Pilgrim Preaching

Getting on the Same Page

Seventh Sunday of Easter
John 17:20-26

Anyone who has ever had even a little ambivalence about the ecumenical movement or about the capacity for truth telling in ecumenical dialogues and agreements between church bodies can probably remember hearing John 17:20-26 used in response to their questions. "We have to seek unity with every Christian on earth. It's what Jesus wants. In fact, he wanted it so much he asked God to make it happen. He prayed for his followers, "that they may be one, even as we are one" (John 17:22).

The effect of this speech is that people who have misgivings about an ecumenical initiative are put on the side of those who are against what Jesus wanted and prayed for. The text stretches like duct tape over the mouths of anyone who would say, "But... but...." until the one quoting the text can say, "There, that's better. Unity. We speak with one voice." If this is the only way we can use the text, it is surely better for the cause of unity in the church—and the honoring of all members of the body of Christ—if we focus our attention this week on one of the other readings.

I am, however, not ready to give up on the gospel reading. Looking at it closely, I see that Jesus does not say, "Silence questions among them." Or, "Grant that they agree on everything." It helps to notice that Jesus is praying here for followers who will believe because of the witness of the apostles. At another place, Jesus refers to such people as, "Those who have not seen and yet have come to believe" (John 20:29).

This part of Jesus' prayer in John 17 is a request for the apostolic witness to be as faithful to God's true character as Jesus' own witness to the Father has been. In the prologue to the gospel, John writes, "No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known" (1:18). In chapter 17, Jesus prays that his apostles will continue the work he began to make God known. As the prayer is answered, those who hear Christians bear witness to their faith will come to know the very things Jesus made known to his followers: things like (a) how and how much God loved the world, (b) that the cross reveals Christ's glory, and (c) how eager Jesus is that all "may be with me where I am" (John 17:24).

Denominational and confessional divisions among those who name Jesus as Lord are sometimes a stumbling block to faith for unbelievers: "Christians cannot agree on anything even among themselves. How much of a handle on truth can they actually have?" When our divisions stop unbelievers from inquiring further, or when our idolatrous fascinations with internecine conflict turn people off from wanting even to keep company with us, repentance is called for. Yet at least as big a problem—and arguably the problem addressed by these verses of Christ's prayer—is our failure to tell the story of how and how much God loved the world. God wants to know and to be known by God's people. Jesus wants all of God's people with him where he is. The book of Revelation pictures us all exactly there, gathered around Christ and joining in song. For this dream to come true, Jesus prays, "As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me" (John 17:21).

Small Lectionary Rant

Seventh Sunday of Easter
Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Here is one of the verses of scripture so scary that the lectionary committee decided it dare not be read in the assembly: "Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood" (Rev. 22:15).

Like the gospel of Mark, Rev. 22:15 sets up a clear distinction between insiders and outsiders, but unlike Mark, Revelation does not problematize that distinction. Little in Revelation leads you to think there may be some surprises at the End regarding who is really inside and who is outside. In Rev. 22:15, we get a list of outsiders, pure and simple. Any questions?

I agree that this lack of even a hint of irony regarding the categories of "insider" and "outsider" is scary, not to mention naive, given the way that God traditionally upends human expectations about such things. However, I do not agree that the assembly gathered on Sunday morning must be protected from this verse. Please God let it be that the evil within and around us will in the End be defeated and put to death! I certainly hope that God leaves outside the holy city everything in me that would:

• regard God not as one who may be trusted to keep promises, but rather as one who must be manipulated with right incantations or actions in order to dispense blessing (sorcery),
• use people, objectify a lover to get what I want, regard sex as mere "recreation" that can be disconnected from lifelong partnership (fornication),
• kill, or wish someone dead (murder),
• fear, love or trust anything above God (idolatry), or
• deceive myself or others (falsehood).

Rev. 22:15 gives us language to say that as Christians, we hope not to have to put up with perpetrating these practices or being victimized by them for eternity! In as much as lectionary decisions take away from us language to say that we expect that God will free us from them, those decisions are selling short the dream of a new heaven and a new earth.

Free Indeed

Seventh Sunday of Easter (C)
Acts 16:16-34

If you can get your hands on Will Willimon's Interpretation commentary on Acts, check out his essay on Acts 16:11-40 (pp. 136-41). It's a tightly woven piece—almost a sermon in itself—on who is free and who is enslaved in the interlocking stories of Acts 16.

Thanks to Paul's annoyance and the power of the name of Jesus, the slave girl who was caught in the grip of demon possession becomes free, "Yet no, she is not free. She is a slave, someone who is not a person but a piece of property" (139). Are her "free" owners free enough to rejoice in her healing? No way. They respond to the slave girl's freedom by engineering a lock-up for the apostles. Later, when Paul, Silas and the others are beaten, bloody, locked in the innermost cell of the jail and shackled besides, they are strangely free to sing. Is the jailer free? Not after the chains come off, at which point he decides that suicide will be the least objectionable way to die if his prisoners have escaped. "Having a key to someone else's cell does not make you free" (140).

"By the end of the story," Willimon concludes, "everyone who at first appeared to be free—the girl's owners, the judges, the jailer—is a slave. And everyone who first appeared to be enslaved—the poor girl, Paul, and Silas—is free" (140). There is certainly more going on in this story than just the contrast between freedom and enslavement, yet the contrast is a good way into the story and a very good angle for a sermon.

Enough

Sixth Sunday of Easter
Gospel: John 14:23-29

Speaking about how human beings spend their time and thus may be pictured in novels, E. M. Forster says, "When human beings love they try to get something. They also try to give something, and this double aim makes love more complicated than food or sleep. It is selfish and altruistic at the same time, and no amount of specialization in one direction quite atrophies the other" (Aspects of the Novel [Orlando: Harcourt, 1927] 50).

On the verge of his departure from them, Jesus says to his loved ones, "If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I" (John 14:28b). This is so hard! How can the disciples rejoice that Jesus is leaving? What makes possible that kind of atrophied selfishness and robust altruism?

When all you can see is scarcity, the temptation is to hold on to what you have even tighter. "No, Jesus, you can't go! Stay here!" Like Mary at the tomb, we cling to our Teacher, Lord and Friend. That makes perfect sense in this world's economy. We cannot rejoice at the news that things are changing.

But in the economy of the whole new age, the age inaugurated by Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension, things are calculated differently. Here it is possible to release Jesus so that he may be reunited with the Father and still to rejoice. The variable that changes an economy of scarcity (If Jesus rejoins the Father, will he still care about us? Or: If Jesus loves you, then will there still be enough love for me?) into an economy of abundance (an economy of abundant life, one might say) is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes the power, love and presence of Jesus available to the disciples in his absence. The Holy Spirit also makes the power, love and presence of Jesus available to us who live centuries later than the disciples. The Holy Spirit is, after all, the reason we know Jesus at all.

And speaking of knowing Jesus, one of the things we know is that there is enough of Jesus to go around. Jesus takes time to listen to the woman with the hemorrhage, and still, he can give Jairus' daughter back to her parents, alive and ready for lunch (cf. Mark 5:21-43). The story demonstrates what "enough" means, even when, in the midst of it, we think that time or some other commodity is running out. Jesus, by means of his Holy Spirit, finds time, place, love and life enough for all of us.

No Fear

Fourth Sunday of Easter
Psalm 23
John 10:22-30

I'm preaching Sunday on the 23rd Psalm and John 10 at the Baccalaureate service for Concordia College's graduation weekend. I have thought all week that I would (a) get the sermon done and then (b) write a weblog entry. The sermon gets higher priority since I have to actually be present and looking at people when the sermon is encountered, as opposed to being able to hunker down behind the keyboard after the blog is updated. Alas, the sermon is not yet done (Fri. at 10:00 p.m.) and I'm about to leave internet access for the weekend. So there's no weblog entry, except for this one.

Here's the idea I'm working on: Jesus is always getting in so much trouble. Even this gospel reading, a text with all sorts of good news in it for his followers ("my sheep hear my voice") is edgy. Following him means pasture, rest, and also .... well... living with the results of this edge in his voice and his actions. Can't he lighten up just a little on the speaking truth to power stuff? Apparently not.

I want to talk about why Jesus is not going through his life scared (he knows the Father can be trusted: "you spread a table before me in the presence of my enemies") and why following him means we need not go through our lives scared either ("No one will snatch them out of my hand.") What might you be able to do if you were convinced that no one could snatch you out of Christ's hand?

Grace Upon Grace

3 Easter C
April 24, 2004
John 21:1-19

It is common to compare the great catch of fish in John 21 to the story of a similar catch early in Jesus' ministry according to Luke 5:1-11. Peter plays a central role in each. In Luke, the great catch accompanies the call of the first disciples. When Peter witnesses it—and the power of God available to Jesus that it implies—he is struck by his sinfulness and says to Jesus, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." In John, the great catch accompanies Jesus' call to Peter to live out the love that he has for Jesus ("Do you love me?... Feed my sheep."). That call is issued three times, paralleling the three times that Peter had earlier denied even knowing Jesus, let alone loving him.

Whatever the connections between Luke and John here, thanks to Gail O'Day's insightful commentary on John, I was reminded of another companion text to the last miracle of Jesus in John's gospel. It is the first miracle of Jesus in John's gospel, namely the changing of water into wine at the wedding at Cana (John 2).

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"The abundant catch of fish and the breakfast on the beach both suggest that Jesus' gifts continue even after the events of 'his hour.' This story is a narrative testimony to the truth of the community's testimony in 1:16: 'From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.' The vast quantity of fish in the disciples' net and the gracious meal of bread and fish show that God's gift is available in the risen Jesus just as it was in the incarnate Jesus. Just as Jesus' ministry was inaugurated with a miracle of unprecedented abundance (2:1-11), so, too, is the church's ministry. John 21:1-14 is thus a story of celebration for the post-resurrection community, because it demonstrates for the community that its life is grounded in an experience of God's fullness and unprecedented, unexpected gift." —Gail R. O'Day, "John," New Interpreter's Bible 9:864 (Nashville: Abingdon, 1996).

One gets the sense from that catch of fish, and then the invitation from Jesus to come and have breakfast, that the resurrected Lord has more and more gifts he wants to give his followers. Jesus quite literally feeds a few of his sheep, the fishing disciples, and then he provides for his other sheep by reminding Peter that love for Christ is shown in a life that shares God's overabundance of grace with others.

Doing Revelation

3 Easter C
April 24, 2004
Rev. 5:11-14

If you are preaching the Revelation text this Sunday, consider singing LBW hymn 525, "Blessing and Honor." (Here's the tune from the LBW Online Hymnal.) It's a way of "doing Revelation," as colleague Craig Koester puts it. When we sing the Hymn of Praise in the Holy Communion liturgy or a hymn like this one, we are in the place of all those gathered around the throne, and we are joining their new song (cf. Rev. 5:9). Since it seems to be my day to quote favorite praise lines, here is another one: "Ever ascending the song and the joy, Ever descending the love from on high; Blessing and honor and glory and praise— This is the theme of the hymns that we raise. This is the theme of the hymns that we raise" (verse 3, "Blessing and Honor").

Mourning into Dancing

3 Easter C
April 24, 2004
Psalm 30

I love the LBW translation of Psalm 30. "Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning" (v. 6) and "While I felt secure, I said 'I shall never be disturbed. You, Lord, with your favor, made me as strong as the mountains.' Then you hid your face, and I was filled with fear" (vv. 7-8).

I like this psalm so much because it gets at the back-and-forth nature of our lives with respect to whether God is paying attention or not. It begins with praise (vv 1-3), moves to an exhortation of praise from others (vv. 4-7), 'fesses up a misconception that God's favor made the psalmist immune to trouble, then recounts the cry for help, along with the reasonable reminder to God that dust, should the psalmist come to that, is not so good at declaring praise. Finally the psalmist says to God, "You have turned my wailing into dancing." Woohoo!

I don't usually preach psalms, but it might make an interesting sermon to mark each of these moves as a possible place where congregants are living on any particular Sunday morning. There is a good story here of the psalmist's ups and downs and of God's steady (if not always noticeable) presence in the midst of all that danger. Whatever people are feeling—praise, thanksgiving, fear, grief, security, the need to pull out all the stops in pleading—wherever people are at with God, this psalm has a verse that reflects something for them.

Revelation Texts in Easter

We are seeing several texts from Revelation in Easter. It makes sense from the perspective of Jesus as the first fruits of those who have died and from the perspective of his resurrection as the beginning of a whole new age.

In Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard writes, "The lone ping into being of the first hydrogen atom ex nihilo was so unthinkably, violently radical that surely it ought to have been enough, more than enough. But look what happens: you open the door and all heaven and hell break loose" ([Bantam Books, 1974] 134).

The same is true of the empty tomb. After Christ is risen, no dream is too big. God opens that tomb and look what happens: it is not just Christ's life but also Mary's life that is restored. And that is just the beginning. God opens the tomb and the Jewish fisherman Peter finds himself saying to the Roman centurion Cornelius and his household, "I truly understand that God show no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him" (Act. 10:34f). God opens that tomb and John of Patmos sees a new heaven and a new earth breaking loose, where death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the former things have passed away" and where the one seated on the throne says, "See, I am making all things new" (Rev. 21:4-5). Before Easter, none of these witnesses to new life would have made sense. After Easter, they begin to.

Thanks to Pam Fickenscher for the news that LSTC's Professor Barbara Rossing will appear on 60 Minutes Wed. Apr. 14 to talk about Revelation, "Left Behind" and such. Link to Pam's comment here.

The Thomas Text

I don't know why the story of Thomas appears every year on the Second Sunday of Easter. It seems like we could get the Road to Emmaus once in a while on that Sunday. I smiled at Michael Stadtmueller's comment that interns always get (or have) to preach this Sunday. Given the repetition of the lectionary here, at least first call preachers will always have a usable sermon in the file for the Second Sunday of Easter.

Here is a short reflection on Thomas that I wrote for the back of the Augsburg bulletins in 2005. It is their copyrighted material, but until they pay me for it (which hasn't happened yet), I'm not going to get in a hurry to disappear it from the blog.

Resurrection Across the Miles

6 Easter A (2005)
John 14:15-21
Back of the Bulletin

Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus moved toward people in need rather than away from them.

The Road and the Table

3 Easter A
Luke 24:13-35
Back of the Bulletin

In many ways, the daily walk of those who follow Christ is like that of anyone else. It is filled with responsibilities to others, places to get to, work to be done. And it is punctuated by terrible losses that stop us in our tracks,

For the Back of the Bulletin

I've recently been writing 300-word bulletin blurbs for Augsburg Fortress. Altogether, I'm going to write seven of them on texts for the Easter season and Pentecost Sunday in 2005. (Never have I worked so far ahead on texts in my life!) Before I send the pieces off to Augsburg for inclusion in their Words for Worship resource, I'm posting drafts here for your perusal and comment. Let me know if something doesn't make sense. The 300-word limit makes me wonder if I'm writing in shorthand, which would not be good.

Miscellaneous Details

• Unless I get permission to leave them here, I'll delete these from the blog about the middle of February since after I submit them to my editor, they will be the copyrighted property of Augsburg Fortress.
• Links will be here as the pieces get drafted. If you don't see a link for a week, it means I haven't written that one yet.
• These are lectionary texts for Year A (2005).

Second Sunday of Easter	John 20:19-31	Whose Resurrection?
Third Sunday of Easter	Luke 24:13-35	The Road and the Table
Fourth Sunday of Easter	John 10:1-10	The Security of an Open Door
Fifth Sunday of Easter	John 14:1-14	"I am the way."
Sixth Sunday of Easter	John 14:15-21	Resurrection Across the Miles
Seventh Sunday of Easter	John 17:1-11
The Day of Pentecost	John 20:19-23	Breathe!

"I am the way."

5 Easter A (2005)
John 14:1-14
Back of the Bulletin

On the one hand, the scriptures imagine God as light, life and truth so bright that we could not look upon it all and live. On the other hand,

The Security of an Open Door

4 Easter A (2005)
John 10:1-10
Back of the Bulletin

The parakeet in my childhood home had two favorite sentences: "More milk, please," learned by eavesdropping on dinner table conversations in a household with four children, and "Shut the door!" learned from adults who couldn't seem to convince those children that the furnace was not big enough to warm both the house and the back yard.

Whose Resurrection?

2 Easter A
John 20:19-31
Back of the Bulletin

It is not just Jesus who gets his life back on Easter.