Ezekiel 37:1-14
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=Ezekiel+37%3A1-14
Romans 8:6-11
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=Romans+8%3A6-11
John 11:1-45
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=John+11%3A1-45
Did you know that a chocolate bar can recharge you? Or that shoes can make you feel like a new person? Or that a car can give you a new lease on life? There are so many things advertised out there that promise to give us a new lease on life that it makes me wonder: are people these days so exhausted and worn out that we’ll jump at anything that promises to give us a lift? Well, that’s sort of a rhetorical question, because I think the answer is yes. Sometimes I have the chance to sit on the subway during the evening rush hour, or even worse, to drive during rush hour, and I see people who are basically zombies. They are so worn out by their day, and by the seeming meaninglessness of their life’s work, they are so worn down by illness and even by loneliness, that they look as if they are half-dead. There are some days when I get home and I feel like a zombie. And so I would hazard a guess that each one of us, at some point in our life or another, have felt just plain dead at the end of the day, in desperate need of new life.
So what do you do at the end of your day? How do you recharge and get the energy you need to make your next day a good one? What do you do to get that hit of life that keeps you going? Everybody has their little thing that they do, either at the end of the day, or at the end of the week, that makes them feel better. A lot of people veg out in front of the TV, catching up on their favourite shows as a way to relax. Some people recharge by working out, or by having a nice meal. More than a few people turn to chemical substances to make themselves feel alive - to alcohol, or illegal drugs, or prescription medication, or even to caffeine or nicotine. Others try to make something of their lives through sex, or gambling, or shopping, or even driving fast. And some people find meaning in their lives through the accomplishments of others - through the achievements of their children, or their grandchildren, or through the successes of pop stars, or celebrities, or, for some people, politicians. There are all kinds of different ways that you and I use to bring energy and new life back into our lives. Things we do to help us get through the exhaustion, or illness, or loneliness of our days.
The thing is that none of these things really work - that is, none of them are really a permanent fix. Some of them downright make us feel worse in the long run, rather than better. Obviously, the chemical substances and the addictions are unhealthy. But even things that seem harmless, like watching a couple of hours of TV a day, or living through the successes of others have their downside. They may relax us temporarily, but when we look back over our lives, even over our week, it doesn’t bring us new energy when we realize we’ve spent fifteen hours in front of the television, or done nothing noteworthy ourselves. In the end, all of the things that we turn to to bring us new life - well, they just don’t cut it. They actually suck whatever remaining energy is in us right out and turn it into a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle. One coffee isn’t enough, and it becomes two, and then three. One hour of TV doesn’t give you the rest you need, and it becomes two, and then three. One pair of shoes doesn’t bring you joy anymore, and you need two, or three. In the end, these things we do don’t give us new life - instead, they take our energy from us and they make us dead inside.
But, actually, that’s to be expected. As Paul says in his letter to the Romans, "to set the mind on the flesh is death." Now, contrary to popular opinion, Paul’s not talking about "fleshly pleasures" like sex, or overindulgence, or anything that’s traditionally been referred to as "sins of the flesh." When Paul talks about the flesh, he’s talking about all these things we’ve listed before - about all the daily or weekly things we do to give ourselves a lift. In this case, when Paul uses the word "flesh", he’s referring to anything and everything that isn’t "spirit." "To set the mind on the flesh is death," he says, "but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace." True life, real energy and renewal, doesn’t come from TV or food or any of those temporary human endeavours. As terrible as it sounds, we can’t even get real renewal from friends and family. Eventually, they go on to live their own lives, as they must. But the Spirit - God - does bring us those things. God’s presence among us brings new life.
There is no more dramatic, well-known example of that in the Old Testament than the story of Ezekiel and the Valley of the Dry Bones. It is such a powerful image that it inspired that great African-American spiritual, "Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones..." In Ezekiel’s vision, he sees the valley of the dead, full of skeletons. Have you ever seen a pile of skeletons? There is no stronger image of death than that - bones bleached by the sun, skulls staring blankly into space. And then Ezekiel speaks the word of the Lord to them and, presto! Muscles and tendons and veins and finally skin, and they are remade. But at this point, they’re like us at the end of the day - zombies with no inner life. But God gives them breath, and then they are finally alive, they are resurrected, they have new life! And God tells them, "I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live." It’s an interesting choice of words here: I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live. Not "you might live" or "you will live if you want to," but God will do this, and we shall live. We have no choice in the matter. God’s Spirit in us brings us new life.
Of course, coupled with this is our Gospel story of Jesus and Lazarus. This, too, is a powerful story, one that no doubt brings up a lot of memories for those who’ve heard it at funerals. The story of Jesus and Lazarus is also a story of Mary and Martha, and of the pain and loneliness that is felt when their brother dies. They know they’ll see their brother again at the end, but that doesn’t do anything to lessen their grief in the meantime. They know that new life is coming one day, but the pain and loneliness is still there, sucking their life out of them. Until Jesus tells them that that day is today. That they don’t have to wait for the resurrection, because Jesus, who is here with them now, is the resurrection. And so Jesus calls to Lazarus, who has been dead in the tomb for four days, who is beyond hearing anybody. Jesus, the Son of God, calls to Lazarus, and like the bones in Ezekiel’s valley, new life comes into him, the breath of God resurrects him, and out he comes. God’s presence, through Jesus, gives him, and even his sisters, new life.
That’s what Paul is getting at when he says that the Spirit brings life. "If Christ is in you," he says, "though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness." Now, Paul uses the word Spirit, and Christ, and Spirit of Christ interchangeably, but we know he’s talking about that same aspect of God that we see in Ezekiel’s valley, and in Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus, and especially in Jesus’ own resurrection. He’s talking about that aspect of God that takes our tired, lonely, and dead inner selves and recharges it with new life and resurrection.
In John 10:10 Jesus says, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." Whether you say that it is through the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of Christ, or Christ himself, God is present in you to bring you new life. That’s why, during the Haugen Communion liturgy that we used in Epiphany and that we’ll use again at Easter, we hear, during Communion, about "the One who lives in us and in whom we live, Jesus Christ." The One who lives in us and in whom we live, Jesus Christ. When God calls to us, it is Christ inside us who responds, with a renewing of ourselves, with new life. And that’s an important thing to remember - that this isn’t one more thing on a long list of things we have to do to get more energy. After all, we don’t have enough energy as it is - how are we going to spend more trying to respond to God’s call to new life? No, that’s not how it works. We don’t do the work. It is Christ, inside us - come to live in us through Baptism, remaining in us through Communion, who does the work, who responds to God’s call, who stirs new life inside of us. We just have to sit there and let it happen. Like the dry bones in the valley, we don’t do anything but let God’s Spirit bring us back to life.
And don’t forget what Jesus told Martha. This new life isn’t just for "the resurrection on the last day." You don’t have to wait until you’re dead to experience new life. You don’t even have to wait until Easter. Jesus Christ himself is the resurrection, and he is this moment with you, inside you, responding to God’s call. And that means that the resurrection and new life that God has promised you is meant to begin today, right now. In fact, it has already begun.
An existence of fatigue, loneliness, meaninglessness is not what God intends for you. Days that lead to depression and death are not the point of our time on earth. So when you’re looking for that boost of energy, when you’re crashed on the sofa at the end of a really hard day, when you’re struggling to give some significance and shape to your life, don’t turn to those things that actually end up making you dead inside. Don’t grab that chocolate bar, or head for the fridge, or the shopping mall. Don’t flip on the TV or check your email for the umpteenth time. Instead, take a few minutes and turn inwards, to where God’s Spirit is. Listen for God calling to you, and then relax and be refreshed by the gift of new life that Christ shares with you in that moment. Let the one who lives in you, and in whom you live, Jesus Christ, the bearer of God’s Spirit, bring you the life and peace that is promised to you. Let God bring you resurrection. Amen.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Sun, March 6, 2005 - A World Worth Dying For
1 Samuel 16:1-13
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=1+sam+16%3A1-13
Psalm 23
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=psalm+23
Ephesians 5:8-14
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=eph+5%3A8-14
John 9:1-41
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=john+9%3A1-41
What do you see when you look at the world? A lot of people, particularly Christians, see the world as a terrible place. We talk about the "evils of society" and the degradation of the culture around us. We see violence going on in our cities, and we take it as proof that God has abandoned the world to its own devices. When we want to describe places where sin is rampant and evil reigns, we talk about "the world." "The world" is a place where nobody cares about anybody else. "The world" teaches you to be selfish. Out in "the world", things are a mess.
And the result of this way of looking at the world is that we become cynical, we lose hope. We despair of there every being any change in the world, and we give up, or we deliberately refuse to help. What’s the point? It’s just all going to go to hell some day, and the sooner the better. Then God can come and start all over again. Truly - there are Christians, and non-Christians, who see the world this way. To them, the world is a depraved place, and they believe that God is really going to take them away from all of that. So, they’ve decided there’s no point in making the world a better place. They would rather segregate themselves and create little religious utopias where they live than go out into that mess and try to heal the wounds. The world doesn’t deserve it. There’s too much darkness. There are too many shadows.
And who can blame them, really? God has given us more than enough chances to make things better, and every single time, we’ve made a mess of it. In the last century, we had the Great War, the war to end all wars, and then only thirty years later we had World War II and the dropping of the atomic bomb. This century is only five years old, and the same old military nationalism just carries on. The same wounds are picked at, the same innocent people get hurt. Nothing changes. Why bother?
The prophet Samuel thought that. In the Old Testament reading, he was so depressed that Saul, whom he had anointed to be king over Israel, had in the end rejected God that apparently he just gave up. He didn’t go out looking for a new ruler for Israel, and he stopped criticizing Saul for his rejection of God. Instead, he just hid from Saul and did nothing. There wasn’t anything he could do. The people, who wanted Saul against God’s wishes, deserved their misfortune. He wasn’t about to go and make their lives any better.
The Pharisees thought the same thing about the blind man, and in fact about all sick people. During Jesus’ time, it was thought that people got sick because God was punishing them for something they or their parents did wrong. Hence, all sick, diseased, disabled people were sinners. And that meant that they were better off left alone - why mess with God’s punishment? Why bother trying to heal someone who clearly doesn’t deserve it? If God didn’t see anything in those people worth healing, why should they?
For Samuel, and the Pharisees, and us, it’s easy to look at the world as a place of darkness, to see the shadows that cover everything, to give up every reason for hope and making a difference.
But God doesn’t seem to see the world the way we do. At least, God doesn’t act as if all God sees is shadows and death and evil, abandoning us to our own wicked ways. In fact, God acts as if God sees the complete opposite, as if God sees in the world and in us good reason to offer healing and hope and new life, not because we need it, although we do, but because there’s a chance it will make a difference.
For instance, in the Old Testament, when Samuel has given up all hope and doesn’t see any reason to get involved anymore, God finally tells him to get off his butt and to go and anoint a new king. God basically says to him, "Look, get over Saul. I’m doing something new here, something nobody’s seen before, and I need you to get out and make it happen." And God, through Samuel, picks out a new king for Israel, one who loves God, one who doesn’t look like much of a king - he’s the youngest of eight brothers, not at all big and strong like a king ought to be - but God doesn’t look at those things. God sees into his heart, and God sees something special. And so God tells Samuel to anoint this boy as the new king. And David goes on to be a good king, and does good things for Israel, redeeming it before God.
The Son of God, Jesus Christ, saw something that nobody else saw when he healed the blind man. Where everyone else, including the disciples, saw a sinner, Jesus saw a child of God who was worth healing. Where the Pharisees saw a probable fraud and liar, Jesus saw someone who was worthy enough to be trusted with the secret of who Jesus really was. The Son of God did not look at people the way we do.
The Son of God didn’t look at the world, or even at us, the way we do, as a worthless place with no hope for change. In fact, God, and by extension Jesus, saw in the world, and in us, something worth dying for. God saw something so precious and so valuable that God was willing to go to the cross to save it. And don’t tell me that God didn’t know what we would do with that kind of gift, that we would abuse it and reject it and ignore it. There’s no doubt God knew. But God chose to overlook that, and to see us differently, to see us as worth the effort of healing and restoration. God’s not going to wipe everything away and start all over again, or whisk the worthy away to a better place. No, God’s already decided and already begun to save what’s here. Through Jesus, God waded into the mess that is our world and is anointing and healing and forgiving all over the place. God is acting as if there is hope for us after all, and God is going to do everything possible to make things better.
But why the difference? Well, you could say that God sees the world in a different light than we do. That, in light of new evidence, God sees the world differently. You see, God sees the world, including us, in the light of Jesus Christ. Jesus is, after all, the light of the world. And light, we know, shows things in a new way. It gets rid of shadows and darkness and helps us to see things we never saw before. "Everything exposed by the light becomes visible," says the writer of Ephesians, and "everything that becomes visible is light." By the light of Christ, what has become visible is that the world is indeed worth saving, that we are worth healing and new life, that through Christ, we who once were darkness are now light.
And through the light of the Son, God shows us what God has always seen, that the world is a place where hope grows instead of despair, where goodness makes a difference in the face of evil, where peace puts an end to war, where new life triumphs over death. God has not and will not abandon us. On the contrary, God has chosen this world as the site where God’s ultimate act of healing and redemption has and continues to take place. Jesus Christ was sent to help us to see the world the way God does - as something worth saving. His shining light swept away the shadows of the world and of our lives, showing to us that we are indeed special in the eyes of God, that we are loved, that we are worth dying for. And with this light shining down, we can see that the same is true for the whole world. In light of what Christ has done, the world is worth loving, worth dying for, worth healing. The world is worth us. No, God doesn’t see the world the way we do. By the light of Christ, God sees something special. God has seen that the world is worth nothing less than the life of the Son of God. Amen.
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=1+sam+16%3A1-13
Psalm 23
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=psalm+23
Ephesians 5:8-14
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=eph+5%3A8-14
John 9:1-41
http://bible.oremus.org/browser.cgi?passage=john+9%3A1-41
What do you see when you look at the world? A lot of people, particularly Christians, see the world as a terrible place. We talk about the "evils of society" and the degradation of the culture around us. We see violence going on in our cities, and we take it as proof that God has abandoned the world to its own devices. When we want to describe places where sin is rampant and evil reigns, we talk about "the world." "The world" is a place where nobody cares about anybody else. "The world" teaches you to be selfish. Out in "the world", things are a mess.
And the result of this way of looking at the world is that we become cynical, we lose hope. We despair of there every being any change in the world, and we give up, or we deliberately refuse to help. What’s the point? It’s just all going to go to hell some day, and the sooner the better. Then God can come and start all over again. Truly - there are Christians, and non-Christians, who see the world this way. To them, the world is a depraved place, and they believe that God is really going to take them away from all of that. So, they’ve decided there’s no point in making the world a better place. They would rather segregate themselves and create little religious utopias where they live than go out into that mess and try to heal the wounds. The world doesn’t deserve it. There’s too much darkness. There are too many shadows.
And who can blame them, really? God has given us more than enough chances to make things better, and every single time, we’ve made a mess of it. In the last century, we had the Great War, the war to end all wars, and then only thirty years later we had World War II and the dropping of the atomic bomb. This century is only five years old, and the same old military nationalism just carries on. The same wounds are picked at, the same innocent people get hurt. Nothing changes. Why bother?
The prophet Samuel thought that. In the Old Testament reading, he was so depressed that Saul, whom he had anointed to be king over Israel, had in the end rejected God that apparently he just gave up. He didn’t go out looking for a new ruler for Israel, and he stopped criticizing Saul for his rejection of God. Instead, he just hid from Saul and did nothing. There wasn’t anything he could do. The people, who wanted Saul against God’s wishes, deserved their misfortune. He wasn’t about to go and make their lives any better.
The Pharisees thought the same thing about the blind man, and in fact about all sick people. During Jesus’ time, it was thought that people got sick because God was punishing them for something they or their parents did wrong. Hence, all sick, diseased, disabled people were sinners. And that meant that they were better off left alone - why mess with God’s punishment? Why bother trying to heal someone who clearly doesn’t deserve it? If God didn’t see anything in those people worth healing, why should they?
For Samuel, and the Pharisees, and us, it’s easy to look at the world as a place of darkness, to see the shadows that cover everything, to give up every reason for hope and making a difference.
But God doesn’t seem to see the world the way we do. At least, God doesn’t act as if all God sees is shadows and death and evil, abandoning us to our own wicked ways. In fact, God acts as if God sees the complete opposite, as if God sees in the world and in us good reason to offer healing and hope and new life, not because we need it, although we do, but because there’s a chance it will make a difference.
For instance, in the Old Testament, when Samuel has given up all hope and doesn’t see any reason to get involved anymore, God finally tells him to get off his butt and to go and anoint a new king. God basically says to him, "Look, get over Saul. I’m doing something new here, something nobody’s seen before, and I need you to get out and make it happen." And God, through Samuel, picks out a new king for Israel, one who loves God, one who doesn’t look like much of a king - he’s the youngest of eight brothers, not at all big and strong like a king ought to be - but God doesn’t look at those things. God sees into his heart, and God sees something special. And so God tells Samuel to anoint this boy as the new king. And David goes on to be a good king, and does good things for Israel, redeeming it before God.
The Son of God, Jesus Christ, saw something that nobody else saw when he healed the blind man. Where everyone else, including the disciples, saw a sinner, Jesus saw a child of God who was worth healing. Where the Pharisees saw a probable fraud and liar, Jesus saw someone who was worthy enough to be trusted with the secret of who Jesus really was. The Son of God did not look at people the way we do.
The Son of God didn’t look at the world, or even at us, the way we do, as a worthless place with no hope for change. In fact, God, and by extension Jesus, saw in the world, and in us, something worth dying for. God saw something so precious and so valuable that God was willing to go to the cross to save it. And don’t tell me that God didn’t know what we would do with that kind of gift, that we would abuse it and reject it and ignore it. There’s no doubt God knew. But God chose to overlook that, and to see us differently, to see us as worth the effort of healing and restoration. God’s not going to wipe everything away and start all over again, or whisk the worthy away to a better place. No, God’s already decided and already begun to save what’s here. Through Jesus, God waded into the mess that is our world and is anointing and healing and forgiving all over the place. God is acting as if there is hope for us after all, and God is going to do everything possible to make things better.
But why the difference? Well, you could say that God sees the world in a different light than we do. That, in light of new evidence, God sees the world differently. You see, God sees the world, including us, in the light of Jesus Christ. Jesus is, after all, the light of the world. And light, we know, shows things in a new way. It gets rid of shadows and darkness and helps us to see things we never saw before. "Everything exposed by the light becomes visible," says the writer of Ephesians, and "everything that becomes visible is light." By the light of Christ, what has become visible is that the world is indeed worth saving, that we are worth healing and new life, that through Christ, we who once were darkness are now light.
And through the light of the Son, God shows us what God has always seen, that the world is a place where hope grows instead of despair, where goodness makes a difference in the face of evil, where peace puts an end to war, where new life triumphs over death. God has not and will not abandon us. On the contrary, God has chosen this world as the site where God’s ultimate act of healing and redemption has and continues to take place. Jesus Christ was sent to help us to see the world the way God does - as something worth saving. His shining light swept away the shadows of the world and of our lives, showing to us that we are indeed special in the eyes of God, that we are loved, that we are worth dying for. And with this light shining down, we can see that the same is true for the whole world. In light of what Christ has done, the world is worth loving, worth dying for, worth healing. The world is worth us. No, God doesn’t see the world the way we do. By the light of Christ, God sees something special. God has seen that the world is worth nothing less than the life of the Son of God. Amen.
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