Blessed Are Those Who Mourn -- A Message for March 26, 2023

 

This Sunday, we focus on a major event from Jesus’ life that occurred just before Palm Sunday. Next week, we will celebrate Palm Sunday. A few days before Palm Sunday, Jesus travelled to Bethany and restored Lazarus to life. This event became well-knowing in Jerusalem, which was located only a few miles away from Bethany. For the people who wanted to get rid of Jesus, the raising of Lazarus was almost too much for them to take….the story we read today directly led to the events of Holy Week. Hear this touching story as we read it in its entirety from the Gospel of John, chapter 11, verses one through forty-five:

Proclamation of the Scripture                        John 11:1-45

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 

(This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 

So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 

So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 

and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 

It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

¹After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 

Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 

and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

¹On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 

Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 

and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 

But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 

and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 

When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 

Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 

When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 

“Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 

“Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 

I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.                    

            In the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” These words remind us that a time will come when our time of mourning will cease….we will eventually experience New Life in Jesus Christ.

            All of us are mourning, mourning most of the time.  We miss loved ones who have transitioned from this world to the next. We mourn our youth. We mourn our childhoods. We mourn the time of our lives when things felt safe and predictable. We mourn our health and our former flexibility and a time of our life that felt more carefree.  Each of us is mourning something.

            With so many things that burden us, with so many reasons to mourn, we may wonder why Jesus calls those who mourn blessed.

            The story of Lazarus found in John Chapter 11 is a story for those who mourn. Many of us have stories of unanticipated grief – sudden losses that come out of the blue. We all dread possible middle of the night phone calls or knocks at the door. We all dread conversations with doctors that don’t go a direction we expect at all. We will dread summons to the HR department or principal’s office.  Far too many of us have been knocked down with grief, have been devastated by hearing the words we least want to hear.

            Mary and Martha were living the agony that follows a sudden loss.  They were dealing with the shock and agony that we experience immediately after the death of a loved one. They were in the pit of grief.

            Jesus knew Lazarus was facing a grievous illness. And, Jesus also knew that a group of religious leaders in Jerusalem wanted to arrest him as soon as he was in their clutches. Jesus realized that if he travelled to Bethany, he would probably be arrested and put to death. Yet, Lazarus was critically ill and Jesus could help. And, then, …. Lazarus was dead and Jesus could help. So, Jesus was in a very tough bind – should he go and help Lazarus and then be arrested and put to death himself? Or should he stay away from Jerusalem and hope religious leaders would eventually back off?

            Even though he faced his own death, Jesus chose to travel to Bethany….Jesus chose to help his friend.

            Jesus knew that suffering is part of being human. As much as we try, we can’t prevent it.  Jesus knew he couldn’t save his friends or himself from pain, sickness, or death. When Lazarus died, Jesus wept. Jesus understands our pain, our tears, our broken plans for the future.  Jesus words and work led to the creation of the church so that we can find in these walls a place for solace and a place we are comforted by others who have lived through their own times of trial and mourning.  Through his own suffering and death on the cross, Jesus defeated the sting of death on earth. In Jesus, we find comfort, we find rest, and we find new life.

            Thanks be to God. Amen. 

Blessed Are Those Who Feel Alone -- A Message for March 19, 2023

 

            This morning, our focus scripture will be the best-known text in all the Bible. We memorize the 23^rd Psalm when we are young children and we will remember its words when we are old and grey. These words of comfort and assurance are attributed to King David, someone who lived a life full of upheaval, with both proud moments and shameful moments coloring his life. But, despite his sins and glory, David always trusted God.

            If you know the words of Psalm 23, please say them with me. I will use the familiar King James language:

Proclamation of the Scripture            Psalm 23                  

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Here ends this Reading of the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray: O God, may the word that is read and spoken become through us a liberating word to all who are in bondage and who long for freedom. Open our hearts to hear your call for justice and to answer it with our prayers and our actions. Amen.

            Over the course of the next fifty years, or so, sociologists and economists and psychologists will be studying the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.  We are just at the tip of the iceberg of learning how the years of illness and isolation and social distancing have impacted our fellow Americans. We have all made observations – we know baby boomers opted to finally retire in droves, many kids did not learn as much as they would have learned in traditional classrooms, and in-person church attendance declined while online worship attendance increased. One of the other casual observations many of us have made is that we, as a people, seem much lonelier than ever before.

            This trend started before the pandemic. People are more mobile than we once were….many of us don’t live in the same town or part of the country where our relatives live. If I want to see my parents’ in-person, I either spend 14 hours in the car or 2 hours in the air. Many of us don’t have weekly family dinners at grandma’s house or go to school with 8 of our first cousins.

            So, we don’t necessarily live where our families live. And, most adults have to work professionally. When I lived in Chalfont, I would often hear about one of the neighborhoods tightly-knit weekly coffee klatches.  The women of the neighborhood would gather at each other’s homes on Tuesday mornings for coffee and conversation. This worked for the women who lived in the neighborhood for a long time, but, they complained that all the young moms would wave at the gathering older ladies as they drove off to work in the morning. The group dwindled in size as the women of the neighborhood were no longer stay-at-home-moms. The supportive community of women shrank as they numbers decreased.

            In addition to adults needing to work, many of us work remotely. So, we are tied to desks all day long and possibly have Big Brother spying on us to make sure we are constantly productive. There are fewer and fewer conversations around the water cooler, fewer and fewer workplace happy hour outings, and no more co-worker softball teams.  A lot of the social interactions once had by co-workers have dried up as more and more people work remotely.

            We are lonelier than ever before….and the Covid-19 pandemic made it worse.

            The 23^rd Psalm creates for us a picture of how our God, the Good Shepherd, seeks and find people who are lonely and isolated and brings them home. Each line of our Psalm reminds us of God’s care and love for us.  And, this Psalm reminds us that we are all part of the family of God, even when we don’t have biological relatives or relatives who live nearby.

            The Lord is my Shephard – I shall not want. God is a protective caregiver watching over us. God knows our names, who we are inside and out, knows everything about us, and loves us anyway.  God seeks us out when we are spiritually lost and separated from God.

            This passage from scripture, this psalm helps us to imagine what being at home in the family of God is like. The household of God, the family of God, is designed to be a safe place for everyone. God creates a world with more than enough for everyone to eat and water to drink.  God the loving uber-parent watching over us and making sure we are taking safe paths.  Even when we face suffering and evil, we don’t walk alone, we don’t suffer alone, because our loving God accompanies us through the darkest moments of our lives and celebrates with us through the joyful moments of our lives. As it says in Romans chapter 8, nothing will separate us from God --- as Paul writes: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” No matter what we have done, no matter our history, no matter our family background, nothing about us can separate us from the love of God.

            One of the natural, built-in gifts of the church is that we can come to this place, among these people, and be surrounded by people who care.  Some of us have been a part of this community for a long-time, so this feels like an obvious statement. But, many of us have had times where we felt separate from God, when we did not belong to a Christian community, and we sought to figure out what was missing from our lives – we knew something was wrong, but we weren’t sure how to fix it – we were like a jigsaw puzzle with a piece missing, but we couldn’t see where the piece belonged.  The Christian church is a natural place to connect with other people, to find people who can support each other when our lives are tricky, to celebrate each other when our lives are joyous. In our congregation, we welcome the births of babies and the presence of young people with baptisms, we mark maturing young adults as we celebrate their Confirmations, party at each other’s weddings, and we mourn alongside each other at funerals. God has created the church to be “God’s family” and to be the loving and welcoming representatives of God to each other.  We aren’t perfect as we do this – sometimes we have to love each other even when we don’t perfectly like each other – but, in this congregation, we practice our faith hands-on, warts and all. And, we are blessed through our relationships with each other and blessed by our relationship with God.

            The 23^rd Psalm, the Good Shepherd Psalm, reminds us that God loves us no matter what. In our relationship with God, we find peace and nurture, support and care. And, we are the people of the 23^rd Psalm – we are called to likewise work for peace and provide nurture, support and care to one another.

            May we do so with love in our hearts today and all days.

Amen. 

Blessed Are Those Who Suffer -- A Message for March 12, 2023

 

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 

through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 

perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 

For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 

Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

Message                 Blessed Are Those Who Suffer

            The ways of Christianity are often opposite of the ways of the world. We learn in school when we are young, and from our friends, and from our work colleagues, and from tv shows and movies and television commercials, that people who are blessed live the good life. The better grades we get in school, and the more we study, then the better college we will be accepted at. The harder we work, the more money we are supposed to have. The more we exercise, and participate in sports, the longer we are supposed to live. The world tells us we just have to follow a certain formula, and we will become rich, and successful, and popular, and blessed.

            But, this is not what the Bible says. And this is not what Jesus said. The ways of Christianity are not the same as the ways of the world.

            This morning, we read a portion of St. Paul’s letter to the church at Rome. The Roman’s lived in a city that was the most powerful city in the world at that time. They could observe the wealthy ruling class who lived in palaces, and the tragically poor people who were scraping by.  They lived in a place with terrible inequality. And, the Christians in Rome chose to align themselves with a new religious community, a new sect that was not favored by the government or popular or appreciated by outsiders. They chose to be Christians because they were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah and our God was “the” only God, but this convocation didn’t help them to become safe or rich or favored.

             Paul’s letter to the Romans contained assurances about our faith and worked to help the Christians in Rome understand Paul’s perspective on several theological topics. There were competing ideas in the baby Christian church about how to practice our faith.  The Roman church was a mixture of formerly Jewish Christians and formerly gentile Christians, which caused some cultural clashes within the community. They were all worried about the potential pitfalls of following Jesus – there were afraid of religious persecution, and rightly so. Since they were close to the seat of power in Rome, they knew how irrational the Roman government could be. Eventually Paul himself was killed during the reign of the Emperor Nero because he blamed Christians for the great fire at Rome. So, the Christians were increasingly under threat by the unsympathetic rulers.

            Paul’s words were to remind his fellow Christians that we are justified, saved, by our faith in Jesus Christ. Despite our salvation, we will still suffer. Our belief doesn’t protect us from suffering. But, then Paul said that suffering produces perseverance, which in turn produces character, and character produces hope. And the Holy Spirit encourages our hopefulness.  As Christians, we are called to be assured that because Jesus taught us and died on our behalf, we are in turn entitled to a wonderful relationship with God.

            Like the early Roman Christians, we have trouble understanding suffering and coping with it. We do our best to prevent hardships for ourselves and for the people we love. And, we struggle to accept that bad things happen to good people, that bad things happen to us when we least expect them to happen. This is difficult and scary.

            But, in the midst of the challenges we endure, we have a hope-filled relationship with God. No matter how miserable we feel, God is with us. Jesus assures us God will never leave us or forsake us. As it says in the first letter of John: “We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

            So, being a Christian and practicing Christianity doesn’t ward off suffering. Unexpected things still happen to us. Unkind words are still said to us. Unfortunate events still befall us. But, when they do, we can confidently remember that God is with us. God loves us and will never leave us alone. And, through the sacrificial love of Jesus, we will always be God’s beloved children. So, when things fall apart, we can count on God’s Holy Spirit to guide us and nurture us.

            When people live without a relationship with God, they can easily fall into despair. They have no hope. They have no reassurance of better things to come. We all know people like this – one of two tragic events happen and they are done for. It is like they are in a pit they can’t see the way out of. Our faith in God provides us the reassurance that God is with us despite our sufferings. And, we have hope we can hang on too – things will get better. We can take comfort in the presence of God’s Holy Spirit to be with us, to lift us up, to carry us through the hard times.

            It sounds ironic to say “blessed are those who suffer.” But, as people who are Christians, we are assured that when we suffer, we can still have hope. And, through confidence in Christ’s death and resurrection, we can not only have hope but can work to support and love each other in response to the love we have received from God.

            Let us never forget the hope that comes from our faith and from our relationship with God. Amen. 

Blessed Are the Curious -- A Message for March 5, 2023

 

This morning, we are turning to the Gospel of John for our scriptural reading. In our reading, Nicodemus visited Jesus in the middle of the night to ask him a bunch of questions. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the assembly of Jewish elders who were appointed to sit as a tribunal in each city in the land of Israel. They were judges who adjudicated over the Jewish people. So, Nicodemus was a well-established community leader and holy man. And, he was curious about Jesus.

            Please read along with me as we turn to John chapter 3, verses one through seventeen:

Proclamation of the Scripture            John 3: 1-17

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 

He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 

Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.

You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 

Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 

I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 

No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Hear ends this reading of the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray…O God, may the word that is read and spoken become through us a liberating word to all who are in bondage and who long for freedom. Open our hearts to hear your call for justice and to answer it with our prayers and our actions. Amen.

            Nicodemus was the type of person whose thoughts were very concrete, very literal.  He took things at face value, and therefore had trouble understanding the deeper meaning of Jesus’ words.  WebMD says, “While concrete thinking is needed, relying exclusively or too much on this style of thinking can impede learning, empathy, and the ability to relate to others.” Nicodemus came to Jesus with lots of questions, and then continued to question every statement Jesus made.

            Throughout his ministry, Jesus had a tendency to answer questions with questions. When Jesus told Nicodemus people need to be born again to see the kingdom of God, Nicodemus asked how can this be? And, Jesus counted with “You, Nicodemus, are a teacher of Israel, how do you not understand these things?” But, since Nicodemus was a concrete thinker, he really did have trouble understanding Jesus’ answers.

            Yet, something about Nicodemus’ conversation with Jesus, even if Nicodemus didn’t fully understand Jesus’ answers, made Nicodemus into a supporter of Jesus. Later on, when Jesus was arrested, Nicodemus defended Jesus in the Sanhedrin and told the other Judges Jesus couldn’t be convicted of a crime without a trial. And, after Jesus’ death, Nicodemus helped Joseph of Arimathea retrieve Jesus’ body and bury Jesus in the tomb.  Nicodemus became a supporter of Jesus, and was willing to stick his neck out for him when Jesus was at risk and after Jesus died. Nicodemus wasn’t afraid to show his support, even when being on “Team Jesus” could have become problematic for Nicodemus.

            Part of Nicodemus’ struggle with Jesus’ words was that Jesus was able to preach and perform miracles that were reserved for the Messiah, but Jesus looked to Nicodemus like a regular person. He was also a peasant, not one of the educated religious elites. There were many things about Jesus that were confusing for Nicodemus.

            Nicodemus may have been confused, but Jesus imparted upon him two teachings that we still value today.

            First, Jesus talked about the need for Christians to be “born again.” This phrase is thrown around more in evangelical communities that UCC churches, but we also believe in this concept. It is just that for some of us, when we are asked about the day we were “born again” or “accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior,” we often don’t have that moment pinpointed. When we say someone is born again, we mean that they experienced a spiritual transformation, a change of heart, and they decided to commit to the Christian faith for themselves. When we have our Confirmation Sunday in a few months, we will ask our young people if they “profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?” When they say “I do,” we believe they are making a mature commitment to be Christians for themselves. It is not just something their parents decided for them, but they take on the Christian faith for themselves.  So, according to our understanding of being born again, this is when we commit our hearts to following and believing in Jesus as our main spiritual guide and choose Christianity for ourselves.

            The other major take-away from the Nicodemus and Jesus middle-of-the-night conversation is the statement Jesus made at the end of our reading:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Other than the Lord’s Prayer and the 23^rd Psalm, this is probably the most memorized portion of scripture. God loves the people of the world so much God sent Jesus to the world, to preach and to die, so that all of us who believe in Jesus will able to have our lives extend from this life until the next life – we receive Eternal life through our belief in Jesus. And, Jesus didn’t come to judge us or condemn us or to make us feel worse than we already do, but Jesus came to save us – by inviting everyone to believe in God, to overtly extend the love of God to the entirety of humankind.

            When we are not afraid to ask questions, we learn the most. God blesses the curious because we are ready to learn and experience something new. One of the things I love about the United Church of Christ is that we are not the kind of church where we think we have all the answers. We can call the president of the UCC, who is currently Rev. John Dorhauer, and ask him questions about theology and church life and best practices, and he won’t tell us exactly what to do or what to believe. Instead, he would have a dialogue with us about the possibilities to try or potential theological ideas to explore. And, he is so accessible that he sometimes makes comments on my facebook posts.

            Nicodemus was full of questions. Some of those questions we because he was not much of an abstract thinker, concrete thinking was his forte. But, he wasn’t afraid to approach Jesus and ask his questions. God wants us to ask questions. God wants to be engaged with our faith. God wants us to change our minds sometimes. I think God is disappointed with people who think they learned everything they were ever going to learn in their childhood Sunday School classes and haven’t come up with any new questions in the decades afterwards.  Part of our work as people of faith is to read the scripture, to participate in discussions about what it means and how it applies to our lives now, and to be in dialogue with other Christians about how do to a better job of practicing our faith. Part of our work is to explore our faith, to ask hard questions, to grapple with the answers, and work though what we feel called to believe.

            Let us be like Nicodemus, full of questions.

            May it be so. Amen.