witnesses for Jesus, 2.9.14

Revelation 6:9-11


9When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given; 10they cried out with a loud voice, “Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long will it be before you judge and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?” 11They were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number would be complete both of their fellow servants and of their brothers and sisters, who were soon to be killed as they themselves had been killed.



Revelation 11:1-13

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Come and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months.


3And I will grant my two witnesses authority to prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days, wearing sackcloth.” 4These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5And if anyone wants to harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes; anyone who wants to harm them must be killed in this manner. 6They have authority to shut the sky, so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire.


7When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that is prophetically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.


9For three and a half days members of the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb; 10and the inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to the inhabitants of the earth. 11But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and those who saw them were terrified. 12Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud while their enemies watched them. 13At that moment there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
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             Revelation talks a lot about witnesses and testimony. From the very beginning of the book the words echo over and over again. John introduces himself as a servant “who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ.” He offers the churches receiving his letter grace from Jesus Christ, “the faithful witness.” In chapter 12 we’re told Christians conquered Satan, “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” Clearly bearing witness is an important part of the Christian life for John, and testifying has the power to defeat Satan.

            What does it mean to be a witness? First, a witness has to experience something; they have to know it directly. Second, to be useful, they have to share that testimony with someone else, and they have to do it honestly. The two witnesses in the second passage probably represent the church, the people of God following Jesus. Testimony is the job of the whole church, not just people who we think of as preachers or prophets or evangelists. The church bears witness that God is love and Jesus is Lord.

            The passage doesn’t say much about the words the witnesses say, but we see that the message isn’t popular. To bear witness to Jesus as Lord means to go against the empire, to live life against the grain. These prophets are described as a torment to all the inhabitants of the earth. People are so glad to see them killed that they give each other presents to celebrate.

            Shared values define communities. For community to work smoothly, most members of that community need to agree to live by the same rules. In the Roman Empire pagan ritual and worship of the emperor expressed and reinforced the values people lived by. People believed that worshiping the Roman Gods insured the Gods’ blessings of peace and prosperity. Worshiping the emperor reminded people of their unity under Roman rule. Even though there were many differences throughout the vast empire, everyone followed one ruler, so there was unity.

             Christians messed up that unity by refusing to worship the Gods and refusing to worship the emperor. Some people worried Christians would encourage others to ignore the Gods as well and the Gods would respond by withholding their blessings or even cursing the empire.

            While Christians followed the law and obeyed the emperor and his representatives, they didn’t worship him, so people felt they couldn’t be trusted. They were seen as outsiders within the empire. Maybe that wouldn’t have been a big deal if Christians kept their faith to themselves and tried to fit in, but John is encouraging them to stand out and speak up. That is seen as disruptive and threatening to empire, so people get scared, angry and violent.

            John encouraged his readers to be faithful witnesses like Jesus. That same calling is ours to since we are also disciples of Jesus. The hardest part of this calling for many of us is imagining ourselves as witnesses in the first place. We were not alive when Jesus walked the earth, so how could we be witnesses?

            John wrote Revelation late in the first century, probably around 80 or 90. That means many, even most of John’s readers hadn’t been alive during Jesus’ life. Very few of them met Jesus in the flesh. In some really important ways John’s readers were like us: they trusted in Jesus even though they had never met him.

            So how could they be witnesses for Jesus? How could they testify that he was Lord? The key to John’s readers being witnesses is that they experienced Jesus as their Lord. They each had a moment when they chose to let Jesus run their life. They made that decision in a community that had made the same decision, a community full of people following a different path than the path of empire. In that community they learned about Jesus’ life. They heard from his original followers and from people those first disciples taught.

They practiced living based on Jesus’ teachings. They tried to love their neighbor and their enemies. They raised their children in the faith, even though they knew that was risky and strange. They read scripture, prayed together, sang hymns, listened to people interpret God’s word and shared stories of how God was working in the world.

As they lived in that community, Christ’s lordship became more and more real for them. Caesar still ran the empire; the world around them didn’t change, but in their lives individually and as a church, Jesus was Lord. The more they trusted that, the more real it became for them. And the more they allowed Jesus to be their Lord, the more the world made sense. As they lived it, it became almost obvious that at the end Jesus would judge the world with love and defeat the power of evil. One day everyone would see the truth they already knew, and the world would finally be at peace.

They testified for Jesus because they believed he truly was Lord. They had seen for themselves that life was better when they let Jesus lead. So they wanted others to experience that same peace and joy that they had.

I can testify to the same thing in my life. The more I try to follow Jesus the more sense the world makes, even when the world doesn’t make sense. I see that life really is better if we forgive other people. I truly am happier if I look out for others instead of just myself. My ministry works better when I let go of the steering wheel and trust Jesus to lead the way.

I also understand the story more the more time I spend with it. The more I watch human power, both religious and political, the more I understand why Jesus had to die. I see why the religious leaders and political leaders saw him as a threat, because he refused to live by their rules. It makes sense that religious and political leaders felt the same way about Jesus’ followers since they followed Jesus’ example. As they reached out to outcasts and ignored the rules about who was clean and unclean, they undermined the whole religious system.

The more I try to follow Jesus, the more things fall into place. I don’t get it right all the time. That’s how I know that grace is stronger than sin, because Jesus keeps picking me up and forgiving me when I fall down. And I see Jesus at work in this community. I see people who feel like the whole world is against them find a place of refuge here. I hear people say they have been accepted here. I hear stories like Bob’s story last week about the healing power of a visit from Santa. I listen to Donna talk about her new ministry caring for people at the end of life. I see the healing of Jesus taking place in this community, so I know that healing is real.

I also see people struggling. I see our church and other churches mess up. I see myself make mistakes. I see children left behind by society and let down by their families, so I know the power of evil is still at work. I know the dragon and the beast are still leading people astray. I feel the struggle of sin inside me and around us, so I know that struggle is real.

I know bearing witness to Jesus Christ can still cost us a lot. Caesar is still strong. It’s easier to fit in with the values of our time of everyone for themselves and bigger is better. It’s easier to ignore poverty when it doesn’t touch us. It’s easier to let kids in the city continue to fall further behind in school. It’s easier to turn away, lock our doors and decide it’s not our problem when gun violence claims another young life. It’s easier to believe the polarized left or the polarized right when they tell us they have the solution. It’s easier to keep our faith to ourselves and let Caesar be lord in the world around us.

But instead we are called to proclaim the truth: Jesus is Lord. We are Christ’s witnesses, or at least that’s part of our calling. Here’s the challenge. Most of us have witnessed something, some moment or word or experience that makes us believe that Jesus is Lord. But we’ve also seen things that make us wonder. Maybe we have a hard time really believing. Maybe we have the right combination of a little doubt and a little fear so it’s easier for us to live our faith quietly. Maybe we want to hedge our bets and keep peace with the empire around us.

There’s so much baggage attached to our faith that it’s hard to know what to believe. People say there’s only one way, that God is going to wipe out everyone who doesn’t believe the way we do. That doesn’t make sense if God is love. The Bible has terrible stories of violence, genocide, rape and murder. That doesn’t make sense if Jesus is the prince of peace. The Bible is our best witness to God’s story, but it’s so troubling. Does bearing witness to Jesus mean condemning people who are gay? Does it mean supporting the oppression of women?

There’s a lot to sort out in our faith and the guidance can be murky sometimes. I love the Bible like crazy, which means there are some parts of it I really dislike. And I’m pretty sure Christians are a bigger stumbling block for faith than atheists ever could be. The path of faithful witness isn’t always easy to see. But Jesus walked that path before you. God sent the Holy Spirit to us to help us know the truth so it can set us free. There’s no such thing as a perfect witness, but people need to hear the truth as you see it. They need to hear that you don’t have it all figured out, but you’re discovering what it means to follow Jesus and here’s why they might want to follow too.

The world needs your witness. The kingdom of peace and love grows stronger as we share the story of Jesus. The empire of indifference and injustice loses a little bit of ground when we act like Jesus is Lord. People are hungry for good news; will you give it to them? Will you seek in your heart to see what you really think is true so you can bear witness? Will you pray for guidance to experience the graceful rule of Jesus so you can tell others? Will you take one step today to let Jesus rule in your heart? I’m not promising you an easy road, but I can promise that the one who calls us is faithful. So open your heart, lift up your voice and follow with your actions as the chorus of witnesses grows stronger each day.

Thanks be to God.

A call for faith and endurance, 2.2.14

Mark 13:21-27, 32-33

21And if anyone says to you at that time, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘Look! There he is!’ —do not believe it. 22False messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23But be alert; I have already told you everything.

24“But in those days, after that suffering,
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
25and the stars will be falling from heaven,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.


26Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory. 27Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven… 32“But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.
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As you’ve probably noticed, Revelation is a strange book. It’s visually stunning; it’s also highly symbolic. One of the books I’ve been reading warns that it’s not meant to be read literally as a textbook for how the world will end. And while some figures in Revelation refer to historical people or places, we shouldn’t limit the book to those meanings. Sometimes one symbol stands for several differet things. And sometimes the main point isn’t exactly what happens, but the overall feel and atmosphere.


Last week Carl talked about the Revelation Christmas story. Satan in the form of a dragon tries to snatch Jesus from his mother as soon as he’s born. The woman is Mary, but she’s also the church and the force of new birth too. The dragon is Satan and the serpent from the Garden of Eden and the force of evil in the world.


Last week we also read about the defeat of Satan in heaven and how Satan was then cast down to earth where he would unleash persecution and terror against God’s people. In today’s passage we’ll find out more about that. As we read along jot down anything that confuses you. I’ll get to some of it as we read, but then I’d love to hear your questions and stumbling blocks before we get into what the passage says to us today.


Revelation 12:18-13:18
(12:18) Then the dragon took his stand on the sand of the seashore. (13:1) And I saw a beast rising out of the sea having ten horns and seven heads; and on its horns were ten diadems, and on its heads were blasphemous names. 2And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. And the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority.3One of its heads seemed to have received a death-blow, but its mortal wound had been healed.


Let’s take a quick pause for a little explanation. We met the dragon, Satan, last week. Today his ally appears. The beast that comes out of the sea looks bizarre with ten horns and seven heads. The main thing John’s readers would have thought of when they heard the beast described was the Roman Empire.


Later on in the book (Chapter 17 to be exact) an angel reveals to John the mystery of the beast by saying the seven heads are seven mountains on which the beast sits. Rome was known as a city sitting on seven hills. The different animal features John notices reflect the beasts Daniel saw in his visions from 400 years earlier. In Daniel’s vision, the different animals symbolized different empires, so this fits the same trend.


Chapter 17 says the seven heads are not only seven mountains, but also 7 kings. One of those heads had a deadly wound that had been healed. The Emperor Nero, who ruled about 30 years before Revelation was written, was the first Emperor to persecute Christians. He killed himself, but there was a widespread belief that he had or would return from the grave. The beast’s wounded head is a reference to Nero.


Scholars say when John uses symbolic language about the rulers of his time the point isn’t to communicate who they are, John’s audience already knows who the rulers are. His point instead is to show what they are in the spiritual and cosmic sense. The Roman rulers are not just political overlords. John argues they rule by Satan’s power and authority. That why John sees the beast (Rome) receive its throne from the dragon (Satan). The blasphemous names John talks about on the beast’s heads probably refer to the Emperor’s claims to be divine. And now, back to the story.


In amazement the whole earth followed the beast. 4They worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” 5The beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. 6It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. 7Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them.


It was given authority over every tribe and people and language and nation, 8and all the inhabitants of the earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slaughtered. 9Let anyone who has an ear listen: 10If you are to be taken captive, into captivity you go; if you kill with the sword, with the sword you must be killed. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.


11Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. 12It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. 13It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all; 14and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived; 15and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.


16Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18This calls for wisdom: let anyone with understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. Its number is six hundred sixty-six.
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We’ve got a dragon and two strange beasts in our story for today. We talked about the dragon as Satan and the first beast as Rome. One writer points out that from where John lived in Asia, Roman power would come from the sea since Rome was across the Mediterranean from Asia Minor, so the first beast rises up from the sea. The second beast comes from the land because it is local power.


We talked a few weeks about how the Roman Empire used religious language and ritual to support its power in the provinces. Asia was an especially important area for emperor worship. The second beast, also know as the false prophet, would be the local rulers, both religious and political, who supported the religious worship of the Emperor.


When we read this passage we don’t need to imagine an actual image with the power to speak and kill. Instead, think about the power of images to shape thought, and enforce common belief. Likewise, we don’t need to imagine an actual time when people will be forced to tattoo a number on themselves to buy or sell. Instead, we can think about how hard it would be for Christians to participate in the economy since many economic and social events happened along with pagan worship.


Is there anything you want to know about the passage? Any part of it that makes you say, “I don’t get it,” or, “what is John trying to say?”


The point of the passage is to show the world as a battleground. Both God and the devil claim authority over every people and nation and language. Both God and empire claim to offer peace, but only one claim is true. You can belong to God or belong to Satan and the Empire.


This passage shows how powerful, and therefore how tempting the Empire is. He says the whole world worshiped the beast for its power. There’s a sense that the global superpower has to be obeyed. In a hard world, people are drawn to power.


The beast and its false prophet demand worship. John knows the temptation to take part in emperor worship is already strong. He imagines a time when the temptation will become force. He sees persecution coming so he warns the churches. He doesn’t sugar coat the reality: the beast will try to kill those who stand against it. The empire will make war on the church, to kill its enemies.


John thinks most people in the empire will worship. Whether from the desire for power or wealth or the fear of persecution, most people will go along. Those who will not are those who truly belong to Christ. He calls them those who are written in the slaughtered lamb’s book of life. We can either be in the lamb’s book of life or the beast’s list of approved buyers and sellers. John reveals the truth he sees: worse persecution is coming; the saints will need endurance and faith to stand firm.


John’s prediction was accurate. Rome went from occasional harassment to a fully organized and devastating persecution of the church in the third century. As he hoped, many Christians did stand their ground and bear witness to God’s loving rule even in the face of death.


Then, something surprising happened. In 313 Christianity was legalized by Rome, then favored; in 395 it became the official religion of the Empire. From then on, Christianity and empire went together in the West. The first major ruler in Europe after the fall of Rome was crowned by the Pope and called the Roman Emperor.


Empires, conquering nations, have a strong sense of their importance. Often, they imagine themselves bringing peace to the world by spreading their values and civilization. That’s part of why they are so powerful: they think they are doing the right thing, so forcing others to fall in line is ultimately doing them a favor. Peace will come when everyone accepts the empire’s way of doing things.


The Greek Empire of Alexander the Great felt like it was blessing the areas it conquered with philosophical thinking, education and enlightened culture. Rome saw itself as continuing the virtues of Greek civilization. Later empires saw themselves as spreading the blessing of Christianity and civilization as they increased their reach.


The Bible has a consistent message about empire: every empire eventually falls. History tells the same story: no human power lasts forever. Whether it’s the Roman peace or the “thousand year Reich” of Hitler’s Germany or the British Empire on which the sun was said to never set because it was so big, every empire falls.


No matter whether the empire is pagan or Christian, empire is empire. The more people and groups and nations pursue power, the more likely they are to ultimately stand against God. We can be a part of several groups at the same time: nation, church, family, football team, etc. But when anything pushes for ultimate allegiance, when it demands the sacrifice of integrity or justice or faith, it stands against God. In the end, only God’s power and rule are ultimate, and in our lives there can be only one Lord.


In our time many things demand our attention, and that’s OK. Work hard, but don’t compromise your principles for a promotion. I don’t mean quit your job if they make you to work Sunday; I mean quit your job if they force you to treat people like objects. Be dedicated to your family, but don’t sacrifice the lives of other children to push your child ahead. Serve your country, but remember it is not always right, and God’s kingdom is where we ultimately belong.


There will be times it feels like you can’t hold all your commitments together. There will be times when the world tries to take first place in your life and make your forget your faith. That’s one of the reasons we come together. That’s why we come to Christ’s table, to remember that true love and power are made perfect in sacrifice. We remember where we truly belong, and we are given strength for the journey. We live in challenging times, but the gospel still calls us forward. No matter how the beasts and dragons roar, we are written in the Lamb’s book of life; we are invited to the Lord’s table. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.


Thanks be to God.

Why do the wicked prosper? 11.17.13

Psalm 73:1-18

¹Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.

³For I was envious of the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For they have no pain; their bodies are sound and sleek.

⁵They are not in trouble as others are; they are not plagued like other people.

⁶Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them like a garment.

⁷Their eyes swell out with fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.

⁸They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.

⁹They set their mouths against heaven, and their tongues range over the earth.

¹⁰Therefore the people turn and praise them, and find no fault in them.

¹¹And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

¹²Such are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.

¹³All in vain I have kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.

¹⁴For all day long I have been plagued, and am punished every morning.

¹⁵If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,”

I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.

¹⁶But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,

¹⁷until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.

¹⁸Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.

John 12:23-33

²³Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Very 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. ²⁵Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever 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. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

John 16:1-10, 33

”I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. ²They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. ³And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. ⁴But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.

⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹about sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; ¹¹about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned… ³³I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” 

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            I think we’ve all been in the psalmist’s situation. He describes looking at other people, especially selfish, arrogant people, and seeing that they have it easy. Sometimes it seems like everyone has it better than we do. Sometimes it seems like doing things the right way is a disadvantage because people who cut corners seem to have more time free and less stress in their lives. Sometimes it seems like the rules of the game aren’t fair and the only ones who get ahead are cheaters.

            We see corrupt Wall Street folks making millions on questionable deals. Even when they get caught, the penalty doesn’t seem very high. We’ve had coworkers who somehow skate by doing a shoddy job and letting others pick up their slack. We see sleek and strong professional athletes only getting more famous as they pile up episodes of bad behavior.

            In a world like ours it sometimes feels like you need to cheat just to keep up. It’s tempting to fall into a take what you can mentality, to envy those folks who are visibly successful and strive for success like theirs.

            Jesus is honest about the challenges that face us. He warns his disciples that they won’t only face trouble like everyone does; they are going to be persecuted because of their faith. It’s not just our perception: the world is actually out of whack. Greed is rewarded and compassion has an uphill battle.

            Jesus even suggests that evil is in charge in the world as we know it. We see the same idea when Satan tempts Jesus in the wilderness. Satan tells Jesus he will give him all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus worships him. Satan says all the world’s power is his to give away as he chooses, and Jesus doesn’t contradict him. There’s no doubt about it, evil is powerful in the world.

            That makes it harder to be good, harder to make the right choice. The more twisted things get, the easier it is to fit in and the more we adjust ourselves to an unjust reality. For instance, our politicians may have gone to Washington or Albany to work for justice, to improve our political life. But once they are there the power of the polarized environment makes it almost impossible to treat opponents like humans. The constant deceit of the campaign rhetoric makes any kind of compromise sound like weakness.

            That attitude filters down to regular voters too. We hear so much venom on the airwaves that it shapes the way we think about politics and people deeply. Words like “bigot” or “illegal” start rolling off our tongue and before long we start thinking of people who disagree with us as enemies instead of fellow children of God.

            When Jesus talks about the persecution his disciples are going to face, he is much fairer than we usually are. He says things are going to get so bad that people who kill Christians will think they are serving God. We know that’s how Jesus’ opponents thought about him too. Many of the religious leaders who worried about Jesus were afraid he was leading people away from the traditions given to them by God. They weren’t trying to be evil; they were just trying to protect their faith in a situation where the stakes were so high that disagreement seemed threatening.

            Our world, like theirs, feels threatening. The economy is fragile, so we think of human beings crossing a border to escape poverty as a threat to us. Relationships are challenging, so we close ourselves off from others. Faith and politics are full of important, difficult questions, so people with different opinions make us feel threatened. Money is tight, so we pursue it with hard work and clutch it tightly when it comes in. The world is tough and we become hard to protect ourselves.

            Jesus calls us to a better way. Thinking about his approaching death and the coming of the Holy Spirit, he claims that the ruler of this world is cast out. In other words, in Jesus’ ultimate love on the cross and his triumphant resurrection, God’s love conquers Satan’s power. Even though it doesn’t look like it, even though it still often seems like Satan rules the world, he does not. Even though love looks weak against the hard “facts” and callous actions we see every day, love will have the last word.

            The psalmist has a similar revelation when he goes into God’s temple. I’m sure it wasn’t the first or last time he went into the sanctuary, but for whatever reason, one day he saw things differently. Maybe today will be the day we see things differently; maybe today will be the way we see things from God’s perspective like the psalmist.

            Even though it looks like wicked people have it all; even though success seems so assured for them; the truth is quite different. He says he sees that God has set their feet in slippery places. When people put their trust in money or success or popularity or power, their feet are in a slippery place. In a second all of those things can disappear because they are things. A stock market crash can make a huge fortune disappear in a day. An illness can take away looks and popularity overnight. One picture on a website can bring power crashing down. Nothing we have is going to last.

            That means people who have built their lives around pursuing things have no real foundation. When things go wrong, they will fall, and since their focus has been on things and on themselves, they will not have the relationships and faith to sustain them through hardship.

            Is money a bad thing? Not unless it becomes our god. Likewise with all the other “good things” in life. It’s fine to enjoy good food, a comfortable home, and a rewarding career. But those things are not ultimate; they are not what life is about.

            The psalmist doesn’t say what it was in the sanctuary that revealed the truth to him, but I wonder if it was the community at prayer. There’s something amazing, transformative and sacred about a community of faith. When we really open ourselves up and pay attention to each other it’s hard to stay trapped in the world’s oppressive definition. When I sat with Sue Dargavel on Thursday I couldn’t help but think how fragile life is, how easy it is to let time slip away without visiting, how quickly someone can go from being independent to the border of life.

            When we spend time eating and talking and praying with people whose whole financial life is different from ours we see both how important and how unimportant money is. Everyone feels stress about money sometimes, but that means different things to different people. When folks who are fairly comfortable financially become close with those for whom a tank of gas can make or break the month, they are reminded of how much they really have and invited to clutch it less tightly and fearfully. When those who worry about how they are going to pay the heating bill spend time with folks who drive a newer car they see that more money doesn’t solve all their problems. It doesn’t create more time, it doesn’t solve family stress, it doesn’t eliminate fear.

            When we commit to life in a diverse community of faith we have brothers who never touch a drink and others who can’t put the bottle down. We have sisters who long for a husband and those who have escaped unimaginable abuse. We have family who have been here all their lives and those who grew up somewhere very different. We know people who can’t imagine life without a computer and others who remember life before TV.

When we really get deeply involved in a community we see life from so many different perspectives that we see the limits of our experience and the breadth of God’s grace. We learn from each other and realize that we have a lot in common despite our differences. We know that we all suffer; we share many fears and joys. We are all human, all God’s children and we all have something to share. That breaks us free from the rat race of measuring ourselves and each other by outward things and being captive to the powers of this world.

When going into the sanctuary changes us, when being with our brothers and sisters and hearing the word of God transforms our hearts, we see suffering and prosperity differently. We not only see that the wicked are not really secure, we also see that they aren’t really happy. And when we’ve practice loving a wide range of people through the community of faith, we can have compassion for those we used to envy.

Being part of God’s amazing community doesn’t give us a better job, or help us afford a bigger house. It won’t cure our physical diseases either. Christians suffer like everyone else. Jesus says it as clearly as possible: he tells the disciples that the faithful path will be hard. He also says that if they follow him, they’ll find a deeper peace, a deeper satisfaction that comes from trusting God, not things or situations. “I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”

In suffering and in joy, in celebration and sorrow we have peace in Christ. We offer and receive that peace from others through a caring community of faith. Suffering is real; evil is powerful, but love has the last word.

Thanks be to God.

different roles, one faith, 9.1.13

Today's sermon talks about Paul's arrest in Jerusalem, but more than that, about the tensions of different identities we share in the light of our faith. It's heavily influenced by listening to the discussion of a likely US military intervention in Syria. So, if you're interested in reading a few Presbyterian resources on that situation they are also linked here and here, the most important one is linked here. The sermon is below:

Acts 21:17-26

¹⁷When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly. ¹⁸The next day Paul

went with us to visit James; and all the elders were present. ¹⁹After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. ²⁰When they heard it, they praised God.

Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law. ²¹They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. ²²What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

²³So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. ²⁴Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself observe and guard the law. ²⁵But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.”

²⁶Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them.

Acts 21:27-34, 22:22-30

²⁷When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, who had seen him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd. They seized him, ²⁸shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place; more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” ²⁹For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰Then all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. ³¹While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³²Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³Then the tribune came, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; he inquired who he was and what he had done. ³⁴Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another; and as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.…

(quick bridge to Paul’s defense)

²²Up to this point they listened to him, but then they shouted, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.” ²³And while they were shouting, throwing off their cloaks, and tossing dust into the air, ²⁴the tribune directed that he was to be brought into the barracks, and ordered him to be examined by flogging, to find out the reason for this outcry against him. ²⁵But when they had tied him up with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who is uncondemned?” ²⁶When the centurion heard that, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷The tribune came and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸The tribune answered, “It cost me a large sum of money to get my citizenship.” Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.” ²⁹Immediately those who were about to examine him drew back from him; and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.

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Each of us plays different roles in our life. We are parents and children and spouses. We are employees and retirees and Christians. We are Americans and Republicans and Democrats. We are brothers and sisters, friends and swimmers, walkers, readers, workers. We are alumni of East High and East Ridge, Syracuse, Fredonia, Ithaca, Penn State and MCC. We have different roles and influences in our lives.

            For Paul it was the same thing, and like us, sometimes that was complicated. Paul was a Jew and a Christian. He was a Pharisee and an evangelist to the gentiles. He was born in Tarsus, raised in Jerusalem and a citizen of the Roman Empire. He was a tentmaker, pastor and prophet.  

Paul is a man of different worlds. He never stops being Jewish, regardless of persecution. He also holds his Roman citizenship tightly as it gives him the right to speak and be protected. When he is speaking to Roman officials, he talks about his rights as a citizen and how the charges against him have nothing to do with Rome. When he speaks to Jewish crowds he talks about the Law and the Prophets and how they predicted Christ. Even while he is in prison, he continues to be a pastor; in fact several of Paul’s letters were written during his final imprisonment in Rome. So, while as a prisoner he defends himself, as a pastor he also advises communities and coworkers on questions of ministry. In all he does, he seeks, first of all to be faithful to his ministry as an apostle of Christ.

As Christians, we live different roles in different parts of our lives, but in every part of our life we are called to live faithfully. That doesn’t mean that we are inconsistent or hypocritical, just that we do different things based on the situation.

In my role as a pastor, I lead with others, specifically the elders. That means we make decisions together. As a paramedic, I control a scene. A medical emergency is not a democracy; I tell people what to do. If I did that here, most people wouldn’t appreciate it, and if I invited people to share different ideas and vote about how to treat a cardiac emergency, I wouldn’t be an effective paramedic. I lead in different ways depending on the situation, but in every situation I strive to treat others with respect, compassion and love.

I imagine it’s the same for you. You do things differently at work than you do at home. You speak differently with your kids than with your friends. But in that diversity, there can be unity and consistency, because in everything we are called to follow Jesus. That means loving our kids and helping them to learn to be loving. It means doing our job at work conscientiously and treating our coworkers kindly so that even if we don’t talk explicitly about our faith, people can see love shining through.

Paul talks about citizenship in this passage, because as a citizen of the empire, he is entitled to a fair hearing in court. I’ve been thinking a lot this week about being a Christian and a citizen because of news and history. It’s been a blessing this week to hear excerpts from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream speech,” because this week was the fiftieth anniversary of the March on Washington.

Like Paul, Martin Luther King was a citizen and a minister of the gospel. When he read the scriptures, it was clear that God created all people equal and calls us to treat each other with kindness and justice. That faith commitment led King to oppose the injustice of segregation and economic oppression. He spoke for justice because his humanity and his faith told him segregation was wrong.

As a citizen of the United States, King saw his calling and responsibility in the same way. King’s speech from the Lincoln Monument reminded America that equality is in the very foundation of the nation by quoting the Declaration of Independence. Sometimes we need to challenge our community to live up to its own best values, which is what the civil rights movement did. As a citizen, King quoted Jefferson; as a Christian, he quoted Amos, but in everything he sought to be faithful to his calling in Christ. That calling and the struggle for justice and equality continues today for us because it is part of our faith.

Syria has also been on my mind a lot this week, which is especially relevant as we think about what it means to be a Christian and a US citizen. Paul claimed his citizenship to give him the protection he needed to continue to preach. He never imagined that citizens could shape their government. We live in a democratic society, which means we have more political freedom than Paul could have imagined as well as a responsibility to use our political voice faithfully as disciples of Jesus.

That can be a hard thing to do, because followers of Jesus do not always agree on political questions. At last summer’s General Assembly in Pittsburgh I served on the committee on Middle East Peacemaking. Our committee talked about Syria, because the civil war there had already been going on for a year and a half at that point. On this question the General Assembly passed a resolution to pray for Syria and to urge the US and others not to intervene militarily in the conflict. This resolution passed by a vote of 621 to 19 with five abstentions.

Chemical weapons are terrible. The international community is right to condemn and oppose their use in any situation, and we need to find ways to work together to pressure both sides to respect civilian life. It’s hard to stand by and not respond to such a gross violation of human rights, but if we have learned anything from the last 12 years of military engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan it must be that there are always unintended consequences. The Bible teaches that there is a time for war and a time for peace. Jesus says that those who live by the sword will die by the sword. There may be times that military action is necessary, but Christians should always have a strong bias towards peace.

As citizens and Christians we speak in different ways, but we must always try to be faithful to Jesus. We have the blessing and responsibility to use our voice to encourage love, peace and justice. Faithful Christians disagree on how to handle issues like Syria. It’s not my role to tell you what you should think. I never want this to be a bully pulpit. I’m not an expert on foreign policy or the Middle East by any stretch of the imagination.

One of the blessings of our Presbyterian system is that the pastor doesn’t rule. Instead, my job is to help you think about your life in the context of the faith we share. In this case, that includes sharing an overwhelming agreement in the General Assembly that the US should not intervene in this civil war. Our wider church is speaking for peace today as we spoke as a body for peace a year ago. Our partner churches in Syria and Lebanon have called on the church to oppose military intervention as well as to pray and care for the victims of this enormous suffering.

            What I can say clearly and with conviction is that your faith should be a big part of how you think about what it means to be a US citizen (and how you think about being an employee, parent, spouse and so on).  Our job as Christians is not to change the course of history, though sometimes we will. Our job is to be faithful to our calling regardless of fear, danger and opposition. For me, that means writing to our president and encouraging the denomination to pick up what we have already said about this conflict. I don’t know what it will mean for you; if nothing else, I hope you will be praying for peace and for wisdom for our leaders as they struggle with difficult decisions.

            Paul’s strategy in the last years of his life is interesting. He asks the Roman leader for permission to speak to the crowd and begins what he calls a “defense.” The goal of his defense isn’t to escape death. Instead, it is to tell the truth about his calling, regardless of whether that makes Jewish leaders accept him or reject him. His job is to tell God’s message, no matter what. And this wasn’t the only part of Paul’s calling. Sometimes we get sucked into thinking one thing defines us, or on the opposite side, that we have to do everything. The truth is we have to use our gifts and our time faithfully for our ministry. The question isn’t our success, but our faithfulness. 

            So in the footsteps of Paul and Martin we take our place as voices for God’s love in a challenging world. We take our place as people who live in many roles at the same time, united by faith in a God who loves us and, mysteriously, works all the chaos of life into a story that makes sense. We believe that God comes to us not with overwhelming force but in the cry of a child in a manger, the cry of a body broken on the cross, and the Spirit of love speaking truth through Christians in every age.

As we gather at Christ’s table to share the feast of love, this ancient symbol of the peaceful kingdom to come, we remember our brothers and sisters across history and around the world. We break bread together with scared families in refugee camps and in churches rattled by bombs. We break bread to find strength to live faithfully now in the tensions of life as we pray and hope for God’s new heaven and new earth where nation will no longer raise up sword against nation and we will study war no more.

Come, Lord Jesus; quickly come.

Everyone is welcome, 7.7.13

Acts 13:1-5, 13-16, 42-52

Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler, and Saul. ²While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also to assist them…¹³Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem; ¹⁴but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia.

And on the sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵After the reading of the law and the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it.” ¹⁶So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak: “You Israelites, and others who fear God, listen…

⁴²As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people urged them to speak about these things again the next sabbath. ⁴³When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God. ⁴⁴The next sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; and blaspheming, they contradicted what was spoken by Paul.

⁴⁶Then both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord; and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers. ⁴⁹Thus the word of the Lord spread throughout the region. ⁵⁰But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region. ⁵¹So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them, and went to Iconium. ⁵²And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Romans 9:1-5, 11:13-14, 25-33

I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit— ²I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. ⁴They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; ⁵to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

¹³Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I glorify my ministry ¹⁴in order to make my own people jealous, and thus save some of them…  ²⁵So that you may not claim to be wiser than you are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. ²⁶And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, “Out of Zion will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.” ²⁷“And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”

²⁸As regards the gospel they are enemies of God for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved, for the sake of their ancestors; ²⁹for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, ³¹so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. ³²For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all. ³³O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

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            Jesus didn’t think of himself as the founder of a new religion. He was Jewish and he thought of his ministry as part of Judaism. Every now and then he would talk to Roman military officers or random folks on the street, but his focus was the people of Israel. As the apostles took over that mission, they saw it the same way. Like Jesus, their ministry was to the Jewish community.

            Before long, the Holy Spirit made it clear that the message was bigger than that. The Spirit led Peter and Cornelius, a Roman officer together and made it obvious that everyone is equal in God’s eyes. While Peter took the first step, Paul soon becomes the center of the church’s mission to the gentiles. It’s ironic that Paul’s main mission was to the gentiles, because his early life had been dedicated to strengthening Judaism against pollution from outside the community, but God is full of surprises.

While he is committed to that mission, he can’t escape a haunting question: Why does Israel reject Jesus? Time and time again, Paul goes to the synagogue to preach God’s good news; time and time again, the most religious, most observant, strongest leaders chase Paul off and even try to kill him. Why?

Paul really just has to look at his own life to see why this happens. He grew up in the synagogue and devoted his life to learning about God and about the traditions and teachings of Israel. He trusted that God had given the people the law and that following it was how one got closer to God. When Saul first heard about Jesus and the movement of people who followed him, he saw a threat to religious truth. Saul believed that Jesus was a false Messiah, so following him would lead people away from God’s truth.

Because he thought the Jesus movement was a threat to Israel’s faith, Saul persecuted the church. But then Jesus met Saul on the road to Damascus and convinced him that Jesus really was the Messiah, so now he promoted instead of persecuting the church. While he’s convinced, he shouldn’t be surprised that his former colleagues haven’t changed their minds, so they still believe Christianity is a dangerous heresy.

That’s why some of the most committed Jews oppose the message of Jesus Paul is preaching. It also makes sense that the gentiles Paul talks to are especially receptive. In this episode, Paul is at a synagogue and he’s preaching to everyone there. As he opens he addresses his words to “You Israelites and others who fear God.”

Most of the people in a synagogue were Jewish, but there were also gentiles there who were attracted to the teaching and tradition of Judaism. We can imagine that they would have been open-minded because they were exploring a faith they had not grown up with. There’s a lot about Judaism that is appealing, so it’s not surprising that some gentiles were interested, even though Judaism didn’t do much in the way of outreach.

At the same time, listening to the law and prophets could also be a difficult experience for gentiles because so much is about the people of Israel being chosen by God. The promise goes through Abraham, through Isaac (not Ishmael), through Jacob (not Esau). A lot of the story is about some people being chosen and others not. That means as a gentile in a synagogue you’d hear a lot about how you were not part of the chosen family. Even if the goal wasn’t to exclude you, it would be easy to feel excluded.

So when Paul comes in and tells the story they’ve been getting to know in a new way that reaches out to gentiles, it makes sense that they rejoice. They’ve been learning about promises they can sort of connect with. Now Paul is saying they can be adopted through Christ and be fully included in the family of faith. The walls are coming down. As that message becomes clearer throughout the church’s ministry many gentiles come to faith in Christ.