Counterpoint

The grade school playground was a dangerous place. Every day, I would venture into the unknown; there was no telling what kind of trouble I was going to get into or witness. The playground was  a stage where children performed their best shows of strength, popularity, and quests for acceptance. But everyday, we recited the rules. Do not hit. Do not throw anything.. Do not, do not, do not....

One day, for some reason, I became a threat to a bigger kid's popularity; I stood in his way on his quest for ultimate popularity in the class. How? I do not know, but nonetheless, here I was, swinging on a tire, as he walloped over to me. He wanted that tire swing, and nothing would stop him. But I had waited my turn, patiently, and earned my chance at this most precious tire swing. I was not going to move, either. It was a stand off. He's yelling. I'm spinning. He starts to run towards me on the tire, threatening to flip it over, so I do the only thing I could do: I spun and turned on that thing and kicked him right in the mouth. And then the megaphone sounds: "Jack, get over here!" I was in trouble, now. As I sob and embarrassingly mope over to my teacher, I began to formulate my plight. And the best thing I could come up with, was "I didn't throw anything..."

Obviously, I got the rule wrong. My teacher informed me of this, offering a new lesson to me. She knew the spirit of the rule was to not hurt anyone else.

One of the most significant aspects of Jesus' ministry was that he was not afraid to "break the rules," push the boundaries, and give things "new life."  Mark 2:23-3:6 illustrates this. In back to back episodes, Jesus reinterprets the Sabbath in front of the religious leaders, the Pharisees. He gives a counterpoint to the tradition of Sabbath keeping. This practice was a very important one; it is no shock to learn that Pharisees would make sure that Jesus kept the Sabbath holy, and conspire against him if he did not.

So, there he is, in a field with the disciples as they gather grain, on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees question him and point out how wrong he is! Jesus answers this with a counterpoint: even King David did such a thing! And again, the Pharisees find Jesus in a synagogue, healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. They question him again and point out how wrong he was.  He offers a an even stronger counterpoint: "Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?"  I love the next part...but they were silent. Jesus had silenced his critics. They may have realized, then, how this new interpretation of keeping the Sabbath holy gave life and liberation from their rules and regulations. It is summed up by a phrase which Jesus uttered between these 2 counterpoint episodes "The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath."


There a several great takeaways from these passages:

Jesus is not about rules, but the spirit that lies behind traditions and practices

The laws of God does not prohibit self-care or care for others

Jesus reinterprets and offer counterpoints for the sake of liberation, new life, and to usher in the Kingdom of God.


We all have traditions, rituals, habits, routines...rules, laws. What Jesus offers us here in his counterpoint to the Sabbath is an invitation to consider these things. Do they bring you life? Do they help you love God and neighbor? Jesus isn't just changing things here for the sake of it, but offering us new life, which may need to include a sort of liberation from living into the love of God (not just the "laws" and "rules")

Prayer:

Lord, we thank you for the rich traditions we have because of our faith,
Help us to remember the reason that we practice is because we love you,
   and seek your presence with us.
Where habits and rituals keep us from seeing your fresh presence,
   offer us new life.
Liberate us where we try and build a box around you
Offer us new signs of your love and grace,
That we may honor and glorify you.
Through Christ, our Lord, Amen.



Jack

Remodeled for Eternal Life

John 3: 1-17 shares with us a fascinating conversation between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus.

Nicodemus came to Jesus, in the dark of night, intrigued by his teachings of new life. He asks Jesus, perhaps
sarcastically, if one would have to enter back into their mother's womb! He was asking Jesus what this "new life" thing meant. How does it happen? What happens after you receive it?

Some background:

Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Pharisees came about in the 3rd century BCE as as a reaction against Hellinism, the increasing Greek influence over thought, practice, philosophy, and religion. They were a class of Jews that staunchly defended their religion's tradition and teachings. They grew to power, and even abused that power. Jesus' teachings represented a threat to their rigid interpretation of their religious tradition. They had something to lose, but they also could not resist trying to understand Jesus.

So here comes Nicodemus, late at night, trying to steal away for a private conversation with Jesus. Others gather, too; Jesus is now teaching a crowd (The Greek word for "you" becomes plural when Jesus is speaking).

Rev. Cynthia Weems puts it this way in her sermon "A Complete Makeover" on Day1.org:

"Nicodemus represented a rigid kind of thinking about laws and traditions and rituals but also about the basic work of God. Jesus wonders how Nicodemus could be such a trusted teacher and not know the inner workings of God's Spirit, not know the power of God's Spirit. Nicodemus, and the Pharisees, had such clarity about the things of God that any entry of new ideas or expressions was too much to grasp. They seemed unable to bear the weight of the perceived consequences that might come from acceptance of such thinking about the holy."



Nicodemus and the crowd learned something that I hope we can all learn: God does not want an inventory of every little thing wrong with us, but to renew us, remodel us. Yes, there is power in going back to seek forgiveness and healing from our pasts, but God is concerned also about transformation. Through this new life, your past is redeemed through the love and grace of God.



We are so benefited these days that for every break or dysfunction we face, there seems to be some sort of cure, a person that can fix it. Plumbers, mechanics, electricians, construction workers, help lines, , doctors, tailors...this world is full of fixers, and we use them all the time. Jesus offers us this same thing, but not for our appliances, electronics, or diseases...but for our very life. I wonder if we can call on this love of Jesus as fast as we call on others to help fix things. Lord knows, he will always be there.




*Prayer:

God forgave my sin in Jesus' name;
I've been born again in Jesus' name;
And in Jesus' name I come to you
To share His love as He told me to.

*"Freely, Freely," The United Methodist Hymnal Number 389

When Jesus Interrupts

This is the final week of the Easter season, a season where our faith community has pondered how Jesus welcomes us to become his people. As we have observed, Jesus first invites us to belong, even before we are invited to behave and believe. That is, Jesus is with us and welcomes us before we our behaviors and beliefs change.

It happens again in the text for this week, Acts 10: 44-48. Here is Peter, one of the first followers of Jesus, and a new leader from Jerusalem, who is called by God to go into the home of a Roman centurion. Has God ever called you to go somewhere you don't want to go, or do something you don't want to do? That might have been how Peter felt. Not only was it improper for him to go into the home of a Gentile, this particular Gentile is a commander in the occupying army. Peter, most likely confused and scared, still enters Cornelius' home and begins to teach the gathered "outsiders" about Jesus. And then God does something amazing...

What is "supposed" to happen here? If this were to go according to plan, the Gentiles would first come to believe what Peter is saying; they would first come to have faith in Jesus. Then, they would learn the laws, and how to keep kosher, how to stay pure, etc. Then, they would be baptized as a sign of their faith and a seal for their new identity in Christ.

But what actually happens here? The Spirit of Christ rudely interrupts and just starts baptizing the Gentiles! What was supposed to be the last step, becomes the first step! They start confessing and showing that they are blessed by God. And Peter asks the burning question: "can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit?" I guess not!



In my commentary (A Preacher's Guide to Lectionary Sermon Series) this week, the author gives this example to try and relate this scene to us today:

"Imagine a room full of immigrants, just starting the process of gaining U.S. citizenship, suddenly being visited by the highest judge in the land who begins shaking their hands and conferring upon them all rights and privileges as U.S. nationals, before they've studied, taken their citizenship test, and said their oath while the authorities and bureaucrats try to figure out how to get these people stamped paperwork and passports. What is going on?"

Jesus, again, says that people belong, way before they behave and believe.

I belong. You belong. We belong.

*Proclomation:

In Christ there is no East or West,
In Him no South or North;
But one great fellowship of love
Throughout the whole wide earth.

In Him shall true hearts everywhere
Their high communion find;
His service is the golden cord,
Close binding humankind.

Join hands, then, members of the faith,
Whatever your race may be!
Who serves my Father as His child
Is surely kin to me.

In Christ now meet both East and West,
In Him meet North and South;
All Christly souls are one in Him
Throughout the whole wide earth.

*In Christ There is no East or West, United Methodist Hymnal, 548

In Christ,
Jack