Bow in the Sky
Sermon Preached on 2.18.18, the first Sunday of Lent
Lent has often been perceived as a time when we need to deprive ourselves. We talk about what we should give up, or let go of for a time. In fact, the season begins with indulging in that one (or three) last donuts before a somber, sugarless, coffee less, chocolate less season begins.
But this is the season not to give things up (although if that’s what you feel you need to do this season, go for it), it’s a season to dig deep, to recall God’s work and ways, as we move towards a hopeful Easter story.
But, as with everything in life, before we get to the good stuff–to Easter–we will need to talk about the hard things.
Today’s stories–of the ark and of Jesus’ baptism are stories of God’s presence. Both of these stories have a little something in common–both stories demonstrate God’s presence in signs from the sky.
For most people in ancient cultures, the movement of the stars and other celestial phenomena were viewed as “heavenly writing”. They were omens, placed in the sky by God, and these omens crypically communicated God’s plans to humanity. The rainbow, though not written in the stars, was also viewed as a sign placed in the heavens by God.
Our Genesis story is about God placing a sign in the sky, but not for us to interpret. This sign in the sky–this bow–is placed by God to remind God of the covenant they have made with humanity and all of the animals of the earth. This sign in the sky is placed there by God to remind God that they promised never to destroy the earth by flood again.
This bow in the sky is not actually a rainbow in Hebrew. This bow in the sky is a weapon–a bow used to hunt and kill–and God is hanging it up. God is hanging up God’s weapons and covenanting not to do violence to humanity again. This weapon is not pointed down at God’s creation to threaten the earth, but pointed towards the heavens.
It’s a reminder to God that God cannot force humanity to do what they do not wish to do, even if it’s for their own good. In many ways, God has made a developmental change in parenting tactics. This is the moment for God that many of us have in parenting–that moment where we realized that we cannot make our children do something. We can’t pick them up and move them. And corporal punishment doesn’t work. Instead, we must be in relationship with our children. And we know well that our children, even with the best council, don’t always do what we want them to do.They have to make their own mistakes and we walk with them through those lessons.
So God is realizing here that God’s tactics aren’t worth the damage it does to God’s people and God’s creation, and to the relationship God has with their people. So, God makes a covenant.
I won’t do this again humanity. I won’t destroy you, creation. We are in this together. We are bound together in this covenant. And this bow in the sky is a reminder of that.
This covenant doesn’t say that others will not hurt God’s people. It doesn’t say that humans won’t get themselves and creation into a big mess, as is demonstrated by ALL of human history. But God is promising here that God is not going to be the one to do the destroying. God will choose instead to walk with us.
In the Gospel of Mark, we read of Jesus’ baptism, where the spirit descends on Jesus in the shape of a dove. This is another sign in the sky–another unusual sign, because, like the rainbow, it’s not in the stars, but in the pure bright light of day.
And the sign Jesus is given is the spirit in the form of a dove. Now the dove also showed up in the story of Noah’s ark. It was a sign that life was beginning again. It was a sign that Noah’s family would soon find land, and could get off that boat and away from all those smelly procreating, high maintenance animals.
Like the bow in the sky, the dove is a reminder to Jesus of that covenant. God is promising not to destroy Jesus, but to be present with Jesus through all the difficulties that will come. And we know how this story ends. We know Jesus will face more trials than he even bargained for.
And God’s voice came from the sky to say, “You, Jesus, are my beloved, my own. On you my favor rests.” This sounds like a promise–a covenant–from God to Jesus. You are my own. Remember that promise I made to humanity and creation. I’m making it with you, Jesus. I will not destroy you. I am with you.
This week was ash Wednesday and valentines day–on the same day. Nothing says romance like ashes of mortality smeared on your forehead. This year I witnessed a mom giving ashes to her 3 month old son. This week, I saw the image of a grieving community member standing outside of that school in Lakewood, Florida after 17 people were killed, holding on to someone and weeping, with the sign of the cross smeared on her forehead in a mixture of ash and anointing oil. Remember humanity that you are dust, and to dust you will return. Remember humanity that you will die.
Death is a promise for all of us. It is one of the few things promised to us in this life. Death is promised, but God has also promised to hang up God’s bow. God has promised that death is not at God’s hand. And God is with us through our lives.
Death is a promise. And so is God’s presence.
In hanging up God’s bow, God has said to humanity, “What are YOU going to do about this? How will YOU live in this world as my people?”
This covenant is more than God promising not to kill us. It’s also God handing a measure of responsibility to humanity.
So here, in lent, we begin to see the signs. We see the bow in the sky–God hanging up their weapons against humanity–and we see that dove–a reminder of God’s promise after the great flood. God is with us in all the seasons of our lives. So, how then shall we live? AMEN.
Fly, Eagles, Fly
Sermon based on Isaiah 40:21-31. Preached on February 3, 2018 at Germantown Mennonite Church.
Those that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles; they will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint.
This has been an ongoing joke among those that pay attention to football and the lectionary texts of the week. This is clear proof to some that the Eagles are destined for a win today.
It’s not clear proof. It’s a funny coincidence, but not proof of anything.
We all have a bit of Eagles fever around here right now. Even for those of us–like me–who have little idea what’s happening on the field, we want our team to win. We would love to see Philadelphia finally get a win, wouldn’t we?
Philadelphia is a scrappy city, loyal to each other, and also quick to point out the faults and limitations of those that represent us. And this year, after never quite getting a super bowl win–with our skyscrapers, bridges, clothing, hair and nails painted a loyal kelly green–we are ready for a win. So ready.
Eagles fans aren’t the only ones who were ready for a win.
God’s people, who spent hundreds of years enslaved weren’t looking for a Super Bowl win, they wanted something much more. They wanted freedom. They wanted to return to their home, after being enslaved in Babylon for hundreds of years.
In Isaiah 40, the text we heard today, they had been waiting for God to speak for a long time. The last time God had spoken through the prophets was just before the Babylonian enslavement. We hear the last words of the prophets in Isaiah 39–Isaiah said to the king, “Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”
And that was it from God speaking for a couple hundred years. So, for hundreds of years, the people heard nothing from God through the prophets. And then the people heard from the prophet again in Isaiah 40:
Be comforted my people. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, for your cries have been heard and your debt has been paid.
Why do you complain that God does not hear you, that God knows nothing about your life? Don’t you know that God is everlasting? That God understands more than you know? That God never grows tired?
God gives strength to those that are tired, and power to those who are weak. Even the young will get tired, but whoever waits on God will renew their strength, the will soar like eagles. They will run and not get tired; they will walk and not get faint.
These are words from God to people who are waiting for a long time. To people who were old and tired in spirit. God says that those who wait will find strength from God.
After waiting for God to speak for generations, God offers words of comfort to God’s displaced people–your strength will be renewed; your strength is being renewed.
At the last Eagles playoff game, I saw something I didn’t know happened at Eagles game. Maybe it only happened this one time–I’m not sure. But during the national anthem, where an enormous American flag covered the field, an eagle was released and flew across the stadium full of screaming fans. It didn’t flap its wings or work hard to get across the the field. It just glided over the field while the national anthem played. This majestic bird made no effort, expended no energy, to get to the other side.
In the same way, the text today implies that those that are waiting for God will find that their strength has been returned to them. They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will glide and soar like an eagle.
The next lines says this: They will run and not be weary, they will walk and not faint. There’s no way to run and not be weary, and walk and not faint unless you’ve been walking and running a long time. Unless your body is conditioned to run and walk long distances, it’s difficult to do.
Waiting on the Lord then is not about sitting around simply waiting for an answer from God, but running, walking, training and practicing for the work ahead. Our waiting involves readying ourselves for the work.
They that wait on God will have their strength renewed, they will soar as eagles. They will run and not get tired, they will walk and not faint.
We talk a lot in this congregation about the world and the difficulties we see. And I know that the hard work we’re doing is practice for a time in the future when we will need to use our running and walking skills.
And there are also difficult times in our personal lives that feel like there have been hundred years of silence from God. There are people in this room who have been waiting a lifetime to hear from God. You are tired, weary, faint. And God says to you, and to God’s exiled people in Babylon. Don’t you know that I’m everlasting? Don’t you know that I never get tired? Don’t you know that I’m always listening?
You who have waited, and been running and walking for what feels like eternity, God is renewing you. I wish I could say that God is taking away our need to run. I wish I could say that those that wait upon the Lord will get a nice comfortable bed to rest on. But those who have waited for God will have the strength to continue. And that continuing sometimes feels like running a marathon or walking from one end of the universe to the other, but some days it will also feel like gliding on air, or like an endorphin rush from running or walking for so long. God is giving us strength and courage to go on.
I don’t know what this means for the Eagles today. I hope for the sake of everyone that dyed their hair green that it means a win. I hope for every Philadelphia fan that never seems to catch a break, that it means victory for us, and a joyful somewhat out of control parade through the streets of Philadelphia this week. I hope it means a win for the city that loves each other enough to defend this city’s honor against those TV announcers that think we are all a bunch of brutish, horse-punching super fans, that like to throw snowballs at Santa Claus.
But I do know that God promised to give God’s people strength for whatever came next. In the case of the Israelites, it was a long road home, and out of Babylon. For all of us, we know what God has brought us through, is bringing us through. For you who have waited for a word from God, here it is. Be comforted. God does not get tired. God does not have a limited understanding. For you who have been waiting a long time, God is giving you strength to continue your journey. God is continuing to give you strength so that this journey doesn’t feel like an endless marathon, but that in this journey there will be moments where you can glide and soar like an eagle. Go Eagles. AMEN.
The Power to Bring Down Evil
Sermon preached at Germantown Mennonite Church o 1/28/18
Based on Deuteronomy 18:15-20 and Mark 1:21-28
Every year, I meet with a group of Jewish Confirmation student. They are high schoolers that are learning more about their faith and other religious traditions after their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. It’s always a lot of fun for me to meet with them, because they ask questions that no one ever asks me. They take nothing for granted about Christianity, like those of us steeped in it do.
One of the questions I had from this group of young people was about prophecy. I get questions from the Jewish kids about prophecy every year. And every year it throws me. Because I NEVER get questions about that in this church.
The Jewish students asked me this: Do you believe we still have prophets today? And how do you know they are prophets?
My response was quick. Yes, we still have prophets. And we know they are prophets by how quickly we try to kill them and their message.
I talked about Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1967 speech on the three evils of our society–militarism, capitalism, racism. Eight months after this controversial speech, Dr. King was murdered. He wasn’t just preaching about racism anymore. He was talking about our bottom line, and the things that move this country, being the root of evil.
They didn’t seem surprised by my answer. They had already asked some other Christian clergy who mentioned Dr. King as an example.
But they asked me again, “How do we know the prophets are actually prophets. What is it that they are saying that makes them so controversial?”
And I didn’t really have a satisfying answer for them right away.
This week the texts beg for this conversation to continue. How do we know who is a prophet and who is not.
Deuteronomy gives warning about being a false prophet. Later in the text it identifies the mark of a prophet is someone that brings people back to Torah, back to the word of God, back to the center, to the good news.
Our passage from the gospel of Mark looks at the announcement of Jesus as bringer of good news in the gospel. Jesus here doesn’t announce that he is the Messiah, but he enters the temple and begins teaching. And people were amazed because he had authority in his teaching. He clearly had studied and knew the scriptures well.
In Mark’s account, it’s an unclean, evil spirit inhabiting a person in the synagogue that spilled the beans. This unclean spirit knew that Jesus was the Messiah, and told everyone in the temple.
In other gospel accounts of this story, Jesus went to the temple, announced that he was the Messiah, God’s chosen one, and his was run out of town. People tried to kill him immediately.
But in this text, the unclean spirit recognized Jesus, and Jesus cast out the demon with power, and the people were amazed. They say, this Jesus is teaching us something new, and with such power and authority. They still don’t understand what it means that Jesus has just been outed as the Messiah.
Isn’t that the way. Evil recognizes the good news and tries to kill it long before others even understand what’s going on. And even when evil forces understand, everyone else is looking at Jesus like “Cool party trick! Do it again!”
The Jesus in Mark has the power to destroy evil by speaking the good news. While the bystanders are saying, “Jesus does magic tricks,” the demon is terrified. This demon knows they are done. Game over.
We followers of Jesus don’t always know prophets when they are right in front of us. But evil knows. And evil tries to shut it down.
Evil tries to deport based on arbitrary, moving lines of state and country. And the prophets call us back to the heart of the gospel, a gospel that welcomes the strangers among us, for we were once strangers too.
Evil keeps people bound up in systems that promote poverty, and the prophets call us to actively love our neighbors as ourselves.
Evil allows addictions to flourish, and accuses the addicted of lacking will power. And the prophets keep bringing us back to love.
Evil teaches bias and bigotry, that results in unequal treatment in our criminal justice system. And the prophets call us to the center, over and over and over again. Love. Love. Love.
While we’re simply amazed at Jesus power and authority, evil is trembling in fear. So pay attention to what we know is evil. That evil is showing up in the form of militarism, capitalism and racism.
Here’s something else you need to know about the gospel of Mark. He talks about evil spirits–a lot. Enough to make me feel very uncomfortable. Enough to make me have this inner conversation that sounds something like’’Well, it wasn’t REALLY demons. Maybe it was something else they couldn’t understand or describe, so it was called demon possession instead.”
The Jesus of Mark’s gospel knows that evil is real. Jesus has no trouble identifying and casting out evil. Jesus has no problem being powerful and public about his power in the gospel of Mark. And this seems to be the good news here. Evil, tremble in fear, Jesus is coming for you.
We can all agree that Evil is bad. Evil spirits are bad, even if we may not quite know what Jesus meant when he described them. And we can all agreed that casting out evil is good.
But the thing that is important to remember is that evil serves a purpose. It’s there to protect. It’s there to keep the current order in place. The evil spirits are here in Mark’s gospel, inhabiting bodies, so that the religious folks here know who is bad, and feel good about themselves while remaining only simply amazed by Jesus. They can be amazed, yet unmoved, by this party trick Jesus.
But the evil is more than just inhabiting this body. It has shown up in a religious center. Think about that for a moment. The first evil spirit in Mark is found in the temple, sees and knows Jesus, is terrified by him. Jesus sends this spirit out of the body of a person in the temple, and out of the temple itself. And in doing this, brings people back to the heart of the Torah–Love God, love others. Jesus eliminates the barriers between that person and God. There was no more evil to stop that person from relationship with God. There was no more evil to keep the “good people” from thinking better of themselves than they ought. There’s no more evil in that space for people to say, “Well at least I’m not that guy, who is full of evil.’
This is what makes Jesus so completely dangerous. This is what makes Jesus’ words, teachings, and his very life so much more than a cool party trick. When the demons are cast out, there’s no one to scapegoat. There’s no one to be better than. There’s just you, face to face with yourself, called deeper into God’s urgent reign, with no one standing between you and God.
The Jewish Confirmation students wanted to know how I knew what a prophet looked like. I should probably have brought them this story from Mark. Prophets look like those that call us back to the heart of the gospel. Prophets are those that break down the barriers between us and God. Prophets speak with the power given to them by God.
Of course, Jesus was a prophet and MUCH more. Jesus was also the Savior that the people had been waiting for. But at the time, only evil knew it. Soon, the whole people of God would know that. And they would try to kill him. Because that’s that we do. We kill the messenger and the message.
Pay attention to where evil is trembling, to what these evils in our world are preying on. They are attacking those things that they understand to be good. We have power and authority as followers of the powerful, authoritative Christ, to call out these evils as we see them, to name them for what they are, and to participate in the reign of God by casting them out. Let’s not simply be amazed by the authority of Jesus’ words and teachings, because there are no barriers between us and God. Let’s proclaim the good news–with power. In Christ, we have the power to bring down evil. We have the power. AMEN.