The Feast of Pentecost Year B - John 16:1-15

John 16:1-15

The Spirit as Advocate contends for us to prove the world’s ways will not be the way for us. That is because the Spirit convicts the less than satisfactory definition of sin as the things we do proving that what is made manifest in behavior always begins in belief. But then those who think right often do not act in right ways which means righteousness “being made right with God”  can only be directed from God towards us and not vice versa. And judgment is reserved for the one who is the parent of lies and deceives us at every turn even if “every single one of us (has) the devil inside” (INXS) Jesus may have many things left to say that none of us can bear but this much is true, the “God so loved the world” Jesus makes it possible for the world to welcome the truth telling Spirit who will reveal the love of God while exposing deceitful ways.

The Feast of Pentecost Year B - Romans 8:22-27

Romans 8:22-27

When inward groaning anticipates the cry of new birth the joy anticipated is the hope that endures. In our weakness, when confused and conflicted, our patience wears thin and we know not what to pray, so God intercedes for us. Sighs too deep for words match our need breath for breath, so that fed by the first fruits of the Spirit our hearts are lifted from despair. In that way the future adoption that is the redemption of our mortal bodies can be known in the present even as a kick from inside the womb allows expectant parents to imagine the life of the new born they await. Here and not yet – that is the nature of this pregnant pause before we know fully the full fruit of the eternal tomorrow.

The Feast of Pentecost Year B - Psalm 104:24-35

Psalm 104:24-35

Psalm 104:20 is the basis of the “Come Holy Spirit” prayer of the Cursillo movement. “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth…” The Spirit filled community (aka the church in all its various forms) is created to renew whatever portion of the face of the earth on which it is found. That means the heart kindled with love seeks to refresh the weary with refuge and replenish the hungry with good things, even as we care for “all creatures great and small” and the habitats that support them. So the song we sing to the Lord as long as we live is best expressed when the words of our mouth are confirmed by the work of our hands.

The Feast of Pentecost Year B - Acts 2:1-21

Acts 2:1-21

It is a lay lector’s nightmare lesson and even those who wear the collar tread lightly in the linguistic territory of “Phrygia and Pamphylia.” But then the confusion of language has spawned more trouble than mispronunciations and the divisions that begin with the inability to understand what the other is saying are too often translated into the universal language of bigotry and violence. In whatever way we understand the historical Day of Pentecost the meaning could not be clearer. The lines of language that divide were erased by the “Spirit poured out on all flesh.” Of course the language that was understood on that day was discounted as tongue tied drunkenness but there was a moment when the confusion of the Tower of Babel was reversed and suddenly every tongue was translated into the powerful deed of God that is the cross of Jesus Christ. It didn’t take long for the universal language of mercy to be confused and confined and the ability to speak in tongues became more important than understanding what was said. But the Day of Pentecost was not about speaking in tongues. It was about declaring the powerful deeds of God in ways that people could understand no matter where they came from or what language they spoke.

Easter 7 B - John 17:6-19

John 17:6-19

If you’ve read the other Gospels you might agree that John’s Jesus is less than human, or if you won’t go that far at least will acknowledge that no one in real life makes speeches like the Jesus in John. That doesn’t mean it isn’t true just that John remembers a different Jesus than Matthew or Mark or the “orderly Gospel” historian Luke. But the purpose of John’s Gospel could not be more clearly stated. “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30) So all this “I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together” makes as much sense as “I am the walrus goo goo g’joob”. (The Beatles) unless you understand that believing what cannot be fully understood (that the “in the beginning” Word became flesh and dwelt among us) means the beginning and the ending can be fully known in the present in such a way that the joy of the future is fully realized in the here and now. I know it might sound like a less melodic version of goo goo g'joob, but truth is if we could live today as if the forever tomorrow was already here our present might actually begin to look like God’s future.

Easter 7 B - 1 John 5:9-13

1 John 5:9-13
To have the Son of God means the Son of God has you. Human testimony would own the Son by tradition or dogma or piety without being possessed by the "lay down one’s life for one’s friends - no greater love than this” Son . (John 15:13) The testimony of God is this – “not that we loved God but that God loved us …” (1 John 4:10) If God gave up all to possess us then maybe the reverse is true as well. We lay down our life to open ourselves to the life of the Son not by self-discipline but by self-sacrifice that would give up even the Son and eternal life as well for the sake of someone else. But how can that testimony be true if the scripture doesn’t spell it out clearly in black and white, cross the t’s and dot the i’s, sign on the dotted line? That is a human testimony question. The love of God is pretty simple. God gave up life for love because two millennium of law didn’t produce the desired result – a people whose heart was God’s heart, who loved as God loves. Two millennium later God’s life and love is still in jeopardy as the cradle of Christ (the church) argues over the color of the comforter. The love of God is color blind and cares more about the child than the comfort of the crib which means eternal life is not the prize for having the Son – having the Son in the same way the Son has you is already life that is eternal.

Easter 7 B - Psalm 1

Like a Tree Planted by the River by Donald Simpson

Psalm 1
We know the counsel of the wicked is nothing but trouble and lingering in the way of sinners is a dead end street and the seat of the scornful is uncomfortable at best, but still we listen and linger and pull up a chair. Even those who delight in the perfect law of the Lord, the counsel of love, the way of righteousness, the mercy seat of peace, can find themselves listening and lingering and longing for that which in the end withers the soul and saps the spirit. But then the tree doesn’t plant itself by streams of water and so we, too, depend on the One who creates and cultivates a right spirit within us – sometimes with refreshment and sometimes with reprimand - always intending to bring new life to dead limbs as the prosperity of hope enriches impoverished faith to meditate on “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, whatever is excellent or praiseworthy…” (Philippians 4:8) Uproot us, Lord, from complacency and plant us by streams of living water that flow from the perfect law of love.

Easter 7 B - Acts 1:15-26

Acts 1:15-26
If the church had continued the practice of casting lots for leaders you can bet it wouldn’t have taken long for someone to load the dice. After all choosing church leaders is too important to be left up to chance and after all doesn’t the Almighty help those who help themselves? So choosing a replacement for Judas would seem to require at least an endorsement and a position paper and a speech to the delegates. But then Joseph and Justus (aka Barsabbas and Matthias) were not random candidates. They were companions of Jesus from the baptism to the ascension and reliable witnesses to the resurrection. Given that they both met the standard set by the selection committee the choice by lots means they were equally acceptable and choosing by chance removes ego from the equation. Since the ego of candidates and constituents almost always leads to conflict it’s not such a bad idea. Could we do the same thing today? Of course we could, but I’m sure someone would object.

Easter 6 B - John 15:9-17

 

John 15:9-17
It is significant that this “status update” from servant to friend occurs in the Gospel of John. After all Jesus’ status was updated from mostly “Messiah” in the synoptic Gospels to “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) So the God of Sinai (fire and smoke on the mountain don’t come near lest ye die) is now revealed as the Word made flesh. Since true friendship does not operate as a hierarchy, Jesus’ statement is as radical as anything uttered in the scriptures. We are on a first name basis with the God whose name could not be spoken. The flip side of this new arrangement is that our continuing in the ways of our first parent’s garden rebellion is that much more damaging to ourselves and the God come near who is our friend. Friendship can only endure so much before the one whose heart is open to the other is hurt in such a way that the real benefit of friendship, “my joy in you that your joy may be complete” is exhausted. Not that God abandons us but “I’ve got friends in low places” (Garth Brooks) is not nearly as friendly as it sounds and Jesus desires a relationship that blesses Jesus as much as it blesses us. Nothing blesses Jesus more than when you and I, and everyone else for that matter, friend each other in ways that go beyond “likes” on a page. Jesus' joy can only be as complete as our joy. Which means my joy can only be complete when your joy is complete and your joy can only be complete when my joy is complete and all our joy begins and ends with acting more friendly towards the One who chose us, aka the Word made Friend.

Easter 6 B - 1 John 5:1-6

1 John 5:1-6

The way faith conquers the world is not made manifest in the way the world appears to conquer faith. Despite the apparent militancy of “Onward Christian Soldiers” the way of faith “is not by might nor by power but by my Spirit, says the Lord.” (Zechariah 4:6) That is why the victory of faith often appears first as defeat. “We preach Christ crucified.” (1 Corinthians 1:23) But it is a “magnificent defeat” (Frederick Buechner) that the world cannot see or understand and which the world cannot ultimately overcome. “Were they to take our house, goods, fame, child or spouse; though life be wrenched away; they cannot win the day; the kingdom ours forever.” (Martin Luther) That faith conquers the world is not a panacea for the pain and suffering experienced when one is on the losing end of Luther’s list of things to be taken away. No faith is often pushed to the limit and indeed beyond. But though the bloodlust of the wicked may hold the field today the final outcome has been predetermined and the faith that is tried in the here and now will triumph in the forever tomorrow.