First Sunday of Advent

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Luke 21:25-36

 “Waiting in Hope”

29 November 2015 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

            So now we wait…And we’re not all that good at waiting, especially those of us surrounded by the military culture for it is a culture full of type A personalities. Combine that with our instant gratification culture and we can feel like nothing will ever be accomplished, at least not as fast as we demand it to be completed.

            How many of us are like the cab driver I had a few weeks ago. As he was driving back from the airport with the speed of someone in Hong Kong, I heard an almost continuous stream of complaints, and probably a few curses, muttered under his breath at each and every driver we passed from Changi to Sembawang. At first it was entertaining, but then I realized I do the same thing to people that dare make me wait even a heartbeat when I’m driving. Who do they think they are trying to slow me down?

            How many of us have attempted something well before we are ready? When I had just graduated high school, I went diving in the Bahamas. All my brother and I received was a quick 30 minute familiarization walkthrough of the equipment and then in short order we were diving on a shipwreck at a depth of over 65’. Once I finally went through a certification course, I thought back on that trip and shuddered at how lucky we really were that day.

            Now, I’m not saying to never push ourselves beyond our comfort zones. For in that stretching of ourselves we learn and grow, but we really need to have a few tandem jumps and ground school before we jump out of a perfectly good airplane with silk square attached to us. Without a proper base of knowledge, our impatience can really cause us some damage.

            I would wager a guess that most of us find ourselves at our most impatient this time of the year. For we are done with Thanksgiving and looking towards Christmas. We look at our shopping lists and our to do lists then glance at our travel plans and feel like the world just doesn’t have enough time to get it all done. We go shopping and get frustrated with the lack of parking, stores running out of what we “need” for the holidays, or get antsy waiting for Amazon Prime to come through and deliver presents out here to Singapore just in the nick of time for Christmas.

            And society wants us to feel this way. Christmas is the biggest shopping season so stores want to get the decorations up as soon as possible. The more stressed and impatient we are about getting the perfect gifts, the more we spend. That’s why most stores just skip Thanksgiving and go straight from Halloween to Christmas decorations. Granted, here in Singapore we were afforded a few extra days as they did wait until Diwali had passed before breaking out the Christmas decorations. Orchard Road waited until the 10^th or 11^th of November to turn on the Christmas lights. Even in Japan, not a Christian nation by a long shot, the Winter Holiday lights were already up before the end of November.

            Which brings us to today, or rather the church season in which we find ourselves today. The first Sunday of Advent is the new church year. Like January 1^st, we are called to look forward to what is coming. We are full of hope about the future. But, instead of making resolutions we are called by Christ to wait, to prepare for his incarnation. In the midst of the most wonderful time of the year and the stress of getting everything ready, we are called to sit and wait.

            Society is running around yelling, “Christ is Coming! Christ is Coming! Hurry and get everything ready for him! Make sure you have all the boxes checked! Make sure you have the right decorations and food!” The church tradition and Scripture are quietly whispering, “Wait. Slow down a bit and pay attention because the Kingdom is near.”

            Tertullian a second century lawyer and priest, who some call the founder of Western theology, wrote, “The kingdom of God, beloved brethren, is beginning to be at hand; the reward of life, and the rejoicing of eternal salvation, and the perpetual gladness and possession lately lost of paradise, are now coming, with the passing away of the world; already heavenly things are taking the place of earthly, and great things of small, and eternal things of things that fade away. What room is there here for anxiety and solicitude?”

            Today, Jeremiah’s words told us that the LORD will fulfill the promise made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah where justice and righteousness will be the order of the day. Luke writes that a day is coming when everything will be turned upside down and God’s redemptive glory is near. Both of these writers are saying we need to wait, as long as it takes.

            Now we can’t just wait without a promise. Us humans aren’t good at waiting, even less so if we are told to wait without a purpose. How many times has the military made us wait? Pretty much every day of our career. But, if they just say wait without telling us why we must wait, we get upset and frustrated. We can wait a long time if we just have hope, and that is what Jeremiah and Luke offer us in these passages, how to wait in hope.

            Luke doesn’t use end of the world language to scare us or to make us wait for the end of the destruction of everything we see. He is using that language to give us hope that we will see many things that make us think things aren’t right, and they aren’t, so that we can recognize redemption when it comes. Luke knows that most everyone of his time missed Christ the first time around, so he is telling us to pay attention because Christ will be back and his Kingdom will reign in its full glory and redemption. So we have to wait in hope for that day to come.

We may not see it, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be ready for the revealing of the Christ’s Kingdom. We have to prepare for Christ so that we aren’t caught off guard again. Christ will show up where least expect him, Advent and Christmas make that clear. He was from Galilee, born in humble surroundings, was a refugee from Herod’s slaughter of untold infants looking for him, grew up not as a ruler or a formally trained rabbi but as a carpenter, travelled around as a nomad, protested against Roman rule, died alongside robbers, and had all of his friends abandon him when he was executed. If that is what our King looks like, we need to slow down and pay attention because we just might miss him again.

Our hope comes from our belief that the story isn’t yet over, that everything we see wrong in the world isn’t the whole story, that there is more to life than just molecules and a life of no meaning. Our hope comes from the fact that we know how this all ends. We know that Christ overcame death, and so shall we. We know that out of this broken world in which we find ourselves come glory and redemption. When we slow down and pay attention we see glimpses of the Kingdom and it draws us in providing more hope so we slow down a bit more and focus on Kingdom things to see more of the Kingdom.

When we tell the story of Christmas during Advent, it isn’t to save people from this world, only Christ can do that. We tell the story every year to teach everyone, ourselves included, to slow down and look for the glimpses of the Kingdom so we are prepared to live in the Kingdom when it comes.

“But amidst all these rejoicings Aslan himself quietly slipped away. And when the Kings and Queens noticed that he wasn’t there they said nothing about it. For Mr. Beaver had warned them, “He’ll be coming and going” he had said. “One day you’ll see him and another you won’t. He doesn’t like being tied down—and of course he has other countries to attend to. It’s quite all right. He’ll often drop in. Only you mustn’t press him. He’s wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.”

We don’t know when we will see Christ again, but we are called to wait in hope for the day that is near.

The One True King

John 18:33-38

 “The One True King”

22 November 2015 St. Andrew’s Chapel Singapore

What a hard passage for us to hear. Here we see Christ not even try to plead for his life. Rather he just does what he always does and answers questions with more questions. He’s a rabbi to the core, no matter how frustrating it is to people, even the one that controls his physical life in that moment. Because we know the rest of the story, we know what comes next.

But, I’m not sure that is what really disturbs us about this passage. Sure, reading ahead may disturb us, especially the violence that Christ will endure. And our hearts may race a bit knowing that is quickly to come. However, this passage, this moment in time goes against everything that we expect of governments.

Here we have the appointed official of an emperor trying to determine if someone else is claiming the crown of his boss. In our society that prides itself on overthrowing the shackles of a monarchy, following a theology that shudders at a top down power structure, this passage stands against everything we know as a republic where our work ethic calls for us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. In this moment, Pilate knows Christ is King and wants him to admit it so he can pronounce sentence and be rid of him. He wants Christ to seal his own fate. For he knows Christ is innocent and is looking for a way out of this situation.

For us, this passage is convicting because it shows Christ has come not just to be King of the Jews, but he has come to be King of the world. Our King. And Americans don’t particularly care for Kings. We started a war to rid ourselves of one. But that war came on the heels of a religious war that had as one of its reasons, the need to get out from under a religious structure that had all the feel of a monarchy that was not looking out for the faithful.

Over time, scholars have attributed to Christ three major offices or roles: Priest, Prophet, and King. We are always ok with two of these three roles. Christ as priest is just fine by us. We want someone who is there to oversee the sacrifice and pronounce forgiveness for our sins. He will be there to clear the way and act as our mediator and intercessor to God, making sure we have that heaven ticket punched provided whenever we ask. Christ as prophet also gives us comfort. He’s there to show us where we go wrong, to guide us on the straight and narrow gently (sometimes a bit more harshly) correcting and nudging us to a moral life where we become “good Christians.”  That’s the Jesus we like and want, that’s the Jesus that society presents to us.

But, Christ has a way of turning things upside down. Like when he says he is the king of the world. And this isn’t a Leonardo DiCaprio Titanic moment, this is God proclaiming once and for all that through Christ, he is King, period. And we don’t like kings. Kings give orders, define our lives, kings tend to remove our personal choices, expect their subjects to give them everything, they tend to tax people excessively, they don’t care about our welfare. Kings scare people who have lived their entire lives in a representative republic.

However, we’ve all made a commitment to follow Christ in all we do and in all he does, prophet, priest, and king. So we need to look at all that King Jesus requires of us. We know he expects us to give him our all, to love him with all of our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls. We can get behind that. What’s hard is doing what he asks because it rarely makes much sense to us. I don’t know why I or anyone else ever really expects Christ to make sense because he works in this world on a heavenly timeline and plan that I can’t fully comprehend. We only get glimpses of the Kingdom, so we have to pay attention with all of our senses to catch them.

C.S. Lewis understood Christ as King through Aslan in Narnia. This week I kept going back to Narnia, especially The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe as I reflected on King Jesus. In it we see the Queen of the world (or at least how the White Witch is introduced to Edmund) in stark contrast to the one true King. Many people throughout history have done just this and attempted to impose their rule over the world, all have failed.

So all of us ask, just like Susan after dinner with the beavers, “Who is Aslan?” Who is Aslan indeed, and what does the Kingdom of Christ look like? Where can we find it? As we answer those questions, let the wisdom of the Professor with whom the wardrobe resided guide us, “[finding the Kingdom will] happen when you’re not looking for it. Don’t try to get there at all. You’ll know [who else has found the Kingdom]. Odd things they’ll say—even their looks—will let the secret out. Keep your eyes open.”

Christ leads an upside down Kingdom, one that Mark describes where the last are first, the first are last, and leaders must first become servants. This Kingdom is so counter-cultural that society will frequently discount the glimpses all around us.

There is a Twitter account called Occupy Advent that was tweeting out many short descriptions of what it means to call Christ Lord, or King. So I want to let that voice begin our description of Christ the King.

In the Roman world, Ceasar was Lord. To confess “Jesus is Lord” was unpatriotic, ungrateful, blasphemous, and illogical. And here we are. To confess “Jesus is Lord” is to deny every other person, thing, or allegiance that would lay claim to us. And let me tell you, this world rages when we say “Jesus is Lord” and mean it. If Jesus is Lord, then nothing else is. If Jesus is Lord, anxiety and fear are not. If Jesus is Lord, our retirement accounts are not. If Jesus is Lord, the approval of others is not. If Jesus is Lord, citizenship is not. If Jesus is Lord, our churches are not. If Jesus is Lord, our schedules and agendas are not. If Jesus is Lord, America is not. If Jesus is Lord, death is not. If Jesus is Lord, I am not.

Christ’s Kingdom isn’t like others, so it’s not one that should make us uneasy and we should rush to embrace Christ as our King. For his Kingdom is a humble one full of broken people doing what they can to help others as much or more than they help themselves. It is a Kingdom looking to make peace with the world and others. Where people care for creation as gardeners not consumers. People who love even their enemies as much as friends and never turn away refugees even if they may turn against them one day. It is inclusive and waiting for anyone to come into the kingdom at any time.

            As young Lucy learned about this Kingdom and King Aslan, she asked the question we all want to know about Christ:

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Cause he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

A safe Kingdom would never ask so much from us, but a good one does.

I leave us with a description of King Jesus by the Rev Shadrach Meshach Lockridge who was pastor of Calvary Baptist in San Diego from 1953-1993.

My King is: The king of the Jews-that’s a racial king. The King of Israel-that’s a national king; the King of glory; the king of kings and the Lord of Lords.

My king is a sovereign king. No means of measure can define his limitless love! No barrier can hinder him from pouring out his blessing!

He’s enduringly strong! He’s entirely sincere! He’s imperially powerful! He’s impartially merciful! He’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world!

He’s God’s son! The sinner’s savior! The centerpiece of civilization! He stands in the solitude of Himself! He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology!

He sympathizes and saves. He strengthens and sustains. He guards and guides. He heals the sick. He cleansed the lepers. He forgives sinners. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate.

I wish I could describe him for you, but he’s indescribable! He’s incomprehensible. He’s invincible! He’s irresistible! 

You can’t get him out of your mind or off your hands! You can’t outlive him and you can’t live without him! The Pharisees couldn’t stand him, but they found out they couldn’t stop him. Pilate couldn’t find any fault in him. Death couldn’t handle him and the tomb couldn’t hold him.

That’s my King, that’s my king, that’s my king and he’s the kingdom and the power and the glory Forever. AMEN!

Two Pennies

Mark 12:38-44

 “Two Pennies”

08 November 2015 St. Andrew’s Chapel Singapore

Once upon a time a sheet of copper was cut at the mint and out came two brand new pennies. These pennies were excited to be a part of the vibrant economy. Just think of all the things they will witness as they are transported to the bank and then find a new home with someone who will put them to good use.

Maybe they will be used to buy something extremely important. Perhaps they will buy a new house, or maybe pay for someone’s education. Or they could be given to some young girl who was beaming with pride at finally washing the dishes like mom and dad kept asking. Then she would take the two pennies, along with whatever other coins she had earned, and with the largest grin she could muster, because she was now a grown up, she put all of that change on the counter to buy her first scoop of ice cream all by herself.

But over time, the pennies become faded and worn out. Inflation happens as it so often does, so the pennies aren’t worth what they were the day they were produced at the mint. In fact, right now pennies actually cost more to make than they are worth. Because of this, people didn’t know what to do with these pennies, so they just began to sit in jars or dishes at someone’s house where at best they would get deposited with hundreds or thousands of their friends after sitting for a few years. Or maybe they would find their way to a military family and the bowls they lived in would get packed up every few years where the movers would probably lose them or pack them with some strange items.

At worst, these pennies would get thrown to the ground because they had just become some annoyance to whomever had the unfortunate luck to buy something that cost something ninety nine. They began to feel that they had lost all meaning, that they weren’t making a contribution, they weren’t bringing people joy and helping people purchase things. People didn’t want them, didn’t need them.

Then one day they found their way into the hands of a nice elderly lady who didn’t really have much. Maybe she found them sitting on the sidewalk, in desperation took them from the leave a penny jar, was given them on the sly from someone who didn’t want to embarrass this gentle soul in her poverty, or maybe she got them from her local church as part of their charity program.

Much to the surprise of these two coins, when they were slipped into her pockets they were all alone. When she emptied her pockets at the end of the day, they were all alone. The pennies realized that they were everything this lady had. Once again, they mattered. They could buy her food, help her live.

For this woman, these pennies were an abundance. She had probably been financially ripped off, as trusting elders can be duped. Just look at who the Nigerian scams and some mortgage companies target for bad loans. After living with little for a while, these two pennies seem like a gift from heaven, an unexpected bounty in a world of little.

Now, what would we do if we won the lottery? Where is the first place we would go? Zillow to look for a new house? The car dealer to get a shiny new car? To the bank to deposit the money so it can be invested in the stock market to make more? Set up the kids for college? Whatever we would do, I am fairly certain it would be something to either save the windfall or spend it on something we need. Our actions would come from our cultural conditioning that there is never enough money to go around so if we have it we should either keep it or spend it. And this lady’s culture is no different than ours in that regard.

But, she does something unexpected as tends to happen with our grandparents who always seem to buck convention and do something to make us take notice. This lady goes and heads to the temple to give out of her abundance to God. Well Jesus knows she’s on her way so he decides to sit across from the treasury and watch the show.

A huge crowd was there to give to the temple so there was the buzz of humanity gathered in a small area. People are talking, kids are probably running around playing, yelling, having a great time. Many people were gathered around the treasury to see who all was giving to the temple, and how much because there needed to be some gossip about who made how much and who were the biggest donors. Some of these people were making a show out of their generous donations, playing to the crowd so everyone knew they were there.

The disciples are getting fidgety and wondering why Jesus is people watching and still hanging around the temple he just overturned the tables in. Because of the attention Jesus has attracted from those in power, they just want to get out of dodge and not get arrested. They’re starting to realize this may not end well. So they aren’t really paying attention to what is going on.

All of a sudden Jesus says, “look over there do you see that?” They follow his gaze and his finger and at first wonder if he is excited about the people he just derided for giving money. But the momentary break in the commotion and a quiet moment catches their eyes. “See that, see that widow? She has given so much more than everyone else today combined. That’s what I want from you. I want all you have.”

Jesus wants all of us. He wants us to live as if he is all we need. Does this necessarily mean that we have to give all of our worldly possessions? Not exactly. But it does mean that we should live as if Christ is all we need. It means that we should live a life from a place of abundance not of scarcity. We should live such that we know there will always be enough to go around, not live such that we need to hoard to get ours before anyone else. That’s tough because our culture, our society tells us differently.

Now as a military chapel, we are in a unique position to practice this first as a community so we can take that lesson back to our lives and the world. Typically, when you give to a church there is a budget that it is trying to meet covering everything from buying paper to salaries and mission work. This is achieved through generous giving from the congregation. Here we don’t have to raise money for keeping the AC on or paying my salary, or to keep Sam providing his amazing piano talent every week.

With this freedom, comes a requirement that every 6 months in January and July we spend down what we collect in our offering to a certain amount. This is an amazingly missional requirement from the Navy. As a congregation we are forced to live abundantly in our support of missions. We aren’t allowed to hoard finances. We have to spend this money to further Christ here in Sembawang as well as around the world.

So how do we support the community and the world? Well, your money is constantly feeding the families who attend AWANA as we have instituted a meal at the end of the classes each week, which I think has been highly successful and the right answer. This money also goes towards our community meals with the Catholics allowing us to build a stronger chapel community. Some also goes towards the youth group each week to buy their food. A youth group that Catholics as well as a number of students without a church home attend. We are reaching the local community in big ways here.

These sound like big expenses and they are. However, because of your generous giving, we have an abundance right now that we need to decide where to give. We will spend down the account in January, but let us start to think where we want to give that money now. Let me know what ideas you have for the January disbursement right now or you can email me. We’ll put together a list of all the possibilities and take a vote in January (probably on the 10^th) so that we, as a community, decide where we use our abundance to impact the world.

By keeping this process of our giving to the world open and transparent you will see how we are trying to be like the widow and giving all of what we have as a church in the service of Christ. From there my prayer and hope is that we will all look at our own lives and when we come into unexpected abundance through either our time, talents, or treasure we look for ways to give that abundance back to whence it came. For this building, this money, won’t last. Remember that the very next chapter of Mark has Jesus predicting the destruction of the temple.

We are called to be a people, a church that gives everything to Christ. Even. To. Our. Death. There is a faith group that describes this in a beautiful way, “The Church is called to undertake [its] mission even at the risk of losing its life, trusting in God alone as the author and giver of life, sharing the gospel, and doing those deeds in the world that point beyond themselves to the new reality in Christ.”

Let us strive to live a life of abundance like this widow where the size and amount of our abundance don’t matter. What matters is that we recognize we are called to live an abundant life where we undertake our mission in the world even at the risk of our lives individually and collectively as the Body of Christ.

Resurrection People

Revelation 21:1-6

 “Resurrection People”

01 November 2015 St. Andrew’s Chapel Singapore

Over the last few weeks we’ve seen how hard it can be to live in the world. We only need to turn on the news to learn of the many crises that are ongoing all around us. From six church leaders here in Singapore being convicted of laundering church money to the seemingly never ending flood of refugees fleeing air attacks from both the US and Russia in Syria. From hackers getting their hands on all of our personal information to a cop brutally removing a child from a classroom in front of all her friends. From corporations letting slash and burn tactics get out of hand to the Navy poking China’s territorial claims. Sometimes we have to wonder where good resides in the world.

            Believing what we see around us as the ultimate reality we cry out like Qohelet, the author of Ecclesiastes, “There’s nothing to anything, it’s all smoke. What’s there to show for a lifetime of work, a lifetime of working your fingers to the bone?” (from The Message) It’s understandable and even Biblical to feel like this in the midst of our lives.

            And when we are deep in the events, situations, and stuff of life that make us feel a special kinship with Qohelet, we can begin to ignore four crucial chapters of the Bible: the first two and the last two.

            When we do this, that leaves our functional canon, or the portion of the Bible we intently read and study as starting at the fall in Genesis 3 and ending at the lake of fire in Revelation 20. The world around us tends to confirm that canon. I mean what’s the harm in leaving out 4 of the 1180 chapters of the Bible? It’s only .3% of Scripture.

Andy Crouch, the executive editor of Christianity Today, in his book Playing God warns against the tendency to gloss over or forget about these four key chapters because the other 1176 don’t really tell the world anything new, never mind any good news. We can see Genesis 3 through Revelation 20 by turning on the news or just looking around. Scandal, exploitation, murder, good people trying to make a difference, church fights, the church reaching out to the marginalized.  

Now before everyone starts calling me a heretic for leaving out the fact that Christ’s death was significant and led to good news, let me say I agree. Back to Andy Crouch who in his book Culture Making calls the resurrection, “the most culturally significant event in history.” It was and will remain the center of history, until we get to Revelation 21. It set the stage for the good news of resurrection for us all that we see at the end of Revelation.

So, lets spend a moment with these four chapters and their significance. Genesis one and two clearly state that creation was created with care, love, and purpose. Its important that these chapters begin the story. We are told from whence we came and that we were wonderfully made in and with love as part of a plan with no expectation of anything in return. More importantly, we learn that all of creation is created good with humanity deemed very good.

So where does all this evil in the world come from? Why is it here? Why do bad things happen to the creation that was crafted from nothing by God? All great questions that we could spend years debating. Just browse Amazon or check out a theological library and you’ll see every angle you could think of to answer those questions and even some that you’d never imagine. But, in the end do those questions become more stumbling block than we anticipate?

I’m not saying we shouldn’t engage those questions. Actually we should struggle with them because they are important questions and will help us navigate the trials of life as well as help us sit with others suffering and struggling with the same questions. However, we need to keep Revelation 21 and 22 fresh in our memory to help us answer these weighty questions.

On the back end, here in Revelation we learn that all will again be redeemed and made good. This passage is amazing because it shows us not the end, but rather the teleos or culmination of things. Revelation shows us our destiny, what we are meant to become, of what we are meant to be a part.

John vividly describes how Rome, socialism, ISIS, capitalism, the US, and any other human institution will never be supreme. God, and only God, is supreme. And that is the Gospel, that is great news.

Here in Revelation the Gospel is fulfilled. We, as a part of creation, reach our destiny, our own teleos, our fulfillment. We return to where we belong, where we were made to live. This is why God tells John, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” God was the beginning and invited us into a plan and God will be there with us at the end. Everything is made new, remade and resurrected according to God’s plan.

From dust you came and to dust you shall return.

In my tradition, when someone dies we don’t call it a funeral rather a Service of Witness to the Resurrection. When we believe that resurrection is something we all participate in through our belief in the promise of Christ’s resurrection and the words at the end of Revelation, death isn’t the end, nor is it a beginning. Death is a reunion with God, with Christ, with all those who have gone before.

I have to admit, it seemed odd to have a passage from Revelation appear as the suggested text for All Saint’s Day. But as I sat with these words over this week, it made so much sense to have us hear these words on the day in which we remember all who have gone before us on this Christian journey.

In a culture where we elevate celebrities, we need a reminder that there are saints among us, many that we will never know. Additionally, we also need the hope of the Gospel that tells us that we aren’t saying hollow words in the Apostles Creed when we say I believe in the communion of saints. We are all a part of that communion of saints. Christ showed us that resurrection is for those that believe and this passage demonstrates that we will all be made new. That what was begun will end at the same place, in the glory of God.

We are invited into this glorious reality. We may not be able to fully comprehend what it will be like. And I think that John is trying to use some glorious metaphors over the remainder of Revelation to describe the beauty and love of his vision, but no human words can adequately describe what is waiting for us. We were created very good and will one day, along with all who have gone before us those saints we lift up today, learn what our true teleos is, who we truly are when we are beyond the fall and with Christ.

Let us work hard to not let the demands of life, the struggles of being human, the frustration of following Christ keep us from remembering four important chapters. For all stories have a beginning and an ending which are just as, if not more important, than the character development. We know where we are headed, we know of Christ victorious. We know we were created good and will return to that state, even if we can’t fully comprehend or imagine what that looks like.

So as we remember all who have gone before and that we will see again, let us truly live as resurrection people who know the end of the story and live a life that reflects our part in the resurrection of all creation.

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.

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.

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.