When Someone Loves You: John 20:1-18 Mary’s encounter at the tomb
I invite you to do a little imagining with me. I invite you to close your eyes, and take a few deep breathes… and let your body relax into the chair you are sitting on… I invite you to picture in your mind’s eye someone who loves you deeply… They may be living in this world, or the next… a person whom you would trust with your life…, who knows your strengths and weaknesses, your secret fears and hopes…
(based on Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 12:20-26 & Psalm 51:1-12)
On Friday evening and most of yesterday I was at First United Church in Kelowna, listening to Amir Hussain, author of `Oil & Water: two faiths, one God,’ talk about Islam. He answered our many questions thoughtfully and graciously, and without consulting notes. It made me wonder how we would do, with the same flow of questions about Christianity and what our faith means to us.
Imagine with me…If you were without a Bible, a hymn book, the internet; if you were living in a post- apocalyptic world, or in a land or culture that seemed completely foreign to you. Do you have a prayer, a scripture, an image, a parable that would sustain your spirit when all the usual supports are gone? What is the word/ what is the covenant written on your heart?
Mount Horeb
“The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying,
“You have stayed long enough at this mountain.” Deuteronomy 1:6
One day, while standing in a line up at Tim Horton’s in Williams Lake, I looked around and I realized, there was no one in the place who knew who I was. No congregational members, no colleagues from other denominations or people from other agencies that I had connections with. Rather than enjoying my anonymity, I felt a sense of panic. “I am no one,” I thought. I was so overcome with unexpected grief at such a thought, that I left the line-up and headed back to my car, wondering what the hell had just happened. I identified so strongly with my sense of calling, my vocation, that I seriously wondered what I could be without it. Who would I be? Would it be enough?
With reference to Mark 1:9-15
Every Lent begins with Jesus post-baptism experience of the Holy Spirit sending him or driving him into the desert.
Mark’s version of this time is so succinct. It’s done in two verses. “Immediately the Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness, and he remained there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild beasts, and the angels looked after him.”
The Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness…
The Greek word ere¯mos translated “wilderness” in the NRSV is also the word for “desert” or “deserted place.” Wilderness in the Bible refers to uninhabited areas and is symbolically the opposite of civilization and is the place where animals reside that are dangerous to humans.
In Australia, the word wilderness becomes `the Outback.’ The Outback has been described as “where the soul of Earth is untamed by human boundaries. “ I think there is something profound in that description – “where the soul of Earth is untamed by human boundaries.” So we have Jesus being compelled to go where the soul of the Earth is untamed by human boundaries and we have him there with the wild animals.
The Seasons of the Spirit curriculum, on the other hand, suggests this reference to Jesus being with wild animals would have been understood by Jews and the early church as a reference to the end of violence, to heralding a time of peace between all creatures, as we read in Isaiah 11:6 “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.” They believed that this peace symbolized in the animal world, and enacted in the human world, would accompany the coming of the Messiah.
I borrowed the title of this message “Where the Wild Things Are” from the wonderful children’s book by Maurice Sendak, who writes of a little boy named Max, who sails away on an adventure to go where the wild things, the monsters, live.
This morning I invite you to step outside the boundaries of a regular Sunday sermon, and go on a small adventure. I invite you, not into the wilderness, but to a walk-about around the sanctuary. Spend some time looking at the different pictures portraying the life of Jesus.
(At this point in the service, people did a `walk-about’. There were about 25 pictures/posters/bulletin cover from different international artists, portraying some aspect of Jesus life. If you are were not at Sicamous United this morning, you might want to find a book, or Google international images of Jesus, and see what you come up with.
You might want to make some notes to yourself as you reflect on these questions in the bulletin:
Which picture or two, catches your attention, calls you to a deeper look?
What attracts you to this picture?
How does this picture relate to your life?
I invited you to reflect in silence about this picture, perhaps make some notes.
Then after a time of silence – connect with another person and share what you discovered. (Some people found another person to talk to, others shared their images with the whole congregation.)
At the end of the service we had a potluck and pancake feast – perhaps not liturgically correct but that’s o.k. – it worked for us 🙂
With reference to 2 Corinthians 4:3-7 & Mark 9:2-9
I confess that Transfiguration Sunday is one of those days in the church calendar that I hope falls on a Presbytery weekend, because I hope someone else will have to preach on it. It’s a matter of what new thing can possibly be said. Here are two basic understandings of the Transfiguration story:
Based on 1st Corinthians 9: 16-23, and Mark 1:29-39
When you think of all the things that you want to do, you should do, you might do… what is it that you cannot NOT do? The thing that without it, you would feel that you were missing a vital part of yourself. (People responded to this question. What would your answer be?)
With reference to 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 & Mark 1:21-28
A few years ago, I remember hearing an interview on CBC with an Asian man who said that when he was young he starting to hang out with the wrong crowd, did some petty crime, and felt like he was pretty cool. Then his family went to visit his grandfather whom he dearly loved. He said, ‘My grandfather never confronted me about what I was doing, but when we went to leave, he stooped to tie my shoes and started to cry.’ The young man realized that his actions were causing his grandfather such deep pain, that he reassessed his behaviour and changed his actions and attitudes. The authenticity of the grandfather’s love, had authority for the young man, and helped him to be accountable with his life.
Scripture: the book of Jonah
What a delightful day we had! Seven members of the Baha’i faith from the Shuswap area joined us for worship, as well as my colleague in ministry, Michelle Rowe from Golden, her husband and mother-in-law, as well as our own congregation. They also took turns reading the prayers from other faith traditions. I began with this invitation:
Find a neighbour and have a wee conversation about: When did you first experience a denomination or religion other than the one you grew up in? What was that experience like for you?
With reference to John 1:35-51
At the educational event called Epiphany Explorations several years ago and I attended a presentation called, “Reading other peoples’ mail.” That was a fine way of reminding us that ¾ of what we call the New Testament is actually letters to specific congregations or individuals, helping them to live their faith in their own context. As I looked again at the scriptures for today, I realized that there was another letter to help someone live in their present context. It didn’t make it into the New Testament, which isn’t a big surprise when you consider that it was only written three years ago. It begins … A letter to Georgia on the Occasion of her Baptism, January 18th2015
based on Mark 1:4-11
I’m sure you’ve all heard some version of Jesus’ baptism. It’s in all four gospels but told a little differently in each one. Last Sunday I mentioned that the story of Jesus’ birth is only told in Luke and Matthew. I wonder what our faith would look like if we spent as much energy on Jesus’ baptism as we do on the stories of his birth.
Mark’s gospel opens, not with a birth narrative, but by introducing John the Baptist. John felt God was calling him to tell people to repent and be cleansed, and for generations since we’ve held a particular understanding of the English word `repent’. You may have the image of John in the river, or any number of hell-fire preachers thumping the pulpit and yelling at folks to repent.