Monday, November 26, 2012

The Truth


November 25th, 2012        “The Truth”        Rev. Heather Jepsen
Revelation 1:4b-8 and John 18:33-38a  
Today is Christ the King Sunday.  Smack dab in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, this is one of those liturgical holidays that we totally miss.  Advent and Lent have enough Sundays in them that we are not likely to miss them.  But Christ the King is right up there with Baptism of the Lord and Trinity Sunday when it comes to easy days to miss.  Christ the King is always the last Sunday in the liturgical calendar, sort of a final statement in the church year.  Next Sunday we start the cycle all over again as we begin Advent and get ready for that babe in the manger.
          Though we always forget about it, and it can be a doozey to preach, I happen to like Christ the King Sunday.  It’s a sort of “in-your-face” to the powers that be, and I think the little rebel in me gets a kick out of that.  You see, today is the day that we declare we are not of this world.  We declare that political powers and systems may come and go, but we have only one true king and that is Christ.  Today is the day that we declare that no matter who is elected for President, our allegiance lies with only one being, Jesus our Lord.  It’s pretty exciting really.
          In our reading from Revelation we come face to face with this power that we worship.  This isn’t just some one-time thing, some ruler come into power for a lifetime.  Not a Vladimir Putin who seems to always manage to get himself in power.  This isn’t even a generation of royalty like the British throne where one family just rules forever and ever.  No, this king we are talking about is the one who is and who was and who is to come.  This is the king of all time and space, the king of all authority, a king whose reign is beyond the scope of our imaginations. 
Not only is Christ the King’s reign one of all time and space.  He is the Alpha and Omega.  From A to Z this king encompasses everything.  From the grains of sand, to the forces that spin the earth, to the vast distance of the stars, to the movement of blood vessels through my body, this king is the be all end all of life.  This king is ruler of everything and this king is everything.  As the gospel of Thomas puts it so eloquently, “Pick up a rock, and I am there.”
The wonder of this great king and kingdom is that Jesus consented to come among us, to limit himself to the finite in order to bring us a better understanding of the will of God for our lives.  Of course, for Jesus to come among us, he could not bring the whole wonder of his presence.  Just as Moses could not see God face to face, Jesus needed to cloak his holiness so to speak.  He needed to hide his otherworldliness in human flesh.  Fully human, fully divine, the king that is Christ was a like a ray of sunshine in a dark world.
I love Jesus’ encounter with Pilate in John’s gospel because I can see it so clearly in our modern setting.  Pilate is the one with power in a form that we are accustomed to, a form we can recognize.  Like all political figures before and after, Pilate is someone we are familiar with.  Jesus, on the other hand possess a power that is so distinct and different, a power that is foreign.  The power of Jesus is not of this world, and does not respond to Pilate’s subtle attempt at provocation.
I love the way author Frederick Buechner imagines this scene in his book “Telling the Truth”.  Buechner pictures a modern setting, Pilate as businessman, and he tells the story like this.  Having just gotten off the phone with his wife
          (read selection page 12-14)
Buechner brings this scene to life.  The power of Pilate and the empire he represents.  From the big desk to the picture of the ruler on the wall, all the trappings of our modern understandings of power are there.  Jesus, a nobody from nowhere, already broken and beaten in the office.  Here is the king of kings, whose kingdom is not of this world, waiting to be taken to his cross.  The contrast between these two understandings of power creates a memorable scene.
          I like to imagine that on that fateful day, Pilate got a glimpse of real truth.  Pilate got a glimpse of the real kingdom, and real power.  This Jesus, who refused to play by the rules of others, had a certain freedom that Pilate never would.  This Jesus had something, he had truth.  As if somehow sensing that Jesus is no ordinary rabble rouser, three times in John’s gospel Pilate attempts to have Jesus released.  I think that Pilate caught a glimpse of reality that day, he caught a glimpse of Christ the King.
          In our own lives, we too have those moments when we see the power of God, when we sense the bigger reality in our world.  There are breakthrough moments, like when someone is healed from cancer or we miraculously avoid a car accident.  Those are the times when we encounter the great one envisioned in the revelation to John. 
          And yet there are also those little times, times I think we see the Alpha and Omega, the God of it all.  In my own life I am thinking of those moments when I catch a glimpse of my daughter dancing and it brings a tear to my eye, or when I am able to be in the right place at the right time to minister to someone, or those moments when you as a congregation minister to me.  Perhaps you sensed a little in-breaking of our great God as you gathered at the table with family and friends this past week.
          The wonder of Christ the King Sunday is this realization that our world of power and money is not the only thing out there.  Is perhaps not even the most real thing there is.  There is another power, another kingdom, a kingdom of love and justice that doesn’t respond to things like money and influence.  There is another king, one who is the be all end all of life, one who longs to be in relationship with us, one whose name is love.
          This Christ the King Sunday, as the world around us continues to rock with war and violence, with struggles for power and influence, let us take a deep breath.  Like Pilate, let us ask “what is truth?”  And let us open our eyes to the answers.  From the chance to lend a helping hand, to the smile on a child’s face, to the love we share within this congregation, there is another kingdom of which we are a part, there is another king which we serve.  Thanks be to God for this one, the Alpha and Omega, Christ the King, truth himself.  Amen.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The Beginning


November 18th, 2012        “The Beginning”      Rev. Heather Jepsen

(Mark 13:1-8)

the beginning

four in the morning
wide awake
sudden sharp stabbing pain
what is it?
what is happening to me?
I think I am going to be sick

great buildings
great stones
great man made world
Teacher, do you see it?

yes student,
but do you see it?
not one stone will be left,
all thrown down

do not be alarmed
these things must take place
this is but the beginning
of the birth pangs

surprise and shock
joy and excitement
fear and trepidation
is this finally the day?
I must make it through this pain
to reach the promised hope

when?
what are the signs?
how will we know?

famine
earthquake
hunger
flood
poverty
hurricane
starvation
storm
a tidal wave
of suffering people

look
do you see?
not one stone will be left
all will be thrown down

do not be alarmed
these things must take place
this is but the beginning
of the birth pangs
 
in the car
headed to the hospital
counting contractions
every 8 minutes
every 6 minutes
every 4 minutes
hold on here comes one
it won’t be long now
 
in our world
headed to the end of things
counting conflicts
nation against nation
kingdom against kingdom
wars and rumors of wars
hold on here comes one
it won’t be long now

do not be alarmed
these things must take place
this is but the beginning
of the birth pangs

there will be pain
there will be suffering
there will be fear
there will be labor
but there will be joy in the end

there will be wars
there will be rumors
there will be those that lead you astray
there will be signs you see
there will be signs you miss
I will come again
the end is still to come

do not be alarmed
these things must take place
this is but the beginning
of the birth pangs

9 months of hope
9 months of anticipation
9 months of wonder
9 months of fear
I have ripened like fruit on the vine
ripened until bursting
waiting for the day
the hour
the moment
the sign
the beginning of the labor pains

2000 years of hope
2000 years of anticipation
2000 years of wonder
2000 years of fear
we have ripened to the point of spoiling
sweet sticky fruit on the vine
waiting and watching
for you coming on the clouds
is this the moment?
is this the hour?
is this the beginning of the labor pains?

do not be alarmed
these things must take place

the wonder and mystery of birth
can not happen without suffering
can not happen without pain
can not happen without tearing the body
every new life
enters the world
in tears

the wonder and mystery of God
is working its way out through suffering
is working its way out through pain
can not happen without tearing his body
can not happen without tears
his tears
our tears

do not be alarmed
these things must take place
this is but the beginning
of the birth pangs

with wars
with rumors
with violence
with fear
the world labors on

with famine
with earthquake
with flood
with fire
the world labors on

with pain
with suffering
with mystery
with hope
the world labors on

with anticipation
with energy
with love
with relief
the world labors on

since the beginning of time
our earth spins towards its end
it groans on its axis
heavy with the weight of our tears
pregnant with the hope of millions
ripe for the picking

all for a purpose
part of the plan
pain leads to relief
fear leads to joy
shock leads to wonder
this is all just the beginning

do not be alarmed
these things must take place
this is but the beginning
of the birth pangs

anticipation
energy
fear
will it hurt?
will I make it through?
the baby is coming
will I survive?
how much pain will I be able to take?

shock
surprise
wonder
and relief
is this the day?
is this the hour?
will we survive?
how much pain will we be able to take?

we have waited so very long
where are you God?

do not be alarmed
these things must take place
this is but the beginning

 

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Widow's Offering


November 11th, 2012    “The Widow’s Offering”     Rev. Heather Jepsen

Mark 12:38-44

          In this morning’s reading we find Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem with his disciples.  I can just see this bunch of country rabble rousers entering into the holy place.  Their eyes would be wide with all the adornment of the temple.  The walls were lined with cedar and adorned with gold.  There were bronze columns and sculptures.  There were rich colored veils in blue, purple, and crimson.  The disciples surely stood there with their mouths opens, much as any of us would upon seeing such a rich sanctuary.

          Their eyes of course would be drawn to the scribes; those students of the scriptures and temple laws.  Here were the men who had studied the Bible their whole lives; surely they must be closest to God.  The scribes were lovely in their long flowing robes and they were clearly powerful men, being greeted by everyone with great acclaim and respect.  Long flowing robes were a sign of class and a royalty of sorts, only people who don’t do physical work can wear long flowing robes.  Manual laborers, the majority of those in Jerusalem and beyond must wear clothes that they can work in, much like you and me.

          The disciples would have been impressed by just the sight of this holy place and these holy people.  But Jesus is not swayed but such man made opulence and status.  Jesus warns his followers, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets!  They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers.  They will receive the greater condemnation.”

          Jesus wants the disciples to be wary of the things which attract men, the things which men use to show their power over one another and to lift themselves up as high as possible.  Jesus has told us before that the best seats at the banquet are not seats at all but rather those who do the serving.  Jesus has taught us that we are to be humble in our honor and to be servant leaders.  Jesus warns that even those that appear most holy can be corrupted and that the saying of long public prayers is no cover for the devouring of widows’ houses.

          The group moves through the temple into the treasury where people would be giving their offerings to further the work of the temple.  Now the temple was full of the noise of coins dropping.  The offerings were made in thirteen big receptacles shaped like ear trumpets.  So every offering that was given would make a loud clanging noise of metal on metal.  Consider the nature of the larger offerings; (this was before dollars and checks) those who were offering large sums of money were literally bringing large bags of coins to the temple and dropping them into these tubes, the noise would be deafening

          Now, how Jesus notices this one poor widow among all the clatter and show is a mystery.  But he does see her and her two copper coins and he points her out to the disciples, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.  For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

          Now I want you to listen to that again and listen closely.  Nowhere in this sentence does Jesus actually praise the act of the widow, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.  For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”  Even when we read of this event in Luke’s gospel there is no praise of the widow’s actions. 

          Doesn’t that surprise you?  I know it surprised me because in my mind I seem to remember Jesus giving some lesson about faith and praising the widow for her abundant giving.  I know that at least is the sermon I have always heard preached on this passage.  But when we read the text; the praise of the widow, the story of great faith is simply not there.  In the text we only find the widow’s actions themselves; two coins, silently given in the treasury.

          So who is this widow?  What is she doing in our gospel?  Is Jesus simply pointing out how the scribes devour widow’s houses like he just mentioned or is it something more?

          One thing that really struck me was that this widow’s gift does not make any sense.  A widow in the time of Jesus was the most vulnerable member of society.  Without her husband she has no way of earning any income or protecting herself.  Without a male to speak for her she has no rights – nothing.  For her to put everything she has into the temple treasury is simply insane.

          Now I know that the situation for widows is different today but try to picture a similar scenario.  Imagine a mother of three who has recently lost a husband in Afghanistan putting into the offering plate the whole of her bank account; or an elderly widow putting all of her social security check into the plate on a Sunday morning.  That is a challenging scene, and as your pastor, I am not sure what to do with it.  Is the church then to care entirely for them, in a manner similar to the early church in Acts?  We know that doesn’t happen often now and it certainly didn’t happen in the temple in Jerusalem.    

          So who is this woman?  We know that she is someone that Jesus points out to us; she is someone that Jesus clearly wants us to see.  Though not literally praising her for her actions Jesus wants us to see this insane giving, to notice it, to not pass the widow by like so many in the treasury were doing.  Perhaps he wants us to see that it is not a matter of the amount that we give – it is the manner in which we give of what we have.

          Those giving the larger sums in the temple were making a big noise about it.  It would be a big show to see large bags of money and to hear the loud clanging as coins rolled into the offering receptacles.  In contrast, this quiet widow was giving literally everything she had and making no noise or show about it at all.  What must have caught Jesus’ eye was the manner in which she was giving.  Her gift was between her and God – not for show in the temple.  Not for public acclaim.  Just a simple widow giving from her heart, what she was moved by God to give to the church.  And though we may not know exactly what motivated her, this simple widow was moved to give to the church everything that she had.

One interesting thing about the history of interpretation of this passage is that through the years, the widow’s act has been divorced from the rest of the chapter.  We know of her offering, but we frequently forget what Jesus was talking about right before and after the offering occurred.

This story is told within the greater section of Jesus’ final time in the temple in the Gospel of Mark.  Jesus has already sent out the money changers, and he has been arguing with the religious authorities for pages.  In our very reading Jesus scoffs at the scribes and the hypocrisy of their ministry.  Jesus is on an anti-temple kick which will continue through this Sunday to next week when he declares that the whole system will fall.

So in the middle of this, we have the widow giving all that she has to the temple, a temple that is about to be torn down.  Mark seems to want us to see that not only does she give everything; she gives everything to a broken and corrupt system.  She gives everything to something that Jesus basically condemns.  It certainly puts a twist on the typical interpretation of this passage.

We may never know who the old widow was or what she was doing in the temple with her last two coins, but we do know that Jesus points her out to us, that Jesus wants us to notice this insane giving.  Jesus may not explicitly praise the widow’s giving but we know that giving literally all you have is not a foreign concept to him.  This morning we celebrate Communion and we honor and remember the sacrifice that Christ made.  We come face to face with the fact that Jesus put in his last two coins, Jesus gave to us all that he had, his whole life.  And not only that, Jesus gave all that he had for something that was corrupt and condemned.  He gave all that he had for the brokenness that is humanity.  He gave himself to us so that we might have abundant life through him. 

          And what are we to do with that abundant life, but to share it?  Jesus wants the whole of our life in return; a commitment to him of our time, our talents, our offerings, and ourselves.  Yes, like the temple, the church is a broken human place; but still it strives to do the work of God, still it is worthy of an offering.  I am not asking you to give a certain dollar amount; and I am certainly not asking you for your last two coins.  I simply want to encourage you this morning, and every day to listen to the Spirit of God in your heart and to respond as fully as you are able. 

We have many opportunities for giving in our lives, not just to the church but to the world around us, the broken human world.  We can put money in the plate or text money to the Red Cross, we can give to support causes of social justice or we can donate to a local charity, we can take the time to visit a neighbor or we can offer a home to a stray animal.  Our opportunities for giving are endless.

          As believers, we know that everything we have comes from God.  We speak of it whenever we give our offerings in the church.  In light of the widow’s offering, I want to challenge you this morning to ask yourself not, “How much should I to give to God, from what I have?”, but to ask yourself “How much, of all that God has given me, should I keep for myself?”  Amen.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Neighbor Parables


November 4th, 2012    “Neighbor Parables”         Rev. Heather Jepsen
Psalm 146 and Mark 12:28-34
          Our gospel reading for this morning is so familiar that it can be a challenge to hear it with fresh ears.  Of course we are called to love God with the whole of who we are; and of course we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves.  This is the foundation of our faith, and to preach it from the pulpit is to say nothing new.  Rather than tell you what you already know about these verses, I thought that today I would follow Luke’s example and tell you a parable instead.  Luke tells us the story of the Good Samaritan to help us better understand love of neighbor.  That story too, is well worn ground, so today I hope to find a neighbor parable you haven’t heard yet.
          Our first story comes from Jewish folklore and it goes like this . . . Rabbi Haim of Romshishok was an itinerant preacher.  He traveled from town to town delivering religious sermons that stressed the importance of respect for one’s fellow man.  
He often began his talks with the following story: "I once ascended to the firmaments.  I first went to see Hell and the sight was horrifying.  Row after row of tables were laden with platters of sumptuous food, yet the people seated around the tables were pale and emaciated, moaning in hunger.  As I came closer, I understood their predicament.  Every person held a full spoon, but both arms were splinted with wooden slats so he could not bend either elbow to bring the food to his mouth.  It broke my heart to hear the tortured groans of these poor people as they held their food so near but could not consume it.
Next I went to visit Heaven.  I was surprised to see the same setting I had witnessed in Hell – row after row of long tables laden with food.  But in contrast to Hell, the people here in Heaven were sitting contentedly talking with each other, obviously sated from their sumptuous meal. 
As I came closer, I was amazed to discover that here, too, each person had his arms splinted on wooden slats that prevented him from bending his elbows.  How, then, did they manage to eat?  As I watched, a man picked up his spoon and dug it into the dish before him. Then he stretched across the table and fed the person across from him!  The recipient of this kindness thanked him and returned the favor by leaning across the table to feed his benefactor.  I suddenly understood.  Heaven and Hell offer the same circumstances and conditions.  The critical difference is in the way the people treat each other.
I ran back to Hell to share this solution with the poor souls trapped there.  I whispered in the ear of one starving man, "You do not have to go hungry. Use your spoon to feed your neighbor, and he will surely return the favor and feed you."
“You expect me to feed the detestable man sitting across the table?” said the man angrily.  “I would rather starve than give him the pleasure of eating!” I then understood God’s wisdom in choosing who is worthy to go to Heaven and who deserves to go to Hell."
This is a powerful parable that offers a great example of loving one’s neighbor as oneself.  In the rabbi’s vision of heaven, folks are happy to share what they have with each other.  They are happy to help one another, to receive help, and to work for the benefit of all.  In the vision of hell, folks would rather starve then help out someone who is in need.  The parable beautifully illustrates the good, perhaps even the wealth, that comes to us when we are willing to help others. 
To be honest, as modern believers and as a church invested in social justice, it is not very challenging to relate love of our neighbor with feeding our neighbor.  In fact, many of us will spend this month doing exactly that as we give our time and energy to work in the Food Center.  
In our gospel reading Jesus teaches us that love of God and love of neighbor go hand in hand.  In our reading from the Psalms, we get a good idea of just who our neighbor is.  From the widow and orphan, to the blind and lame, to the prisoner and the outcast, these are the ones that God is working for.  These are our neighbors.   
Now there is a good chance that you have heard the parable of the long spoons before; I know I have told it before, so let’s try another one.  This modern parable comes from the writings of Megan McKenna:
“There was a woman who wanted peace in the world and peace in her heart and all sorts of good things, but she was very frustrated.  The world seemed to be falling apart.  She would read the papers and get depressed.  One day she decided to go shopping, and she went into a mall and picked a store at random.  She walked in and was surprised to see Jesus behind the counter.  She knew it was Jesus, because he looked just like the images she’d seen on holy cards and devotional pictures.  She looked again and again at him, and finally she got up her nerve and asked, “Excuse me, are you Jesus?”
“I am.”
“Do you work here?”
“No,” Jesus said, “I own the store.”
“Oh, what do you sell in here?”
“Oh, just about anything!”
“Anything?”
“Yeah, anything you want.  What do you want?”
She said, “I don’t know.”
“Well,” Jesus said, “feel free, walk up and down the aisles, make a list, see what it is you want, and then come back and we’ll see what we can do for you.”
She did just that, walked up and down the aisles.  There was peace on earth, no more war, no hunger or poverty, peace in families, no more drugs, harmony, clean air, careful use of resources.  She wrote furiously.  By the time she got back to the counter, she had a long list.  Jesus took the list, skimmed through it, looked up at her, and smiled.  “No problem.”  And then he bent down behind the counter and picked out all sorts of things, stood up, and laid out some packets.
She asked, “What are these?”
Jesus replied, “Seed packets.  This is a catalog store.”
She said, “You mean I don’t get the finished product?”
“No, this is a place of dreams.  You come and see what it looks like, and I give you the seeds.  You plant the seeds.  You go home and nurture them and help them to grow, and someone else reaps the benefits.”
“Oh,” she said.  And she left the store without buying anything.”
I really like this parable.  I think that it’s a good one because so often we say we want good things for the world; peace on earth, justice for the oppressed, a healthy environment, but really we want are those things for ourselves.  To work a lifetime and not see the results of her work, to not reap the benefit was too much for this woman to bear, she couldn’t do it.
Today we are celebrating our stewardship commitments.  Making a pledge of time and money to the work of the church is a lot like shopping in Jesus’ seed shop.  Like Rick reminded us last week with our windows, we are making an offering of ourselves.  Rather than sowing our wild oats, we are scattering the seeds of our time and treasure in this congregation and in the world.  In time we will harvest some of our gifts, but other things won’t come to fruition until we have gone. 
This makes me think of the lasting gifts folks have left in our endowment funds.  Those folks planted the seeds for a future harvest, a harvest that continues to this day making a dramatic difference in the life of this church.  Generations into the future will still reap the benefits of their generosity.  That is a great example of love of God and love of neighbor.
I don’t know the origin of the last parable I am going to share this morning.  A photocopy of this was given to me by a friend.  It is simply called, “The Diamond” . . .
“The sannyasi had reached the outskirts of the village and settled down under a tree for the night, when a villager came running up to him and said, “The stone!  The stone!  Give me the precious stone!”
“What stone?” asked the sannyasi.
“Last night the Lord Shiva appeared to me in a dream,” said the villager, “and told me that if I went to the outskirts of the village at dusk I should find a sannyasi who would give me a precious stone that would make me rich forever.”
The sannyasi rummaged in his bag and pulled out a stone.  “He probably meant this one,” he said, as he handed the stone over to the villager.  “I found it on a forest path some days ago.  You can certainly have it.”
The man gazed at the stone in wonder.  It was a diamond, probably the largest diamond in the whole world, for it was as large as a person’s head.
He took the diamond and walked away.  All night he tossed about in bed, unable to sleep.  Next day at the crack of dawn he woke the sannyasi and said, “Give me the wealth that makes it possible for you to give this diamond away so easily.”
It is my prayer today that we might use our spoons to feed our neighbors, that we might plant seeds that future generations will harvest, and that we might give away our greatest treasure.  These are the two greatest commandments; to love God and neighbor.  If we understand these things then we are not far from the kingdom of heaven.  Amen.