What does it mean to believe?

Easter 2 year A 08 Sermon
It’s amazing what you can find on the internet.
While I was writing this sermon... I came across a web site... dedicated to funny and bizarre ideas...
that adults thought were true... when they were children.

It’s creator... hopes his website will remind us what it was like to be a child...fascinated and horrified by the world in equal parts.

He shares this idea of his own...When I was a kid...
I had a morbid fear of toilets. I was sure there was a vampire living down there... just out of sight... and that it would attack me if I sat there for too long.
Many years later I found out that a good friend used to believe his body was filled with baked beans.

These weird ideas are sorted under headings... like pets. Where one woman writes...when she was about six...
her big sister told her...their pet hamster could fly.
She says...‘I remember looking at my hamster
and wondering how he could fly with such tiny legs.
Eventually... I convinced myself... his little legs would become flat and thin like wings when he started to fly..

Later when my pet was old and blind...
I found out hamsters couldn't fly...
after he walked off the edge of the table.’

And there’s section on sex where someone writes
‘My parents told me I came out of my mums tummy button. And I believed it for a long long time.’

And there’s a religion section... where someone writes...I used to believe that the soul was a "green... pea shaped organ... located somewhere near the gall bladder.... And my grandma... had a decoration in her kitchen...a little purple man... who peeked over the cupboard with his nose hanking over -- somehow I became conceived that God was like this...
sitting in clouds ... peeking over them when necessary...to throw down lightning bolts.’

Personally... because of something my mother told me...I used to believe... human beings shed all their skin... once every seven years... Whatever it was my mother told me... that’s not what she meant.

When we’re little... we trust what bigger people tell us even if they’re only 9. Our parents... give us a view of reality that’s hard to shake... even when we’re forty.

It was like that for me back in 1969. I mean who was alive in 1969? Seriously... raise your hand...
if you weren’t even born then. Look around.

You know some people today... seriously don’t believe
NASA ever landed on the moon... in 1969.
They think it was all a great deception...a hoax... perpetrated by the American Government. They believe all everything I watched on telly with my cousins...
when I was twenty...was shot in a studio somewhere.
They don’t believe in the moon landing.

But I believed it then... and I believe it now.
Why? Because my dad...whom I trust absolutely...
was one of the aerospace engineers who worked on the Apollo project. My own father was there... watching TV with us...in fact we were having a family reunion....so we could all celebrate together.

Just a few days before...I’d witnessed the launch
with my own eyes...[pause]

I believe my father’s version of events. He’s neither a liar nor a nut case. I trusted him when I was a child and I trust him now. So as far as I’m concerned... there was and is... a rational reason...
for me to believe NASA really did land on the moon.

Doubting Thomas slide
And this... is the kind of situation... our storyteller John is dealing with...at the end of the first century... as he’s writes the gospel words you heard before.

Slide words
‘These are written... that you may believe ...

Blank slide
John’s audience had good reason to be skeptical... they’d never met Jesus at all...
let alone bumped into the risen Christ.
All they had to go on were the eye witness accounts of those who were actually there

Slide words
‘on the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked...
for fear of the Jews.’

Blank slide
John is asking them to trust his evidence…to rely on his version of events… All John’s readers have to go on…
is the word of the people who were there

It boils down to trust…
who do you trust to give you the good oil…
it all comes down to deciding…who or what you trust…

You have to decide…don’t you…

When we were kids… we just accepted what our parents told us didn’t we…when we were little…
we even accepted…
what our big brothers and sisters told us…
but now we are grown [pause] we have to decide.

And John doesn’t want them to believe just any old thing… John wants them to believe…that this Jesus about whom the stories are told…really was…
really is… the Christ... the anointed one of God...
The one sent to proclaim the good news... that its God’s universe...not Caesar’s...or Hitler’s or Osama’s or George W’s...

This Jesus the one sent to brings life to all the world...
by preaching peace with justice and mercy and compassion...The one who reveals God to us...
The one who took on everything it means to be human ...even death so we would listen. [pause]
There were only ever a few people...
at most a few hundred or so...
who meet Jesus... after... he well and truly died...
But those who do...well... something happens...
to change them from quivering cowardly wrecks ... hiding behind locked doors...into men and women with the courage to tell their story...because Jesus sent them to tell it...even at the ends of the earth.

Many who came after... like John’s readers...many who hadn’t seen what they saw... and touched what they touched...well...many would trust their eyewitness accounts of what happened...

And even though they hadn’t seen...
they decided to believe ...and in their turn...they carried the message to others...and here we are today... at the ends of the earth...[pause]

still having to decide... what story we trust...who we trust...still having to decide... what we believe...
and what we will teach our children...to believe.

The early Christians though living in worrying times...persecuted and ridiculed...they knew the story by heart...they could give their children hope...the same hope that was told to them...that God’s love is stronger.. than death. And that God has revealed his love to us in the flesh in Jesus ... his Christ...

So may you dig deep into the story today...
and may you decide...that Jesus is the Christ... and may you have life in his name.

He lives!

Sermon Easter Day Year A Resurrection!

People used to argue a lot about resurrection...I guess they still do...but did you know that in the ancient world... when our gospels were written...the word resurrection...in Latin or Greek...was never about what happens after people die.

At the time Jesus lived...Jewish understanding of resurrection ...was reserved... for that new bodily life which would come for everyone... in the last days.

When Jews argued about resurrection...they were debating
the second stage...of a two stage process...
life after death was one stage...the resurrection was to follow.

My favourite biblical scholar...Tom Wright says...
most pagans and Jews in Jesus’ time...believed in the first stage...life after death...but when it came to debating the second stage... well... pagans and some Jews...
argued against bodily resurrection. [i]

Sure... they all knew about ghosts, and spirits, visions and hallucinations...but when they were talking about resurrection Jews meant bodies...like when Herod thinks Jesus might be John the Baptist raised from the dead. Herod certainly doesn’t think Jesus is a ghost.

And it’s clear from the ancient Hebrew scriptures...
that most Jews looked forward to an eventual resurrection...
understanding God would look after their spirits...
till that day... when God would judge and remake the world... and give his people new resurrected bodies’[ii] You can hear this in Martha’s conversation with Jesus...
about the resurrection of her brother Lazarus.

And when the Sadducees... who don’t believe in the resurrection of the last days...try to trick Jesus...
Jesus speaks of the resurrection...
as a complete event in the future... when all the righteous will be raised...and in all of this Jesus consistently echoes what most first century Jews believe...[pause]

Except... when ‘he begins to tell his followers...that he himself is going to be killed...and then raised again three days later.’[iii]
Jesus disciples... simply can’t grasp what he’s saying...
It’s the last thing they can picture...So the one time Jesus tries to talk to them about his resurrection...his disciples have no idea what he’s talking about. They never imagined resurrection would happen to one person... ahead of everybody else. They can’t even imagine the Messiah would die.

And that’s why Jesus crucifixion...is the end of all their hopes.[iv] From their perspective...crucifixion means the kingdom hasn’t come after all...and Jesus can’t be the Messiah [pause]

As Jesus stumbles with his cross up that hill...his followers never dream of saying...‘Well that’s all right... he’s got to die... to save us...but he’ll be back in a few days.[v] On the contrary... those two days following the crucifixion...
are the end of all their hopes...as far as they’re concerned...
end of story. [pause]

But the story isn’t over...because something happens...
Something.... according to Tom Wright...that causes the first Christians to reform Jewish understanding of resurrection...
in seven new ways. [pause]

The first thing that was different about the Christian understanding of resurrection... is that when early Christians proclaim Jesus has risen from the dead, they mean something happened to Jesus... that had never happened...to anyone else.[vi]
...something no one ever expected to happen...

Second...for the first Christians...resurrection moves from a concept at the periphery of Judaism...to the very centre of their faith. Belief in Jesus’ bodily resurrection...is held so strongly by the first Christians...it leads many to their death
in the martyrs arena.

Third...the first Christians are clear...that while the resurrected body... is somehow new... transformed... and incorruptible...
it is nevertheless a real body...and not a disembodied soul, spirit or vision...a body that occupies three dimensional space...
a body that leaves behind empty tombs.

And fourth...before Easter... no first century Jew...expected the resurrection to be anything other... than a sudden large-scale event...that happened to all God’s people[vii] But after Easter...we find that Christians believe the resurrection has happened to one person... in the middle of history...
in advance of and guaranteeing the great final resurrection.[viii]

The fifth way Christians redefined resurrection proceeds from the fourth...if resurrection begins with Jesus...then in the power of the Holy Spirit...God calls Jesus’ followers to continue his work in their own personal and political lives...
... in anticipation... of the final resurrection...’[ix]

They...we...
are charged with transforming the present in light
of our future hope.

Sixth...before Jesus time... resurrection was used metaphorically in Judaism to stand for the national... ethnic...and geographical restoration of Israel...
but from the earliest days of Christianity...
that meaning disappears....

By the time Paul’s letters were written...there’s a new metaphorical meaning for resurrection...in the sacrament of baptism. As a dying and rising with Christ...in baptism...resurrection becomes a symbol of
the new life of obedience... for the believer....

The seventh and final Christian reshaping of resurrection... links it for the first time in religious history...
with the Messiah. In all previous Jewish writings...no one ever debated whether the Messiah would rise from the dead...

Why? Because no one expected the Messiah to die! Jewish texts promised a Messiah...who’d fight God’s victorious battle against the wicked pagans... rebuild and cleanse the Temple...a and bring God’s justice to the world.

But Jesus does none of these things...instead...
he dies at the hands of the pagans...suffers injustice... and annoys Temple authorities by knocking over tables. [pause]

Jesus does none of the things the promised Messiah was supposed to do... yet from very early on...Christians announce for all to hear that Jesus was indeed the Messiah...
and precisely because of his resurrection.

There had never been a story like it...
sure when we examine that time in Jewish history...we see Messianic pretenders and their movements are a dime a dozen. And it’s true that usually these movements end...
with the violent death of their leader...

But though their followers certainly understood them to be resting with God after they died...they did not understand them to be resurrected... that would only happen to all of them together ... at the end of days... [pause]

So something happened... even though gospel accounts differ... something happened to convince the first Christians to make Jesus’ bodily resurrection... the very centre of their faith...

Something happened... as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. Something so compelling…
it changes a quivering, terrified, defeated, and depressed band of mourners…some scared stiff to be identified with Jesus…
something so undeniable happened…

it turns broken men and women... into courageous champions of Jesus saving message of Shalom...turns them into people prepared to go any distance, and face any danger…
even death...for what they believe...

I love Easter... because it gives me the opportunity...
to tell you...what I hold to be true in my heart...
that nothing... but a face to face… touch to touch encounter...
with the resurrected Christ…

nothing else... would or could explain...the transformation
of the cowards of Gethsemane… into the heroes of Pentecost… may you also be transformed...as we enter into a time of silent listening.
[i] Wright, NT. Surprised by hope – Rethinking heaven, the resurrection and the mission of the church, Harper, NY. 2008. 37
[ii] ibid.
[iii] ibid 38
[iv] ibid.
[v] ibid 39
[vi] ibid. 37
[vii] ibid 45
[viii] ibid.
[ix] Ibid 46.

Questions for reflection:
When we argue about our faith what are we normally arguing about?
How earger are we to explore the history of what we believe?
What stops us?
Are we open to new ideas and perspectives?
Can we admit our understanding is only partial?
How well do we deal with mystery?

Wedding Feast of the Lamb

Lent 6 year A Sermon Palm Sunday

Jesus has come to town for a meal.

Like all the other tired and dusty Jewish pilgrims… on the road that day…Jesus and his friends are coming for a sacred meal…the Passover…the oldest Jewish festival to honour the saving acts of God.

Yes he’d been travelling toward Jerusalem for months… preaching and teaching and healing…
but given the order out… for his execution…
you’d think he’d stay away…

Some of those who travel with him… believe he’s the promised messiah…the anointed one of God …the one who’ll restore the throne of David… and Israel… to their rightful place in the world…

But others… lurking in the shadows… tracking his every move… others are certain he’s dangerous…
a trouble maker…
out to challenge the religious authorities.

Still others… Roman spies … are watching him closely…they don’t want any trouble… with so many thousands coming in to the city for the festival of the Passover…[kind of reminds you of Wanaka when the Air Show is on, doesn’t it]

And there’s Jesus…riding into the city…among throngs of other Jewish pilgrims.
Making quite a show… of his claim to the royal throne of David… riding on a donkey as kings had before him…daring people to compare him with the ancient prophesy…See Jerusalem daughter of Zion

'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey….'

Not one of the pilgrims… would miss the symbolic reference to Israel’s kings…

Like the great pilgrimages we see today…in the middle East…they flooded into the city gates…
And today all Jews… still long to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem…at least once in their life time.

The focus of the Passover pilgrimage... and the meal they’ll share together... is hope...hope in God.
Hope in the only one who can bring deliverance – hope kindled by the telling... and retelling...
of the story of God...
delivering the people from slavery in Egypt.

Even in Jesus’ time the Passover was oldest Jewish religious festival...based on ancient memories and rituals... handed down by storytellers throughout the centuries... and finally preserved in the scroll of Exodus.
Passover refers to the tenth and final plague... that broke the will of Pharaoh to let the people go...
In the ancient story of the Exodus...this pestilence killed every unprotected firstborn child...

and what saved the children of the Israelites...
was the blood of a sacrificial lamb...
poured out... and wiped across the door posts of their homes...

God had instructed Moses to say
Bread and wine word slide
‘And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses ... and when I see the blood, I’ll pass over you...and the plague shall not be upon you...
to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be a memorial; and you shall keep it a feast ... for ever.’

The blood of the sacrificial lamb... would save them. God would deliver them from bondage.

And so the pilgrims come... wave after wave...
into the sacred city of the Jews...the city itself a symbol
of the day when all God’s promises are fulfilled...
all oppression, exploitation and cruelty… are ended…
the day when all creation…
is restored to right relationship with God.

So naturally…there’s an atmosphere of celebration as they approach Jerusalem...not only for what God has done... but in anticipation...of what God will continue
to do...to bring salvation and deliverance to those enslaved to bondage and tyranny.

And it’s right into this context… Jesus makes his audacious… and unmistakably regal entry…
into Jerusalem…The symbolism of riding on a donkey could not be missed by any Jew…
it’s a piece of high and sacred drama…
announcing for all to see…that God’s anointed one…has arrived…

The one who’d bring about the salvation of the world… had entered the city gates.

You can understand why the religious authorities saw him as a threat.

And isn’t it interesting that…when Jesus finally sits down to that last supper with his friends…
instead of downplaying… that dangerous declaration of his identity…Jesus dares to reshape and reinterpret…
the sacred tradition of the Passover.
He proclaims the Passover…to be fulfilled.

Here’s how he does it…In that upper room…as father’s are doing in every household…Jesus takes on the role of family head.

He offers his friends…
the broken… unleavened bread… of the Passover meal… and he blesses his cup of wine…

And as Jesus tells them their ancient story…
of freedom and salvation…
his words confirm their worst fears…
for his life and maybe even his sanity.

Just as the lamb… sacrificed by their ancestors in Egypt…was a sign from God of their deliverance… Jesus’ life would now be offered up…as a sacrifice… to bring deliverance for all people…
…their teacher… Their friend
was to be the sacrificial Lamb of God... and in this way the Passover would be fulfilled for all the world.

Yet in the face of their fear... Jesus comforts his followers... gently reciting the familiar tender promises of every Jewish bridegroom...
to his bride at their engagement party

‘in my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back... and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.’

And with this symbolic language...their Passover meal becomes the wedding feast of the lamb...
[pause]

and all he asks of them is to be faithful to this new covenant...and love each other as he loves them...so the world will recognise his disciples.

Maybe the reason it’s so hard for us to love...
consistently and sacrificially...
to love others as Jesus did...
is that we don’t really believe we are loved and forgiven ...maybe we don’t really believe...

maybe we’re still in bondage.... maybe we’re still enslaved... to the lie that we’re unlovable.

So as we share this meal in obedience and remembrance of him...may you come to believe the truth that in Jesus Christ you are loved and forgiven. May your thirst for living water be satisfied.

May you no longer live under the burden of guilt or shame. And may you be set free to love as Jesus loved and forgive as he forgave even on the Cross.

Questions for reflection:

For those who claim him as Messiah how does Jesus reinterpret and reshape the tradition of the Hebrew Scriptures?

What stops us from loving as he loved?

What can we do about that?