What is the Eucharist?

Exodus 24:3-8

Hebrews 9:11-15

Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

Today we celebrate Corpus Christi, or the Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus. It is an occasion to celebrate and meditate upon the miracle of Jesus’ real presence in the Eucharist. As Episcopalians—and especially as Episcopalians in the catholic or high church tradition—the Holy Eucharist is absolutely central to our identity and our life together.

So what exactly is the Eucharist and why is it so important? It would be impossible to say everything that needs to be said about this holy feast in one homily, but I want to offer a three point definition of the Eucharist as a sacrifice, a sacrament, and a covenant.

First, why do we call the Eucharist a sacrifice? The entire context for Jesus’ last supper with his disciples in which he instituted the Eucharist is the Passover in which lambs were offered for the salvation of the people. The sacrificial lamb was consumed in the ceremony of the Passover meal celebrated in the homes of devout Jews.

But Jesus was not merely celebrating an ordinary Passover. He was proclaiming a new Passover sacrifice. There were similarities to the Passover meal, but there were also differences. For instance there is no reference to a lamb in the gospel descriptions of their meal. There may have been one present, but the emphasis is shifted away from it. Instead when Jesus explains the meaning of the unleavened bread, as it was the hosts’ duty to do, he took it and said, “This is my body.” When he took the cup of wine he told them, “This is my blood.” In doing so, he was proclaiming himself to be the Passover lamb, the sacrifice that would deliver them from sin and lead them out of bondage.

Is the Holy Eucharist then the new Passover in which Jesus Christ is sacrificed for our sins? Not exactly. Jesus offered that once and for all perfect sacrifice upon the cross. We are not re-sacrificing Christ again and again. That would imply that Jesus’ death was not enough to save us. Everything necessary for our forgiveness and reconciliation with God has already been accomplished. This should fill our heats with peace and gratitude.

The Eucharist is a sacrifice but it is not a bloody sacrifice. The scriptures speak of a number of different kinds of sacrifices, not all of them blood sacrifice. There are grain offerings, drink offerings, and also what is called a “wave offering.”  A gift would be symbolically presented to God as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. This is how we speak of the gifts of bread and wine in the Eucharist. They are presented to God as an act of thanksgiving for Jesus’ once and for all sacrifice upon the cross.

More than a simple offering of thanksgiving, however, the Eucharist is also a sacrament. A sacrament is an outward and visible sign of a heavenly, spiritual, reality given as a sure and certain means through which we receive the grace of that heavenly, spiritual, reality.

The heavenly, spiritual, reality presented in the Holy Eucharist is described in our Epistle reading from Hebrews.  What the author is saying is that Jesus is our eternal priest interceding for us in heaven.

In the old testament times the high priest would enter the tabernacle in a cloud of incense to present God with an animal sacrifice, but  Jesus Christ passed through the clouds of Heaven, entered the true heavenly sanctuary and there, as our high priest, presented his body and blood before the Father as the one, perfect, all sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

Our offering of the bread and wine in the Eucharist is meant to be an outward and visible representation of that heavenly reality. Under the species of bread and wine we present Jesus’ body and blood before God.

It isn’t that God needs to be reminded of our salvation in Christ, but we do. We need to be reminded again and again that we have been redeemed by the cross and reconciled to God.

The Holy Eucharist is an assurance of God’s love and the peace we have with him. The once and for all sacrifice of Christ is represented in the Eucharist, but more than that, we also receive the benefit of that sacrifice. A sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, but we must remember that it is also a sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.  

In the Eucharist we receive the true body and blood of Christ. He gives himself to us there as surely as he gave himself to us on cavalry. Jesus is present in heaven for our sake as our eternal priest and he is present in the Eucharist for our sake as the Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Salvation.

Finally the Eucharist is a covenant. A covenant is a solemn binding promise made between individuals or peoples. For instance, Marriage is a covenant. Two people stand up before God and their community and make a solemn commitment to love and care for one another.

In ancient times covenants were  made with a sacrifice. God made a covenant with us through Jesus Christ, and Christ sealed that covenant with his sacrifice. Christ promised to bring us into God’s kingdom and give us eternal life. We are called to respond to that promise in faith and to keep his commandments.

When Jesus gave us the Eucharist, he also gave us a commandment. He told us to love one another as he loved us.

Whenever we celebrate the Eucharist, we renew that covenant with God. We reaffirm our faith in him and we ask his assistance in helping us to keep his commandments.

The Holy Eucharist cements our fellowship. It brings us closer to God, but it also brings us closer to one another.  Because there is one bread and one cup, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread and one cup. 

Who is the Holy Spirit?

• Acts 2:1-21
• 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
• John 7:37-39

Pentecost is a feast of the church of which I have a particular fondness. I well recall my first Pentecost in a neighborhood Episcopal Church much like this one. I was not raised in the Episcopal Church so it was a new experience for me. As the choir and ministers processed down the aisle, a kite depicting a white dove trailed by flame colored ribbons swooped above the congregation.

I remember thinking to myself, “Why had this observance not been part of my faith growing up?” I of course was familiar with the story from Acts when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church, but only as a kind of curious incident in Holy Scripture. This feast raised the moment to a whole other level of significance. It did something else as well, it gave the spotlight to the Holy Spirit in a way I had never seen before.  I realized then that I had not fully acknowledged the full importance and centrality of the Holy Spirit.

It has indeed been said that the Holy Spirit is the “neglected member of the Trinity.” This has been especially true here in the Western side of the Church with the exception of the Pentecostal and Charismatic traditions that have emerged fairly recently. Too often the Spirit has been a kind of afterthought. His role and identity, sadly, remains hazy to many Christians. Therefore, this morning, the Day of Pentecost, I want to address the question, “Who is the Holy Spirit?”

The first thing we need to understand about the Holy Spirit is that he is a person. Holy Scripture uses personal pronouns to refer to the Spirit. He possesses all the distinctive marks of personality.

For instance, the Holy Spirit has knowledge. As Saint Paul writes, “For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” The Spirit imparts his knowledge through teaching and revelation.

The Holy Spirit has a will. He exercises choice. Our Epistle lesson speaks of the various gifts of the Spirit that he, “allots to each one individually just as he chooses.”

The Holy Spirit speaks. In fact, one of the things we confess about the Spirit in the Nicene Creed is that “he has spoken through the prophets.”

Saint Paul writes that the Spirit intercedes, “for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

Finally, the Spirit has feeling and emotion. Scripture speaks of the “love of the spirit.” It also tells us that the Spirit can be grieved. It warns us, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

 The Holy Spirit is not some sort of inanimate power, or energy that can be harnessed or controlled.  The attempt to manipulate spiritual forces for one’s own purposes is called magic or sorcery. It is a practice that is strongly condemned in Holy Scripture. In the early days of the Church, there was a man named Simon the Magus or Simon the sorcerer who—after witnessing firsthand the power of the Holy Spirit—offered the Apostles a large sum of money saying, ‘Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ He was strongly rebuked by Saint Peter.

 Because the Holy Spirit is a person and not a commodity, we can’t get more of the Spirit, rather we develop a growing relationship with him by opening ourselves more and more to his presence.

The next thing that we should understand about the Holy Spirit is that he is God. The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Holy Trinity.  We confess in the Nicene Creed that, “With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.” The Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and the Son in his divinity. He has all the basic attributes of God: Holiness, eternality, omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience.

He also does the work of God. Genesis says that the Spirit of God hovered over the formless deep at the dawn of creation.  It was through the working of the Holy Spirit that God became man in Jesus Christ. The Angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most Highs will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”

Likewise, It is also through the Spirit that believers are born from above and made holy.

Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as another advocate like himself who proceeds from the Father. He says, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever. The Spirit of Truth.”

In our Epistle reading Paul identifies the Spirit as God. He writes, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.”

All three persons of the Trinity are equally divine and therefore equally worthy of our worship and devotion. There is no hierarchy of divinity, with the Father first, the Son second, and the Spirit as some sort of third rate, C-list, deity. No! The Holy Spirit is our God to whom belongs all our love—heart, mind, and soul.

Finally, in order to understand who the Holy Spirit is, we must understand the work he has come to perform. The descent of the Holy Spirit described in our reading from Acts marks the beginning of the Church’s existence. It is an event that was prophesied and long expected. The Church was born of the Spirit and so we are a people of the Spirit. The Spirit’s presence is the animating force and life of the church, the breath of the Body of Christ. The Spirit is the one that unites us to Christ. It is through the Spirit working in us that we can know that Jesus is Lord. It is the Spirit who equips the Church for its mission.

As Ignatius of Laodicea said, 

“Without the Holy Spirit, God is distant, Christ is merely a historical figure, the Gospel is a dead letter, the Church is just an organization, authority is domination, mission is propaganda, liturgy is only nostalgia, and the work of Christians is slave labor. But with the Holy Spirit, Christ is risen and present, the Gospel is a living force, the Church is a communion in the life of the Trinity, authority is a service that sets the people free, mission is Pentecost, the liturgy is memory and anticipation, and the labor of Christians is sanctified.”

Trying to live a Christian life and be the Church without the Holy Spirit is like trying to drive a car with no air in the tires or gas in the tank. Through Baptism we each have been given the Spirit. He lives inside of us, but too often we keep him locked in the basement. We ignore and neglect him. The miraculous life of signs and wonders described in our readings is meant to be the ordinary life of the Church!

If we want to live a life of victory, strength, vitality, freedom, and mission, we need to let the Spirit loose. That is scary. The Holy Spirit is fire, wind, and a raging flood. He is dangerous but he is good. Do you trust him with your life?

Convicted Civility on Mars Hill

1 Peter 3:13-22

Acts 17:22-31

In today’s Epistle Reading Saint Peter admonishes us, “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.”

Have you noticed that it is becoming increasingly difficult to share our beliefs with people with whom we have strong disagreements? The Lutheran scholar and social commentator Martin Marty has noted, "People who have strong convictions are often not very civil, and people who are civil often do not have strong convictions." 

What he and many others have urged is a “convicted civility.” It is a good and necessary thing to have zeal for the truth. It is a good thing to have strong convictions. But it is equally important and necessary to hold those convictions with gentleness, respect, and reverence for the dignity of those with whom we disagree.

In a culture increasingly fueled by outrage, contempt, and a self-righteous jostling for the moral high ground this is not easy!

Many have looked to our reading from Acts—in which Saint Paul addresses the people of Athens gathered at the Aeropagus—as a model of how Christians should share their own convictions in an irenic way with those who believe differently than they.

When Saint Paul first arrived in Athens he experienced profound culture shock. The culture of the Athenians was offensive to his Jewish and monotheistic sensibilities. He was greatly distressed that the city was full of idols. We are told that he reasoned not only with the Jews in the synagogue but with the Greeks he met in the Market place. 

Many of Paul’s hearers found his beliefs offensive as well. They said, “What is this babbler saying?” Others dismissed him by saying, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange and foreign gods.”  There were others among his hearers, however, who were intrigued by his message. Some of the scholars and Philosophers of the Stoic and Epicurean party began to debate with him. They were interested in learning more, and so they brought him to the Aeropagus or  as the Romans named it, Mars Hill.  This was a place where people gathered to discuss the legal, religious, and philosophical questions of the day.  

Now Saint Paul had very strong convictions. No doubt he wanted to come in with guns blazing denouncing their horrid idolatry and gross immorality, but—although he had very strong feelings—he practiced restraint. Instead he learned from and listened to his opponents. He tried to understand where they were coming from. He listened not only for points of difference but for places of common ground. Although he found their culture and religious practices strange and offensive, he asked himself not only, “Where are they in error?” but, “Where is God at work here? What can I affirm in their system? Where are they bearing witness to the truth?”

Paul looked upon his opponents as fellow seekers after God and truth. While acknowledging the good in his opponents view points, he nevertheless maintained his own convictions. He used what he believed was good in his opponents views to oppose what was bad. He was able to share his own deeply held convictions, and even challenge theirs, while maintaining respect and civility.

What is it that Saint Paul affirms among what he found in the pagans of Athens?

First, he admirers their piety and religious impulse. This is significant admission given how distressed he was by their idolatry. Is it a contradiction to say that Paul was simultaneously impressed by their piety and horrified by the objects of their worship? I don’t think it needs to be. Paul sees in the people of Athens a thirst to know God and to worship him, but he sees this good impulse twisted, perverted, and misdirected. Instead of directing their worship to the true God, the pagans of Athens have become consumed by idolatry and superstition. They didn’t seem to have any idea of the truth of the divine but instead ignorantly paid homage to creations of their own. They had a fear of God, but not according to knowledge. Their fear and superstition were such that—in order to cover all their bases—they created an altar to an “Unknown God.” Paul uses this as an opportunity to inform them about the God that they worship in ignorance. The true God that has been revealed in Jesus Christ.

Although they are ignorant of him, God created everything that is. He has been watching over them and providing for them. He wants to be known by them. “God is not far from them,” he tells them. Here Saint Paul is taking the side of the Stoics above the Epicureans. The Epicureans believed that the gods were distant and unconcerned with the struggles and sorrows of human life. The stoics however were pantheist, believing God to be the very soul of the world, filling all things.

Paul quotes a stoic saying, “In him we live and move and have our being.” Although Paul was neither stoic or pantheist, he affirms that God is all around us and that his power sustains us at every moment. God is intimately involved in our life and cares about the choices we make.

Finally Paul affirms that—even they as pagans—are children of God created in his image in order to reflect his likeness. This is a biblical idea but it is affirmed also by some of their own poets. Saint Paul here quotes the Stoic Cleanthes,

O God most glorious, called by many a name,
Nature's great King, through endless years the same;
Omnipotence, who by your just decree controls all

… Unto you must your creatures in all lands call.
We are your children, we alone, of all
On earth's broad ways that wander to and fro,
Bearing your image wheresoever we go.

While Paul finds much to affirm and admire in the people of Athens, he does not hold back from challenging them to repent either. In former times God was patient with their ignorance and unbelief, but now he is calling them to turn and repent and receive Christ whom he has made the judge of all the world.

Saint Paul shared his belief and hope with both conviction and civility. Can we do the same? Some of the people that day sneered at what Paul had to share, but others were intrigued. We too must accept that not everyone will agree with us. The important thing is to not hide our light under a basket but to share it with gentleness and reverence. 

Saint George and the Code of Chivalry

1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11,19-23), 32-50

Revelation 12:7-12

Mark8:34-38

The image of the brave and gallant Saint George rescuing the damsel in distress from the evil dragon has become a ubiquitous cultural symbol. It has been celebrated in countless instances of Christian iconography and art both in the Eastern and Western Church.  He is named as the patron saint of England, Ethiopia, Greece, Palestine, Georgia, and many other countries and provinces. Many churches—including our own—are also under his name and patronage. Despite his widespread fame, his actual history is somewhat hazy. 

Tradition tells us that he was a Roman soldier born in what is now modern-day Turkey in around 280AD and died around 303AD. He served in the retinue of the Emperor Diocletian in a time of intense persecution of the Church. Diocletian ordered that all Christians be forced to renounce their faith and offer traditional pagan sacrifices, but George refused. He was initially bribed with wealth and power, but when he still would not turn his back on Christ, he was tortured and eventually beheaded.

It is, however, the legendary tales of his heroic exploits, brought back by crusaders from the Holy Land, that has captured the imagination of Western Christendom. Saint George has become more of a mythical figure than a historical one. He has become an embodiment of the ideal Christian Knight and the traditional values of chivalry.

What is chivalry anyway? Put simply Chivalry was code of conduct which all honorable Christian knights were expected to embrace. Because they belonged to Jesus Christ and existed to promote and defend the cause of the gospel and the church of God, a Christian knight had to be one set apart, and exemplary in his conduct. He was to be a witness for the faith.

This morning, on our observance of St. George’s Day, I would like to say a bit about what he can teach us about that ancient code of chivalry and why I think it is still relevant for us today.  Particularly I want to focus on three “knightly virtues,” justice, valor, and piety.

The whole concept of chivalry has a bit of an ambivalent reputation these days, especially when it comes to its code of conduct around how men should relate to women. We frequently here the declaration, “Chivalry is dead.” Some say. “Good riddance!” The feminist journal Psychology of Women Quarterly, for instance, has described Chivalry as, “benevolent sexism.” It is benevolent because it flatters women with preferential treatment, but it is sexist because it rests on the premise that women are weak and incapable of helping themselves, while men are strong.

While it may be true that—in our increasingly egalitarian culture—the way men practice chivalry towards women needs to be adapted, when it is abandoned, the vulnerable suffer not the powerful.

Chivalry is not essentially about assuring male superiority, but about assuring justice. It is not about maintaining privilege but letting it go. Chivalry is about the strong and powerful willingly setting limitations upon themselves to protect the vulnerable from being trampled on.

 The code of Chivalry arose in the sometimes violent and barbaric time of the middle ages. It called upon men—and soldiers in particular—to temper their aggression and not to use strength and force to exploit or molest the vulnerable, particularly women and children. It made pillaging and harming non-combatants dishonorable. A Christian Knight must never use violence or power for greedy or selfish ends, but only in order to defend the weak and protect the common good.

Although Saint George was born into a noble family, he willingly identified with the Christian faith—a despised minority among the higher echelons of Roman society. He did not abandon his brothers and sisters in Christ, even when tempted with wealth and power, but laid down his life out of love for them.

Embracing the knightly, chivalrous virtue of Justice, today, means standing up for vulnerable minorities in our own community. It means privileging the needs of the disadvantaged above our own power and comfortability.   

The brave knight in shining armor seems quaint and old fashioned to many today, but our culture has its own romantic depictions of courage and heroism. The increasingly popular genre of Super-Hero stories offers many examples of the chivalrous virtue of valor. A great example comes from the recent blockbuster film, Captain America: Civil War. Cap is an excellent example of valor, not just because he does battle with the bad guys, but because he stays true to his principles even when it is difficult. There is a great quote from the movie,

“Compromise where you can. And where you can’t, don’t. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right, even if the whole world is telling you to move. It is your duty to plant yourself like a tree by the river of truth, look them in the eye and say, no. You move.”

The true Christian Knight must be a person of conviction. Valor is about having the faith as well as strength of mind and spirit to go against the grain when things are running in the wrong direction. It about having the courage to stand up for what is right. It is about planting your feet firmly and facing the dragon with bravery when everyone else is running away.

We admire the fanciful story of Saint George’s courageous battle with the dragon, but his real act of valor was facing down the terrible might of the Roman Empire, staying true to his faith, and giving his life for Christ. Hopefully none of us, will be called to martyrdom it that sense, but we all can be witnesses to the faith by staying true to the principles of the Gospel in a sometimes hostile world.

Our reading this morning from Revelation tells the story Saint Michael the archangel and his own battle with a dragon, Satan the ancient enemy of God’s people. Now angels don’t actually fight with swords and spears, because they don’t have bodies, they fight instead with ideas and principles. The powerful weapon that Satan used to lead God’s people astray was pride. The weapon with which Michael defeated and cast out Satan was humility. His name is a question. It means, “Who is like God?” While Satan put himself above God, Michael—out of devotion to God—put God above himself.

It is this humility and devotion to God that is at the heart of the knightly virtue of piety. It is no accident that the iconography of St. George and Saint Michael are so similar. Both are usually shown towering over a crushed and defeated serpent. These images represent the conquering of the lower nature by the higher, the triumph of good over evil.

The Christian Knight knows that the real battle is not between flesh and blood, but the violence, the cruelty, greed, and the selfishness in his own heart—with his own sinful nature. Like King David, he knows that the real way to defeat this giant is not with the sword, but through the power of God.

Saint George isn’t a saint because of his military prowess or skill with a horse and a spear. He is a Saint because his but his faith in God and shared in the victory of Christ over the power of sin. If we put our faith in God, we too can crush the serpent under our feet through the might of Jesus Christ.

Saint George would be the first one to direct us not to his own justice, valor, and piety, but to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is Christ who is the true embodiment of Chivalry. He did not see his divine glory as something to be used only for his own advantage, but he emptied himself, and took the form of a servant. Jesus laid down his life for his bride the church. He gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her and present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. He spoke truth to power and drank the cup his father gave him to drink even when it meant torture and crucifixion. He lived the perfect life of obedience to the will of the father and conquered our sinful nature by the cross. He crushed the head of the serpent and the serpent bruised his heal.

All that we admire and seek to emulate in Saint George we find first in our Lord. Like Saint George, let us be true Christian Knights. Let our lives also glorify Christ. Let us love justice. Let us have courage, and let us be devoted to our God! 

Gardeners in the New Creation: An Easter Sermon

John 20:1-18

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

Good morning, and Happy Easter to you all! It is indeed a joy to share with you in celebration of the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This is a holy season of beauty, light, and gladness. All around us it seems that creation too is sharing in our celebration.

Just as we once again sing our Alleluias and our Easter hymns, so the birds sing their songs. We are swept up together with them in rejoicing. The Hebrew poem, The Song of Songs, from Holy Scripture says it like this,

Arise, my love, my fair one,   and come away; for now the winter is past,   the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth;   the time of singing has come,and the voice of the turtle-dove   is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs,   and the vines are in blossom;   they give forth fragrance.Arise, my love, my fair one,   and come away.

It woos us does it not? After the sometimes dreary winter months here in New York, the return of warm weather, sun, and green grass, as well as the blooming of flowers does indeed feel like a kind of resurrection. To me, each spring is a miracle, a gift, and the promise that God has not given up on the world. He restores it every year and each time he dazzles us with beauty.

We eagerly await its signs, and look for them. Like that lonely crocus that pokes its head up from the ground, amidst snow flurries in the middle of March or like the robin that suddenly appears in our back yard. They are promises that spring is coming! It will soon be here! Likewise Jesus burst fourth from his tomb in the midst of our dying world oppressed by the long winter of sin. His resurrection is a promise of a new creation, a restored Earth.

Jesus is making all things new. He is fixing what has been broken and misshapen by sin and death. He is setting us—and all creation—free from our bondage. He is bringing the joy of spring to our dreary winter. What signs does Saint John give us in this morning’s gospel of this coming new creation—of it indeed having already arrived in our midst?

The first sign given is simply the opening words of our reading, “Early on the first day of the week…”

In the Biblical story of creation, God fashions the world in seven days. On the seventh day, the Sabbath day, he rested from his labors. He commanded that his people also rest on that day. It is a day set aside to restore the soul, to restore relationship with God. It is a day of recreation. Easter Sunday, the day of Jesus’ resurrection, is the first day of a new week, the first day of a new creation. All things are made new on this day. There is a beautiful hymn that captures this well:

Morning has broken like the first morningBlackbird has spoken like the first birdPraise for the singingPraise for the morningPraise for them springing fresh from the world Mine is the sunlightMine is the morningBorn of the one light Eden saw playPraise with elation, praise ev'ry morningGod's recreation of the new day

The second sign is the empty tomb. The stone is rolled way, because on this new day, the first day of a new creation, the resurrection of the dead has begun. The Jewish people, and the party of the Pharisees in particular, believed that when the messiah came he would restore all things and the righteous dead would be raised to share in the new age.

Long ago the prophet Isaiah had proclaimed,

“Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.”

Jesus is called the “firstborn from the dead.” He is the first among many brothers and sisters. Where he goes we will follow.  There is a sequence of events as scripture describes the resurrection of the dead, first Christ, then at his coming again those who belong to him, and then the final consummation when all creation will be made new. 

Saint John gives us yet another sign that the new creation has begun. This new day, like the first day, begins in a garden. When our risen Lord first appeared to Mary, in her grief, she did not yet recognize him, but thought he was the gardener. She was of course mistaken, but in another sense Jesus really is a gardener. This was how Jesus chose to be perceived by her.  He is a gardener in the sense that Adam was a gardener when he was made a steward of God’s creation in the Garden of Eden.  Jesus is the steward of a new and better creation. He is a new Adam, a fresh start for the human race.

The first commandment given to the human race was to tend and keep-serve and protect—the beautiful garden that God gave them for their home. Human beings are unique among God’s creatures as gardeners. We plant and we grow, we prune, and we cultivate. We continue God’s project of creation. We take what he has given us and we care for it, we nurture it, we multiply, and beautify it.

When human beings are participating with God in creation as wise stewards we are at our best, but Adam has fallen down on the job. Instead of caring for creation he has abused and misused it. Instead of making the world a more beautiful place we have paved paradise and put up a parking lot! Creation has been dragged down with us into corruption and bondage.Christ has come to repair what Adam ruined. He has come to pull up the weeds and irrigate the dryness. To cut off the dead branches and graft in new and healthy vines. 

When Mary recognizes Jesus for who he is, she clings to his feet, she never wants to let him go. Again, the Song of Songs says,

“When I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her who conceived me.”

But Jesus tells her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father.” And earlier he had told his disciples, “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper—the Holy Spirit—will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”

She must not hold him to the earth! It is not yet the end, when Christ will return to take his bride—the people of God—to himself. The day of the final consummation has not yet come. The new creation has begun but it is not yet finished. We have a job to do!

Just as Adam was made a partner with God in creation, so are we made partners with Christ in the new creation. He sends us his spirit to remake us after his own likeness. He gives us his spirit so that we too can share in the redemption of the world, so that we can become with him wise stewards, gardeners in the new creation, bringing beauty and truth to a world that has far too little of either.

Just as Jesus sent Mary to tell his brothers and sisters the good news, so he sends us. We are to announce to them, “Arise, winter is now past and the spring has come! Flowers appear on the earth. Now is the time for singing!” Let our joy be so contagious that all creation is swept up in our songs of praise!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! 

What Does God Think of Death?

John 11:1-45

What does God think of death? It is clear from Holy Scripture that death is not part of God’s ultimate plan for his creation. Scripture depicts death as an enemy with which God struggles and is in conflict, a malicious weed that he must pluck from his garden. When it speaks of the New Heavens and the New Earth, the goal of God’s creation project—the world as it will be when God finally has his way—it says, “death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things will have passed away.”

Our lesson from the Gospel of John is helpful in giving us a  theology of death. It tells the story of a man named Lazarus, who has taken seriously ill. Jesus was a close friend of Lazarus and his sister Martha and Mary as well. He was often a guest in their home, and appears to have genuine affection for them, which is why it is so perplexing that he reacts the way that he does. Even after hearing about Lazarus’ grave illness, he remains where he is.  He tells the messengers, “This illness does not lead to death.”

One explanation of Jesus’ behavior would be that he was simply tragically mistaken. Perhaps he did not realize the severity of the situation. I don’t think that is the case. He seems to be acting with deliberate intention. He waits a couple of days until Lazarus is dead. Did Jesus want Lazarus to die? Of course, not, he loved him. Did he directly cause his death?  No, but he did allow it. He did not intervene when he could have. He knew that he was going to raise him to life which is why he said, “this illness does not end in death.” He allows it in order that “the Son of Man might be glorified through it.”

The first thing I want to say about what this passage teaches us about death is that, although God is not the direct cause and creator of death, he allows it in order that his purposes might be achieved through it. God does not delight in death. He intends to destroy it once and for all, and yet, penultimately this very enemy is the servant of God.  How so?

First, death can be the executor of judgment. The scriptures say, the wages of sin is death. The presence of death lets us know that all is not right with the world. The scriptures also speak continually of death as setting a limit on the human sinfulness. How would humans—sinful as we are—behave without those limitations?

Secondly, death has a necessary and vital role in the God’s creation. Death is the bedrock of the food chain. Other creatures grow and develop because others die. Forests grow tall and strong because other life forms decay and fertilize the ground. Even your ability to hear and see this sermon is dependent on the ongoing death of millions of perfectly healthy cells in your body. And yet all these arguments for the utility and the necessity of death does not change the fact that the presence of death in creation is also a source of continual pain, sorrow, and suffering for us. It is still an enemy.

Finally, Just as God uses death as the generator and preserver of life in natural world, so also God uses death as the means through which he gives us eternal life. More on that later, but at the moment let it suffice to say that God uses Lazarus’ death to demonstrate the fact that Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life.

The next thing I want to say about what this passage teaches us about death is that God is grieved with us over the pain and sorrow that death brings. When Jesus finally arrives on the scene Martha and Mary are happy to see him, but they are also confused, and a bit angry. The first thing they say to him is, “Lord if you had been here, Lazarus would not have died.”

 Jesus consoles Martha by telling her, “Your brother will rise again.”  Even though Martha does not understand what he is about to do, she believes that Lazarus really will rise again on the last day, but she is still grieved.

Sometimes we try to be super spiritual and resist grief by saying that our loved ones are in a better place or that they will rise again. All of this is true, but grief at times like this is still appropriate. We grieve, just as Martha did, not because we are without hope in the resurrection, but rather because it is hard to say goodbye to those we love. Grief is not unchristian. The very love we have for each other in Christ brings deep sorrow when we are parted by death. When Jesus was brought to the grave of his friend Lazarus, he too wept. In doing so, he sanctified our own grief over the death of those we love.

Jesus wept even knowing that Lazarus would rise from the dead. His grief was in recognition that all is not yet right with the world, the presence of death continues to mar God’s good creation.  The gospel of John tells us that he was “deeply moved and troubled.” Our English translations just do not get at the heart of what the text actually says though. The word John uses actually means to snort like a bull ready to charge. Some have suggested a better way to translate what Jesus is feeling is to say he was angry in spirit and deeply agitated. He was mad! Mad at death!

Jesus stares death down and says, “I’m coming for you!” And as if to say to death, “you have no power over me,” he calls out “Lazarus, come out!” and the man who had been dead four days walks out alive.

This brings us to the final point I want to make about what this passage teaches us about death; Jesus has power over death. He is the resurrection and the life. He demonstrates his authority over death by raising Lazarus from the tomb.  However, this was only the sneak preview. It is sort of like the trash talk before the big match. Although Lazarus is raised from the dead, he will still die again. The final battle will be fought on the cross at Calvary. 

God allows death for his own purposes, but he doesn’t stand far off as we suffer its effect. He isn’t afraid to take his own medicine. In Christ, God suffers and dies with us.  Ironically it is through Jesus’ own death on the cross that the power of death is broken. In going down to death and rising again, Jesus breaks its bonds and sets us free. Death is swallowed up in victory. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?

Death is an enemy but it is a defeated enemy. We need not fear its power. We wait in expectation for its final destruction and the resurrection of the dead. Perhaps no one expresses this more eloquently than the Anglican priest and poet, John Donne. I want to end by reading one of his sonnets. 

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery. Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. 

Sexual Tension at the Well

John 4:5-42

Jesus’ meeting with the woman at the well is a well known gospel story. It has often been depicted in art and in song; one of my favorites is Sam Cooke’s, “Jesus Gave Me Water.” The story is often told as an object lesson in evangelism and sometimes even racial reconciliation. It is a very rich story, and it’s quite long. We had trouble fitting it all into the bulletin! This morning, however, I want to focus on a subtext of the story that might not be immediately apparent. I want to talk about the underlying sexual tension between Jesus and this woman and how he uses it to lead her to God.

Have I got your attention? Some of you might be shifting awkwardly in your pew now. I know, we aren’t supposed to talk about sex in church except maybe to say, “thou shalt not.” Why is that? Sexuality is a pretty huge part of who we are. It is a major preoccupation of our inner lives, and yet we compartmentalize our sexuality from our spirituality. Why is it that even the suggestion of Jesus as a sexual being seems radical to us? He’s God! He isn’t supposed to be involved in that sort of thing! And yet he is also a man, a human being like us, and so—like us he too was very much a sexual being.

Was Jesus married? Despite what you may have heard on the History Channel, there is no compelling reason to think that he was. Could Jesus have been a fully sexual being without being sexually active? I think so. I have a friend who is committed to celibacy, and yet he is perhaps more in tune and connected with his sexuality than anyone else I know.  Being celibate or abstinent does not mean putting that part of your self on a shelf and ignoring it. If you do that, you will only run into trouble! Part of having a healthy sexuality—and indeed a healthy spirituality—is recognizing and owning that part of who we are and allowing God to use it for his purposes.

So let’s look at the text. It is the heat of the day in the Middle East. Jesus has been traveling quite a while and so he takes a load off and rests in the shade by a well while his disciples are running errands. Suddenly a woman shows up. This is a culture where men and women would have been segregated in almost every situation outside of the home, but here Jesus and this woman are, alone together. More than that, Jews don’t talk to Samaritans and rabbis never talk to women in the streets, especially if they are alone together, and yet Jesus addresses her. 

This is a worldly woman, not exactly a sheltered young girl. She has been around. She has known a lot of men. In fact she has a reputation, which is probably why she chose to come to the well alone in the afternoon, when most people would be resting indoors. She is used to getting comments from other women and unwanted attention from men. When Jesus begins to speak to her, we can almost picture her roll her eyes, “Oh boy, here we go, I knew this was coming.” She gets a little saucy with him, “You want a drink huh? Oh I bet. Don’t you know you’re not supposed to be talking to me?”

Jesus’ response is somewhat cryptic, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” He tells her if she were to drink the water he can give her she would never be thirsty again. I imagine her thinking, “He’s coming on to me. He’s a bit cocky calling himself ‘the gift of God’ and I’m not exactly sure what he is getting at with this ‘living water’ nonsense, but he’s got my attention. I’ll play along.”

Jesus must have realized what she was thinking, because he gets playful right back at her! He says, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” I imagine she smirked and drew a bit closer when she said, “I have no husband.”

She is completely disarmed and blown back by Jesus’ response, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” This really strikes a nerve with her. Suddenly she realizes that this is no ordinary man that she is speaking to. “I see you are a prophet,” she says. Jesus isn’t just one more man looking to use her, but someone sent from God to speak into her life. He really sees her and his only agenda is to lead her to God. He is the one she has been waiting for all her life. Can he be the messiah?

What do his words mean? This woman had been with many men, all of which used her sexually and left her. They were “husbands” in the sense that whether we intend it or not, our hearts and bodies make a promise to those who we give ourselves to sexually. None of these men honored that promise however. They were not truly husbands.

 What was she looking for in these relationships? Love, companionship, security, happiness, satisfaction…all of the things that anyone looks for in a relationship… All of these relationships, however, had left her empty, unsatisfied, and deeply disappointed. She still had not found what she was looking for even with the man she was currently with. This was the secret story of her life that she hid behind the mask of her alluring sexuality.

Jesus mentions six men, five in her past and one in her present. None of these are the one she was searching for. What about the seventh? These numbers have a significance beyond the literal one. In Hebrew thought, seven is the number of perfection, completion, and rest. Seven is the Sabbath, the day that God rested from his labor. This woman had not found rest in the first five, she did not find it in number six either, but Jesus is the seventh. He is the one that her heart truly longs for, the gift of God, the one who can give her living water that will satisfy her thirst once and for all.

Sexuality is about so much more than just a naked biological urge. This well is deep! It is emotional, psychological, and yes—spiritual.

I once read that our word sex is related to the Latin, secare, which means, “to cut off, sever, disconnect from the whole.” Weird isn’t it? What that means is that our sexuality comes from the awareness of our incompleteness. It is all the ways we seek to reconnect to the whole, to find true intimacy. God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” This longing is not a bad thing; it is the way God made us. We were made for relationship. It is part of what it means to be created in God’s image.

God made us for himself. As the Jewish theologian Martin Buber said, God is the eternal “Thou” behind every truly authentic relationship between persons. When relationships are good and wholesome, they help us to find God in the other person.

Unfortunately this all can go horribly wrong. There is a famous quote often attributed to G.K. Chesterton, “Every man who rings the bell of a brothel is really looking for God.”  Instead of letting our sexuality lead us to the deeper fulfillment that comes from having a relationship with God, we make it an idol. We look for satisfaction in the gift rather than the gift-giver, but anyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 

We sometimes think those who are the most sexually promiscuous are the most in tune and knowledgeable about sexuality, but is this the case? In a deeper sense, they are actually pretty naive about sex!

Jesus Christ wants to give us living water, the Holy Spirit, which is the source of all true joy and intimacy with God. Jesus enjoys this perfect connection all the time. Even though he was celibate, he was more in tune with his sexuality than anyone else, and he has a lot to teach us about this part of ourselves.