sermon - Elijah and the Gerasene

Elijah –

Today, we have two passages where a person has sought solitude.  As we begin with Elijah, Elijah has fled to this cave for fear of his life.  Elijah is not your average person, he is a prophet of God.  And he lives in a day and age where people have turned their worship to the false gods of another nation.  Perhaps you have heard of Jezebel, or at least the term Jezebel.  Jezebel was the queen but she was from a foreign land and she brought her gods with her and had much influence on the nation in turning people to worship the gods of her country.  Over and over Elijah spoke out against this false worship and by doing so, he has greatly angered the queen to the point where he goes into hiding.  And so, here he is, hiding in a cave, seeking guidance from the God that has called him to be a prophet.  And he waits. 

As he seeks to hear from God, the word of the Lord came to him and asks him:  What are you doing here?  Wow, seems like a strange question to me, doesn’t God know why he has fled and is hiding in a cave.  The queen is trying to kill him.  So, Elijah responds.  And then he is told to go and wait some more, for God is about to pass by. 

Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; ¹² and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 

What I like about this passage is that it shows the reality of what it is like trying to listen for God.  Will God speak, such as in Pentecost, through the loud wind?  Or through the rumble of an earthquake?  Or like the burning bush, through fire?  Or will it be through sheer silence?  One of the last people committed to following God, committed to teaching others about the one true God, has to wait and discern where the voice of God will speak to him.  Elijah had to remove himself from the chaos of life, from the stresses, the responsibilities, he had to re-center himself, and find the time and space to listen.  When the same question comes to him:  What are you doing here?  So he gives the same answer.  And this time, God tells him to go, to return, to continue his work.  This time he will anoint a new king for the northern kingdom and anoint a new king for the southern kingdom, which is an important task for a prophet.  And God gives him a promise, that God will leave 7,000 others that will remain faithful.  This is probably not the answer Elijah wanted to receive, but he listens and he acts.  God is always leaving a remnant, a small group of faithful people that will continue the work.  And the work continues on.  People continue to remember stories that share what we value, stories that continue to guide us as a people of faith.  Remembering that God can work through a small group of faithful people from generation to generation can inspire us and give us the assurance of hope that God is still with us, still calling us to do the work that we are called to do. 

           

Our second story also takes us to a cave or tombs, this time inhabited by a man tormented by demons.  Instead of being a man of God, the people view him as the opponent to God, a demon.  He also lives on the other side of the lake from Galilee, in the land of Gerasene.  He is a foreigner.  But Jesus comes to him.  Jesus gets in a boat and travels across the lake and finds this man.  This outcaste.  This person who has also fled to a cave to seek solitude, solitude from a society that does not know what to do with him.  But I am sure, with the torment with which he is living, he has not found any solitude. 

As Jesus encounters this man he commands the unclean spirit to leave the man, and the man roar backs:  what have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the most high God?  This man, this man with the unclean spirits, this man who has been tormented and lives amongst the dead in the tombs, has encountered the Son of God.  He seems to be the exact opposite of Elijah, and yet, they both have this sacred experience one in silence the other in extreme torment.  Or perhaps, as the unclean spirits leave the man, he finally has a moment of clarity, a moment where the noises in his head stop, where he finally experiences peace, and the only way that could happen is if God was present with him. 

And then Jesus asks him, what is your name?  What a powerful and important question.  To be known, to have an identity.  To not just be known as the demonic that lives in the tombs, but to have a name.  But the man has been truly lost to his demons and can only identify himself by the identity of his illness.  And he responds:  Legion.  It would be as if Jesus asked us our name and we responded:  cancer, diabetic, bi-polar, addict, broken.  But Jesus wants him to have a name and he wants him to be made whole and he wants him to be in community.  And as the man is healed, he desires to remain with Jesus, to join the others and follow him.  But Jesus responds:  Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.  There is work for him to do in his own community.  His healing can bare much witness to the power of God to the community in which he belongs. 

Sermon: Dads and Grads

Proverbs 8:  Wisdom

At The Crossroads

            Today’s scripture reading is about wisdom, something I thought was rather fitting for dads and grads Sunday.  For all of our grads out there, whether you have finished 8^th grade or just received your masters, I sure do hope, you have gained some wisdom through your education, your studies, your classes, your social experiences, and your extra curricular activities.  Wisdom is all around us, and in the Biblical sense, it is more than just gaining knowledge, wisdom, or hokma, is something we equate with the Holy Spirit.  Last week was Pentecost, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus and empowering them to go into the world to share God’s message of love, compassion, and reconciliation with all.  But the Holy Spirit existed before this moment, it has existed with God since the beginning.  In this passage from Proverbs we hear that wisdom was with God when God laid the foundations of the world. 

            Wisdom, aka the Holy Spirit is with us when we learn, when we think, when we make choices.  Cartoonists like to use the illustration of an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other shoulder.  When at a cross roads, when making decisions, what do you listen to?  Do you listen to your values, your faith, hokma:  the Holy Spirit, or do you listen to what we call peer pressure, or your own self interests even if they seem in conflict with your values?  Whether you are a dad or a grad or anyone else, throughout our lives we come to these places that Proverbes calls the cross roads.  For our graduates, it is more pronounced.  You have finished one major life accomplishment and you are ready to move into something new, perhaps even different, it could be further education, it could be seeking a job, it might involve moving to a new place, it might mean taking an incredible risk.  And dads, you are right there with your children, perhaps empowering them to make their own decisions, or supporting them in the process, maybe even offer your own life experience as guidance.  And at the cross roads, wisdom desires to be a part of your life, of your decision making, or how you process your choices.  In the church we call this spiritual discernment. 

            Now, for those that are ready to go out into the world ready to find a job and make a living, the following might just be a challenge:  Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than jewels.  Wisdom is better than jewels.  Our culture tells us that wisdom, knowledge, education, is what we need in order to be self sufficient, it is what we need to make money.  Go to college so you can get a good job.  That is what culture tells us.  Hopefully, alongside our education, we hold tight to our morals, our values, the things that we believe in and are passionate about.  If environmental studies are near and dear to my heart and my faith tells me to care for God’s good creation, but I am offered a very lucrative salary for a toxic chemical company, am I embracing wisdom?  And sometimes life seems to push us into places that we might not want to be.  What if you are seeking employment and the only thing that seems to be available just does not sit right with you?  Do you take it because it is a job?  Because you need it?  Or do you live into your passions, your true spiritual calling, to the place that you feel your gifts and interests and values fall into place?  Wisdom, the Holy Spirit, is better than jewels. 

            I have a doctor that shared with me that one of the reasons she wanted to become a doctor was so she could use that expertise in mission, in ministry, in outreach to those that did not have access to medical care.  As she graduated and realized the reality of her debt and other family obligations, she would have to go into a local practice.  Now, all of these years later, her children are grown, her debts are paid, she finally has the financial freedom to do what she originally set out to do.  She has been able to partner with another doctor and go oversees to provide free medical care for short term mission.  She never gave up her dream, her passion, it just took a much longer time to come to fruition than her original vision.  And she has shared with me how meaningful these mission trips are to her.  How spiritually fulfilling they are.  How much they have enriched her life.  She has embraced hokma, wisdom, the Holy Spirit, and has found the spiritual wealth it offers which may not pay the bills but truly does give life a richer meaning. 

            Dads and grads, life gets in our way.  We get so caught up in the daily grind that we can easily forget the bigger picture.  Wisdom is a part of God, and a part of us, make sure you have some sort of passion, some sort of issue or value that you hold near and dear to your heart and even if you cannot make it a part of your career, find a way to carve space for it somewhere in your life.   If you care deeply for the homeless, find out what the local needs are and perhaps make a monthly donation of laundry detergent to the shelter.  Or donate a can of food each week to the local food pantry.  But make whatever is near and dear to your heart a spiritual practice that is not left and forgotten until a distant time down the road. 

            When ever we are at the cross roads, God is with us, wisdom is with us, the Holy Spirit offers us the ability to reflect on our values, our beliefs, our morals, our passions, the things of life that we hold the most near and dear.  Cross roads can be scary places of uncertainty but they can also be places filled with possibilities.  We don’t always have to take the road less traveled, but whichever road we take, we should prayerfully ask ourselves the hard questions of what it means to us, and what it means to God, and what it means to our spiritual connection to our Creator and the gifts and passions instilled within us.  Amen. 

Sermon: Ascension Sunday

            When I was a child, there was a tv show called Dallas.  I was too young to watch it, but I do remember at the end of one season there was a cliffhanger and the question asked was:  Who shot JR?  All these years later, I still have never watched Dallas, and perhaps I learned who shot JR but I don’t remember, all I remember is the cliffhanger – the question.  Good writers want to create suspense, they want to leave the audience engaged and eager for more.  Cliffhangers are great to create the suspense for the audience to come back, I think that is why we have now have the term binge watching.  We don’t have to wait week to week or the entire summer, we can watch an entire series in a few weeks.  But eventually, the series has to come to an end.  Just recently, two big shows had their final episode:  Game of Thrones and the Big Bang Theory.  Although I have never watched Game of Thrones, this chatter about the show ending was all over social media and even made the news.  An ending to a story or a movie or a tv series can never please everyone, and the reviews from Game of Thrones are all over the place.  Big Bang theory – well it offered one surprise but really offered a sense that everyone was growing up, their goals were being met, and their lives were going to be alright. That’s what we seem to expect from good endings, all the loose ends are tied up, the boy gets the girl, good conquers evil, and the lost has been found.  I personally, like endings that you never saw coming, but those seem to be far and few in-between. 

            So, why all this talk about cliffhangers and endings?  Because the Ascension of Jesus is the end of the story.  Jesus was born, he lived, taught, healed, performed miracles.  Spoiler alert, he was killed and talk about a great cliffhanger, three days later he rose from the dead.  For many, wouldn’t this be a good enough ending?  I mean really, did you see that coming?  The disciples sure didn’t.  I guess the twist in this story is that what seems like a good ending is not yet the ending.  The risen Christ, after appearing several times to his disciples, is not going to finish out his life to an old age.  Even though he has conquered death and has risen from the dead, his time is still limited.  And so we get this event, that only appears in one other place in the Bible, of him ascending into heaven.  Elijah, the prophet, also ascends into heaven.  Our stained glass window, here in the sanctuary is of that event. 

            I, honestly, cannot give you an explanation of the ascension.  It does make me think of a literary term I learned in high school freshman English:  Deus ex machina, (Latin: “god from the machine”) a person or thing that appears or is introduced into a situation suddenly and unexpectedly and provides an artificial or contrived solution to an apparently insoluble difficulty.  This is a difficult situation, how does Jesus return to heaven?  How does the one who has conquered death end his earthly life?  He can’t die again can he?  So, if he has already overcome death, he must return to God in his earthly form, and so the disciples watch him being lifted up, out of their sight, into heaven.  I’m too scientific for a literal understanding of this text.  I believe our souls go to heaven, but not these physical bodies.  But since Jesus is the son of God, I believe part of his teaching to his followers is this final miracle, his showing them that now he is returning to his Father, to his Creator, to take his place in heaven, to reign with God. 

            I guess the disciples were a bit baffled as well, or at least amazed and awed by the sight.  The text tells us they were standing around, looking up into the sky, I assume watching Jesus until they could no longer see him.  I had the chance to see a launching of the space shuttle, and that is what we all did.  We all stood there, eyes fixed on the sky, watching until we could no longer see it. 

So, what do you think of this ending?  Does it tie up the loose ends?  Or does it just create a whole lot of new questions?  This is the kind of stuff theologians love, they love to debate whether this is a literal ending or a symbolic ending and they use all kinds of big words to support their theories – but maybe we are not suppose to get stuck in the details of the text.  Sometimes, by getting stuck, we keep ourselves from the real meaning behind it.  So, perhaps Luke is telling us something important about Jesus' departure: that it is both an ending and a beginning.  Since this event happens at the beginning of the book of Acts, we know there is more to come.  “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Why do you stand looking up toward heaven?  I attending a conference a few years ago and this was the theme scripture.  Does it feel like maybe we, as a denomination, or as the church in today’s world, are stuck?  That we seem to be looking to heaven, asking God – what do we do?  How do we fix this?  I know I am constantly praying for inspiration:  God show me the way to be the church in today’s world.  Is the ending, just the beginning?  Was the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus just the first season of the show, and then the book of Acts – season two?  And if so, what season are we?  I kind of feel, we are in a cliffhanger, except not everyone is interested in staying tuned.  We seem to have lost our audience. 

Why do you stand looking toward heaven?  Rather, there is work to do.  Jesus instructed his followers during his lifetime, and in his resurrected state he instructed them again, to follow his teachings, to care for each other, to love one another, to feed his sheep.  And the book of Acts is just that.  It is the continuation of the story, season two, of the disciples going out, teaching others about Jesus, proclaiming the forgiveness of sins, seeking the lost and sharing God’s love with them.  And the Good News is, we are not yet at the final episode of the show.  The Holy Spirit has poured out upon God’s people, and upon God’s church, and people of faith are still investing their lives into the work of Jesus, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, sharing God’s love and forgiveness in a chaotic world.  We can stand around wondering what to do, or we can act.  We can continue God’s story, leaving the symbolic or literal interpretation of the text behind, but rather engaging in the simple teaching of Love one another as I have loved you.  Amen.