Peace for What?

Peace for What? <–- audio file of sermon. A sermon based upon John 20:19-31

Good morning. First off, let me go ahead and acknowledge that you might have noticed something different about me today. Is it new glasses? No. Perhaps a new outfit? No. The answer is I shaved my head 2 days ago at a charity event raising money for and awareness of childhood cancers. Some of you know that I do this every year and it’s always a wonderful event. Actually, the child we honored at the event was in the hospital and unable to attend. But like I said, it was still a wonderful occasion and such a great cause.

And just so you know, it is okay to ask me questions about it. It is okay to stare. And if you ask, I’ll even let you rub my head. But when you look at my head, please remember all those who struggle with cancer and need our support and then say a prayer for them.

Okay, now back to the task at hand. What do we make of these disciples and of good ole doubting Thomas? This is a story that a week and a half ago, I was going to preach pretty much the same thing we usually do. I thought we were going to look at the struggle between intuition and fact and of the different ways of knowing. I thought we might focus on how Christ comes to us no matter what our needs are so we need not vilify Thomas for being slow to believe.

But then Sunday night our televisions, radios, Facebook pages, and text messages starting buzzing with news that the President would speak. Soon the word came out that Osama Bin Laden was dead. And from that point forward broke a frenzy of praise, sorrow, questions, debate, and doubt. And somewhere in all this, a few people paused to ask, “what should the Christian response be?”

What should the Christian response be to the death of a man who apparently has masterminded the deaths of thousands of innocent lives? What should the Christian response be to the death of a man who struck fear in the hearts of so many? What should the Christian response be to the death of a man who was also a husband, father, grandfather, brother, and someone’s child? What should the Christian response be to the death of a man who had become so consumed by hate and fear that he could not see the humanity in others?

Sisters and brothers, I’m not going down a road toward telling you what you should believe politically or think about Osama Bin Laden. But I am going down a road that points to what happens when we live behind locked doors.

Let’s take another look at this passage. The passage begins, “When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’”

See, when we think about this passage in time, Jesus had just been crucified and died. That very morning Mary and Mary had discovered the empty tomb. Jesus had appeared to some of them on the road and they were sharing the news. But the general feeling amongst all of them was fear. They were afraid for their lives and afraid for their futures. They closed themselves off and locked the door. But Christ comes through the barriers and says, “Peace be with you.”

Later in the passage, we have the same disciples only this time Thomas is also there and he has not believed that Jesus was truly resurrected. The passage reads, “A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”

Here again we have the closed doors that are presumably locked. Even a week later, the disciples are hiding out rather than being out and about. And Jesus comes through the barriers to once again pronounce, “Peace be with you.”

So, what do we make of this? It would be easy to speed on past these verses and get to the story of Thomas’ disbelief. But I don’t think these verses are here by accident and I don’t think John went to the trouble of noting the closed doors if it weren’t an issue for us to learn from.

First of all I think we need to have grace and compassion in our hearts just as Christ did when we look at this story otherwise we get caught up in judgment. These people were scared. Jesus had been their companion and champion. They believed he was going to restore justice in the land. They hadn’t yet realized his justice would be of a more far reaching kind. So in their fear, they retreated to a home and hid out.

But Jesus came in and didn’t speak harsh words or judgment. He wanted them to be at ease and to release their fear. He greeted them with a wish and hope for peace in their lives. Christ wants them to not fear or to feel worse for their struggle. He wanted them to heal. His words were about understanding their experience and knowing that more than anything, they needed to let go of the fear and receive peace and the hope that springs from it.

This is truly an amazing model for our lives. It is an orientation toward people that begins with saying, “I want to know and understand you and your needs.” To have a starting place of grace and compassion in our hearts is a starting point of love rather than assessing, judging, categorizing, or any of the other countless ways we sum people up without first seeking to understand them and their experience.

When we are scared and either literally or metaphorically close ourselves off, what would it be like if someone who loves us came on in and spoke love and peace into our hearts, minds, and spirits? How would we react if that person looked at us with eyes of compassion that told us that our experiences and feelings are safe with them?

And looking outside of ourselves, what if we were the person who could be that voice of peace, love, and healing for the one who has walled themselves off? When we’re dealing with the person who lashes out at us, what if our starting place was that of looking into how someone got so overrun by fear rather than lashing back at them? What if our priority was to truly know and understand people and their experiences instead of quickly assessing what category they fit into?

Now coming back to where I started with the death of Bin Laden, I’m not saying that there isn’t a time to make people stand accountable for their crimes or that understanding why someone is fearful is an excuse for the way they may have hurt others. There is a time for that accountable justice. There is even a time and a place for those categories like liar, cheater, greedy, selfish, terrorist, and murderer. Those classifications can help us as a society understand who has been hurt and how to exact justice. But those categories should never be a substitute for seeking to know and understand one another. That’s just not what the Christian life is about.

The Christian life is found in our second point today. Christ’s peace and calling are to fling open the doors and live out in the world as agents of love and healing. Jesus said, “Peace be with you” not only as a way to still their anxious spirits but to clear the path to move beyond the fear and anxiety. Next, he breathed the Holy Spirit upon them and told them to go out and spread the Good News and extend the gift of the forgiveness of sins to all. Their job, their calling was to be out in the world. They had received the Spirit and the Spirit should not and cannot be contained behind closed doors.

So what does this mean to us? Well, more often than not, our fears come out in more subtle ways that are not directly damaging to others but cause harm we will never see. We wall ourselves off from certain “kinds” of people or places thereby cutting of relationship after relationship after relationship. We convince ourselves that our fears are actually wise judgments or well thought out beliefs so we don’t need to bother with this person or that group. We tell ourselves that “they” are sinners or liars or too uneducated to understand or too far beyond help. We convince ourselves that we need not worry about them because they don’t want our help anyway. We use words terms like “crazy liberal” and “snooty” to feel better about not looking at them as a whole person.

But maybe that’s just the problem. The message of Christ doesn’t start with figuring out what category someone fits in to or how to fix them. It starts with understanding. Instead of seeing “they” and “them” we need to see a person struggling or striving or searching and look more deeply into how that journey has shaped their life. When our starting point is that of trying to understand someone, the issue of helping will then naturally into place. And you know what else? We often find that we were helped in some way too.

Now, I’m not saying living the Christian life means to blindly walk up to a person who’s fear may have built to the point of violence. But I am saying that it means unlocking the doors of fear we’ve constructed for ourselves. It means gently challenging the fears of others by seeking to understand them and being open so that they can understand us. It means challenging our own fears by trusting in the peace of Christ to overcome all.

Does all this sound too big? Well, it starts here. The church is the proving grounds for how we’ll live in the world. We start with the people around us and let go of seeing the labels and the judgments and the walls that keep us from seeing the whole person.

With Christ’s peace, we can let go of seeing the person who snubbed us when we needed a friend or the person who complains instead of helping or the person who boasts instead of listening. And when we let go of the categories of judgment we might understand that we weren’t actually snubbed because the other person was deeply depressed at the time. And those complaints are just a mask for loneliness. And the boasting was just a mask for fear. If we can let the walls we have between us down long enough to understand one another, we’ll cultivate such a deep community we’ll have the strength to go out into the world and do this with others.

And we already do. Look at the Kairos ministry. That’s an amazing example of understanding that leads to healing. And I could stand here and name ministries and individual actions in this congrigation that over and over reflect the triumph of Christ’s peace and the healing of understanding. But today’s passage reminds us that there’s always more to be done.

The Christian response to Bid Laden’s death is not as simple as cheering or grieving. We must seek to be thoughtful and compassionate, appreciating justice yet seeking greater reconciliation. Christ’s call in the world always begins with peace that breaks down fear. That peace leads to understanding. And understanding leads to healing.

Sisters and brothers, whatever fears we are hiding behind or keep locked away, Christ breaks in past them and says, “Peace be with you.” As we leave here today, let us be bold to hear and receive that peace. Let us be brave to understand and be understood. Let us be trusting in Christ’s calling and be agents of healing and reconciliation in the world. Amen.

Our Guiding Light

Sermon for Christ the King Sunday based upon Colossians 1: 11-20 <-- Audio file of sermon

Good morning. It’s good to be back with you and I’ll be with you for the better part of Advent as well. Actually, I feel like today is the beginning of Advent rather than the last day of the liturgical year because when I read the lectionary texts for today, which we call Christ the King Sunday, it felt like I was reading a prelude or prolog to our advent devotional, “The Stars Tell The Story.”

This text from Colossians is a what some theologians refer to as the “Cosmic Christ” because it talks about Jesus in these larger than life terms. This passage stands in sharp contrast to the way Paul usually talks about the body of Christ because it’s talking more about how all the universe relates to Christ rather than the way Jesus relates to us. It also stands in contrast to the way Jesus talked of himself and the way he led his ministry. When Jesus reached out he did so in relationships, daily connections, and in the details of people’s lives. His own interactions were about getting into the thick of people’s lives. And when he told stories, they may have included big picture metaphors, but they were usually about how people were to relate to one another. But this passage in Colossians is different. It shows us a big picture view of Christ.

Now this got me to wondering why that is. Why is it that Paul would talk about Jesus in such a different way than usual? To find out, I only had to read a bit about the people of Colossae in that time and then it all made sense.

You see, Colossae was a town in the rugged, mountainous land of what would be modern day Turkey. Christians were a small sect amongst many other more dominant religions. All of the other popular religions were polytheistic, meaning that they had many gods. Now this isn’t surprising because Jews followed by Christians and then the Muslims some time later were the only religions claiming “A One True God” rather than many gods. So this little group of Christians that believed in one god who had also been a real live person was considered suspicious and weird in that time.

But the way they stood out didn’t stop there. Colossae was also what some of us might call a very backward culture. They were extremely superstitious which is why so many religions took hold rather than a dominant one. What I mean by this is that for every problem that arose, they believed it was caused by a demon or dark power. This would spark some religious faction to step up with the idea that they knew which god to pray to or pay tribute to in order to have the problem fixed. Now in an area of the world frequently plagued by earthquakes, droughts, and war, finding the “god” to fix it was like flipping a coin. It was all just chance. And so this produced belief in a lot of gods that had, in their view, answered their cry at one point or another.

Christians on the other hand were not as concerned with trying to fix these things that went wrong as much as they were helping the people suffering because of it. Now I’m sure that they prayed to God to bring back their flock that drowned in the flood and to stop the earthquakes. Who wouldn’t? But rather than being focused on what they couldn’t control, they were focused on what they could… being a good neighbor and caring for the poor and meeting the needs of the suffering. So let me tell you, these people were some real weirdoes in Colossae!

So here’s Paul writing a letter to them and in good pastoral form, he’s says “Ya know all those bad things and dark powers? You don’t have to worry about those anymore. God has answered them in an ultimate way through Christ. You just keep doing what you’re supposed to each day and God will take care of all the stuff you can’t control. Christ is the glue that holds you together now. Live in that victory and you’ll never need to wonder who’s in control.”

Ok, well that’s my translation of what Paul wrote but don’t take my word for it, read verses 13-17: [God] has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Hmmm… So maybe this “Cosmic Christ” really is about relating to people where they are and getting into the thick of their lives anyway. It seems to me that if a group of folks were being persecuted for not having enough cosmic mojo behind them, Paul just told them how they could explain Christ to the person with deeply rooted superstitions or the family who feels haunted by a darkness because they had lost so many loved ones.  This “Cosmic Christ” sounds pretty available to everyday folks if you ask me.

All this leads us to what this passage has to say to us today. Because as much as I love digging into the history and sharing these interesting connections, you probably would like to leave here with more than an anthropology lesson.

So what is all this about? What does Christ the King Sunday mean? What does it mean to have Christ as our king? Well, this passage gives quick overview of several the ways to think of Jesus. Beginning with verse 15, Paul says that Jesus is:
Now we could probably talk for days about what all that means but I think Paul drove his ultimate point home. All this stuff about Christ reconciling himself to all creation, being the head of the body, and holding everything together is about us recognizing that as Christians, Christ is of always of ultimate importance and at the very center of our experience.

the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

See, this is about what Paul said at the beginning of the passage. “Giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

We inherited the light. We have been rescued from darkness by Christ, our guiding light. We have been transferred into the kingdom. That kingdom is a new covenant in Christ. That kingdom is living out the life of Christ here and now. That kingdom is the peace of knowing that all other things are in God’s hands. For Christians, we cannot do anything without seeing Christ in it and if we can’t see Christ, it probably isn’t for us to do.

Christ’s reign as king lifts the burden of saving the world off our shoulders and leaves us to do only what our particular calling is in the body. God’s job is redemption and forgiveness. Our job is being that new creation. To use a term we don’t often use in the church anymore, Christ’s reign reinforces the sovereignty of God. God’s sovereignty means that God’s vision and redemption has, is, and will work to completion regardless of our will or action. God’s power is true power and works for the good of creation through Christ.

You see, the reason I keep drawing a sharp line between what we are called to do as the body of Christ and what we need to leave to God is because we so often get them confused and start to meddle in the affairs of God.

Let’s take for example that old saying “Love the sinner; hate the sin.” Well, that sounds good on the surface. It sounds like something we should be able to do but is it? See, getting focused on judgment puts us in God’s realm. When we are focused on figuring out what is wrong with someone, it then becomes all too easy to miss seeing God’s image in them. Instead, our job is follow Christ’s lead of seeking relationships.

If we truly want to help someone that we believe is suffering in sinful existence (as if we aren’t all suffering from brokenness), then we should enter into loving relationship with them and provide her or him with what the need to shed that which burdens them. In relationships we are all healed by God’s love in our midst. Furthermore, when we do this, the responsibility for judging or “fixing” sin is removed from us and placed in God’s hands because we’ve been faithful in relationship.

This is the whole essence of the church. Us opening up to let others help us find healing. Reaching out to others to nurture them along the way. Going outside these doors to be Christ’s hands of caring and nurture in the world. Christ came and gave us a more excellent way. Our job is to live it one day at a time.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Battle, an episcopal theologian said, “Christ’s reign distinguishes the human community from the frenzied animal kingdom. Jesus has taught us to act differently, to be human in such a way that we will no longer crucify God in our midst.” I thing that’s a mighty powerful vision.

When we look around, who do we see that we can extend Christ’s hand of healing to? When we look into ourselves, what wall do we need to let down to receive Christ’s light more fully? When we leave this place, where can we extend the love we learned from fellowship with Christ?

Sisters and brothers, this passage reminds us that God has all the universe well in hand so that we don’t have to worry about that. Ultimately, like the people of Colossae, we just need to stay focused on what we can do each day as part of the body of Christ and let God take care of the rest. Amen.

Resurrection... Now and Always

As a Christian I've struggled to make the resurrection meaningful and real. Even as a cancer survivor, it does not always seem to make sense. But resurrection is not about mere survival. Resurrection is about transformation, thriving, and a lived life beyond our previous imagination. May we all experience resurrection now and always.