control what other people thought of you anyway.”

We can’t let fear of what others think of us deter us from doing what we believe is right.

Sully landed that plane because he knew it was the only choice he had to save the lives of the people on the plane. And later the safety board agreed with him. The pastor did what she understood was right at the time with the information she was given. And the congregation embraced her with new understanding.

The truth is, both these people-Sully & the woman pastor-

acted out of love and compassion before, 

during, and after their situations.

And isn’t that what God asks of us.

God asks for our faithfulness,

our love,

our compassion

to be lived and to shared.

God asks us to be steadfast,

to not be afraid,

to speak the truth,

to not worry about those

who are not ready to hear they are loved,

to go out anyway,

in Jesus name

and proclaim the gospel.

We are not what others proclaim us to be,

but who God has called us to be.

We are children of God,

loved and redeemed.

Called and sent out in Jesus’ name.

Go and do likewise. Amen.

Resources: Feasting on the Word, NIB. Working Preacher, me