May 26, 2013

Colin Mathewson, Sewanee

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” (John 16:12)

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) readings:
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8 or Canticle 2 or 13; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Wisdom, personified as a woman, is portrayed as the first of the Lord’s creation before the beginning of the world. While Proverbs emphasized the accessibility of Wisdom (in contrast to Job!) for righteous living, later Jewish writers understood Wisdom as the Torah (see Sirach 24) and as an “emanation of the glory of the Almighty” (Wisdom 7:25). These varying Wisdom traditions were alluded to by New Testament writers in their efforts to make sense of their experiences of Christ’s divinity (John 1:1-18; Colossians 1:15-20; James 3:13-18).

Christians today can find this text’s treatment of Wisdom as evocative of both the Son and the Holy Spirit. It may even invite us to challenge commonly held assumptions about God’s “gender.” For example, it is helpful to some to imagine the Holy Spirit as metaphorically feminine, so as to undercut too-long held notions of God’s masculinity. This is no easy, pat workaround, either; conceiving the Spirit as feminine thus complicates stereotypes of feminine weakness, sensitivity, softness and sentimentality. The Spirit may be at times comforting and peaceful, but She is most certainly also fiery and wildly mighty!

Psalm 8

Good poetry, such as today’s psalm, can generate more questions than answers. When it comes to a heady subject like the Trinity, questions can be refreshing.

How is your understanding of the Trinity helpful to your faith? How does Trinitarian doctrine trip you up? Do you find explanations and metaphors of the Trinity tiresome and futile, and prefer instead a fuller embrace of the sheer mystery of God’s inner life?

What can we learn from scripture, tradition, reason and experience about the Trinity?

This psalm reminds us that even with three questions for every one answer, we can still praise our God of mystery with all our might.

Romans 5:1-5

Christians find ourselves – in our own spirituality and in joining God’s mission in the world – in the midst of a holy, Trinitarian relationship that is life-giving, forgiving and empowering. Sharing the truth of this relationship with others is the basis of Christian evangelism. There is nowhere that God is not: across time and space, spirit and matter, transcendent and immanent.

How can our conception of such a God not affect every ounce of our being, including our daily lives and character? As we enter into and are sent out by and in the Trinity, we join with the saints and all the faithful in proclaiming: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, God of power and might! We pray and so live that we, the church, and the world may come to mirror the loving diversity and unity of God.

John 16:12-15

For the fourth Sunday in a row, we find ourselves within Jesus’ farewell discourse in the Gospel of John, overhearing our Savior’s prayer to the Father. We, too, in our daily prayers, join the ongoing conversation of the Three in One – an important reminder that prayer is not an unexpected phone call to a God busy with more urgent tasks, but rather a welcome addition to a loving and joyful divine dialogue.

At different points in our Christian journey we may find ourselves more able to relate to one person more than others: after becoming a parent, one might find oneself more sympathetic to the parenthood of the Father; in times of trial one may look to the Son’s suffering for solace; and while engaged in artistic reverie, one may dance most easily with the Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity thus invites us into relationship at all times and in varying manners, so that we may bask always in God’s immanence even as God’s transcendence remains sure.

May 19, 2013

Daniel Stroud, Virginia Theological Seminary

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) readings:
Acts 2:1-21 or Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:25-35, 37; Romans 8:14-17 or Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17, (25-27)

Acts 2:1-21

When we get to Pentecost, it’s tempting to just focus on the Spirit coming down and resting on the Apostles. This lengthy and meaty reading seems to beg for more than just a recitation of how the Spirit rested on the Apostles and how it rests on us in the church.

There are two excerpts that jump out at me. One is found right in the second verse: “And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting.” It strikes me that Acts only informs us of the sound of a mighty wind, not an actual mighty wind. This tension between known and accepted story and text is worth exploring. The echoes here to creation are significant, however, this is not a breath, this sounds of a violent wind; this is powerful and strong, ready to push and strain and fill everything. At this moment, light is also brought into the room, as tongues as of fire rested on each of them. Now wind and flame are a powerful combination, and they can be a force for massive destruction. However, in this case they can quickly start a conflagration, setting the world ablaze with a fire that burns but does not consume.

Also compelling here is the restoration granted by God. In the story of the Tower of Babel, the Lord says, “nothing they propose to do will now be impossible for them” (Genesis 11:6). Here, God restores the gift of tongues to the Apostles, restoring the power that had been denied when languages were all confused. In Christ, and with the Holy Spirit, there is nothing that will be impossible for them to do.

Knowing this, how is the Spirit moving within you to set the world ablaze? What are you doing to help spread that fire?

Armed with the knowledge that you are in Christ and with the Holy Spirit, seeing God’s big promise that “nothing will now be impossible for them,” what would you strive for if you had knowledge that you would not fail, even if you get unexpected results?

Psalm 104: 25-35, 37

Amidst today’s emphasis on the Holy Spirit animating us to do great things, we see in this psalm just how vital the Spirit is to our very existence. We see in the psalm how the Spirit of God animates every aspect of our lives. The psalmist writes:

“All of them look to you to give them food in due season. You give it to them; they gather it; you open your hand and they are filled with good things. You hide your face and they are terrified; you take away their breath and they die and return to their dust. You send forth your Spirit and they are created; and so you renew the face of the earth.”

The psalmist would be hard-pressed to make it any clearer. The Spirit does not only give us what we consider to be gifts; the Spirit gives us everything. We are fully reliant on God for our food, even for our breath. This psalm serves as an excellent reminder that we should offer our gratitude not only for those fruits of the Spirit we experience, but for every aspect of life.

What have you recently taken for granted for which you should offer thanks?

How might we improve the gratitude offered? How might we turn our gratitude for things like our breath and our food into new gifts? How might we be good stewards of what we have been given so that we might share our gifts with the world?

Romans 8:14-17

I always found it funny that Paul tells us here we did not receive a spirit of slavery. Only a chapter and change ago, he was telling us to be slaves of righteousness. But Romans builds up steam as Paul’s defense of the righteousness of God continues on, and here we see that the Spirit we received was not of slavery, but of adoption as children of God. And Paul here builds up through one of his frequent (though this one is short) sorites explaining to us just where we land. We have been given the spirit that we might call God by an affectionate, endearing name: Abba! Not as simply the head of a household or one to whom we are subject, but as a parent for whom we have a mature affection, our dearest father.

And Paul takes his point to its logical conclusion: If we are children of God in Christ, God’s firstborn, then we are also heirs with the firstborn of God. But – and this is an important condition – this is the case if we suffer with him that we may be glorified with him. Following Christ has a cost, and it can be a significant cost. But if we accept that cost, we are no longer slaves, we are no longer even just children of God, we are heirs through hope, in Christ.

How do we see ourselves? Do we carry our Christianity as a task to be accomplished, an order to be fulfilled; or is our faith part of who we are, something that we live into as we would a family?

John 14:8-17

The disciples always seem to want more. A few weeks ago we read about Thomas, who, though he gets an unfair rap, said he needed to place his hand in Jesus’ wounds. Shortly after that, we hear about James and John, sons of Zebedee, asking to sit one at Jesus’ right hand and one at his left. And now we have Philip saying, “Well, if you just showed us the father, we’d be happy.” And Jesus gives a brilliant response. “You’ve seen him.”

As Christians, we are not people of the book. The Bible is necessary and divinely inspired and contains all things necessary to salvation, but it is not the perfect revelation of God’s will and nature. Christ is our revelation of that will and nature, and the New Testament is about Christ, who is the true revelation. Christ reveals his nature, saying that the Father dwells in him. This is quite a claim. And Jesus goes on to say that if we love him, and the Father through him, and we keep his commandments, he will send the Holy Spirit among us, to be a spirit of truth in the world. He also tells us that the world cannot receive the Spirit because it does not know the Spirit. We, however, do know that Spirit.

And so this loaded gospel rounds out the essence of our readings for the day. The Holy Spirit has been given to us and will strengthen and empower us to do ministry. This gift was not meant to sit idle but was meant to commission us to spread the Spirit in the world.

Given this charge, what can we do to spread the Spirit?

How can we live a life that shows others that the Spirit is abiding in us?

How can we use that Sprit dwelling in us to show to world the perfect revelation of the nature of God in the loving person of Christ?

May 12, 2013

Steven King, Virginia Theological Seminary

“The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:22-23)

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) readings:
Acts 16:16-34; Psalm 97; Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17:20-26

Acts 16:16-34

Immediately upon reading this story from the book of Acts, I am struck by the language of the apostles in this story. The apostles encounter a woman who is in a sort of trance-like state and speak to the spirit that is in her, commanding it to come out of her. They are then accused of upsetting Roman society and customs and disturbing the city. This sounds a lot like Jesus’ ministry, doesn’t it? Those who have been commissioned by Christ to go out and make disciples are now taking on the very things Jesus did – even speaking to spirits! We, too, as followers of Christ are given the commission to follow Christ and spread the Good News to the world. We may not be able to speak to spirits, but we certainly have our own gifts that can help draw others to God.

What are your spiritual gifts? How can you use them to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ?

What are the things that enhance and hinder you in doing this?

Psalm 97

This psalm is full of grand and spectacular language for God. “His lightnings light up the world. … The mountains melt like wax before the Lord” (v. 4-5). These incredible images for God and God’s power are awe inspiring. They are hard to even imagine. And yet, the most incredible aspect of all of these images is that God still knows each of us individually and loves us. Yes, God is all powerful and ruler of both heaven and earth, even mountains fall down before the Lord. And, also, God knows us personally and loves us incomprehensibly. Let us all rejoice in this love!

How do you experience both the power and the love of God?

Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

The book of Revelation was addressed to seven churches throughout Asia Minor as they faced persecution for their faith. It can be read as encouragement in the faith and to rest in the Lord, who is both the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega. Verse 17 reads, “Let everyone who is thirsty come.”

This is the last Sunday of Easter, and as we move into the season of Pentecost, let us remember that Christ has defeated death and raised us to new life with him. My prayer is that in the season of Pentecost, even when it becomes difficult in the face of evil and suffering, I will draw on the power of the Risen Lord to not only know more fully the source of the Living Water but also to draw all who are thirsty to that source.

What practices or prayers sustain you in your faith journey?

What do you hold onto in the face of evil and/or suffering that helps you remember the power of the Resurrected Christ?

John 17:20-26

There are many striking portions of this passage. First, Jesus prays to the Father on behalf of the disciples. And not only that, Jesus prays that those who believe in him may be one. In this prayer, Jesus asks that we all be one in order that the world might know him and know that God loves them. This is a powerful call. It seems like a daunting task to unify all to God, but the fact of the matter is that we can all work toward this. We do this work because in Christ, God has first loved us, and in drawing all to each other and God we can further show that love to a world in need of it.

What work can we do to unite us all to each other and God?

How can this unifying work show God’s love to the world?

May 5, 2013

Josh Hosler, Virginia Theological Seminary

“Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) readings:
Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5; John 14:23-29

Acts 16:9-15

My wife and I once enjoyed a relaxing weekend in Port Townsend, Washington. As we roamed the town, we came upon an outdoor yard sale at the house of four young adults who lived together. The next thing we knew, we were playing croquet with them; we stayed for several hours! Had we not had a hotel room to return to, we might have woken the next morning on their couch. To this day, I hold these young people up as a model of hospitality to which I still aspire.

How open is your home? Have you ever made an instant connection with someone, of the kind that might lead to such hospitality? Lydia of Thyatira had just such an experience that day by the river when she met Paul and his companions. She could have listened with interest and then moved on, grateful for the momentary food for thought. But instead, she was inspired to open her home to them and feed them back. Through this show of hospitality, Lydia opened herself to receive God’s hospitality as well.

As a dealer in purple dye, which was only used by the well to do, Lydia no doubt had ample resources to share with her new friends. Perhaps your home isn’t amenable to such a possibility. What are some other ways you can be ready to stretch your comfort level and extend hospitality to the stranger God places in your path?

Psalm 67

Lately I’ve been reading the Bible to my 7-year-old daughter at bedtime. Occasionally we’ll come across the word “awesome,” and she’ll laugh at what seems to her a colloquial expression. Even I, in my youth, was distracted in church by the word “awesome,” a word my friends and I used to refer to just about anything we liked.

I have tried to explain to my daughter that the kind of “awe” we hear of in the Bible is a bit like fear, a bit like amazement, and a bit like gratitude. In today’s psalm, we pray, “May all the ends of the earth stand in awe of him.” In a secular world in which people are as likely to chalk positive occurrences up to luck, karma or science as to God, it’s easy to forget what that “awesome” feeling is like.

Yet I think we have all felt it. We may have felt it while standing under a huge sky full of stars, or while on a boat in the middle of the ocean, or at the top of a canyon. We may have experienced it at the birth of our child, or when much-needed money appeared just in time, or when we have fallen in love. As people of faith, we credit God as the originator of all good gifts. This week, keep an eye out for those things in your life that are truly “awesome.”

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

One morning when I was about 12 years old, I woke from the most amazing dream of my life. Inspired by C. S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia,” I dreamed I had died, along with my entire family, and that I found myself in a beautiful, sunny land with green, rolling hills. All my friends were there, and new friends as well. My brother and some other boys were playing together, had a disagreement, and got into a fight. But they found that their blows did nothing to harm each other, so they shrugged and stopped fighting. The great lion Aslan was there, too: he divided us into groups and had us sit down on the grass to eat together. We reached into our pockets and drew out as much food as we wanted. There were games and fun, and there were deep, important conversations. Above all, there was a growing realization that this was forever: that we would never have to be parted or miss anybody ever again, and that death was only a memory.

This dream felt like a promise, and it has sustained me ever since. I think this passage from the Revelation to John is intended to be a promise as well. In John’s vision, the very cosmos is changed: not only is there no need of a temple, but there is not even need of the moon or sun, for light pervades everything. There is no more war or fighting, for the very leaves of the trees are able to heal broken nations. The tree of life, which God prevented Adam and Eve from touching when he banished them from the garden, is now available to everyone. A river waters everything all around; perhaps it flows with the waters of baptism. In this place, we are all marked and sealed on our foreheads as God’s own forever. Today, rest in this promise and know that it is for you, too.

John 14:23-29

“Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” These words are common on the lips of Jesus and of angels throughout the Bible: “Be not afraid.” But why on earth not? Am I not allowed to own my feelings? Life is terribly uncertain, and I have plenty to be afraid of! Jesus, would you deny me this honest experience?

Yet here is peace – peace of a kind the world does not and cannot give. Do you know what it is like, this peace that passes understanding? We may be tempted to wonder, “How can I attain this peace?” However, Jesus assures us that this peace is already in our possession. Perhaps the problem is in denying it is there.

The key seems to be keeping Jesus’ word. What does that mean? In the course of John’s gospel, it means following the new commandment that we “love one another” as Christ has loved us. When we live in love and for love, our actions unlock the very peace that we were not able to see in our fearfulness. “Perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). So which will you do first today: stop fearing, or start loving? Whichever you choose, Jesus tells us that one naturally leads to the other.

April 28, 2013

Susan Butterworth, Episcopal Divinity School

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34)

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) readings:
Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35

Acts 11:1-18

The Acts of the Apostles depicts Jesus’ early followers as observant Jews and the beginnings of the church as rooted within Judaism, yet is concerned with the expansion of the church from those origins to a movement spread throughout the Roman Empire.

In the first part of today’s passage, verses 1-3, Peter’s fellow apostles and the Jewish believers in Jesus (the circumcised believers) confront Peter as he returns to Jerusalem from baptizing the Roman centurion Cornelius in Caesarea. They demand an explanation for why he has broken the Jewish law by entering a gentile house and eating unclean food.

In verses 4-17, Peter repeats the events of Chapter 10, a device that Luke uses for emphasis. As Peter explains the vision in which God has informed him emphatically and repeatedly that what God had cleansed he was not to regard as unclean, he affirms the point that the Holy Spirit had directed the conversion of the gentiles by recounting a simultaneous vision on Cornelius’ part that he should send to Joppa for Peter. When Peter arrives at the house, he begins to proclaim the gospel, but the Holy Spirit falls upon Cornelius’ household just as it had upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. Peter remembers God’s words and gifts on that day, and understands that it is God’s will that the gentiles be saved.

In the final verse, 18, the Apostles and Jewish believers are silenced. They too understand that the gentiles have been given salvation through belief in Jesus, and praise God.

The passage is pivotal in the spread of the gospel from the Jewish followers to the wider world of the gentile Roman Empire. It also makes the distinction between baptism by water, a human act, and baptism by the Holy Spirit, an act of God.

What are some of the differences and similarities between water baptism and spirit baptism? Which comes first? Is one more public than another?

Even though the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles at Pentecost, they are slow to understand God’s purpose and command that the gospel be preached to everyone. Not all of the Apostles come to this understanding at the same time. Can you think of other examples of times, either in the Bible or in your own experience, when understanding God’s call comes as a process as well as a specific moment of enlightenment?

Psalm 148

Psalm 148 is a hymn of praise. A cast of all the created are called upon to praise God the creator of all the universe. In verses 1-6, the inhabitants of the heavens are exhorted to praise their creator. In verses 7-14, the elements of the earth are called to praise God’s glory. God is the exalted and splendid creator of heaven and earth, and the children of Israel, his loyal servants, are especially near to him.

Today’s passage from Acts ends with the Apostles praising God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18).

What parts of Psalm 148 might the Apostles have included in their praise? Try writing some additional verses that the Apostles might have prayed in an extemporaneous outpouring of praise in response to Peter’s explanation of events in Acts 11:1-18.

Revelation 21:1-6

This passage describes the revelation of heavenly Jerusalem. A revelation or apocalypse is generally a first-person narrative in which the writer relates one or more visions about the future and/or the heavenly world. The writer of the Revelation to John is both an oral prophet in the tradition of Daniel, Ezekiel and Isaiah, and a scribe whose written words claim the authority of coming directly from God, the one who was seated on the throne.

In the Revelation to John, particularly in today’s passage, we have an example of Christian visionary literature built on the foundations of Jewish apocalypses. The image of the divine throne and the precise layout of the heavenly city contain echoes of Ezekiel 1 and Ezekiel 40-42, while the new heaven and a new earth and the absence of weeping and crying are echoes of Isaiah 65.

Indeed, even the reference to the holy city Jerusalem supports an essentially Jewish frame of reference. References to the testimony of Jesus Christ and the seven churches of Asia suggest that the writer was a Christian prophet of Jewish origin. His historical context may have included both the destruction and loss of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in 70 C.E., and persecution of the Jewish followers of Jesus. Some of the text of the Revelation to John is built on graphic images of destruction. Yet the text as a whole is a glorious act of worship, telling a story of God’s enduring presence in the salvation offered by Jesus Christ. The vision ends on a note of hope and faith.

The beautiful language of the King James version of this passage contains the words: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.” Meditate on this poetry for a few moments. What do these words mean for you? How might you use them in a pastoral context?

John 13:31-35

This passage introduces what is commonly called the “farewell discourse,” in which Jesus announces his impending death to his disciplines and offers both comfort and instructions for how they should behave when he is gone.

In verses 31-33, he emphasizes glorification: the enduring and mystical relationship between the Son and God the father. He calls the disciples “little children,” highlighting his oneness with the Father. At the same time, this term of endearment expresses his love for them. Here he turns to two additional themes of his ministry: the commandment to love one another and the Father’s presence in the disciples. “You will look for me,” he says, possibly to tell them of new ways in which they will find him after his departure.

He refers to the Jews, in contrast to his disciples, the Jewish followers of Jesus, and emphasizes how his own followers shall be known: by their love for him, which mirrors his love for them. It is essential that the community of followers of Jesus demonstrate God’s love as a shining light for the world to see.

Glorification can mean either giving praise or the manifestation of that which is worthy of praise. Read verses 31 and 32 carefully. The words “glorify” and “glorified” appear five times. What does Jesus mean by the word? Does the word “now” change or clarify Jesus’ meaning?

This passage contains the famous words: “I give you a new commandment.” What is new about the commandment to love one another? What is radically new about the way that God has shown his love for us in Jesus? What does it mean to be a disciple under this new commandment?

April 21, 2013

Will Prosser, Berkeley Divinity School at Yale

“My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) readings:
Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30

Acts 9:36-43

Although this passage appears to be about individuals, it is about community. While the focus may, on the surface, appear to be on Peter, that misses the depth of the story. Peter willingly comes to the city from which Jonah left on his mission to the gentiles of Nineveh in order to give Tabitha her life back. As Richard Pervo points out in “Acts: A Commentary” (Fortress Press, 2008), this is not a resurrection in the manner that Jesus experiences, for Tabitha is restored to her old life, not a new one. However, Peter’s actions affect the whole community, not merely Tabitha.

Before entering the room, the widows, the poor and needy of the community, show Peter the sustenance that Tabitha provided them. Once in the room, he sends everyone out, and after he prays, Peter turns to Tabitha. Pervo notes that the verb used here for “turn,” epistréfei, is the same word used for “conversion.” After Peter reveals the newly risen Tabitha to the community, there are many who believe and are converted.

This is a story of responsibilities expected of believers in the world of a resurrected Jesus. Tabitha’s rising is a harbinger of things to come. In this way, Peter brings the Good News of the resurrected Christ to the community in Joppa.

This story also reminds us that everyone should be privy to this news. Tabitha’s name is given in both Aramaic and Greek, for this story was probably meant for both audiences, and Peter, in the last verse, resides with a tanner. A tanner is someone who works with the blood and offal of animals, and as Robert Wall notes in “The New Interpreter’s Bible” (Abingdon Press, 2002), this would most definitely be considered unclean for those following Jewish law. This is no longer a message for certain individuals or communities. We are meant to bring the gospel to everyone.

What are some ways in which we can show the gospel, rather than just telling of it to different communities?

What is Christian responsibility, and how do you attempt to fulfill it?

Psalm 23

This is one of the most beloved psalms in Christianity and Judaism, and often even those who are not of those faiths know of this psalm, which begins “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” While this is a psalm of comfort that we will often whip out for funerals, this is by no means a depiction of an idyllic reality. The person who wrote this psalm is not untroubled because there is no darkness, but because the Lord is present with him in the darkness. The writer is untroubled because he has faith in his shepherd in the darkness.

However, we must honestly wrestle with the sixth verse when the writer claims that goodness and mercy will follow him always. The analysis of this psalm in “Feasting on the Word,” (Westminster John Knox Press, 2010) informs us that the Hebrew verb for “follow” can also mean “to pursue”; so the verse could be saying that no matter what choices the writer makes, the goodness and mercy of his host’s, the Lord’s, table will pursue him.

How would you articulate your faith? What kind of psalm would you write?

Revelation 7:9-17

This vision from the Apocalypse of John shows our reward. Just as the crowds greeted Jesus with palm branches upon his entrance into Jerusalem, he is praised with palm branches in his victory in heaven. In “The New Interpreter’s Bible” (Abingdon Press, 1998), Christopher Rowland points out the irony that in the Gospel of John, the Pharisees complain that the whole world followed after Jesus, and that is certainly what we see here.

Of course, one of the great paradoxes of the early Christian church is how robes can be made white by pouring scarlet blood on them. I think that this is symbolism of the life of Jesus. There is no rational understanding of how God could be both God and a human, but it happened. And there is no rational understanding of how one man’s sacrifice and resurrection would give eternal life to the world, but it happened. If these things happened, then why couldn’t robes be washed in blood and be made white? However, to gain that promise, to reach the life when God will wipe away all tears and abolish hunger and thirst, we must come through “the great ordeal” that represents our lives.

How do you feel about this vision? Are there things that make you uncomfortable? What are the things that give you hope?

How would you bring this hope to others?

John 10:22-30

In her analysis of this text in “The New Interpreter’s Bible” (Abingdon Press, 1996), Gail O’Day brings up an important point of clarification: The Jews in this story refers to the Jewish religious establishment. Likely, the majority of people involved in this story were Jewish. And this reading is the only time in the Gospel of John when Jesus is asked directly if he is the Messiah. The Samaritan woman questions Jesus’ possible identity as the Messiah, and Martha proclaims that Jesus is, but this is the only time in this gospel when Jesus is asked directly.

Notice, however, that Jesus does not claim in his answer that he is the Messiah, for his answer shows that he is much more than just the anointed one. Instead, as Ernst Haenchen explains in “John 2” (Fortress Press, 1984), Jesus goes on to discuss the nature of his relationship with God, how he and God are unified in purpose and goal. This is how Jesus and God are “one.”

Much in the same way that “goodness and mercy” will always pursue the writer of Psalm 23, Jesus says that his sheep will never be snatched out of his hand. The resurrected Christ gives us the blessing of eternal life, and once it is given, we can never lose it.

What do you do with this confidence? How does it appear in your life and church?

How would you instill this confidence into your community?

April 14, 2013

Chelsea Page-Collonge, Episcopal Divinity School

“Jesus said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’” (John 21:17)

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) readings:
Acts 9:1-6, (7-20); Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19

Acts 9:1-20

The blended character of the early Christian church, as a movement of both Jews and gentiles that challenged religious and social distinctions of the day, owes its existence not only to Jesus’ inclusive teachings, but largely to the work of a person who never met Jesus. The story of Saul of Tarsus in the Acts of the Apostles reveals that the risen and ascended Christ intimately touched Paul and concretely transformed his life, from one organized around death and repression to one organized around creativity and new life.

This is the same and only Christ we ourselves can know, as followers of Jesus who never met him in the flesh. This account in Acts is remarkable for its transformation not only of Paul’s hatred of the Christian movement, but also Ananias’ fear of Paul, his community’s oppressor (verse 13). This courageous act mediates God’s forgiveness and restores Paul’s ability to function, healing his despair and completing his conversion (verse 9, verses 18-19). Jesus acts in our lives as a divine vision of restored relationship, and acts to restore our human vision, our ability to see others. The living Christ reaches out to touch us to demand that we reach out to one another.

Who has acted as God’s agent of change and healing in your life?

Have you ever received a call from God that knocked you flat, or seen that happen to someone else?

Psalm 30

Psalm 30 declares that our purpose for existing is to praise God, so much so that the psalmist implies that God will sustain his life only for that purpose (verse 10). While affirming that God listens for our cries of need, this psalm portrays God as having a special ear for our songs of thanks and praise.

The lived experience of people who suffer from injustice, such as the Hebrews in exile, is that sometimes God seems absent (verse 8). Our God does not intervene in suffering by exercising unilateral, top-down power over the way human communities treat each other. Rather, God listens for our assertions of the glory for which we are created, which challenge the suffering created by human-made structures of injustice. To steadfastly declare God’s faithfulness and remember God’s justice is to cling to a vision of a better world, of how things could and should be.

When does your heart sing to God? Has this ever happened during a time of hardship, or only in hindsight?

Can you think of examples of people clinging to God’s goodness during oppression and thereby holding open a space for justice to be won?

Revelation 5:11-14

In Chapters 4 and 5 of the book of Revelation, John of Patmos paints a vision, rich in political symbols, of God seated on a throne, surrounded by 24 elders and four creatures that Christian tradition now associates with the four gospel writers. They are then approached by a slaughtered yet living lamb, representing Jesus. Before the Lamb’s appearance on the scene, John despaired that no one in heaven or earth would be able to open the seven-sealed scroll. But now that Jesus has appeared to read the tremendous divine message, every one in heaven and earth is able to participate in joyous communication with God (verse 13).

Their praise directed to “the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb” sees God and Jesus as two figures, yet our affirmation that Jesus and God are one affirms that the throne and the cross are one. Despite the triumphalist tone of the book of Revelation, John was critiquing the Roman Empire’s concept of enthroned might by placing suffering, humility and abjection at the heart of God’s power.

What comes to your mind as you contemplate the image of Jesus as a slaughtered lamb?

John 21:1-19

In this last resurrection account of the Gospel of John, a group of the disciples have gone back to their old way of life, practicing their trade and readjusting to normal life. Jesus comes to them as a stranger, disrupting their self-reliance and nourishing them with his own abundant provision, evocative of the time he inspired strangers to multiply and share their loaves and fishes. This image of the risen Lord of the universe cooking a humble campfire breakfast on the beach is surely one of the most appealing images of the resurrected Christ.

After breakfast, Jesus gives Peter the opportunity to undo his three-fold denial of Christ during the Passion, by soliciting a three-fold affirmation of Peter’s love (verse 17). At the same time, Jesus makes clear that Peter’s restored relationship with him is also a command to provide and care for others, to once again leave his nets of self-reliance and follow Christ into selfless participation in community.

How do you experience God both challenging and nurturing you during this Easter season?

April 7, 2013

Alan Cowart, Virginia Theological Seminary

“Jesus said to Thomas, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’” (John 20:29)

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) readings:
Acts 5:27-32; Psalm 118:14-29 or Psalm 150; Revelation 1:4-8; John 20:19-31

Acts 5:27-32

The chief priests are trying to silence the apostles’ preaching and the growing movement of Christ’s followers. The apostles have suddenly and miraculously been liberated from prison by an angel of God (Acts 5:17-26). Now they stand once again before the priests, who don’t get it. “We gave you strict orders … yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching,” the high priest says (5:28).

The teaching of God is not a stoppable thing. It does not listen to human voices. It moves out in spite of any attempts to stop it. The apostles can’t avoid speaking about it.

The difference between the apostles of Acts and the disciples of the gospels is a different kind of encounter with Christ. Resurrection has to change you. It is not static. In each experience of the resurrected, risen Christ, there is a change. There is a movement outward. We move from death into life; from life into victory; from hope into certainty.

From what have you been freed?

What have you been freed to do?

Psalm 118:14-29

Reading this psalm, we recall the words we recite every Sunday and also what Jesus heard upon entering Jerusalem: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (118: 25-26). Jesus came to his ultimate victory through the avenue of death, yet entered Jerusalem through the prayers and songs of the people.

It is right, in this time of resurrection, to remember that what has been done is not just a moment of history.

This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
On this day the Lord has acted;
we will rejoice and be glad in it (118:23, 24)

Today is the day of our victory. Today, God reigns and we can put down our arms and our struggles. We can give thanks to God not only because of the victory, but because of God’s goodness, and because “his mercy endures for ever” (118:29). We can celebrate because God has not only seen us through, but has carried us. Again and again we are rescued.

And again, there is movement. We move from resting “in the tents of the righteous” (118:15) to a festal procession for the glory of God. We shout, “Hosanna!” because of God’s righteousness, because of God’s victory. And because of that victory – through that victory – we “shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord” (118:17). Hallelujah!

Where can you rest today in something God has already done?

Where in your life can you look for a victory from God?

How will you celebrate?

Revelation 1:4-8

Even though there are authorship questions concerning the Revelation to John, we can’t help but think about the opening lines of the similarly named gospel, which talks about Jesus’ existence before creation. Jesus was both before and after the world, and was both before and after the Incarnation of God-in-Christ. Jesus, having been raised from the dead, is both before and after our own lifetimes – the Alpha and Omega.

We remember, with John, the faithful witness who is and was and is to come. There is an ultimate vision of Jesus yet to be revealed. Like the “this day” in today’s psalm (118:24), Jesus of the Revelation is of all time. The victory Christ brings over life and death in his resurrection is just a taste of the ultimate-ness of this person we claim to follow, of this God who sent his Son. And yet the person of Christ is the same, the one who is and the one who was and the one who is to come. That is the meaning of “almighty.”

How might we act differently because God has freed us?

What difference does it make that Jesus is “coming with the clouds” (1:7)?

John 20:19-31

There is a transformation in those who encounter Jesus. In this case the disciples (originally from the Greek for “pupil”) are transformed into apostles, not only having seen the risen Christ, but also “sent out” (from which we get “apostle”). Belief is different from fear.

The disciples have just buried Jesus a few days earlier, or rather, they likely hid as others buried Jesus. Hours earlier, they heard from Mary Magdelene that Jesus was gone, risen. There was confusion, fear and probably not a little unbelief and doubt.

And then, there he is. This is a different version of resurrection. Jesus is there. No one mistakes him for the gardener (John 20:15). He is with the same followers who ran away earlier. Jesus comes to them. Jesus wants to restore the relationship.

This is an amazing thing. And then it happens again! This time, Thomas is with the others. We put a lot of our own doubt onto Thomas. But it is important to remember that he does not doubt here. He questions someone else’s claim, but in his encounter with Jesus, he believes. Thomas moves toward belief and proclaims the truth about Christ. This is what an encounter with the risen Christ does: It takes us from doubt to belief to proclamation.

How does your faith proceed out of you?

Where is God relentlessly showing up in your life?

What doors do you lock to keep God out?

March 31, 2013

Susan Sevier, Virginia Theological Seminary

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” (Luke 24:5)

The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) readings:

Isaiah 65:17-25; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24;  Acts 10:34-43; John 20:1-18

Isaiah 65:17-25

Our four readings from the lectionary for this Easter Day carry throughout the themes of victory, joy, gratitude and responsibility – all important lessons on this day when we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord, and the passage from Isaiah sets the tone for the day. The reading comes from what is often labeled the Third Book of Isaiah (Chapters 56-66) and is roughly placed in the early period after the return of some of the exiled Israelites from Babylon, probably during the first century of the rule of Persia in the land of Israel. Nothing on the ground is as they expected it; and yet the writer of Isaiah paints a glorious picture of the new Jerusalem that will be.

One interesting quality of this text is the ways in which it draws on pre-Exilic traditions. For example, in verse 17, when the author quotes God, saying, “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth,” the Hebrew word for “create” (barah) is the same that is used in Genesis 1; in fact the same as the very first word of the Bible itself. The author could have used other words, such as “made” (asah), for example. Why was this an important word choice and what does it mean to start the description of this new world in Isaiah 65 just as the story of creation begins?

Everything about the Isaiah passage resonates with our Christian view of the Kingdom of Heaven, and in practice, much of the writing of Isaiah is often claimed as a foretelling of the coming of Jesus, his ministry, his death and his resurrection. However, keeping in mind the context in which our passage was written, what universal emotions does this passage evoke? Hope? Joy? What else do you see here that might bring comfort to the afflicted?

Again, the writings of Isaiah are often used as prophetic tellings about the coming of Jesus. But this passage in particular doesn’t talk about the coming of a person, it describes the coming of a new world. Jerusalem is a character in our story. Why Jerusalem? Take a minute and compare this text to the writing in Revelation 22; the important cultural symbolism of the city of Jerusalem is clearly shared by both Judaism and the Christian faith that sprang from it. What influence does this sacred view of Jerusalem have on us in our own time?

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Our psalter for the day contains one of those often-quoted texts, the kind that even people who do not regularly study the Bible know: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (verse 24). The writer of Isaiah speaks the words of God, painting a beautiful picture of the new world to come through God’s grace and love, while the psalmist expresses the response of the receiver of that grace.

Psalm 118 is, in the liturgy of Passover, the last psalm sung. It is often called a song of deliverance (or thanksgiving), and in the days of the Temple was used as part of festival worship by the whole community on a day not unlike today in our own tradition. While the lectionary removes the verses recounting the troubles of the psalmist before their deliverance (verses 2-13), even these recitations are in the past tense, not an immediate cry for help.

What specific ways did the Lord deliver our psalmist in Psalm 118? How do those saving acts relate back to the promises in the Isaiah passage?

Take a look at the text and see if you can find the “liturgical” elements in our psalm. Imagine the text sung or repeated during a procession. What parts might be said outside the gate? Does any part of the psalm look like a song that might be sung on its own, like a doxology? Why would we as a Christians read this psalm today as part of our Easter worship?

Acts 10:34-43

We have heard the glories of the coming kingdom in our Isaiah passage; we have offered our praise and thanksgiving with a psalm; and now, in Acts, we learn of our responsibility to bear witness to this message: “He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead” (verse 42).

Some Easter services begin with the pastor proclaiming to the crowd: “Christ is risen!” And the congregation knows that the response to that proclamation is, “Christ is risen, indeed!” What does Peter tell us in this passage about the story that we, as disciples, are here to proclaim? Who is to receive this message? Who is to proclaim it? What it important about the message itself? What elements of Jesus’ life and ministry does Peter list as the important parts of that message?

Peter delivered this sermon in the home of one named Cornelius, a gentile, not a Jew. Why is that important to Peter’s message? What does that importance have to say to us today?

John 20:1-18

In our reading from Isaiah, we hear the promises of glory and joy; in the psalm we offer praises and thanksgiving for the deliverance that will bring us to glory and joy; in Acts we learn of our responsibility to others as receivers of that deliverance, and finally, in our gospel lesson, we have an opportunity to live that moment of deliverance, in all its confusion and fear and beauty. This is the moment of metanoia, or turning, that brings each of us in our lives to the kind of discipleship that makes it possible to understand our joy, our gratitude and our responsibility.

John’s account of this moment is different from that encountered in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). In each, the figures present at this moment are different, but it always begins with the women. As much as we might like to take that for a feminist statement on the part of the authors, it is simply a cultural one – it was the job of the female relatives to perform the rituals at the burial site.

Mary finds the tomb’s stone removed (verse 1). What other story in John’s gospel includes a stone rolled away (11:38-41)? And what about the burial clothes in each story? What do we see when we read these stories together?

Why does Mary weep? What happens that lets Mary recognize the figures she sees outside the tomb?

Our passage is all about the kind of confusion that many of us feel as we reach for a life of discipleship. Can I believe what is before my eyes? Why do I weep when the message of the grace and love of the Kingdom of Heaven has been told to me again and again? What must happen in our own lives so that we might truly understand the meaning of this Easter Day?

March 24, 2013

Ben Garren, Bexley Hall

“Jesus said to him, ‘Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son of Man?’” (Luke 22:48)

The Liturgy of the Word (RCL): Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 22:14-23:56

Isaiah 50:4-9a

From the Exile in Babylon comes the voice of a teacher. The teacher is physically beaten, publicly humiliated and left on the ground to be cursed and spat upon. But the teacher is not a victim. These verses present abuse, they present oppression, but they do not present lament. These are verses of conviction.

In the face of abuse and oppression it is exceptionally appropriate to lament. It is in fact necessary for victims of oppression and abuse to recognize that they are the victims of such monstrosities, and cry out before the world and God. It is necessary to lament.

This teacher does not deny this but comes to those who lament, who are facing oppression and abuse, with a lesson: My oppressors and my abusers do not define who I am. The teacher is defined first and foremost by a relationship with God. All other relationships are secondary to this relationship. This means that the teacher can face oppression, abuse and humiliation but not be defined by them.

The teacher’s lesson can be a powerful question: “Do you define yourself first and foremost by your relationship with God?” The victim and the oppressor are both called to stop defining themselves by the relationship of abuse and start defining themselves and each other in relationship to God. This redefinition breaks down the cycle of abuse. It allows an individual to stand with conviction in the face of oppression. It stops a victim from seeking someone to abuse. It forces the oppressor to pause and consider the inherent value and dignity of the other.

Psalm 31:9-16

The poet who composed Psalm 31 presents an interesting juxtaposition. The lectionary focuses only one part of the poem, the middle. In these verses what is found is a person in strife calling out to God for deliverance. Before and after these verses, however, the poet is proclaiming not only a deep faith in God but also a life of joy in the midst of God’s grace. Unraveling this almost chaotic bit of scripture is a bit challenging.

At first glance one might want to put forward an obvious linear progression. An individual proclaims strong faith in God, is tested through abuse and pain yet maintains faith, thus God blesses the individual with prosperity. Yet this reading seems pastorally hollow. Suggesting that a lack of prosperity, that those who suffer abuse and pain, do so because they lack proper faith is reprehensible.

The core of this psalm is that God is in a true relationship with the poet and knowledge of that relationship creates a firm foundation that nothing can overcome. The poet does not deserve suffering, does not deserve abuse, and any abuse and suffering the world presents is naught in comparison to a relationship with God. The poet shares joys and sufferings but more than anything shares a deep surety that God is with us in the midst of both.

Philippians 2:5-11

Paul writes these words from a Roman prison. He is miserable, he is ready to die, he is struggling to find any reason to keep living. His faith in Jesus Christ does not give him a reason to live, in fact it is the sweet call of communion with Christ that prepares him for death. The reason Paul finds to keep living is his servanthood to the Christian community at Philippi. Paul’s servanthood it what sustains him, not his authority.

This is a leader giving up his leadership for servanthood, giving up power for humility, commanding the leaders of a Christian community to do the same. It is Paul reminding the leaders of the church that they do not have the authority of the Father; they have the servanthood of the Son. Paul speaks to the powerful and tells the powerful to become the lowest of the low, worthy of nothing more then the lowest of deaths.

Too often this passage has been used by those in power to maintain authority by forcing servant status on another. Taking on this authority, an authority that belongs to God alone, was exactly what Paul was speaking out against. This is not a passage about the need for Christian servants to remain docile; this is a passage to remind Christian authority that we are to be humble servants to all we meet.

Luke 22:14-23:56

After supper, Jesus has his final conversation with the disciples. He knows that in the next few days his friends, his brothers and sisters, will find their whole world turned upside down with his death. Christ tells them what type of people they are to become in the midst of the chaos, change and transformation that is to follow – the transformation we are asked to enter into in this Holy Week between Palm Sunday and Easter.

Jesus notes that the power and authority given to us as followers of Christ is not to be used to set ourselves above any one but used to be servants of those around us. Jesus includes that “the greatest among you must become like the youngest.” Jesus is calling the elders of the church to be interested foremost in the future, in what is coming next, in the lives, hopes and dreams of the youngest in the community. This is the opposite of a leadership that is interested in maintaining the status quo and forming a younger generation to replace them and perpetuate the elder’s authority.

He then goes on to tell the leaders to appear as thieves and warriors, but be neither. This is a rather confusing instruction but an important one. Jesus is telling them that all that is going to happen is not going to be what it appears to be. This becomes especially important as Jesus then alludes to Isaiah 53:10-12, and gives his followers a way to interpret his death. Jesus knows he is going to his death, but sees in the midst of his anguish a light, and finds some satisfaction in the knowledge of what his agony might bring for others. Jesus asks his followers to enter into this space with him and prepare the stage for what is to come; to allow themselves to be considered – but not to become – thieves and evil by the powers that be if that is what it takes to bring about the kingdom.

The last instructions of Jesus to his disciples are: to use their authority to serve others, not lord over others; to work for the future and the things to come and not attempt to maintain and perpetuate their own authority; and to be worried not about how society perceives you but to be true to Christ and God’s kingdom. These are instructions that the church will be well served never to forget.