This is Love

Each week seems to bring some bad news, this week it seems more than usual has stuck to me.

·         A cyclone hit the Pacific Islands

·         A police officer lost a leg yesterday when a texting driver ran into him as he was setting up a RBT stop

·         17 people died in a shooting at a school in Florida

Closer to home, this week, another woman spoke to me about domestic violence, and how she is in the process of separating from her partner. She and her children are safe.

I wonder if we might all want to join with Mary and Martha and say: “Lord, if you had been here,”

This story is pivotal in the Gospel of John.

It is like a hinge between the public ministry of Jesus, healing, signs, travelling, and the final words of Jesus to his disciples, then his arrest, death and resurrection.[i]

This passage has grief, understandable grief, and Martha, in the midst of her grief, makes this confession:

“Yes, Lord! I believe that you are Christ, the Son of God. You are the one we hoped would come into the world.”

A few days after the death of her brother,
in her grief, and her wondering what if -
what if Jesus had been here;
and maybe some anger that he was not.

In the midst of all that, Martha makes this confession of faith. One author even suggests this passage should be called the Confession of Martha, rather than the raising of Lazarus.[ii]

“Yes, Lord! I believe that you are Christ, the Son of God. You are the one we hoped would come into the world.”

Then the miracle, life returned.

Then an invitation to be involved. Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb, and then Jesus tells the people, “Untie him and let him go.”

And here is the part I want to focus on this morning, the reaction of people to the raising of Lazarus.

We are not told how his sisters react, but we hear of Mary again in the next chapter, when she pours perfume on the Lord’s head and wipes his feet with her hair.

The responses we are told about by John are that, after seeing all that happened, some people had faith in Jesus.

But some went to the Pharisees and reported what had happened.

And the religious leaders decided that both Jesus and Lazarus needed to die, permanently.

Coming into contact with Jesus never leaves us the same.

Recently we have heard about Nicodemus coming at night to see Jesus, and while it is not clear at that point in the story if Nicodemus follows Jesus, Nicodemus helps bury Jesus.

The woman who encountered Jesus at Jacob’s well, her life was clearly changed, and so was the life of many of the people in the village.

Last week we heard about the man born blind, and how recovering his sight set up a series of questions from the religions leaders and then he was excluded from the Synagogue.

How we view any situation depends on where we stand.

For example, if everyone with over $30, 000 in investments had their investment halved, so that those with less than $2, 000 could have theirs doubled, how would you feel?

I am guessing, it depends on which group you are in.

 “… God’s activity will change us, it will comfort some and threaten others. Even the promise of new life, that is, comes only as good news to those who recognizes that the old life is not enough and only threatens or upsets those who don’t want to change. “[iii]

Is the new life, the transforming life based on love and grace,
the new life that calls for us to leave behind the old, to take on the new
the new life that calls for us to live for others
is that good news for you?

The religious leaders did not celebrate that a man who was born blind could now see, or that a man who was dead is now alive.

No! this person Jesus threatened their way of living, it threatened the balance they had achieved with the Roman overlords. The religious leaders had position and status, as long as no one stepped out of line.

And along comes Jesus, who says that life is for living,
that people are loved
that all people are valued and precious, no exceptions
that God wants a connection with us, not based on rules, but on a relationship
and that our relationship with God through Jesus will change us.

We are challenged in our living to not only look at what God is doing,
but to become part of the work,
not to be passive bystanders,

We are not only called to be witnesses of God’s action in our lives, but also to be changed by what we see and thereby invited into the ongoing reality of what God is doing. God does the miracle, but God also gives us a part to play as it unfolds in our life [iv]

This morning you will be invited to reaffirm your commitment to God in a covenant prayer. This is not an easy prayer to pray.  
None of us are perfect
we well all fail
we will at times challenge God

The story of Jesus and Martha and Mary and Lazarus,
speaks to me of real life
life that is messy and painful
that at times we will grieve
at times we will rejoice
at time God will work miracles in our presence
and at times we will be expected to be part of those miracles.

And I keep coming back to love,
the love of God
the love that says yes,
even when we say no.
the love that says you are valuable
when the voices tell us we are not welcome
the love that says I would die for you
rather than play it safe.

Here is a poem:

Prayer:  This is Love

This is love.
Not that you spoke words of comfort,
walked with the unclean and unloved,
shared wisdom, bread and wine,
brought healing into lives
and challenged the status quo.

This is love.
That you spoke the word of God,
walked a painful road to the Cross,
shared living water, bread of life,
brought Salvation to the world
and died for the sake of all.

This is love.
It is a seed
sown in the ground,
which germinates,
blossoms,
and spreads its sweet perfume.

~ written by John Birch, and posted on Faith and Worship. http://www.faithandworship.com/

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[i] Bible project John

[ii] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3404

[iii] http://www.davidlose.net/2017/03/lent-5a-heartache-miracle-invitation/

[iv] http://www.davidlose.net/2017/03/lent-5a-heartache-miracle-invitation/

blind spots

Introduction to the reading

This morning we will hear another reading from John’s Gospel, another encounter between a person and Jesus, that is life changing.

We have heard about Nicodemus who came at night, asked some questions, and wasn’t ready at that point to show himself as a follower. Last week we heard John 4, an unnamed woman, an outsider in so many ways, also confused by the words of Jesus. She went and told, and many believed.

We skipped some chapters, which included Jesus telling a man to take up his mat and walk - on the Sabbath; feeding of the 5,000; Jesus walking on water towards the disciples in the boat during a storm; the woman caught in adultery “If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!”

John 8: 12 Once again Jesus spoke to the people. This time he said, “I am the light for the world! Follow me, and you won’t be walking in the dark. You will have the light that gives life.”

This morning, another unnamed person, also an outsider. There is a healing in the story, but also much more.

Reading: John 9: 1-41 in 3 voices

Where to start?

The passage begins with the disciples asking who is to blame for the man being blind. Who sinned.

Just as today we ask what parents did to have a child with a disability; or what did a person do to get a chronic illness. Surely, they have made some bad choices, they have sinned, they have displeased God in some way.

In the gospel of John, sin is not doing something wrong;

sin is not believing in Jesus, or not being in a relationship with Jesus.[i]

Jesus is saying that we are asking the wrong question.

The question is not: who sinned?

The question is: what can God do from here?

What healing grace, what possibilities, where will God go from here, and what is God calling us to do as part of that.[ii]

I know some people here are concerned about the future of the Parish, we are a long way from having to close. What if the changes we are seeing in the Parish and community is God encouraging us to look at opportunities for the future, what if they are opening up new possibilities.

Last week we saw how the way the woman addressed Jesus changed:

Ø  a Jew

Ø  Sir

Ø  a prophet

Ø  Messiah

Ø  the Saviour of the world

this week we see a similar pattern.

Ø  Someone named Jesus

Ø  Jesus

Ø  “He is a prophet!”

Ø  “I don’t know if he is a sinner or not.

Ø  Jesus could not do anything unless he came from God.”

Ø  “Lord, I put my faith in you!”

The man born blind, who does what Jesus tells him, and goes and washes the mud from his eyes, has not seen Jesus. So, when the religious leaders ask who healed him, he only has a name to go by, a name that was not unique. It isn’t until towards the end of the reading that the man sees Jesus, and man puts his faith in the one who gave him sight.

While this story is about the man being able to see, it is about more than that.

One of the quotes I put on Facebook this week:

The transformation of the blind man is important, but it’s his surrounding community’s resistance to transformation that the passage really wants us to see. Oh, how we hate change. Oh, how often we choose to keep mud in our eyes, so we don’t have to grow. And who can blame us? new sight is scary. It requires us to give up a lot. We have to throw out old familiar maps before new ones can be drawn up. Everyone’s roles get reshuffled. And nobody can claim certainty about what will come next.

It seems we are called not just to new sight, but brave sight.

Are you ready?[iii]

The religious leaders do not believe, will not believe, that Jesus is able to heal the man born blind. For them it is not possible for someone born blind to see. I wonder how often we do the same thing?

What areas or topics do we close our eyes to?

In what ways are we like the religious leaders, rejecting facts when they do not confirm our long-held beliefs.[iv]

You have probably heard the saying: None so blind as they who will not see.

[image on screen https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/matthew_henry_189365?img=3]

We all have blind spots, about ourselves and about other people and situations. Our blind spots usually make perfect sense to us, just as it made perfect sense to the religious leaders that a man born blind will not be able to see.

Our blind spots may be about young people, older people, immigrants, indigenous people, unemployment, or a range of other topics. And we are usually unaware of them, that is why they are blind spots.

In the church I notice that at times people have blind spots about the Scriptures.

In all these areas: No matter what anyone says, their way of looking at things is the only way.

It is not uncommon for people to only read stories and watch TV programs that agree with their existing viewpoint.

Change is hard, changing our ideas, or changing where we shop.

When people encounter Jesus, Nicodemus, the woman at the well and the man born blind, all are changed. Yes, there is confusion, there is uncertainty, but there is new life and new understandings.

Are we brave enough to ask God:

·         to open our eyes?

·         to unblock our ears?

·         to soften our hearts?

·         to open our lives?

are we willing to see new possibilities for life:

·         for ourselves?

·         For those around us

·         For this Parish?

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[i] https://www.workingpreacher.org/narrative_podcast.aspx?podcast_id=971

[ii] https://www.workingpreacher.org/narrative_podcast.aspx?podcast_id=971

[iii] https://scontent.fsyd5-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/27628840_1537601666287106_5270463692127532460_o.jpg?oh=9cc78d513dd255d16fb22ba62f2523fd&oe=5B24EA79

[iv] Thomas B. Slater, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3387

A woman of no significance

Before the reading:

Last week we heard about Nicodemus

Nicodemus, a Jewish man, a religious leader, went to meet Jesus at night

This week we will hear about an unnamed woman,

A Samaritan woman, who has lived a hard life, who went to get water in the middle of the day.

You may have heard that this woman is a sinner, because she has had 5 husbands, and is now living with another man. The reality for women in first century Israel, was that marriages were arranged, woman could not divorce, but her husband could divorce her.

She needed to be living with a man, it could be a brother, a son, a brother in law, a cousin, anyone who would take her in, otherwise she would not survive.

Nicodemus and the unnamed woman,

both met Jesus

One at night

One in daylight

One a Jew

One a Samaritan

Both confused by what Jesus says to them

Both offered new life

Nicodemus went back into the shadows, for now

She went to tell everyone

….Reading John 4:3-42, in 3 voices ...

[Remove stole]

John recorded my story, I am not really sure why.

It is a few years since it happened.

People didn’t say much about my life. you could call it tragic,

Marriage, divorce, marriage, death, marriage – I know my family were trying to do the right thing by me, and the ending of each marriage made it more difficult to arrange another husband. Finally, a relative took pity on me, took me into their household, though at times I feel like a housekeeper.

The day that John wrote about,

it was a warm day, and water was running low,

so I went to fetch more water.

When I arrived, a man was sitting there.

And this man spoke to me.

I didn’t realise who he was at first,

but I knew he was a Jew,

I wondered why he would talk to me, ask me for something.

Turned out he offered me, more than he asked for.

I won’t go into all the details, you have heard the story.

For me it was life changing.

I had downplayed my past

I mean who wouldn’t,

and Jesus, knew and acknowledged my pain,

my sadness,

my isolation

my wondering if I belonged

He knew and acknowledged me

He didn’t criticise me or ask me to justify or explain

So, I asked him about worship

And after we talked for a while, some friends of his turned up and I went to tell the rest of the village about the Messiah.

By then I knew who he was, this mysterious man is the Messiah.

He took me, a tired woman,

A woman of no significance

And asked for water to quench his thirst

..

And changed my life

..

And the life of the people who came to know him through my story.

…..

[Replace stole]

In this reading, Jesus goes from being called:

Ø  a Jew

Ø  Sir

Ø  a prophet

Ø  Messiah

Ø  the Saviour of the world

and the woman goes from

Ø  an unnamed woman collecting water for her household,

Ø  having a theological discussion

Ø   to telling people the good news

Last week we heard about the encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus, and the need to be born by both water and spirit

the unnamed woman is offered living water

and told that worship is not about where,

but that ‘God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ John 4:24 NRSV

In her encounter with Jesus, this woman is transformed

she not only leaves behind her water jug,

She leaves behind her ostracism,

her marginalization,

her loneliness,

because Jesus has brought her into his fold.

She leaves behind her disgrace,

her disregard, and

the disrespect

she has endured

to enter into a new reality,

a new life that is abundant life.

- Karoline M. Lewis

[on screen]

She leaves behind her ostracism,

her marginalization,

her loneliness,

because Jesus has brought her into his fold.

She leaves behind her disgrace,

her disregard, and

the disrespect

she has endured

to enter into a new reality,

a new life that is abundant life.

- Karoline M. Lewis

What do you need to leave behind?

What new life are you being offered?

If you wish, as the music is playing,

you can collect a stone, it will become a symbol of something you wish to leave behind. Place it near the water.

The butterflies are here if you would like to pick one up a sign of the new life you are being offered.

PPT: come to the water

People move to collect stones and place

and/ or pick up butterflies

Jesus is clear, this whole thing is about God’s love for the world

I am told John 3:16, God loved the world so much …
is one of the best known verses from the Bible.  This passage from chapter 3 of John’s gospel, can feel like a weapon rather than good news to some people. I have known people who have grown up in the church, who have not had a ‘born again’ experience and feel like they are second class citizens in some spaces. And I have met people who have had an amazing ‘born again’ experience, and they live as if they need do nothing more.

Let us look a little closer at what is happening in this passage:

Nicodemus, a Pharisee and Jewish leader comes to Jesus at night.

Why come at night – the last paragraph of the reading helps us here. People do things in the dark they want to keep hidden.  A religious leader seen having a conversation, rather than an argument, with Jesus is not going to go down too well with the other religious leaders. So, Nicodemus tries to see Jesus, on his own, without disciples or crowds.

Then there is a confusing conversation, about being born from above, and what that might mean.

Pharisees, may be seen as the enemy of Jesus a lot of the time, but they were people who tried really hard to keep the rules, all the rules. Jesus tells him that being born from above involves the Spirit. The mysterious Spirit, that blows where it wants to.

And Nicodemus does not understand.

I wonder if what Jesus is trying to get to in the next section is that if someone who is a religious leader doesn’t get this, then there is a problem with the system. [i]

We heard in the Old Testament, how the prophets spoke God’s judgement, and hope, to people. Judgement because they disobeyed God, and hope because God didn’t give up on them. Often the disobedience wasn’t about ritual or tithing, but about justice for the poor, the widow, the traveller.

The system was broken, a system that increasingly was about who was acceptable, or unacceptable.

The system was broken, Jesus came to show people how to love and live, and what it meant to live in relationship with God, not how to tithe herbs.

Jesus gives Nicodemus a new way of thinking.

From the beginning of the gospel of John we have heard that Jesus comes from above but was born physically in the incarnation. Nicodemus has already been born physically but needs to be born spiritually.[ii]

And the Spirit is unpredictable.

Nicodemus, like many educated people, relied on his brain.

And as much as I would like to be able to understand much more of the Bible in terms of knowledge, belief and faith are not about up here [head].
We can know about someone, even God, without ever knowing them.

You can know lots about the royal family or your favourite band, but that doesn’t mean you know them.

This passage is much more about God’s love for us, than how much we know about Jesus.

Here is an image I put up on the Facebook page this week.

https://scontent.fsyd5-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/26951920_1520864577960815_1759664941002858639_o.jpg?oh=351238f00e7ee2a01d76b0ace22516ac&oe=5AEE71E2

Another of looking at this passage.

The original text didn’t come with chapters marked out and verse numbers. It can be difficult sometimes to know where one story finishes and the next one starts.

At the end of chapter 2, John writes:

“In Jerusalem during Passover many people put their faith in Jesus, because they saw him work miracles. But Jesus knew what was in their hearts, and he would not let them have power over him. No one had to tell him what people were like. He already knew.

There was a man named Nicodemus who was a Pharisee and a Jewish leader”

What if the story of Nicodemus, is an example of how Jesus knew what was in the hearts of people?

How when approached by Nicodemus, Jesus saw immediately what was going on, a religious leader who is intrigued by what Jesus has been able to do yet isn’t quite sure what it means.

What if Jesus saw Nicodemus for who he was, even in the dark of night, the one who is the light of the world saw Nicodemus.

What if this passage is about Jesus, Jesus who knows us, Jesus who loves us, Jesus who won’t give up on us.

Jesus who will continue to hold us in love, even when that confuses us.

Jesus who is born of water and spirit and invites us into that life.

 “Jesus is clear. This whole thing is about God’s love for the world. In the end, Jesus had to bring it down to the simplest of terms. God loves the world. Jesus came, not to condemn, but to save. People of the light would respond with joy. People of darkness would flee the light. But God would not condemn anyone – God would give his Son before giving up”. [iii]

How do you feel knowing God will never give up on you?

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[i] http://zionelginil.org/god-can-be-confusing/

[ii] https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3385

[iii] http://zionelginil.org/god-can-be-confusing/

God is on the loose

The first thing to note is that this occurs during Passover.

Passover, the time when they remembered that God had led the people out of slavery in Egypt.

This was one of the major festivals of the Jewish calendar, and a time for people to go to the Temple in Jerusalem.

People would take sacrifices, as required; but if you are travelling for a week, do you really want to be taking a bull or a sheep with you? Even in Deuteronomy [14: 22-26], there is allowance for people to sell their offerings of grain and grapes and animals locally, and use the money to buy their offerings and sacrifices in Jerusalem.

The temple tax was not to be paid with Roman coins, so money changers were a required part of the system.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the gospel of John is thought to have been written down about the turn of the first century.[i]  The reconstruction[ii]  of the Temple in Jerusalem begun under Herod the Great, who ruled until just after the birth of Jesus.  The temple was again destroyed in 70 AD.

This means that the Gospel if John was not written in its final form until after the destruction of the Temple.[iii]

So, what might this passage tell us?

Not to have a cake stall in the church?

John has Jesus saying: Don’t make my Father’s house a marketplace

Is that only animals, or any form of commerce?

I suspect this passage is considered difficult because we read it at face value, and we look for today’s equivalents of selling sheep and cattle and doves in the foyer of the church.

John was writing to let people know who Jesus was:

 “Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life.” John 20:30-31 (CEV)[iv]

“these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God”

John isn’t writing to tell us everything Jesus did, but who Jesus was.

The Temple was the centre of Jewish sacrificial religious life. You could hear or read the Scriptures in the Synagogue, but certain things were only celebrated at the temple.

For centuries the Temple was the place where the people of Israel perceived God to be. I know some people now who believe God is only present in a church building.

The temple was a place to gather as a people, to worship God. But for some it had become fulfilling a duty, and making the right transactions.

I have heard it said that this is a time of transition, but I wonder if ever since time began, there hasn’t been some kind of changes going on.

In turning over the tables of the money changers, in driving out the animals from the Temple, Jesus is saying, things are different now.

“When Jesus, the Word made flesh, comes, …, everything changes. And among the first of these changes is that there is no longer a need to sacrifice, as God will interact with God’s people in a whole new way.”[v]

A few of our readings in the next few weeks challenge the established religious wisdom of the day.

Here I think we are being asked to consider what is at the heart of worship.

In 2 weeks, it will be where do we rightly worship, and later does worship give life.

Why do you come to worship?

We can, and I hope you do, worship God at other times and in other places. Here I am talking about this peculiar activity of meeting together, such as we are doing this morning.

Why do you come to worship?

[space]

Is it because you are on a roster,

or you have nothing better to do on a Sunday morning,

or out of habit?

One way I think of our worshipping life together, is as a community that strengthens and encourages each other,

as we hear the Scripture read,

as we pray together,

as we sing,

as we share some reflections on the Scriptures

as we spend time together, with God and with each other.

Being a follower of Jesus is not always easy,

there are social pressures

and family expectations

and are our own human limitations.

Why do you come to worship?

[space]

A quote:

What if church is not the place we go to encounter God

but the place from which we are sent to encounter God?

what if it’s the place of preparation,

not the destination?

What if the point of church is to attune ourselves to God

so that we can more clearly notice God out in the world?[vi]

What if this time together is not the ‘high’ point of your spiritual life,

but a time to celebrate who we are and who we belong to

a time to retune our God antennas,

our ears and eyes and hearts to see and hear God more readily,

to love more

Which has me wondering, what do we need to worship God as a community of faith?

Looking around this building, what could we do without?

I could do without the pulpit,

what could you do without?

[space]

What helps you connect to God?

What from this place, helps you to recognise God when you are in other places?

[space]

In many conversations in churches worldwide, there are some common issues, such as:

reduced attendance at worship

an absence of younger people,

what does it mean to be at mission?

what does it mean to be a person of faith?

how do we talk about faith today?

or should we talk about our faith

the early Christians had questions to grapple with as well, questions like:

do gentiles need to be circumcised?

what is the role of women in the church

are we part of the Jewish religion? – that one was answered when Christians were expelled from the Synagogues.

Towards the end of the first century, the questions revolved around:

who was Jesus?

how did he relate to God?

if Jesus is divine, how is he also human?[vii]

This passage we heard this morning, speaks about the difference between God residing in a building, and God dwelling in our lives.

My experience is that God dwelling in us, can be life changing,

earth shattering,

bone-jarring

terrifyingly life changing.

because we no longer have a set of required sacrifices

we can no longer pretend that God is only in one place

we can no longer say, I have done my duty

Here is a story:

"Before he became a bishop, Bishop Will Willimon was for many years the chaplain to Duke University. Willimon says he got a phone call once from a father who was very upset. The man was mad because his daughter had gone on a mission trip to Haiti.

The father blamed Willimon for influencing his daughter who had attended chapel at Duke while she was a student there. [I think the father wanted his tuition money back.] He said, “She’s got a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Duke University and now you’ve got her all excited about digging ditches in Haiti! She’s talking about becoming a missionary! She’s talking about doing this sort of thing for the rest of her life! I hold you personally responsible for this ridiculous idea!”

As the conversation went on, Willimon discovered that the girl’s parents had been life-long Presbyterians. They had made sure that their daughter was baptized when she was a baby. They had raised her in the church. They had read her stories from the Bible when she was a little girl and they had taken her to worship and Sunday school and sent her to youth group.

Willimon finally lost his patience and said to the father, “You’re the ones who introduced her to Jesus, not me! What did you expect? What did you expect would happen when you took your daughter to church for all those years?

After a moment of silence, the father replied, “Man, we just wanted her to be a normal old Presbyterian. We didn’t want it to change her life or anything!”"[viii]

let’s face it

God is on the loose,

in our lives and in the world,

and who knows where that will lead.

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[i] Sacra Pagina, The Gospel of John, [ the Liturgical Press, 1998] p2

[ii] http://www.windowintothebible.com/the-temple-at-the-time-of-jesus

[iii] Sacra Pagina, p 12-13

[iv] Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

[v] http://www.davidlose.net/2015/01/john-2-13-22/

[vi] https://www.facebook.com/1417287124985228/photos/a.1428361660544441.1073741828.1417287124985228/1516416161738990/?type=3&theater

[vii] Sacra Pagina, p 20

[viii] https://www.facebook.com/fpcboise/posts/10152361785000095