Tuesday, October 27, 2015

A Road Less Traveled


Job 42:1-6
Mark 10:46-52
 “A Road Less Traveled”
25 October 2015 St. Andrew’s Chapel Singapore

A man suffers tragedy after tragedy, most of which we can’t really fathom. Despite repeatedly getting kicked while he was down and losing everything that ever really mattered to him, he never gave up his faith. As a result, he didn’t get to see God eye to eye, but he did get to hear God speaking from inside a whirlwind, probably the whirlwind of tragedy. That conversation solidified everything Job knew about God, vindicated his faith, and changed his life.

Years ago a boy was born and baptized with one name, but called another by his father. He grew up wealthy as his father was a prominent merchant. At a young age he once gave money from a clothing sale to a beggar for which his father chastised him. As young men are wont to do, he went off to war, was captured and became a prisoner of war for a year. After this, he returned home to the life of wealth not earned but given. Most likely out of a lack of calling he returned to the military, but had a vision that made him return home.

While home again, he withdrew from his life in high society and was drawn closer to God. Eventually, he had another vision, this time an icon of Christ that said, “Go and repair My house.” This led him to sell some cloth from dad’s store to provide money to the priest for restoring the church that housed the icon. Dad was none too happy such that he physically beat this young man for his new life. The young man would not be swayed, so Francis of Assisi renounced his father, even taking off the clothes his father had purchased and became a beggar while he restored other churches around his hometown.

            A woman has been discovered having an affair, or some other culturally inappropriate relationship and is being dragged out of her home for punishment at the hands of the all male authorities. Another man walks up and confronts the mob of self-righteous men asking which of them had never made a mistake in their lives. While he awaits the response he focuses on the dirt and inscribed something of which to this day no one knows what was written. As he writes, the judgmental men leave and it is just this woman judged immoral by society and Christ. He looks at her and says, “I don’t judge you, in fact, I forgive you go forth and live.”

            A man that has brutally hunted and murdered Christians is walking along the road, probably on his way to continue his righteous work of ridding all that are impure. However, Saul experiences a blinding light from which he sees the risen Christ standing before him. He is told to go and seek help from the very people he has been chasing. He regains his sight and from then known as Paul he spread the Gospel throughout world and is the attributed author to the majority of the New Testament.

            A young woman of 18 embarking on a modeling career finds herself in a dark and dreary Parisian room, that the other models in the house call the dungeon. She had just come back from visiting family back home. While unpacking, she discovered the small Bible her mother had slipped into her bag before her flight. Because she was jet lagged and feeling all kinds of confused due to the time difference, she opened it and began to read. She discovered that Jesus loved and honored women, including her. Today, Kathy Ireland is remembered as one of the greatest supermodels of all time, but has dedicated her life to following Christ through family and philanthropy. 

            He followed Christ everywhere for years. He was in the inner circle, even got to see the Transfiguration. But, like all 12 disciples, he had trouble figuring out what it was all about. What following Jesus really meant. He was once even called Satan by Christ. He promised to be there with Christ through it all, even boasted about his dedication at the Last Supper. However, after the cross he denied Christ three times. Then, one morning after a tough night fishing, because what else did he know, where else could he go? Christ walked up and forgave him and gave Peter the keys to the Kingdom and made him the shepherd of the flock.

            When she was 18, her parents divorced. She blamed her mother and put the source of all her pain on her mother. This led her to an eating disorder where she ate to hide the pain, but got caught in an endless cycle of pain and eating to ease the pain. One day, in a holy moment, she got a call to appear on TV in The Biggest Loser. So, she called her father who, in what can only be described as divinely inspired insanity, told her to do it…with her mom. So she publicly fought her demons with the one person she saw as the source of the pain, and Michelle and her mother won the show, but also so much more.

            A man senses Jesus walking down the street, because he was blind. Maybe he hear the crowd, felt the feet pounding on the ground, or tasted the cloud of dust get thicker as they approached. Whatever let him know Christ was near also gave him courage because he yelled out the Kyrie, “Christ, have mercy on me!” Because of that faithful cry, Jesus heals his blindness and Bartimaeus removes his robe and follows Christ on the way to Jerusalem.

            All of these individuals met God in someone else or some situation or had the honor of seeing Christ in person. And in each instance, that encounter changed them for good. Their stories aren’t odd or isolated. Testimonies like this abound in our shared story.

For some, they were at rock bottom and saw Christ because typically when we are in the valley of the shadow of death, Christ is the only one left there with us, so it’s pretty easy to see him. But, God isn’t only found in suffering. Sometimes we find God in the midst of success because God is the one whispering, “I can give you so much more.” Christ is the road less travelled.

Job and Bartimaeus saw the Glory of God first hand, not through a glorious sight that transformed their skin like Moses bur rather they saw the it in the transformation of their present situations, and hence their lives. Job was in the midst of unspeakable tragedy, something we touched on last week while Bartimaeus was unable to see and that is all he asked for.

One was wealthy, one was an outcast. One was blameless, one we know little about. However, both were restored, both were loved by God, both show us our lives have purpose. We may never understand that purpose, but only God can define and guide us to that purpose. Both had hope that there was someone bigger than the world they saw that could change their world. That is faith.

And that is hard. It’s hard to believe that we are meant for something greater than ourselves. Both of these individuals have inspired people for centuries. All of the examples I provided earlier have impacted thousands of people. None of them knew the reach their lives would eventually have. Most of us won’t discover the full impact of our lives until we’re standing face to face with the risen Christ.

That’s ok, because Christ tells us we have a purpose. No matter how dark things may seem, no matter how on the sidelines society places us, no matter how our mind tries to trick us and tell us we don’t matter, Christ says “I’ve got this. Trust me, follow me. It won’t be what you expect, but it’ll be worth it because you are part of my plan, so much so that I don’t have a backup.”

So, let us always be looking for God speaking to us and through us. Sometimes God will tell us to go onto a TV show with the one that has caused us pain. Sometimes, God will speak to us from the whirlwind of life. Sometimes, Christ will touch our face and we’ll see things anew. But, if we’re not looking, not expecting to see Christ in everyone, we not sense his presence and won’t be able to tell him to have mercy on us. Let us go forward with the faith of Job and Bartimaeus that God has a plan for us and that Christ is always near to guide us towards his purpose for us if we’re looking.


Monday, October 19, 2015

You Know Nothing


Job 38:1-7
Mark 10:35-45
 “You Know Nothing”
18 October 2015 St. Andrew’s Chapel Singapore

You know nothing, John Snow! If, like me, you watch Game of Thrones you probably remember that line that was repeated often to the character John Snow from the worldly character Ygritte. As I read this scripture this week alongside the news of the untimely and shocking death of a friend to a heart attack, I kept hearing Ygritte saying, “You know nothing Job, You know nothing Sons of Thunder, You know nothing Russ.” And we don’t. We like to think we’ve got this whole life thing figured out, this whole following Christ figured out, but we don’t. We never will, not on this side of eternity. Frankly, I’m ok with that. I’m not real sure I want to know what God knows.

If anyone in all of history had the right to questions God’s motives, it was Job. God made a bet with someone called the adversary that Job was the only worthy person on earth and let him endure all kinds of suffering, stuff I can’t fathom. Intellectually, I understand what Job went through, but I just can’t fully comprehend that level of pain and suffering. In rapid succession he learned that all of his oxen were stolen and his entire farming staff was killed. A fire destroyed all of his sheep and shepherds. His camels were stolen by raiders with all of his servants murdered. Then all 10 of his children were killed in a house collapse. In one moment all he had left was four messengers, a few friends, his wife, and his faith.
As if that wasn’t enough, there’s more. Next he gets afflicted with painful boils on his skin. At this point, Job’s wife loses her faith and tells Job to just curse God and die. She wants his suffering to end and thinks death is the only way out. She wants his punishment to stop. Because of their way of looking at God, everyone wants to know Job’s great sin to explain all of this misfortune.

Despite his wife and friends essentially turning on him and wanting him to ask forgiveness for some great sin, Job never gives in to the peer pressure. All Job wants to know is, why? That and he wants a chance to plead his case to God face to face. Then God speaks from a whirlwind, “You know nothing Job.”

James and John think they’ve got Jesus figured out. They’ve been with Jesus every day for years. They’ve sat at the rabbi’s feet and have apprenticed with him. They were at the Transfiguration and saw Moses and Elijah and heard God speak. They think they know what is coming and they want their reward for leaving everything for Christ. Like Job’s friends and wife, they think they know how to fix the situation. The Sons of Thunder want to sit at Jesus’ left and right hand in the new political structure he will bring to Jerusalem. Jesus looks them in the eye and says, “You know nothing James. You know nothing John. But, because you asked you will drink of my cup.”

What I find interesting is the reaction of the other 10 disciples. I don’t think they are indignant because James and John asked for something they don’t understand. I think they are upset because they didn’t ask Christ that question first. It was on all of their minds, the Sons of Thunder just lived into their names by being brash and speaking what was on their minds.

On Friday night as I was crying and talking with a dear friend with a 6 month old son whose husband died the night before, we agreed there were no words. There never is, but in my mind I was asking, why? Why this family? What did they ever do to deserve such tragedy? Why does suffering always seem to strike such wonderful, Godly people? And then from the whirlwind of this devastating tragedy, I heard it, “You know nothing, Russ Ferguson.” And I don’t. I’m not even sure if I want to know anything.

Based on the responses of God and Christ, I think our ignorance is a protective measure. Faith is hard enough with our miniscule knowledge and it may be much harder if we knew something.

God responds to Job with two full chapters of beautiful poetic questions. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Do you realize the extent of the earth?” Of all the questions two jumped out at me.

In 38:17 God asks, “Have you seen the gates of utter gloom.” This means that even Job’s suffering wasn’t ultimate, that we all suffer but because we believe we’ll never experience utter gloom? Despite the heaviness and morbid nature of that question, it gives me hope. And in order for me to challenge not only God, but all that is wrong in the world I need ultimate hope, what us theology nerds call eschatological hope. A hope that all will be made right and I will have full understanding at a time and place of God’s choosing, most likely on the other side of eternity when I am looking at God face to face.

In 40:1 God says, “You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?” Now this one gives me permission to criticize God. God never gets mad at Job asking why or asking for a cosmic trial. Here God acknowledges Job as a critic. Job isn’t the first, nor will I be the last to question God. God is telling Job, and us that we can be critics but we’ll never have to whole story. It’s too much for us to comprehend. From God’s perspective suffering and death have a place and don’t need justification, yet. I believe I’ll get that explanation, but only after I join Christ in resurrection.

This hope comes from the end of Christ’s life. He told the disciples that they would share in the cup. We know it was a cup of suffering that even Christ wasn’t too keen on partaking of. So, we must endure suffering as part of the bargain to participate in resurrection. We have to share in the cup of suffering just like any of his disciples.

Many times you will hear that Christ’s glory was through his suffering. And this is an odd thing to hear much less understand. Especially as Christ has called us into that suffering when we share in his cup with the disciples. Christ’s suffering wasn’t glorious, far from it when we read the passion accounts. Rather, the glory of Christ was revealed not in the suffering, but by “the reversal of fortune wrought by God through Christ’s suffering service.” (Feasting on the Gospels, Mark 330) It was only on the other side of suffering that God’s glory was revealed in Christ and that gives us the eschatological hope that we too will experience that glory when our suffering ends.

Because we know the Gospel, we know that suffering isn’t the end of the story. Not by a long shot. We may know nothing about the vastness of God. But what we know, what we believe, what keeps us going, what gets us through the suffering, what brings us motivation and energy in the face of staggering odds, what give us a longer view of pain is that Christ has already defeated evil and death and that each of us get’s to participate in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. That is all we need to know.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Impossible


Mark 10:17-31
 “Impossible”
11 October 2015 St. Andrew’s Chapel Singapore

Has anyone ever had Christ look you in the eyes and say drop this important thing and follow me? Have you ever had Christ speak through someone or something else asking you do drop the important thing you are doing or working towards and say, “follow me?” Now some may have seen Christ face to face. I haven’t, which makes it sometimes hard for me to read this and not yell at the young man, “Do it! Follow him! He’s everything you need!”

When Jesus typically speaks to me, especially on weighty matters such as what I need to shed to fully let his light shine through me, it’s usually not so overt. Usually, it’s only through years of hindsight that I look back and go, “Oh, that was Jesus telling me to alter course to starboard and avoid the collision.” My parents would probably tell you I’m a bit stubborn, though I do come by it honestly, and so me realizing lessons years later wouldn’t surprise them too much. And I’m sure when they read this sermon later today, I’ll hear their true thoughts.

Today we read the story of someone who Jesus loves, yet he can’t see Jesus is asking a request made in love. And that’s an important fact of this story because it’s the only time I can find where Mark specifically says Jesus loved someone. So, in love Jesus asks us to shed what weighs us down from fully following Christ.

I don’t think Jesus is looking to criticize this man. Jesus asks him if he follows the Torah, which he does. Following God’s word is important and forms a solid base for our lives. This man has built a solid foundation and is loved by Christ. But, just following the letter of the law isn’t ever enough for Jesus. We are called to live into the intention of the law, the reason behind why God gave us the law. In a manner similar to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus looks at him with a caring smile letting this man know he was proud of him and tells him to kick it up a notch.

And this moment is where most of us pause. Some of us, like this young man, walk away. Others just stay with what we’ve been doing. This man is not doing anything wrong, in fact, he is doing everything right and it is pleasing to Christ. But, Jesus is shaking up his view of the world. Christ is asking him to give up some earthly goods for the ultimate good. Jesus wants him to engage in a little delayed gratification. And that is a huge ask. We all want immediate gratification. Just like this man, we all want something to show for our efforts.

Now, we’d love for this story to end at verse 22. Then we’d be able to get on our high horse and say, those wealthy people need to give their share to the poor. Look how Jesus is going after those who have too much and saying they should give everything they have to the poor. But, Jesus never really stops at making the Kingdom something that only pertains to the individual to whom he speaks.

Jesus immediately looks at his disciples and says that it would be easier to thread a needle with a camel than for those of material wealth to enter the Kingdom of God. And for once, the disciples knew that Jesus was implying everyone, even our beloved disciples because they immediately asked, “then who can be saved?” They are worried they’ve wasted their time and that they’ve given up too much for no return.

So, this begs the question, what do we need to give up to thread the needle? Now, before we go down that road let’s take a closer look at exactly what Jesus asked of the man. One way to translate the Greek is to sell whatever you hold in high regard. And if we read the passage that way, it really changes this from one of Jesus making a statement about money, but rather, Jesus telling us all to take a real hard look at what we hold in regard.

Do we hold worldly things, worldly goods in a higher regard than the ultimate good? What worldly goods, material or otherwise, are making us look like a camel trying to squeeze into the eye of a needle? What is bloating our spiritual life such that we aren’t in top shape? What area of abundance can we give from to further the Kingdom?

Some of us need to loosen our grip on our money. Some of us need to let go of things. Granted, all this moving we do forces that on a regular basis, but what else can we shed allowing us to focus more on the Kingdom or that allows us to better show the Kingdom to the world? As I sat in my sparsely furnished townhouse this week because my furniture is still a few days East of Singapore after reading this passage I realized I’m functioning relatively well with what little I possess right now. I can think of some commentaries and other pastoral items I am really missing right now, but most of what isn’t here yet isn’t vital to my living our God’s plan in my life. I pray I remember these thoughts when it’s time to move again.

Do we let our perceived need to learn something or do something overshadow our true need to better follow God’s plan for our lives? Is our focus on the next promotion, a more prestigious job, or some other aspect of our career making us too large for the needle’s eye? Is our stress and worry over which college our children attend, or for the students, which college we choose distorting our vision such that we think we can fit through small spaces? Maybe it’s a feeling that you aren’t spiritual enough or don’t know enough about the Bible? Whatever it is, Christ is telling you to leave it with him so he can transform what is holding you back into the ultimate good of his Kingdom.

Most likely only a close friend or a spouse knows what is holding you back from threading that needle. But, God knows and is telling you. Just like this man, Jesus is lovingly looking you in the eyes and telling you what is making you feel like a camel squeezing into the Kingdom. God is asking you to fully surrender into complete freedom.

Earlier I mentioned I came by my stubborn nature honestly. As part of getting ordained, I had to verbalize my call story and tell it over and over and over. Well, for years Jesus was lovingly looking me in the face and telling me I had to surrender what by all indications was shaping up to be a successful career. The scales started to fall off my eyes as I got to know and love a bunch of middle school students in Mt. Pleasant, SC. Then, I finally realized what Jesus was asking of me when a truly Godly woman, who had no idea I was starting to listen to what Jesus was asking, verbalized my call one night in Montreat, NC.

At that moment, I couldn’t hide behind my ignorance of the call. In that moment, Christ was looking at me through Ann’s eyes and using her voice to say, “give up that career you are holding on to and give it to me. Come follow me.” Those two pesky words, follow me. Christ was saying, “come be my disciple and together we’ll change the world one person at a time. I need you for this to work.”

In that moment I had a choice and it was stark: follow him or, like the man today, walk away. Now, I didn’t drop my resignation letter the next day. There was a lot of prayer and discussion with pastors in the next few months. But, thank God I didn’t walk away. Am I the best Christian? No. But I’m happier and healthier than if I hadn’t followed Christ.

In his book The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer described two types of grace. “Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks’ wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession…. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is therefore the living word, the Word of God, which he speaks as it pleases him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: ‘My yoke is easy and my burden is light.’”

In this passage, Christ is asking the man and the disciples do you want cheap grace or do you want costly grace. The man chose cheap grace. The disciples stuck around and chose costly grace. Cheap grace is born of humanity, costly grace is of Christ. Cheap grace is temporary, costly grace is eternal. Cheap grace is easy, costly grace looks impossible like threading a needle with a camel. I can find cheap grace on my own, but I need Christ to discover costly grace. Let us always be on the lookout for where Christ is calling us away from cheap grace and into costly grace.