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Fire.

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John 15:26-27

26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. 27 You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.

Acts 2:1-21 

The Coming of the Holy Spirit 

2 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 

5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.7 Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”12 All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.” 

Peter Addresses the Crowd 

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: 

17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, 

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, 

and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women, 

in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 

19 And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, 

blood, and fire, and smoky mist. 20 The sun shall be turned to darkness 

and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. 

21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ 

The birthday of the church!  Pentecost itself corresponds to the Jewish “Festival of the Weeks”.  It’s a harvest festival that falls 50 days after the Jewish passover.  Jesus was crucified during the passover celebration as we know.  Fifty days later, the disciples are still living in fear, but are in Jerusalem now for another festival.  Can you imagine what those disciples must have been going through in those 50 days?  These past few weeks, we’ve been talking about Jesus’ words in John chapters 14-17, he farewell discourse, and then last week the passage from Acts. Jesus has been preparing his disciples for what was about to come. Now, Jesus did not know all that was about to happen. He did not have any certainty. He didn’t know the outcome of the next day or the next season. Sound familiar? 

Jesus is simply encouraging the disciples, letting them know that even when things get bad, seemingly out of control, that they won’t be alone. They have an identity, they are not going to be orphaned. Which, is an interesting word, in effect, Jesus is saying that they not only have an identity, but that they are still in relationship with a God who is all around them and even in them. 

If we have ever lost someone, we know that even after they are gone, that it often feels like they are still with us. Maybe even more so. Same, but even more with Jesus. We’ve never met Jesus, yet it seems that Jesus is even more present within my body, within my friendships, and within the space between us. Teilhard, a Jesuit priest and theologian,  calls this the cosmic Christ, that Christ not only lived and walked the earth, but is with us, everywhere with everyone and everything, right now. 

There is a Presence, a sense of God’s love all around us and I pray for awareness of God’s Presence. I believe that the greatest gift and struggle that we have as Jesus followers, as humans, is the work of becoming of self, others, and God aware…of being connected to ourselves, others, with the divine flow of God pushing us deeper. The disciples, like us, were in a liminal space, a threshold out of their control and they were being pushed deeper into Presence. 

I strongly believe that, we, and all of humanity is being shaped and formed by God’s movement, that God is with all of us in the most intimate way. God is closer than the air we breathe. Yet, we don’t often recognize God, or sometimes we even deny that God could even exist. The idea of a loving God can scare us. Love transforms, it changes us. Relationships happen, love is the fuel for those relationships to flourish. The juice if you will that burns within us and draws us out towards accepting others and ourselves in community. 

This concept of being “in” relationship with God and with others starts with an understanding that God’s very nature is communal relationship. You can go through all sorts of head knowledge of God, but if we go deep within ourselves, whether we are extroverts or introverts, we are wired for relationship. Science affirms this concept, at the very root of how we are formed, with atoms, protons, neutrons, quarks, etc., there is an understanding that energy is created for atoms to form through attraction, through relationship. 

Our understanding of God as three in one, as Trinity, gives witness to relationships. God as parent, son, holy spirit are so close that they are one. The outcome of their energy together is creating, saving, and sustaining relationship based on love. It is not static, it is dynamic. 

That dynamic energy of three in one God, demonstrated by the outpouring of God’s energy, God’s Spirit on the disciples, gave them courage to face the unknown of going outside of their comfort and into a world that they literally did not understand. They walked into a Jerusalem filled with folks from all over that had different customs, different ethnicities, and different languages.  This Spirit of God is often called the “Advocate”.  God’s Presence literally is advocating for us and is with us…and carried the disciples and us today!

The early disciples knew that they were connected to God, one another, and wanted to share that connection with the world. And, in so doing, they gave birth to a new movement, a new understanding, a new “realization” if you will, that we are all one humanity, God’s children. That our diversity is beautiful, keeps us curious, AND, we can be united and connected in that diversity. Fire was used to describe the Holy Spirit…and that flame, once kindled, proliferated wildly. 

Could this season of change at Westwood First and generally in our culture be another time of revelation, or realization, that releases the power of God’s love in new and creative ways?  It is an apocalyptic time as we have shared in Sundays past…a time of revealing, uncovering.  Not the end of the world, but an indicator that the world is changing…some things are ending so other things can emerge.   And we have to find ways to embrace and adapt to the changes around us.  

As we allow God’s love to pour into us and through us to others, we begin to understand that we are connected to an expansive and wild God. We begin to see faith as not about certainty or having things figured out, but understanding that living in mystery and curiosity, living in a willingness to let go of our control, our vision, and letting God expand our horizons. We are locally rooted in community, and globally connected in Christ…as we let that reality seep in, we begin to experience a deepening of ourselves, a joy in things unseen but lived out. 

God’s Spirit, our advocate, is moving us out…no, not necessarily out in large crowds, not fully yet…maybe outside…who knows, it’s still a bit fuzzy!  But, we are being moved out of ourselves and finding creative ways that God’s Spirit has been at work in and around us during this season, and we are adapting, embracing this new reality, not certain of where it will lead, but trusting that God’s Spirit will energize us, that God’s Son will be our friend, and that God’s relational flow will continue to give birth to new possibilities. 

As we continue to gather in worship, in retreats, the Abbey, the neighborhood, or wherever…as we serve and befriend our neighbors, read, journal, and contemplate on God’s movement in our lives, may we see God is in us, and we find our being in God. This being will move us in ways we don’t always expect. Look at the early disciples that are described in Acts. They experienced the Advocate, the Spirit, it’s like a flame, a fire, that’s burning, uncontrollable, yet warms them and moves them to change the world. May it be so for us. 

Choose.

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Acts 1:15-17

15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) and said, 16 “Brothers and sisters,the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus, 17 for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”

Acts 1:21-26

21 “So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” 23 So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was added to the eleven apostles.

How do we make choices?  Many of you know my deep love for the University of Kentucky.  I’ve been an avid fan all of my life.  But, you’ll be surprised to know how I made my decision to go to UK.  I had applied to Belmont in Nashville, Georgetown College in Kentucky, even the University of Tennessee (God forbid!), as well as Kentucky. 

I made my decision to go to UK when I was walking down the halls of my high school in between classes when one of my best friends that I grew up with, Jeff Hume, yelled at me from across the hall and said, “Rich, are you going to room with me at UK next year?”  I quickly said “yes” without even flinching.  Decision made. 

Now, in life, we have all probably had different ways of making decisions.  With our kids, we always have the “pros and cons” list.  I also tell myself and others that, upon making a decision, if you have time, let it sit for a while, see how it feels and what is emerging within you, and then make the call.

Most of us probably don’t cast lots like the disciples did though as it says in our New Testament reading when replacing the disciple Judas.

Yet, I think that there was a lot of trust, a deeper trust, with the disciples.  Which is amazing, considering that you’d think their trust would be shattered.  One of their own, Judas, had turned in Jesus, had betrayed him.  Yet, they still trusted something deeper.  They trusted that God resided in them and in all things and people.  They trusted that they would be able to find someone to take Judas’ place and that God would lead them towards someone whose heart was good. 

It’s also interesting to note that they had a deeper trust that Judas’ actions were part of a larger flow of God’s imagination.  God does not want or condone violence.  God certainly did not send Jesus to the cross, that was a consequence of the pathologies of humans who would not let go of their worldly status and thought they had to kill Jesus in order to protect their way of living.

Yet, the story of Judas also fits within the story of Jesus…actually, all betrayals and sufferings fit within the story of Jesus, and, consequently, our story.  The disciples acknowledge that Judas was a part of them, was their brother, and, I believe, had a sense of grace for him even in his betrayal.

I often feel some sadness for Judas, he could not muster the courage to confront his betrayal and live into the grace that Jesus gave him.  He could not find a way to love himself after he realized what he had done. 

Yet, the story of Jesus and the story of God is one where love always wins and love moves us towards an acceptance of ourselves, and of others, and that God’s story and our story are one and the same. 

The cross, the death of Jesus, is part of the cycle of life that we all live in…life, death, resurrection and new life.  As a friend said this week, we need to come awake to the reality that we must die in this life before we die…that’s the way we move towards life, abundant life.

We know the Easter story, that love overcomes death, but we have to recognize that the choice that Jesus made is one that we all are called to make.  To count the cost of what it means to be truly human as made in God’s image.  And, that Easter is not a separate event from our experience.  It’s not just Jesus on that cross, it’s all of us. 

As the psalm passage says, our actions are thrown in the fire that are wicked.  It is meant to convey that we are not thrown into a fire, but that our actions that are wicked are burned away and put back into the earth for growth.

The Christ Presence that permeates all of creation, the Universe really, and resides within us is calling us to make a choice, or to become awake, and cultivate that awareness.  And, to trust a deeper trust than circumstances in our lives and culture.

That’s happening at Westwood First.  When I first came to Westwood First’s Session, we talked about this kind of deep trust.  And that it is a trust that is given, not really earned.  A deeper trust indeed…and one that produces fruit.  We are already seeing it…and living into it. 

There’s a great story here…and it’s a part of the larger story of God.  

I heard this quote recently:

“Unless Christianity is understood to be the most realistic and cosmic of faiths and hopes, nothing has been understood of its mysteries.” (Teilhard de Chardin)             

This quote reflects on the necessity of understanding Christianity not just as a religious faith but as a comprehensive cosmological perspective that addresses the real and vast universe. – Cynthia Bourgeault

We don’t know the future, nor should we, but we have a great story at Westwood First, a mystery, yes, and a faith that is universal and a deeper reality built on a deeper trust.

Let’s continue to choose to trust, to love, and to produce good fruit in the soil of our congregation and community.  And, my goodness, we are already seeing the fruit of the choices we have made together!  Amen?

Gardening.

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John 15:1-8

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. 2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunesto make it bear more fruit. 3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and becomemy disciples. 

This church is full of gardeners…I’ve loved pulling up to the church and seeing folks like the Tepe’s working in the church’s gardens!   

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about nature and our care for it…maybe because Earth Day was on Monday…or because I’ve been doing some much needed yard work this week.

Debbie, my spouse, also loves to garden.  We have a small garden bed next to our house, as well as flower gardens around the house (which we try to keep our dogs out of!).  I remember a few years ago, when I came back from my run, Debbie was working in the garden with a young neighbor friend of ours, Aniya.  This young girl simply loved getting her hands dirty and being with Debbie.  

It’s safe to say, that gardens are great metaphors and images.  

In our passage this morning, the imagery of God as a master gardener speaks to us as a beautiful metaphor. God has given us life and cultivates us to be the best versions of ourselves, beautiful creations. God even plants himself into humanity. Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. Jesus is often called the “seed” of humanity, and that seed grows or works its way throughout humanity, producing much good and beauty in each of us. 

The metaphor of Jesus being the vine, the connection, the bridge if you will between humanity and God…really, is in Jesus’ entire being. Jesus is the “word” that’s been given to us as mentioned in this passage, the expression of God. The one that we are called to follow. The one who’s vine we are the branches. 

The master gardener prunes, works on us, takes away the things that make us dead. Sometimes that pruning, or the literal Greek in this text is “taking away”, can hurt. We don’t like it when we are told that we need to change, that we need to grow. We create habits for getting by that may get us through the day, or even years, but really aren’t healthy or helpful to others around us. We have pride, we have insecurities. 

That’s not only true of each of us, but it’s also true of us collectively as a community and as a church. When I read or hear some of the things on Next Door Finneytown, or talk to other faith leaders across our neighborhood and the city, or listen to business owners or civic leaders here in Westwood, I hear a lot. Sometimes, honestly, there can be some who play something like middle school politics, but it’s more “grown up”. I also see it within our churches and families. We often get into places relationally with each other that simply don’t move us or others forward towards growth. 

We need to be loved on by a master gardener, and cultivate a desire to be with the master gardener…and to be outside, with people, in this master Gardner’s garden…the world!   That love that the master gardener has for us also means pruning some of the things away that are not necessary in order for us to see within ourselves, others, the church, and our neighbors that true beauty that we are. 

There is also this part of the text that talks about the unproductive branches being thrown into the fire.  Now, this is an interesting thing…we actually had some “fire” if you will at our last pub theology talking about this in a way…God does not waste anything, God is in the business of redeeming and growing.  This is a metaphor that God will use the compost of our lives and refine it…and use it for the growing of other things.  People are not branches thrown into the fire, but our actions which do not produce good fruit are and used to grow other things that do produce fruit.  First century listeners would get that this part of the pruning process I’d imagine.

It’s been pretty obvious for us as a church, community, country, and world, that the pandemic, and the years since then, have been a time of pruning, even lament, yet it is producing growth.  This pruning if you will has been happening in my life.  I have felt the brokenness in my family life, church life, and community life.  My statement of late is that I am becoming nothing, which is something and everything.  But, it always starts with allowing things to be pruned, for me to let go.

How do we further cultivate this way of life where we can see the growth? By remaining in Christ, connected to the vine. This passage is an imperative in the Greek in verse 4. Jesus is stating emphatically to remain in him. Then he says that he will remain in us. This is not a cause and effect statement, or a transactional statement. Jesus is saying that he will remain in us, period. His presence with us is not conditional. He does say though to us, to remain in him. To be connected, to be willing to grow and be beautiful for yourself and for others. I also like the translation, “abide”.  We are to abide with Christ and Christ abides with us. 

If we remain in Jesus, if we follow the trajectory of his words and his life, we can see a radical inclusion of all of our stuff inside of us and outside of us. A radical inclusion that means that we are loved unconditionally, and those around us, no matter where they are in life, are also to be included. 

That can be messy. You have seen it in our relationships, and if you haven’t, you will someday!! I am a fairly solid and mostly competent pastor to Westwood First Presbyterian Church (most days), but I also make mistakes, and I certainly don’t have all of the answers. And, our church has made tons of mistakes over the century plus of our existence.  None of us have all of the answers, that’s why it’s imperative that we remain in Christ, and remain connected to him and conversely with each other, we can be pruned, we can own our mistakes and lean in on grace, and grow together into a beautiful part of the vineyard here in Cincinnati. 

And, we will bear much fruit in the process…we already have! Live into that, live into God, as God lives in you!!!

Endgame.

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Jeremiah 31:31-34

A New Covenant

31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.

John 12: 20-33

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, 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. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

27 “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people[a] to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

My kids have an amazing memory.  Especially my son when he was younger.  If I promise something to him, or even hint at a promise.  He doesn’t forget.  If something comes up and we have to possibly be flexible, Brennan will simply say, “but you promised” and that’s the end of that for him.

If you are a parent, you know that it’s not always easy to keep your promises to your kids, try as you might, you simply can’t always do it.  Grace then becomes a necessary gift to demonstrate and teach!

Our Old Testament lesson is about the promise, or covenant, of loving relationship.  God has made promises to the people of Israel.  A covenant of deliverance from Egypt, which God delivered on.  Now the Israelites find themselves in exile in Babylon.  God tells them that he has new promises for them.  A covenant of abundance, of Presence, of blessing, of relationship.  In this passage, God uses the term husband.  Now, this is not meant to be patriarchal, but it was written a few thousand years ago, and the author is trying to convey something deeper than a masculine or feminine expression.  This is a word of deep relationship, of connection, of relationship.  The author is saying that God has made a commitment to Israel, to us, God is with us in relationship.

The passage goes on to say that God’s law will be put on our inward parts, on our hearts.  It will no longer be about following a set of rules written in stone, but they will be placed on our hearts, they will become a part of us and lived out.  

This is demonstrated to us by Jesus.  Jesus embodied the law as we have said before.  God’s covenants to us are fulfilled through Jesus in deep and powerful, and loving ways.  We are called to cultivate, to discipline ourselves to follow Jesus, or, rather, to know what it means to “live in Christ”. But, this discipline is essential in growing in our understanding of our true selves as created, redeemed, and sustain by God.  The root word of discipline even comes from disciple.  A disciple is a student, a follower of Jesus.  Now, Jesus also reminds us alter, that being a disciple leads to be a friend of one another and of God’s at the Last Supper.  Living in Christ, and being a friend of Jesus is more about being than doing.  It’s living out the Presence of God that is within and all around…and cultivating an awareness of our deepest identity that is in Christ.  

In our gospel lesson, we hear Jesus talking to some Greeks, probably Greeks who were seeking to know more about God, who were drawn to Jesus’ teaching because it had power and demonstrated a challenge to the current system that governed culture.  Jesus shares with them a hard thing to hear.  That in order for something to grow, it has to die.  He goes on to say that you have to lose your life to gain it.

This is hard to hear, yet true.  When I was a kid, we lived on about 7 acres.  My uncle lived next door and had a few more acres of land.  We shared a large garden that was about 1/2 the size of a football field.  Every year, in the fall, the plants and veggies in the garden would die and go back into the ground.  He had a larger farm with cows.  In the spring, we would go to the cow field where we had a manure pile.  I hated this job, but we’d load up a bunch of smelly manure and spread it on our garden.  Before that we would have tilled the ground to loosen it up and to churn up all of the dead plants into the ground.  It was hard work, but when did that, planted the seeds, and then put the manure all over it, the nutrients that came from the smelly waste, would cause the ground to produce life.  In order to do some of the more mundane chores, I would simply have to follow my dad and uncle’s lead, and live in a trust that they knew what they were doing, yet I benefited from great food and I learned a lot.  

Jesus is calling us to be truly human and to grow.  The way of Jesus can be hard, it requires trust, sometimes we have to spread some manure, till the ground.  Yet, seeds are constantly being planted in our lives and in the lives of others that produce beautiful things.

Friends, we may have gone through some difficulties, or death, in the past…or even right now, we may be dealing with addictions, with broken relationships, or strained relationships out of the pandemic and the tumultuous years we’ve gone through, maybe we have experienced betrayal even, having been betrayed or the betrayer.  We may have a physical set back or even death.  We have fears, anxieties.  Yet, I’m here to tell you that’s part of life, it smells, it’s hard.  God does not cause bad things to happen, but know that God is working to produce good things, to restore relationship, in all of it.  If we can trust God, then we may be able to see and to hear what God may want to pull out of the waste, out of death. 

That’s hard for some.  I know there are probably some folks in this room who are ready to give up on their life with God and maybe even giving up on church.  I’d love to tell you about a God who is giving you, and giving Westwood First Presbyterian new promises of life.  Our future with God is filled with God’s intimate presence with us as we practice disciplining ourselves through community with each other, through reading the scriptures with new eyes, through practices such as contemplation, lectio divina, listening, sabbath, and service.  We will be starting some new things this spring with our adult education, which we will call the “Westside Abbey @ Westwood First Presbyterian,” where we will be cultivating some of these practices and teachings.  The word Abbey means “joy” in its Hebrew roots…it also denotes a space set aside for spiritual growth.  God is calling us to cultivate a life and love with radical inclusion in our communities and within ourselves.  There is grace, and there is trust…both go towards growth.

The title of this sermon is “Endgame”.  My son and I used to watch the Marvel movies when they came out, so I thought of that movie!  

Jesus talks about the “endgame” in the gospel passage.  But, it’s not like the endgame in Avengers.  Jesus is not a super hero in the way that we imagine super heroes.  He is not crushing enemies.  He is following the way of humility, of emptying, of dying, which is much more powerful than any Avengers movie storyline.  It’s a storyline of practice that has changed my life, your life, and the world.  

Jesus knew this, Jesus also knew that he had to die.  He died because of his challenge of a system that kept all of us enslaved to a way of life that was getting us nowhere…yet Jesus overcame that system, challenged that system, and invites us to love our neighbors as he did…Jesus even overcame death and is alive today, giving us hope that as he is lifted up, we are lifted up with him and are able to live full lives forever with him.  The Ruler of the world in this passage is both Caesar and a deeper ruler, some would call Satan or evil systems…Jesus came to usher in a new reality that is both spiritual and material.  A new way of living.   

Let us be a church that lives out this radical call on our lives to follow Jesus by living in Christ.  That in knowing our identity in Christ, we don’t have to force our God on others, just love others well and allow God to be shown through us!  

Consumed.

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John 2:13-22

13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?”21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

It seems like I can be consumed by a lot of things at times.  I have a lot of interests.  If you go to my basement, you’ll see lots of hiking and camping gear, lots of fly fishing gear, rock climbing gear, and, of course, running shoes and clothes.  Just walk into my office, look at the shelves and walls, you’ll see a lot of interests.  Doing different things, having interests, are not bad in and of themselves, but, if they consume you, then, not so healthy.  We can even become enslaved to them.

Our Old Testament lesson comes from Exodus that we didn’t read this morning.  The Israelites had been held in slavery in Egypt.  They were oppressed and under a system that kept them from even imagining their potential.  A friend of mine, Walter Brueggemann, has some things to say on this.  Dr. Brueggemann is one of the world’s foremost old testament theologians. I also had the privilege of being in a small group with him for a year or so where we explored issues around Jubilee and legacy.

Dr. Brueggemann believes that the Exodus story has been played out throughout history.  The Israelites were reduced to producers.  The Egyptians were consumers.  They needed the Israelites to produce in order to maintain their lifestyle.  The Israelites were enslaved.  And, if we aren’t careful, we become producers and consumers and can become enslaved to either system, or even both at the same time!  We are so much more and God is the equalizer who called forth a new system that calls us towards true freedom.  Not freedom defined by doing whatever we want and ignoring the needs of others, but actually of being who we were created to be…persons in deep love with ourselves, others, and through the love that God has for us.

In that new system, God gave Israel some guidelines.  These are looked at as commandments, but they are deeper than that.  The Israelites had been living under an oppressive system, the law that Moses gave was meant to be deep abiding principles to live by that gave life and meaning to every relationship.  

The overriding principle is a deep passion for God.  To be consumed by God’s relationship with us and pursuit of us.  That love, that relationship that releases from slavery as producers or material consumers, to people filled with purpose, meaning, and the freedom to love ourselves, others, and God.  

Friends, we live in a similar system today.  The gap between the rich and those living day to day is getting wider, and the pandemic has actually highlighted that gap.  We are easily fooled by cultural, political and even religious manipulations that keep us from becoming the persons God has created us to be.  It has created bias within us and around us that we all need to sort through…I know I have my bias!  We are called to live into a new reality that is marked by God’s love for us and our love for God and others…and to have imagination for a better way of living!

Author and friend Brian McLaren says this:  

Jesus used imagination to punch a tiny hole in their walls of confirmation bias, and through that tiny hole, some new light could stream in and let them know of a bigger world beyond their walls.

Jesus came to us fully embodying the Law and with an expansive, divine and human imagination.  He was the law in human flesh, the example.  We have this account from his life in the book of John this morning.

The book of John, like the other Gospel accounts, is presenting the life of Jesus, while declaring that he is the Son of God.  After entering Jerusalem, Jesus goes to the Temple.  The Temple according to Jewish understanding in which Jesus was a part, was the center of religious life in Jerusalem.  It was a house of worship to the one God and at its center, was the very presence of God dwelling on earth.   There was a system of sacrifice where worshippers could come and purchase doves to make atonement for their sins at the temple.  Since they came from all over, they needed money changers to convert their currency so that they could buy what they needed to leave at the altar.  There was nothing wrong with this practice, it was a necessary function in the Temple to make sacrifices.  Yet, it had become a huge operation and was interrupting the practice of prayer.  It was a “busyness” that was distracting to those who were there to worship.    

Jesus was frustrated to see the Temple be a distraction, so he makes a point by driving them out all who were selling and buying.  The Greek work used in this text is a form of the verb “ekballo” for “drove out”, or literally to throw out.

Now, Jesus doesn’t hurt anyone physically in this text, he does no harm other than moving some furniture.  Nor was Jesus interested in starting a protest movement as he acted alone.  Jesus casts out those who were selling and those who were buying.  Folks had turned the temple into a place of consumption, rather than a place set aside for worship and community.  This didn’t set well with Jesus. He wanted folks to know that they are more than merely consumers…that they themselves are the temple of God and that this temple was a place to remind them of that.  

After throwing the folks out, Jesus sticks around and something happens:  others came and shared space with Jesus.  The lame and the blind, those who were not whole and felt marginalized, those who had nothing to give came to Jesus and were healed and restored into community. 

The religious leaders were angry when they saw what was happening. Jesus was threatening the status quo, the way things had been done.  

He even said that the temple would be torn down…that this system of consumption can’t sustain itself.  Tear it down and it would be rebuilt by him in 3 days.  The religious leaders mocked him.  But, in effect, Jesus was saying that this system of exploitation is ending, I am showing you a better way.  Your system leads to death, my life leads to resurrection.  The old way has to go, a new way based on God’s love for all is here.

Oftentimes, I meet folks who describe themselves as “church refugees”.  They long to know that church is more than just showing up on Sundays or simply about being busy, they long for a house of prayer where they can simply be and live, love, and serve others.  They feel like they live in a foreign country, longing to inhabit their promised home. 

You may be sitting here today feeling anxious, frustrated, or a “refugee”.  I believe that God is calling each of us to inhabit this church, to be a part of Christ’s body and consumed by a zeal to gather together and worship God in community with others, really to see and experience this God that lives within all of us and all around us.  God is probably not calling us to turn over any tables around here, yet he is calling us to not settle for the status quo.  God does not want us to be distracted from seeing God in everyone and being God’s body in this world.  We are called together to be God’s dwelling in which God’s very Spirit, God’s Presence lives.  We fill our lives, our temple that God has established, with so much that oftentimes we forget who, or rather, who’s we are.  God is calling us to be “consumed” by our identity as the body of Christ.  God calls us to not simply just go to a house of prayer, but for each of us, joined together under Christ, to be God’s house of prayer.  I tell folks all of the time to “own” the space God has called them into, to have agency.  In other words, to remember that we are not powerless, we have the very power of God within us and around us and that power is evident when we spend time in silence or with others in prayer and when we put our focus inside and outside on a God who animates who we are, our gifts, for the good of ourselves and others.

God has blessed this church in many ways and God calls us to be a foretaste of what his Kingdom will someday be.  I shared this with a friend recently, I had a very lucid dream about Westwood First Presbyterian.  I was walking into this building and it was filled with energy:  there was a coffeeshop, craft and food markets, a pub even!  There were also folks of all varieties in this place, a hub of activity for the community.  It was also filled with all sorts of non-profit and for-profit work that lined up with this notion of working for the common good.  I was looking for a meeting that I was supposed to attend and a group of folks from the church met me, so sure of themselves and their desire to be a welcoming presence.  They were consumed with a love of Self and Others and seeing God’s flow in this congregation and community. 

Friends, being consumed by the things of this world leads to a dead end…being consumed by God’s love leads to overcoming, even death…as we are consumed by this God who loves us so, may we be a beacon of hope to our neighborhoods and beyond by how we live and love each other, God, and the community around us.

Deny.

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PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

May the light of your soul guide you.
May the light of your soul bless the work
You do with the secret love and warmth of your heart.
May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.
May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal to those
Who work with you and to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement.
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in the bland absences.
May the day never burden you.
May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams,
Possibilities and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered and protected.
May your soul calm, console and renew you.

― May The Light Of Your Soul Guide You, by John O’Donohue

Mark 8:31-38

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

34 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 37 Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? 38 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

How many times have we heard something, but we just don’t get it?  It may be right in front of us, or someone we are close to may be telling us something…but, we just don’t see it or hear it!  I know that’s true in my life!

And, how many times do we say something and wonder, is anyone listening?  Believe me, I wonder that all of the time as a dad and as a preacher!!  

In our gospel lesson, we see Jesus giving a somber declaration, a prophetic word, that he must suffer, that he will be betrayed, and that he will be killed.  Peter would have none of this!  He had put his identity and expectations in and on Jesus.  His sense of self, his image, was wrapped up in a triumphant Jesus, a victorious Messiah.  Yet, Jesus says that tragedy must come first, that suffering is a key part of our identity in Christ.

Identity is interesting.  I have an identity…I’m a runner, pastor, parent, husband, friend…you have an identity as well.  Our church has an identity…we think of it in some ways, others may think of it in other ways.

In our culture, we also put our identities in somewhat vague national ideas…I’m a Democrat, or I am a Republican, or something else.  We place our identities in things that we have been conditioned to place them in.  Now, I’m not saying it’s wrong to have political or cultural opinions, I certainly do.  Yet, in so many ways, we have lost our identity, our connections to ourselves and one another.  We do not feel an identity in the local, in our neighborhoods and even in our city.  We’ve let ideologies and marketing shape us rather than getting into the nitty gritty of everyday local relationships, as well as an awareness of who we really are.  We have lived above place, not in or with place and we have lived in the layers that we have created rather than from our deepest selves, our humanity, our souls. 

There comes a time in our lives when all of the identities that we have taken on, and even the roles we play, come into question and we ask, “who are we really?”  

Oftentimes, when we put our identities above our human experience and relationships.  We don’t often like to deal with struggle or suffering.  Even if we know we can’t avoid it.

Friends, this is what Jesus is sharing with us this morning.  Life is filled with suffering.  We do all that we can to avoid it, but it’s there. 

Jesus says in our text this morning that in order to be a follower of Jesus, we must deny ourselves and take up Jesus’ cross, the way of suffering.  We must be willing to enter into the darkness of our lives, the lives of others, and this world.  This is a hard word, but if we are to enter into life, true life where we grow and become all that God intended, if we want to experience true joy, we must be willing to suffer and look at who we really are. 

Jesus knows this and addresses it head on.  Peter rebukes Jesus for saying this, yet Jesus gives a strong response as a Rabbi should and would do to one of his disciples, “get behind me Satan”.  Don’t deny what I’m saying or will experience.  Jesus is frustrated, but Jesus loves Peter and wants Peter to understand that he cannot hide from suffering.  

We don’t want to deny ourselves, we don’t want to struggle, and we don’t want to ask hard questions of ourselves oftentimes in the church.  We look for miracle workers instead of looking for the miracles that we have deep within us.  We want the church to be filled with people, to come and join us, but we don’t stop to think about what those same people really want…a group of folks deeply committed to each other and willing to put others ahead of them and to deny themselves, enter into the struggles of others, be uncomfortable, and inconvenienced.  We want a new identity, a new chapter, but do we want to enter deeply into the questions of our lives, our life together as a congregation, and our identity with Westwood, the place that is in our name?!

We have an amazing church filled with amazing gifts in our people.  How do we release ourselves from what we’ve always done and find replenishing and renewing life by inviting others in to co-create new possibilities with us, while also engaging the community and joining in with what God is already doing around us?

I think it starts with vulnerability.  This season, this church has blessed me personally by so many folks being vulnerable with me…honestly vulnerable.  So many folks have allowed me to also be vulnerable…when we start their, which, by the way, is the example of Jesus and God’s power…humility, emptying, and listening…

We feel like we have to have answers, have it all together, when, in reality, none of us do! 

Jesus does go on to say that if we deny ourselves, if we take up our cross, if we are willing to look at our lives and become aware of who we are even in our suffering and darkness, to embrace the suffering and darkness, empty ourselves and be open to the Christ presence within and around us, then we will find Jesus with us.  Jesus will not give up on us.  

Jesus didn’t give up on Peter, and doesn’t give up us.  Peter is often called the rock.  Jesus said that he’d build his church on this same Peter that he rebuked.  He believed in Peter.

And, this same Jesus believes in Westwood First Presbyterian Church.  Like Peter, we have to be vulnerable, and authentic, and also realize that we need healing and growth.  

I believe in this church.  This church’s best history is ahead of us, and that means embracing change, growth, and even the times we live in now.  We have to change, we have to think differently, we have to open the doors of our church to others with love and with wisdom, we have to move beyond the way we’ve done church and think differently in order to build community with those around us.

Friends, yes, God’s story, and ours, is filled with suffering and tragedy, but the story doesn’t end there.  Yes, Jesus is betrayed, Jesus suffers, Jesus is killed.  We are betrayed, we suffer, and we die.  Yet, there is resurrection.  There is new life.  There is a Risen Christ.  WE will rise with the Christ, and, in fact, we are rising daily with this Christ, even as we experience suffering.  We are learning to trust as we hang in there with the story, living through the tragic as well as the triumphant, while staying committed to the authenticity that we’ve demonstrated for a long time.  The world around us is looking for that authenticity and a willingness to embrace the messy world we all live in, knowing that we aren’t alone in the messiness or the suffering.  God is with us, and Lord willing, a community of folks around us.  Amen?

Deconstruct.

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The Baptism of Jesus

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

The Temptation of Jesus

12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

In a world of division and disillusionment, it is hard to know what we can depend on.  And, here we have a faith that says nothing is certain other than God’s love that resides within us and around us.  Yet, there are so many layers in our lives and culture that cloud that vision.  A lot of it stems from experiences.  

When I was a kid in a youth group, a freshman.  I remember going on a missions trip.  I loved our youth group.  I felt a part of something.  Before we left on that trip, the youth director, someone that I really respected, told us that we were going to King’s Island at the end of the trip.  Sounded fun!  Then he said we would have to wear long pants and our youth group t-shirts, which were 3/4 sleeve shirts with a funky hand coming out of heaven design on the front.  It was 1982, but not sure if that ever was fashionable.  I did not want to wear those at King’s Island…simply ugly shirts.  Plus, it was July! Who wears long pants in July at an amusement park.  I protested, yet, got over it.

That week, there were lots of great memories…and also a lot of practical jokes.

But, by the end of the week, we were all excited to go to Kings Island.  We boarded our church bus, it was full of kids and adult leaders, but I got a seat at the front.  I wanted to be the first one to see the Eiffel Tower…which was a big thing in our family when we went to King’s Island…a kind of competition.

Well, sure enough, as we got closer to King’s Island, I was excited, looking for the Eiffel Tower…I forgot all about having to wear my long pants and ugly shirt…even led a chant on the church bus with everyone saying “almost there”…then, like magic, I saw the Tower first and let out a yell of happiness!  I won!  Then I turned around to see everyone on the bus taking off their shirts and long pants to reveal that they had on short sleeve regular shirts and shorts on underneath their clothes.  I looked over at my youth pastor, who was also taking off his long pants and youth group shirt…I was the brunt of one major practical joke. I laughed, told everyone how funny it was…went to the back of the bus…and, yes, you probably know how I felt…dejected, alone, and disappointed.  

Over the years, I have felt more disappointment with the church…I know many of you have as well.  Yet, I still hang on to a notion that church can be so much more, for all of us.  Also, if you are like me, you have found great disappointment in what life was supposed to offer you and you have been disappointed with God even…like Jesus, wandering the wilderness…these have been amazing seasons of growth actually.  There is a word that describes what happens in our faith journeys in the wilderness of life, when we are faced with life’s ups and downs…that word is “deconstruction”, when we have to tear down all of the things and roles that we’ve been handed in our faith in order to “reconstruct” a faith that is not about certainty, but about living in beauty and mystery.

In our faith journey, we have times where we doubt God’s commitment to us…we forget…I know I do.  These are times where my faith is “deconstructed”, sometimes even a time of wilderness…but, it is through those times where my faith also grows.  And, through it all, at different times, we see that God’s commitment to us is deeper and more intimate than we could imagine.  

Our gospel, or “good news” text this morning is also about coming to a now moment of a promise fulfilled. 

The Israelites had been promised a Messiah, a deliverer.  Jesus, who’s very name means “salvation” comes on to the scene after John the Baptist had been announcing that the time was upon Israel for the Messiah.  John the Baptist recognizes Jesus as the messiah, he baptizes him, and then the voice comes out of heaven, the voice of God proclaiming that Jesus has relationship with the Father, his son.  That the relationship between God and humanity has been marked in Jesus through a shared essence with God and with humanity.  Jesus is the bridge.  And, he is loved by all that God is…when the voice of heaven pronounces this love, that is a message to us that God loves all of us as we share in Jesus’ humanity. 

It’s interesting to me that in the Gospel of Mark, the temptation of Jesus, Jesus’ going into the wilderness, comes right after this amazing moment of baptism, of commitment, and of God’s voice calling Jesus “beloved”.  

Mark doesn’t go into as much detail about the temptations in the desert as the other writers of the gospels do.  Mark seems to want to give us the facts without the details, the writer of Mark seems like he wants to get to the end of the book, the end of the story quickly.  

We know from the other gospel accounts that Jesus was tempted to be relevant, powerful, and to solve the worlds needs.  Yet, he resisted.  Jesus knew who we was and that his life had more meaning, that hope for the world.  In order for us, to know and love each other well, to be inclusive and work towards personal and communal wholeness and abundance, we needed to see Jesus’ life, his coming to us, his living with us, his dying because of us, and his rising from the dead, overcoming everything, Jesus had to do the hard work of confronting his doubts, his demons, his temptations.

I think that says something to us…we are marked by God’s love…and that love, all love, doesn’t grow until it’s put into the wilderness, where temptations to move past something and get back to “civilization” or “normal” too fast prevents us from growing.  Friends, as we are walking this wilderness of life and culture, and faced with temptations of different voices calling us to this conspiracy theory or some ideology or so called “leaders” with empty promises…or, even worst, acting like nothing is happening and just ignoring what’s going on around us and wanting to be comfortable, we miss the opportunity to grow and become all that God intends.  

During this season of Lent, we have been given time to go to the desert with Jesus.  To confront our own demons, doubts, and temptations.  To see Jesus as the one who loves us and believes in us…and to mark our allegiance to God’s kingdom presence over anything or person in this world.  To deconstruct, or to die to self, in order to reconstruct or to live into new life, new birth.  

This is a call for us personally, and for us a church and a member of this community, this neighborhood. 

Our calling as a church is to be the people who live into mystery, into living in the universal presence of Christ, or the Kingdom of God if you will.  To have confidence and humility in who we are as the Jesus’ body.  To repent, which again, in Greek is “metanoia”, or change of heart and mind, where we need to and to grow from a time of being in the wilderness to a place of paradise and promise for the world around us.

It is hard work, letting God’s Presence emerge within us…seeing the Kingdom of God..yet we have a redeemer-kinsman, a friend, who is with us, in us, around us who want so reveal to us the abundance that is life with God. 

Friends, believe in the good news.  The time is now for Westwood First Presbyterian and for me and for you, to live into the promise of God’s Presence in our lives, of God’s kingdom of justice, fairness, honor, deep love, of God’s friendship with us to be lived out and made real for us and for our neighbors.

Revelation!

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Mark 1:21-28

The Man with an Unclean Spirit

21 They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! Hecommands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.                  

Several years ago, it actually seems like ages ago now, even lifetimes…my family moved to Pasadena, CA where I went to seminary to finished my masters in divinity degree.  It was a great season of adventure and new experiences almost every week.  I went to seminary a bit later in life so I had a young family.  I had received great advice from a professor at my seminary to not only study, but to enjoy this season.  Our family still remembers fondly going to the beach most Sundays after church for picnics, hiking in the mountains surrounding Pasadena, weekend trips to Yosemite, Joshua Tree, San Luis Obispo, King’s Canyon, Mexico, and simply being in LA and experiencing the beauty of the diversity in thought and culture that was seminary and being in Pasadena.

One experience, one story, fits with our discussion on “revelation”, or something being revealed to us and being astonished or overwhelmed.  

I was in a seminary class one day.  I got to class late, which is probably not a surprise to some already here at Westwood First, if not, I’m sure it will at some point, although I am much better these days..  Getting to class late, I had to sit in the back row of this class with a friend of mine Igors who was from Latvia.  The desks in the back where not comfortable and had the small pull out desk spaces…too small for my laptop (this was before the iPad!).  Igors was a good friend, we climbed Mt. Whitney together with some other friends.  He had lived through Soviet rule in Latvia.  This guy was not afraid, which is important to remember.  

Our class had a visiting professor from the UK.  He was an accomplished scholar with a great wit about him.  He had some great stories to share, and, on that day, he experienced another event that would make a great story.

As we were sitting in class, the room began to move, the windows behind our back row desks began to wobble in ways that they were not created to do…the frames around the window looked like they were turning into jello.  Everyone in the class jumped underneath their desks, Igors and I jumped up, we looked at each other, and realized that we had no cover because of our small desks because we were late and that no one else wanted…meanwhile our professor, with his British accent, yelled “earthquake” with a kind of question mark and ran out the door…

This earthquake, apparently a 5 or 6 point something, lasted a few moments with its epicenter just a few miles away from Pasadena.

After it stopped, we joked a bit, looked around for damage, remarked about how LA really is prepared for this sort of thing, and we all left class as our professor decided to cancel it after he came back in the room.  As I was walking home a few blocks away, I looked up in the mountains around me, and was overwhelmed with a sense that I had just experienced something that was overwhelming, that could bring down buildings and these mountains.  I also thought about a revelation that overwhelmed me to the point of tears:  God’s power, this supernatural “other” that causes things to grow, to create, and in the words of the psalmist, can cause mountains to tremble.  When I got home, I found my family safe, but they too had some amazing stories to share.

Our gospel passage this morning gives witness to a powerful God, to an experience that caused those witnessing it and experiencing it to tremble and marvel.  There is a man who has been demon possessed, he is out of his wits.  Some would say he had a mental illness or dismiss it as a possession, either way, he was not healthy and in need of healing.  

In the book of Mark, the author has a theme of painting Scribes and Pharisees, those who were scholars and priests, as folks concerned with power.  They had a system, a way of life, that they wanted to maintain.  Any threat to the status quo, their transactional way of living that kept them at the top of the social structure, they would try to squash through all sorts of power plays, arguments, bullying, social threats, and even physical threats.  They were afraid of Jesus.  His presence and stance on loving others, especially those on the margins that the Scribes and Pharisees wanted to keep on the margins, threatened them.  Jesus was bringing these “other” folks into the synagogues, inviting them to the parties that “they” all attended, including those who were hard to love.  He was inviting folks to question, and even change the system that was in place that prevented folks from experiencing growth.

The “people” in this passage, as it says in verse 22 were astounded by Jesus’ teaching.  He had authority that the Scribes didn’t have.  He had relationship and was  practitioner of loving actions, whereas the Scribes didn’t and were not.  They were amazed, but they still don’t necessarily believe.  Oftentimes we are amazed, but we still have disbelief, we have to ask ourselves, are we looking to be amazed even today?  Or do we want to keep the status quo, stay comfortable and in some sense of control?  As we talked a bit about last week, the Hebrew language has a lot of words for “marvel”…do we want to marvel, to have awe in our lives?

If there’s one thing that the pandemic and many of the cultural events of our lives has taught us, it is that even when we think we are in control, things happen…and just like that earthquake, can shake us to our core.  Something may even be revealed to us in a deep way.  Do we have the courage to embrace this moment, or the revelation that God wants to give us?  It can be scary, but those scary moments, if we stay curious, can open new places of growth within and around us.  

Jesus also had power, power that can penetrate even the darkest places in our lives and in our world…power that even the demons recognized.  Jesus calls out what this man is experiencing.  The demon possessed man can’t hide, and neither can the demons.  Jesus demonstrated a deep sense of who he was and is, rebukes the demons, silences them, and then banishes them from this man.  Jesus has power over even the supernatural, things we don’t see or understand.  Jesus is in effect making a statement, that he embodies the very power of God.  That power is present in all things, all people, even in the darkest places of life.

In those days, and we can relate to it today, folks who had diseases, were possessed with demons, had illness or some kind of physical issue were often labeled and stigmatized by others.  They were to blame for their ailment somehow, or God was judging them.  Folks on the margins were “unclean” and any proper, believing person would not come near them or it would make them unclean as well.  

Yet, as it says elsewhere in Scripture, that was not the case, that Jesus was indignant towards systems that oppress and limit folks.  Jesus came along and healed folks, and as demonstrated throughout scripture, restored folks into community, into relationship with others.  Jesus does come near, does enter into the uncleanliness of our lives, and the opposite happens, through our relationship with God, we are made clean.  There is no place in creation that is not sacred.  No life that is not sacred..  Jesus says to us that God is more powerful than our circumstances, God wants to bring healing, restoration, and growth…oftentimes in ways that we can never truly understand.  

Jesus heard this man’s cries, this man’s prayers.  God also hears our cries and prayers and enters into our lives, is present, and wants to reveal to us a deeper power, more powerful than earthquakes even.  

That power of God’s Presence that called us into being, that rescued/saved us, and that sustains, carries, forgives me as we live this life God’s given us and that we have the privilege of sharing with one another.  Let us attempt to live in this revelation, as best as we can in what comes our way, knowing that God is with us, all of us! 

Fulfilled this Day.

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Mark 1:14-20

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

In a little over a week, we have had a great…and amazing start!  As I was telling Mary Ellen, and others, I can’t give a word to what I’m experiencing, other than this call and getting to know Westwood First has been good, so good!  Mary Ellen had a great comment, instead of trying to give it a word or define, it, just experience it.  Love it!  Friends, we are experiencing a great new story that is emerging at Westwood First…it is good, and it has a great foundation, a history of those that are here now and those that have been with us in the past!  And, in the midst, we are already trying to figure out who we are as a church in this changing world, and who are as people and how we are getting connected and experiencing a stirring within our hearts, our very being.

In life, I oftentimes, maybe too much, try to figure things out.  I want to “know” and to work towards something.  My doctorate was in missional leadership to continue to understand church and how the church is shifting and growing.  You also may be picking up that I’m constantly working on myself.  I’m big on trying to figure out how I operate.  Which, can be good, but it really is simply allowing things to emerge, or to be birthed within me…and to live in awareness, or presence, of my self and others.   I think that’s part of my understanding of myself as being in God’s image and growing in my understanding of my gifts and talents and how God animates and even redeems them.  

I think it’s also part of being present, faithfully present, with myself, others, and seeing how God flows in and through all things.  Presence is a big deal.  When Jesus talks about Kingdom of God, or Heaven, or God’s reign as he does in this morning’s passage, he’s not talking about a nation or another place, he’s talking about  God’s Presence that is with us now, everywhere.  That God’s kingdom has been fulfilled and it’s our task to seek it, to live into it, and to try to be present with God as God is present with us.  We don’t build the kingdom, we live in it’s reality and let it emerge within and around us.  

One of the tools that I’ve used in counseling and in spiritual direction is the Enneagram.  The Enneagram is a model of human personality which is principally understood and taught as a typology of nine interconnected personality types.  It has been around for hundreds of years, and has evolved over the years.  My personality type on the Enneagram is a “3”.  That’s often called the “achiever” of the “effective person”.  I value getting things done essentially.  I’ll work towards whatever measure of success that I have for whatever I’m doing.  There is a lot of good to that, but there’s also some darkness with that.  The good is that I feel pretty confident in who I am, it’s not arrogance, I genuinely like being me.  The bad is that I can base my value on what I achieve rather than who I am.  I can also be a workaholic, just ask Debbie!

It’s important for me to be able to take time off.  That’s why it’s really hard to get a hold of me on Fridays, my day off, especially in the morning.  It’s also why I periodically go to the Abbey of Gethsemani in KY, just like I’m doing for a couple of days this week.  I need Sabbath rest.  I need quiet.  It helps me to cultivate this sense of presence, of seeing God’s Kingdom presence in me and around me.  It’s especially important to me in this season of transition. I want to stay present to myself, to creation, and to you…  

And I get it, it’s scary slowing down and simply “being” present.  Oftentimes, when left on our own, we begin the hard stuff of questioning ourselves, we see the dark places in our lives and in the lives of those around us, and we don’t want to go there.

WB Yeats wrote this:  “It takes more courage to examine the dark corners of your own soul than it does for a soldier to fight on a battlefield.”

I also think that it’s important for us to ask these questions collectively as a church.  We have to slow down, listen to each other, our communities, and to God.  That’s why I’m really curious and hopeful for what we are learning during this post pandemic world and with so much political and social unrest.  How are we growing? 

As a church, we’ve done a lot of stuff, a lot of it is pretty amazing actually.  But, I’m sure we also realized before the pandemic, that we needed to change, we realized that what we’ve done, doesn’t work.  The pandemic was a struggle, a lot of suffering, but it’s also forced me, and all of us, to ask some great questions.  

As we ask these questions, Jesus invites us, just as he invited his disciples, to be fishers of others, to invite others to live differently in this world, to be present with one another, to a ask deeper questions.  

I found this statement from our Presbyterian Book of Order of all things that I think resonates well with this morning’s message.

In Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all creation, the Church seeks a new openness to

God’s mission in the world. In Christ, the triune God tends the least among us, suffers the

curse of human sinfulness, raises up a new humanity, and promises a new future for all

creation. 

…a new openness to the sovereign activity of God in the Church and in the world,

to a more radical obedience to Christ, and to a more joyous celebration in worship

and work; a new openness in its own membership, becoming in fact as well as in faith a

community of women and men of all ages, races, ethnicities, and worldly conditions,

made one in Christ by the power of the Spirit, as a visible sign of the new

humanity; a new openness to see both the possibilities and perils of its institutional forms

in order to ensure the faithfulness and usefulness of these forms to God’s activity

in the world; and a new openness to God’s continuing reformation of the Church ecumenical, that it might be more effective in its mission.

Our scripture passages this morning give testimony to God’s Kingdom being made known and lived.  In our gospel passage, it says we need to repent.  We do.  The Greek word for repent is “metanoia”.  It means to change one’s mind.  We need to change as persons, we need ask hard questions.  We also need to do that as a church.  If we do repent, if we do change, together we can bear witness to God’s Kingdom around us and in us, God’s Presence rising up all around us. 

My bet is that if we do that, then others may want to join us…even in a world that does not join things as much these days.   Others may see the beauty within us and around us and contribute to that beauty.  It happened with the disciples…those nets!  Overflowing!  They had trust…a friend of mine told me once that an organization will grow, in some way, as fast as the speed of trust.  Well, if this past week is any indication at Westwood, then watch out!  We’ve handed over trust to one another and to God’s flow in a short time.  Thank you!  So, if the first couple of weeks is any indication, then fasten your seatbelts friends!  We may find ourselves in a place of Presence, of awareness, and of a different kind of growth as we become the persons, and the congregation, that we’ve always wanted to be…the one God created us to be.  Amen?

Come and See.

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John 1:43-51”

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” 

Come and See.  Invitation.  It’s always good to be invited to something isn’t it?  We want to feel included.  It can also be a bit scary to accept an invitation or to come and see?  Yet, when we do, even thought we may not know what to expect, new things can bring growth.  

I’m sure we can all relate to new things…especially today, you have a new pastor!  Probably some of you even this morning are sitting here thinking, “Who is this new person?  What is this year going to be like?  Will it get better than 2023?”or “what is this sermon going to be like?  And how long will it be?  What is going to emerge at Westwood First Presbyterian this year?  What things can we depend on?  Where are we going as a community?  As a church?  What am I being asked to be a part of?”  

Well, trying something new or “experiencing” something different can be scary…it can also be deeply good as we allow others to see us and we want to see others.  Being open and vulnerable takes risk and willingness for growth and change. 

And, sometimes, change is necessary.  When I was first approached by Lisa Allgood, our general presbyter, and asked if I was open to a new call.  I told her I did not think so.  But, as time went by, I began to realize that I needed a change, that I needed and wanted a disruption that would take me out of something a bit comfortable and into something new.  As Westwood First opened up, and I opened up to a new invitation, I began to experience a deep sense that this invitation was one that I wanted to say yes to and to be curious and courageous about.  

Throughout our lives, we have invitations.  The question is do we say yes.  I was raised in the church and in my church upbringing, there was a lot of no.  It seemed like church was defined more about what we said no to instead of yes.  We did not want curiosity, we wanted comfort.  I remember thinking, as a kid, there has to be something more.

In high school, I was invited to a new campus ministry that was starting at my high school.  I was the president of our Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Good News Club at the time and I was first approached about helping to start this new thing.  At first I wondered what the catch was and I was hesitant.  But, when we started meeting at my best friend’s house, and I saw so many of my other friends who never went to church show up, I thought there was something to this.  I started to come alive through others seeing me and me being allowed to see them.  Not just a visual seeing, but really an invitation into deeper friendship.  

In short, I didn’t know what I was getting into…but I really enjoyed it and kept going back to this weekly club.  I had many more adventures and by the end of my senior year, I knew that my life was somehow dramatically changing!  It actually changed the trajectory of my life…I went into youth ministry the very next year while at UK and went on to seminary eventually and becoming a pastor…then some other adventures and misadventures in life and in the church…a doctorate and several lives later, here I am with you and Westwood First!  And I am so grateful.  In a few short days as your pastor, I have felt seen and have seen many of you and we are already on to a pathway of deep friendship.  

In our Gospel story, Jesus goes out and personally invites Phillip to hang out with him, to follow him, to enter into deep friendship.  That’s the only time that happens in the New Testament where Jesus personally invites someone.  Pretty wild.  This guy Phillip was kind of a reluctant guy, an over thinker at times, always trying to figure things out (I can relate).  Yet Jesus sought him out.  He was from an area called Bethsaida, not a local boy to Jesus, yet Jesus crossed over this boundary…Jesus seemed to always be crossing the cultural boundaries we’ve constructed…Jesus stayed curious about the “other”…  

Well, Phillip starts following this Jesus guy and starts to get his friends to come along.  Kind of like what many of you do, when you see something good…you may not completely understand it, yet you know you know it is good and want to extend invitations to others.  One friend in particular was Nathaniel.  Phillip goes after Nathaniel and brings him to meet Jesus.  At first Nathaniel wonders if anything good can come out of Nazareth where Jesus was from.  Now this isn’t a put down on Nazareth, it’s probably more like a community rivalry thing.  Kind of like Westwood…or name a neighborhood in Cincy…sometimes there is a bit of hesitation, but we can all come together when there is something curious that we know that we need to check out.  Yet Phillip persists and simply says “come and see”.  In this story, these words are what we call “imperatives” in the Greek translation, a command or invitation.  In this case, it is simply an invitation.  You see, Jesus never forces himself on anyone or tries to sell them on something, he simply invites people to check out what he’s saying and experiencing, what he’s about.

So, Nathaniel does.  Nathaniel was a good guy and Jesus comments on that…but, here’s the kicker, Jesus and Nathaniel had never met.  When Nathaniel asks Jesus how he knows him, Jesus responds that he saw Nathaniel under a fig tree.  Now, Jesus is not some kind of stalker, Jesus wasn’t at that tree.  Yet, he simply noticed Nathaniel from a distance and knew things about him.

This was a BIG indication to Nathaniel that there was something more about this Jesus guy.  It drew Nathaniel in…he didn’t understand it all, but he knew that Jesus was something special.  After Nathaniel’s statement of belief, Jesus says something else, in effect, you haven’t seen anything yet!

Jesus sees us…not just some sense of seeing us from a distance, like when we see a neighbor walking our way…but, really notices us, sees the deeper parts of us…and is drawn to us just as we are drawn to something deeper in Christ.  

You see, what Jesus was inviting Nathaniel, and all of us throughout history, is to follow him into a deeper understanding of ourselves, others, and our communion with the world and one another…we are all a part of the body of Christ, and the church is called to be an alternative community in the middle of the world’s systems.  We are connected to one another and, really, all of of humanity, all made in God’s image, all loved by God and called to live in God’s presence, God’s reign or Kingdom if you will, even as we live within a world dominated by narratives that are more about power, control, or even violence.  My hope is that we will “come and see” this year together what Jesus is doing in our lives and in our community, with our neighbors.  God has already noticed you.  

God wants be with you in the struggle of life…and to “abide” with you in more experiences than you could ever imagine, no matter what age we are…  Friends, I know that this church has taken lots of risks over the past years.  Well, I’m asking us to take some more risks, calculated risks where we are all openly communicating, being transparent and vulnerable and open to one another, to be curious, and to “come and see” what God has in store for us.  Even in our weariness of this past year, and the current events that we find ourselves, let’s take a risk of deepening our relationships with one another, and with a God who is with us and won’t give up on us and has invited us to journey together…and, as we journey together, being open to seeing greater things than we could have ever imagined come to fruition!