The Problem with Belonging

22 At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; 26 but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. 30 The Father and I are one."

Jesus response to the request of the Jews is troubling: "You do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep." How does one get into the "belonging with Jesus and his sheep" section of society? The church and our catechism dish out the answers about baptism and such-- a doable task. But here Jesus makes belonging sound like it has more to do with God's initiative. So, is it God's initiative that some humans do not belong? Such a possibility could make one want to throw stones at God. The Old Adam/Eve has some pretty big pockets for rocks.

What gives me hope here is that Jesus does not conclude with "you do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep." He continues by proclaiming the good news to those standing around him for whom trusting Jesus' words and deeds as messiah-like is a struggle. "I give my sheep eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand."

Jesus' move in this text makes room for the preacher to pull a Forde and directly declare the good news to the hearer. Faith would be created by hearing and the sheep would be hearing the shepherds voice. I am inclined to head that direction, if it weren't for that Lose guy who was trying to give us some other options, so as not to get stuck in the rut of ending every sermon with something like "God loves you."

Could we discuss what some of those other options might be? How do we leave the pulpit on Sunday feeling like we've preached creatively and courageously in such a way that the hearers in the pews picture themselves in the fold of Christ who holds them in his hand.

Our Resident Poet at Work

screwed up *

by H. R. Berg [pen name in case deniability becomes an issue]

everybody's screwed up
it's just a matter of degree

someone might seem normal
until you know the whole sad story

all are victims
all are victimizers

the wise are often foolish
and the powerful often destructive

the best are deeply flawed
and the worst defy description

everybody's screwed up
it's just a matter of degree

* Disclaimer: Author is not ruminatively associated with any mental health organization.

Love Hurts

Gone Fishin’ Tryin’ to Forget - Interrupted by Forgiveness

John 21:1-19
After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. 9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He 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. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

What a great story.
Last Sunday, I touched on Dr. PayNoToll’s insight that Thomas shows us that faith can be difficult. Does this story show that faith can be painful? - or that forgiveness can be painful? both?
I sometimes suspect that talking about a story like this begins to undo what the story does. A certain “paralysis by analysis” that moves us out of the drama, and into our heads, moves us away form experiencing with Peter the transformative power of forgiveness and call, and gets us thinking ABOUT it all..
I think, in preaching this text, I’ll wonder a bit about why those guys went fishing. Were they trying to forget? Were they hungry? Why go fishing? Was there no baseball game on ESPN?
Let me add this fitting line which I had forgotten is from Stephen Wright:
“There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.”
Whatever the reason, the risen Jesus interrupts their fruitless fishing, gives birth to an extraordinary catch, and commissions Peter to a life of love.

I had someone call me yesterday. She has a disorder that makes it impossible for her to eat wheat. Celiac or something. Even a little communion wafer renders her quite out of sorts.
Googled and found a recipe for wafers made with rice flour. In the midst of all that, were articles about how the Catholic Church has responded to people with such allergies by telling them they cannot receive the sacrament - that there HAS TO BE wheat in the communion wafer - and that men with such disorders will not be accepted into the priesthood. It’s easy to bust on the RC’s, but we all lose sight of love at times. Not to overstate it all, but this Peter story seems to suggest that rice flour might be acceptable to our Lord and Savior. (But only in extreme cases!!!!!!)

Does forgiveness give rise to action? Does the encounter with the risen Jesus go hand in hand with a sending to share and tell, to live and love?

Idle Tails and Linen Cloths

Luke 24: 1-12

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Believing in the resurrection of Jesus is a mixed bag. It is important and, I would say, even necessary for Christians to have this belief. What I think I might be interested in is: how does that faith happen?

Lutherans make a big deal about promises. Jesus promises he will rise again, therefore he will. Is that enough for faith? For the women first at the tomb two things came together to give them faith: seeing the empty tomb and being reminded of Jesus' promises.

Humans don't always put much stock in promises. When the women returned to the other disciples and told them of their experience, no doubt including a reminder of the resurrection promise of Jesus, the other disciples thought they were talking crap-- doing a little April Fools Day.

Peter was intrigued enough to go to the tomb. He found it empty and the sight of the linen cloths somehow triggered in him amazement-- which I take to be belief.

What causes faith in a Jesus risen from the dead?

Sir Underminer shares a story for its humor:

A small town had a community-wide Easter pageant one year. Different towns-people were given the various parts. The character of Jesus went to a most unlikely person - a big, burly, barroom brawler, an oilfield worker, the most unlikely person to play Jesus our Lord. After several weeks of rehearsals, the day of the Easter Pageant finally arrived.

When they came to the part of the play where Jesus was being led away to be crucified, one little man, filling in as a part of the crowd, was yelling the shouts of "Crucify him! Crucify him!" as Jesus was led away toward Calvary. In the midst of shouting insults at this man, he accidentally sprayed some spit in the face of the man playing Jesus. The oilfield worker stopped in his tracks, reached up and wiped his face dry. And then he looked at the little man and said: "I'll be back to take care of you after the resurrection."

Something happens in the resurrection that makes it possible for the burly Jesus to say this. The resurrection is Jesus not held down by human limits. The resurrection is: God stronger than death. Jesus taking care of us without death holding him down.

The resurrected Jesus is the object and source of our believing. Resurrected from the dead, he's no longer in the tomb, he is in us.

That's not going to preach, but will it get us somewhere in our rambling?