Our Scripture Text this morning comes from the 4th chapter of John, starting with verse 46 and goes through chapter 5 verse 18.  Let us listen for how the spirit is speaking to her church.
John 4:46-5:18
46 He returned to Cana in Galilee where he had turned the water into wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. 47 When he heard that Jesus was coming from Judea to Galilee, he went out to meet him and asked Jesus if he would come and heal his son, for his son was about to die. 48 Jesus said to him, “Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you won’t believe.”
49 The royal official said to him, “Lord, come before my son dies.”
50 Jesus replied, “Go home. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and set out for his home.
51 While he was on his way, his servants were already coming to meet him. They said, “Your son lives!” 52 So he asked them at what time his son had started to get better. And they said, “The fever left him yesterday at about one o’clock in the afternoon.” 53 Then the father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son lives.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus.54 This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did while going from Judea to Galilee.
5 After this there was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 In Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate in the north city wall is a pool with the Aramaic name Bethsaida. It had five covered porches, 3 and a crowd of people who were sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed sat there.[a] 5 A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, knowing that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 The sick man answered him, “Sir,[b] I don’t have anyone who can put me in the water when it is stirred up. When I’m trying to get to it, someone else has gotten in ahead of me.”
8 Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”9 Immediately the man was well, and he picked up his mat and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.
10 The Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It’s the Sabbath; you aren’t allowed to carry your mat.”
11 He answered, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
12 They inquired, “Who is this man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?” 13 The man who had been cured didn’t know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away from the crowd gathered there.
14 Later Jesus found him in the temple and said, “See! You have been made well. Don’t sin anymore in case something worse happens to you.” 15 The man went and proclaimed to the Jewish leaders that Jesus was the man who had made him well.
16 As a result, the Jewish leaders were harassing Jesus, since he had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 Jesus replied, “My Father is still working, and I am working too.” 18 For this reason the Jewish leaders wanted even more to kill him—not only because he was doing away with the Sabbath but also because he called God his own Father, thereby making himself equal with God.
 
Sermon
While there are exciting things to explore in each of the stories the narrative lectionary has given us today, I figure no one (including me) wants to hear me talk that long. One thing of note in today’s reading is the tension between how people respond to Jesus when he is in Jerusalem and how people respond to Jesus outside of Jerusalem. Did you notice that the pharisees upon seeing the sick man walk simply say, “You are breaking sabbath by carrying your mat?” There is some interpretation of Jewish law that you could not bring something from outside your house into the public space on the sabbath and the mat the man carries is presumably something from his private space. Regardless, they don’t say to him, “Hooray! You are healed!” “Hooray! You have been made well.” Instead they scold him for carrying his mat and what’s worse it seems they don’t even recognize that he is the man who for his entire life, for 37 years has stood outside the pools to be healed. They don’t see him.

And what this reminds me of is the story in John from last week. Jesus saw the woman at the well. He saw her, he testified to her truth, and he shared the good news with her. He chose her. One who had no standing in society outside of being in relationship with another, for her that meant five husbands and the man she was currently living with. But when Jesus shares the good news with her, he invites her into the community of faith. He invites her to be a bearer of the gospel, to have a spot in the story, to testify to this encounter. Testimony can only happen in community.

And I think today’s first story points to that. 

The certain royal official has a sick son. In John’s gospel we don’t know if the official was gentile or Jew. It seems not to matter to John. What we know is that a royal official is someone who seemingly has power and access to resources. But his son is sick. His son is dying. And verse 47 says “When the royal official heard that Jesus was coming from Judea to Galilee, he went out to meet him and e-ro-ta Jesus if he would come and heal his son, for his son was about to die. 

Erota.
He doesn’t just ask.
Erota means he beseeches.
He begs Jesus to heal his son.

Because when your son is dying, it doesn’t much matter how much power or how much money you have. You are powerless over life and death.

Jesus says, “Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you won’t believe.”

Now it’s important, I think, to point out that the "you" here is plural. Jesus isn’t just talking to the royal official, saying, unless you see a sign you won’t believe. He’s talking to all of us. “Unless ya’ll see miraculous signs and wonders, ya’ll won’t believe.” It points us to Thomas who doubts later on in John. And to all of us who just want to see in order to believe.

49 The royal official said to him, “Lord, come before my son dies.”
50 Jesus replied, “Go home. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and set out for his home.

Actually, the royal official didn’t have to see to believe. Jesus said it was so and he believed.

But back at home, the servants who are with the dying son notice that he is getting better. So they run out to meet the royal official to tell him the good news. They have no idea of the royal official’s encounter with Jesus. And for all they know, he’s just gotten better on his own. But when the two meet and testify to what has happened, it is only then they understand the true nature of the miracle. Without the other’s testimony, they each only had half the story. 

Remember how in Exodus God provided manna in the dessert? We talked about how miracles are sometimes in the ordinary things of life. And I think today’s scripture is another example of that. There are miracles all around us that we just don’t even know about until we gather together and share or testify to miracle of life. Because life itself is a miracle.

The word witness or testimony appears in John’s gospel 47 times.
Isn’t that astounding?

And I’m convinced that what John is showing us is in his gospel is that whether you are a woman who has almost no standing in society, a powerful royal official with access to all the resources, a sick man who has been cast aside because of a lifetime of illness, Jesus says “you have access to me. Tell the truth about what you see. Testify to the miracles of this life.”

And when we do that, when we share the good news in our communities, people become curious about this Jesus, and want to come to know him on their own.

​So friends, may we be witnesses to the miracles of life. 
In the name of the one who taught us how to live.
Amen.

​Our Scripture Text this morning comes from the 4th chapter of John, verses 1 through 42.  Let us listen for how the spirit is speaking to her church.
John 4:1-42
4 Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was making more disciples and baptizing more than John (2 although Jesus’ disciples were baptizing, not Jesus himself). 3 Therefore, he left Judea and went back to Galilee.
4 Jesus had to go through Samaria. 5 He came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, which was near the land Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from his journey, so he sat down at the well. It was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the city to buy him some food.
9 The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.)
10 Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.”
11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water?12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, get your husband, and come back here.”
17 The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband.”
“You are right to say, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus answered. 18 “You’ve had five husbands, and the man you are with now isn’t your husband. You’ve spoken the truth.”
19 The woman said, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you and your people say that it is necessary to worship in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you and your people will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You and your people worship what you don’t know; we worship what we know because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—and is here!—when true worshippers will worship in spirit and truth. The Father looks for those who worship him this way. 24 God is spirit, and it is necessary to worship God in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will teach everything to us.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I Am—the one who speaks with you.”[a]
27 Just then, Jesus’ disciples arrived and were shocked that he was talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 The woman put down her water jar and went into the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who has told me everything I’ve done! Could this man be the Christ?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to see Jesus.
31 In the meantime the disciples spoke to Jesus, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 Jesus said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
33 The disciples asked each other, “Has someone brought him food?”
34 Jesus said to them, “I am fed by doing the will of the one who sent me and by completing his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘Four more months and then it’s time for harvest’? Look, I tell you: open your eyes and notice that the fields are already ripe for the harvest. 36 Those who harvest are receiving their pay and gathering fruit for eternal life so that those who sow and those who harvest can celebrate together. 37 This is a true saying, that one sows and another harvests. 38 I have sent you to harvest what you didn’t work hard for; others worked hard, and you will share in their hard work.”
39 Many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s word when she testified, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of his word, 42 and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this one is truly the savior of the world.”
 
Sermon
Have you ever met someone or been somewhere, stepped into a place or a conversation, and left feeling known? Left feeling seen? Feeling heard? Left with your heart full, your eyes lifted because of the encounter you just had.
What echos in my head while reading today’s text is Jesus’ response to Nicodemus in the chapter prior to this one: “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you[g] do not receive our testimony.”
 
How often have we heard in the last few years, “we told you, but you didn’t believe us”? 
Whether it’s our children being disproportionally punished or even bullied to the point where they don’t feel safe at school and it falls on the deaf ears of our administrators, teachers and even the ones who are supposed to advocate for them? 
 
Whether it’s the policing of Black and brown bodies in our communities and no one pays attention until something bad happens, like a rapper is beat and it’s caught on video? 
 
Whether it’s the horrors that our siblings who cross our borders are escaping from? 
 
Whether it’s the countless women who won’t report sexual harassment, abuse, or rape because we know the predominant questions won’t be about our care and mental health but if we are telling the truth. 
 
Whether its how we identify. As Gender fluid, nonbinary, trans—our siblings tell us who they are, but family and friends refuse to believe them. Refer to them by their dead name. 
 
Jesus had to go there.
 
John 4:4
4 But he had to go through Samaria.
 
This verb “had” is translated from the Greek edai, meaning “it is necessary.” Saying Jesus had to go there is a theological statement. It’s a fullfillment. A part of God’s plan.
 
Jesus had to go through Samaria to meet that particular woman at the well.
 
There are a lot of stories we Christians tell oursevles about who this woman is. How she’s a prostitue. How she’s full of sin. Full of shame. 
But the story actually says no such thing, and there is nothing about sin or Jesus’ forgiveness mentioned in the text. 
 
Jesus says, “Go get your husband”
The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband.”
“You are right to say, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus answered. 18 “You’ve had five husbands, and the man you are with now isn’t your husband. You’ve spoken the truth.”
Her response? I see you are a prophet. 
 
Sometimes we like to say prophets are people who predict the future, but they aren’t. In the Bible, prophets are people who tell the truth. And Jesus tells the truth of this woman’s life, he names her truth, that she has had five husbands. And we know nothing of why she had five husbands. Maybe they divorced her or maybe she has buried each of them. But he names her truth, the fact that she has five husbands and is living with a man who isn’t her husband, and then shares the gospel with her. 
 
As Jamie Clark Soles writes, “Jesus and this woman have a deep, rich theological debate that allows them to form an intimate connection across real and perceived differences such that the woman receives the first theophany (manifestation of God) in the Gospel of John and then evangelizes her community.”
 
We live in a world that is so intent on dividing us from one another. Whether it’s our politics and religion or literally systems like red lining that try to keep us separated from one another. The woman at the well has bought into it: 9 The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?”
 
The disciples have bought into it: “27Jesus’ disciples arrived and were shocked that he was talking with a woman.”
 
But Jesus just isn’t having any of it. 
 
Jesus sits down at a well, with a woman, a woman who has no standing without the relationship of a man, with a Samaritan, a Samaritan who thinks her community are the chosen people of God and simply says, “I am thirsty.”  
 
He had to go there. To that well. To that particular woman. 
 
And she leaves Jesus and goes back to the city and shares her experince. Testifies to her encounter with Jesus. And they believe her. When she names her truth, they belive and they want to find out more. Her testiemony, leads others to go and see for themselves, which leads to their own testimonies.
 
I think if this passage were a movie, the last shot would be a slow zoom of the woman’s jar. Left empty beside the well. I love that detail John gives us. 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city.”
 
The invitation is for us to do the same. 
 
May we be bold enough to share our story. May we be brave enough to believe other’s.
 
In the name of the creator, sustainer, and redeemer.
Amen.

Lectio Divina:
“Spiritual Reading (lectio divina) is the ancient practice of savoring a text with patient playfulness. This way of reading is alert with expectation that a transforming word of life will make its way from the written narrative of the author to the lived narrative of the reader.” from Weavings Journal 
Lectio Divina has four movements: reading, reflecting, responding, and resting 
Quiet your Soul 
The first step of the lectio is to Be still and invite God to open your heart and mind to understanding. Take a few deep breaths to relax your body and connect your whole being. 
So get comfortable, whether that is sitting up or lying down. A soft focus or eyes closed. Breath in for a count of 4-hold for a count of 4-release for a count of 4-hold for a count of four.
Repeat. 
Be Still and Know that I am God.
Be Still and Know that I am.
Be Still and Know.
Be Still.
Be. 
 
 
1. The first time I read the passage, 
 
* Imagine the passage is letter personally written to you. Listen for a word or phrase that “shimmers,” beckons, addresses you, stirs you, unnerves you, disturbs you, brings up a memory. Linger whenever you are “moved or touched” by a word or phrase.. Repeat it a few times. Allow it sink into your heart and mind. 
 
*Focus on that word or phrase. Repeat it a few times to yourself. Allow it to sink into your heart and mind (ruminatio)
 
Read the passage.  
John 2: 13-22
13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
 
 
*Is there a word or phrase that came up for you? Write it down or hold onto that word or phrase as we move into the second reading. 
 
2. The passage is read aloud another time where we ponder and savor our word.
 
*As you say the word or phrase to yourself is there a feeling or image that arises in you? 
Imagine yourself there. Do images, thoughts, memories come to mind?
Approach this with wonder and curiosity...I wonder what God has in mind...
Ask God to speak to you through this word, and continue to explore, pay attention, and listen for the reply. How does this text speak to my experience?
What is this text saying to me? 
READ THE PASSAGE
John 2: 13-22
13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
 
 
 
* Is there a feeling or image that arose in you? Write that down or hold onto that image or feeling as we move into the third reading.
 
3. The passage is read a final time.
 
*Attend to the way this word/phrase, feeling/image connects with the context and
situation of your life right now. How does it relate to what is happening at home, at work, in your leisure time, in your community, in the world? Has your prayer awakened a desire in you? Hold up feelings, discoveries, joys, and anguish to God (prayers of adoration and confession may occur here). 
Is there an area of your life that needs some attention? Do you sense an invitation to a new action? Perhaps you find you are grateful for something and you wish to express that gratitude.
Whatever you sense do not rush the prayer. Continue to wait and listen as God forms your prayer and desire in your heart. 
 
*We will take an extended time of exploring this connection (which you can do in thought, in your journal, in art, in movement, you can speak it or write it). Continue to listen in silence.
 
READ THE PASSAGE
John 2: 13-22
13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
 
In this final phase of the prayer, the conversation with God draws to a close. 
Having heard a word from God and having expressed your response to that word, you now allow yourself to rest in silence. 
Allow your mind to settle. Become silent, tranquil, at peace with God. Receive God’s Love.
Rest in God’s embrace. 
“Trust and Obey”  https://youtu.be/-g4B-vzNHPw
​

John 1:35-51 (CEB) 
35 The next day John was standing again with two of his disciples.36 When he saw Jesus walking along he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard what he said, and they followed Jesus.
38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he asked, “What are you looking for?”
They said, “Rabbi (which is translated Teacher), where are you staying?”
39 He replied, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon.
40 One of the two disciples who heard what John said and followed Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Christ[a] ). 42 He led him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
43 The next day Jesus wanted to go into Galilee, and he found Philip. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.
45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law and the Prophets: Jesus, Joseph’s son, from Nazareth.”
46 Nathanael responded, “Can anything from Nazareth be good?”
Philip said, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here is a genuine Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.”
49 Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are God’s Son. You are the king of Israel.”
50 Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these! 51 I assure you that you will see heaven open and God’s angels going up to heaven and down to earth on the Human One.”
 
Sermon
Last week the Jewish leaders asked John, “Who are you”? and John pointed to who he wasn’t, and whose sandals he was unfit to tie.  Jesus. This week we focus on the calling of the disciples. What you’ll notice from this passage is that the call narrative of the disciples is very different in John from those of the synoptic gospels. If you recall, in the other gospels, Jesus is the one who actively pursues the disciples, telling them to drop their nets, leave their families, to give it all up and follow him.
Not so much in John. In John’s gospel, the disciples are brought to Jesus by John, by their brothers, and by their friends. And instead of this dramatic choice, come now and leave it all behind, Jesus says, “Come and See.”
 
Just come and see. 
After each encounter. Come and See. And while John can tell us it’s 4:00 in the afternoon, John doesn’t tell us where Jesus lives, or what he and the disciples talk about, or what they even see. It’s as if John says, look I know the details, but where they went, the details of their conversation isn’t important. What’s important, is they were invited to come near to Jesus. And they follow. They are told to see, and throughout John seeing leads to believing. 
 
Remember last year we did Eiphany Star words? I couldn’t really make it all fit into today’s sermon (but if you’d like a Star word for the year, let me know, I”ll be happy to give you one). I’m reminded on this Epiphany Sunday of my first Epiphany Star Word. Mystery. 
It was the word I lived into for a year. Living into the unknown, The unexplainable. 
Much like our faith, our God, even the table, which we’ll celebrate soon together. 
 
We don’t know what they saw. Just that when called, they were in community. Just that when called, they went. That when Jesus asked them to come near, being near to him was life-changing. Enough that they wanted to drastically change the way they lived.
 
And this calling of the disciples in John’s account makes me wonder two things. 
First, when we are called, do we dare take the risk to follow and see? Even, if we might be skeptical like Nathanial? Do we dare risk it? And the second thing it makes me wonder is about our invitation to others to come and see. Do we know what we are inviting them to come and see? Are they seeing the gospel as Jesus intended? 
 
I used to love how we passed the peace at Renaissance pre-pandemic. We played a good song, and we got out of our pews and we hugged and danced and embraced and greeted those who were new, like they were our long lost family. I always hoped if someone walked into our service from off the street, it would be during that part. The part where we loved one another. 
 
What John shows us is that when they come and see, together and in community, they stay. They stay with Jesus. And their lives are changed forever. 
 
In last week’s reading, John says of Jesus in verse 29: “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” The sin. The singular sin. Dr. Robert Williamson says, “Sin as a cosmic brokenness. Jesus takes away the power of brokenness over us.” 
 
I’m not sure what that brokenness looks like for you, I know it’s different for each of us. Maybe it’s loneliness or addiction. Loss or anger. Maybe it’s within your heart, maybe it’s on behalf of others. But all that brokenness, bound in each of us, separates us from one another and the one whom we love. And I while we don’t know what Jesus showed the disciples, what I like to imagine is that it was a glimpse of the kingdom. How in community, when we draw near to the Christ, we draw near to one another. And we are held in our hurt, but the joy in holding that for one another outweighs it, and the joy in knowing that those things don’t have the last word, give us the strength to carry on.  And we get a glimpse of this each time we come to the table. Where we are lifted into the presence of the Christ Child. So friends, “Come and See.”
In the name of the Holy One.
Amen.
-Rev. Tricia Dillon Thomas 

​Sermon Intro:
For several weeks, we have been reading from the prophets, with their concerns and promises for the people in exile, looking for God’s presence and call, in unfamiliar territory. Today we transition from the Hebrew Bible to the New Testament. From now through Easter we will be reading from the Gospel According to John, which was written between 90-100 CE to a community struggling with how to differentiate themselves in an increasingly hostile environment, as they no longer fit into most of synagogue life but were also threatening to the Roman Empire. Each of the four gospels has a unique perspective as they tell the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Whereas last year in our study of Luke, who was always just ahead of Jesus, looking back like an historian, we might think of John as looking at Jesus from above, from a cosmic perspective, seeing a big picture rather than small immediate details. We’ll hear this from the very beginning, as the gospel opens with an overture that, just like a musical overture, hints at the themes that are to come. I am reading from chapter 1, beginning at verse 1 through verse 18, from the Common English Bible Version.[1]
Scripture: John 1:1-18
1 In the beginning was the Word
    and the Word was with God
    and the Word was God.
2 The Word was with God in the beginning.
3 Everything came into being through the Word,
    and without the Word
    nothing came into being.
What came into being
4     through the Word was life,[a] 
    and the life was the light for all people.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness doesn’t extinguish the light.
6 A man named John was sent from God. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him everyone would believe in the light. 8 He himself wasn’t the light, but his mission was to testify concerning the light.
9 The true light that shines on all people
    was coming into the world.
10 The light was in the world,
    and the world came into being through the light,
        but the world didn’t recognize the light.
11 The light came to his own people,
    and his own people didn’t welcome him.
12 But those who did welcome him,
        those who believed in his name,
    he authorized to become God’s children,
13         born not from blood
        nor from human desire or passion,
        but born from God.
14 The Word became flesh
    and made his home among us.
We have seen his glory,
    glory like that of a father’s only son,
        full of grace and truth.
15 John testified about him, crying out, “This is the one of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than me because he existed before me.’”
16 From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace;
17     as the Law was given through Moses,
    so grace and truth came into being through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God.
    God the only Son,
        who is at the Father’s side,
        has made God known.
 
This is the Word of our Lord. Thanks be to God.
 
Sermon
 
What do you think of, when you hear this first verse of John? 
In the beginning was the Word
    and the Word was with God
    and the Word was God.
 
Genesis? In the beginning. But not just that first verse. Throughout this passage (images of light and dark) it’s clear John, who has a Jewish background, is pointing us back, reminding us of the Hebrew scriptures, reminding us of our story, of who we are and whose we are.
 
Simultaneously, what we might not pick up on, is that John was also a Hellenistic thinker.  And so while John uses that first verse to point Jews to the creation story,  Dr. Robert Williamson notes the logos, or the Word, in stoic philosophy  was understood as the organizing principal of the cosmos. It is the principal by which the whole world is held together.” So John as a Hellenistic thinker with a Jewish background is connecting both to Jesus. In the beginning was the WORD. This Jesus who we are going to see incarnate is fundamental to all these things.[2] To our faith and our thought.
 
One of the things I find beautiful and hopeful in this passage is how darkness and light are tensed. I’ll have to read it to you from the NRSV translation as the CEB messes this up, but hear this:
Verse five: 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
 
Do you hear that awkwardness? Hear it again. In grammar speak, we’d say that was unparallel.  
 
Verbs about darkness are past tense. Verbs about light are all present tense.
 
There was a time when darkness was a threat. There was time when we lived despair and without hope. 
But that time is no more. 
The Word that became flesh changed that reality. 
Changed the threat of darkness into oblivion. Into something that is no longer present. THAT is of the past. 
 
This new thing, this new thing that has been here from the beginning, wipes away darkness. It is the light. 
 
And our job, John tells us, is to testify to the light.
 
Advent, is about preparation. But we would be remiss if we thought it was preparing only for the birth of the Christ Child. You see, Advent is also about preparing for his return. It’s a different type of waiting. It’s waiting in hope and with a sense of joy of what has already been done.
 
What I think John wants us to ask ourselves, about this incarnate God who is ruler of the cosmos and has been with us from the beginning-The GOD of Abraham, and Moses, what John wants us to ask is how are we waiting? 
 
In which kingdom do we stand? The kingdom of Caesar, the empire, the principalities and powers, the system, “the man” who thinks it is ultimate and self-created, or do we stand firmly, waiting in the Kingdom of God. 
 
Of a God, John tells us who was here from the beginning.
Of a God, John tells us, whose own people didn’t recognize him and rejected him.
Of a God, John tells us, who has the authority to redefine what it means to be a child of God. Not by wealth nor by blood or lineage, but by faith alone.
Of a God, John tells us, who fully emptied, was made vulnerable, in order to dwell among us. 
 
In which kingdom will you stand?
 
From his fullness we have all received grace upon grace;
17     as the Law was given through Moses,
    so grace and truth came into being through Jesus Christ.


Grace and truth.
 
This is HOW we wait.
In grace and in truth.
Grace without truth is a meaningless life.
Truth without grace, is binary and absolute.
 
Grace and truth held together, came into being through Jesus Christ. 
 
And that’s how we testify to the light. As approach the longest night of the year, that’s how we testify to the light.
 
At this time of year there is a celebration of light in the Jewish tradition. There is a midrash, a Jewish story about creation.
 
When Adam on the day of his creation saw the sun sinking in the sky before him, he said, “Woe is me! Because I acted offensively, the world is darkening for me and is about to return to darkness and desolation—indeed, this is the death that Heaven has decreed for me.” So he sat down to fast and to weep throughout the night, while Eve wept beside him. But when the dawn began slowly rising like a column, he said, “Such is the way of nature,” and then proceeded to offer up a bullock.[3]
 
 Rabbi Amy Robertson shares, “when Adam sees the sun going down at the end of the day and it gets very dark, he thinks the world is ending. He thinks, this is it. This is the end of creation. Of course the sun comes up in the morning. The darkness was overcome. And Adam realizes not only that that wasn’t the end of the world, but that his sins were not really that powerful. It wasn’t his actions that caused darkness in the first place, but it’s also not his actions that are causing light.”[4]
 
Ellie Wiesel has a quote related to this midrash. God gave Adam a secret. And that secret was not how to begin, but how to begin again. 
 
And so friends, as we move through these longest days of the year, where the sun sets early and rises late, may we do so standing in the kingdom of God. Remembering who we are and whose we are, and that all from the beginning to the end is God’s. And may we testify in the darkness to the light, to the light of the one who came to dwell among us. May we testify in truth and in grace.
 
In the name of the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,
Amen.


[1] From Terri Petterson (my congregation is used to me talking about the gospels' perspectives as they tell the story of Jesus: Mark from right beside Jesus, practically hand in hand, close in to the details and action; Matthew from behind, looking at Jesus through the lens of the OT; Luke from just ahead, looking back like a historian; John from above, seeing how the cosmic picture all comes together.)
 

[2] Dr. Robert Williamson, BibleWorm Podcast for December 19, 2021.

[3] https://www.jtsa.edu/torah/adams-fear-of-a-darkening-world/

[4] Rabbi Amy Robertson, BibleWorm Podcast for Dec 19, 2021.

Scripture: Ezekiel 37: 1-14
37 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath[a] to enter you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath[b] in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath:[c] Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath,[d] and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
11 Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14 I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”
​
SERMON
When I was in seminary, we had to do a project on a prophet, and because of where I was located at the time, in the midst of deep grief over an ectopic pregnancy and the breaking up of an important friendship, I was drawn to this particular passage in Ezekiel. And the perfect representation of the text, for me, was a windchime made of bones. 
 
And so, I ordered ribs from a food truck and too sick to eat, I delivered them to a friend, who as directed, ate and returned the bones to me. I went to the Dekalb Farmer’s Market and ordered a cow femur, that they chopped in half. From the local craft store I bought sinew thread, and as the bones boiled on my stove I cut the sinew which I eventually tied into the drilled bones to create the chime. 
 
There aren’t a lot of places to hang a windchime made of bones.
 
Yet, it has followed me in every move, to four different houses. I’ve never been able to throw it out. For me it’s a reminder of the Ruah, of the spirit and breath of God that moves through us, that gathers us back together, that calls us by name, that restores us. It is hope.
 
Ezekiel was both a prophet and priest. A contemporary of Jeremiah, but who, after the fall of Israel to Bablyon was marched into the diaspaora. Who witnessed the brutalization of his community, who saw his temple destroyed, who lost land, career, language, lifestyle, and quite possibly his faith. 
 
And I imagine the question he asked and was being asked as both priest and prophet, was where is God.
 
I love the image of the hand of God literally picking Ezekiel up and taking him to the valley. God brings him to this place. A place where bones maybe even a shallow grave of his community lies. God takes him here, God takes him to the edge and God asks him perhaps the question those of stuck in despair and suffering need to be asked. The question that cuts to the chase of it all, 
Can these bones come to life?
 
The obvious answer is no. 
No. Dead bones can’t come back to life. 
And there seems to be an emphasis on the dryness of these bones. They are dead dead.
 
But just short of answering no, which is ultimate devastation, right, to admit to our God that we don’t think there is a way for these bones to walk again, that nothing can be made out of this brokenness, Ezekiel instead answers, Only you know God.
 
Only you know God.
 
It’s not quite hopeful, but it’s also not hopeless. 
 
God says, Ezekiel, prophesy to these bones.
 
 M. Craig Barnes writes in his article “Resurrected Hopes”:
 
 
How foolish this must have looked. The Lords prophet, standing in the middle of a pile of dead bones, is telling them not to give up hope. If I was Ezekiel, I would have gently suggested that the Lord first bring these bones back to life, and then I’ll do a little preaching. "See," I’d say, "See what God can do?" But that is not the way of God, who calls us to believe without seeing. That is because the Lord’s words always make room for hope. And it is the hope that brings us back to life. Hope rises up from our bones, and chooses to believe in spite of how it is.
 
I’ve hung my bone chime up in multiple locations, and do you know not once, did the chime begin to immediately sing. How often do we wait? Wait for the wind? Wait for the ruah? Wait for the Spirit? But we wait because we know it will come again. And it is here. And it will come again. And it is here.
 
The bones stacked themselves up on top of one another. Sinew and muscle came together, flesh formed and held it all in and then, the breath of God breathed. And like I imagine back in Genesis with the creation story, the breath of life brought those bones back to life. 
 
Ezekiel prophesied. And God promised. 
 
A place is made for you. I have not forsaken you. I am your God, You are my people. 
 
Look. We are back in our space today and I am so aware of who is not with us. Giles died right before we closed. His spot is empty. Del isn’t sitting beside Ruth wearing that beautiful buttery leather jacket. Mary Thomas wrapped in her blanket. Her spot is empty. And before I realized how we were doing communion, I wondered who was going to hold the basket for our used cups since Phyliss isn’t here to do it. We’ve had such immense loss just within the confines of this space. 
 
It’s not so hard to imagine how Ezekial might have been feeling. How the people of Israel were feeling. Desperate. Alone. Scared. Despondant. Angry.
 
We have been shook up.  a pandemic, job loss, school shootings, natural disaster, etc., etc. 
 
And I don’t know what God has in store for us. I do not. But like Ruth who expressed it in a moment during Bible study, I am confident there is a plan. And that, for me, is hope.
 
Today we lit the Advent candle for peace. Did you know that in Greek, peace means “to be joined together”? And the Hebrew word for peace is wholeness? I love that. I love that these ancient understandings of peace were rooted in the unity of the God’s body. Of the community. 
 
God could have done all the work of putting those bones back together, but God didn’t. He used Ezekiel. 
 
As Joanna Harader writes[1], 
There is a need for human voices to speak the words of God to people in despair: “I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live.”
There is a need for us to speak hope into places of desolation, to speak life into places of death.
A need for us to remember—and to remind each other—that God’s holy wind is all around.
And it will come again. And it is here. And it will come again. And it is here.
 
In the name of the creator, redeemer, sustainer,
Amen.


[1] https://spaciousfaith.com/old-testament-texts/ezekiel-371-14-2017/

​Lectio Divina:
“Spiritual Reading (lectio divina) is the ancient practice of savoring a text with patient playfulness. This way of reading is alert with expectation that a transforming word of life will make its way from the written narrative of the author to the lived narrative of the reader.” from Weavings Journal 
Lectio Divina has four movements: reading, reflecting, responding, and resting 
Quiet your Soul 
The first step of the lectio is to Be still and invite God to open your heart and mind to understanding. Take a few deep breaths to relax your body and connect your whole being. 
So get comfortable, whether that is sitting up or lying down. A soft focus or eyes closed. Breath in for a count of 4-hold for a count of 4-release for a count of 4-hold for a count of four.
Repeat. 
Be Still and Know that I am God.
Be Still and Know that I am.
Be Still and Know.
Be Still.
Be. 
 
 
1. The first time I read the passage, 
 
*Listen for a word or phrase that “shimmers,” beckons, addresses you, stirs you, unnerves you, disturbs you, brings up a memory. Linger whenever you are “moved or touched” by a word or phrase.. Repeat it a few times. Allow it sink into your heart and mind. 
 
*Focus on that word or phrase. Repeat it a few times to yourself. Allow it to sink into your heart and mind (ruminatio)
 
Read the passage.  
Isaiah 9: 2-6
The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness--
    on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation,
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with joy at the harvest,
    as people exult when dividing plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden,
    and the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor,
    you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
    and all the garments rolled in blood
    shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
    and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 
 
*Is there a word or phrase that came up for you? Write it down or hold onto that word or phrase as we move into the second reading. 
 
2. The passage is read aloud another time where we ponder and savor our word.
 
*As you say the word or phrase to yourself is there a feeling or image that arises in you? 
Do images, thoughts, memories come to mind?
Approach this with wonder and curiosity...I wonder what God has in mind...
Ask God to speak to you through this word, and continue to explore, pay attention, and listen for the reply. How does this text speak to my experience?
What is this text saying to me? 
READ THE PASSAGE
Isaiah 9: 2-6
The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness--
    on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation,
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with joy at the harvest,
    as people exult when dividing plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden,
    and the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor,
    you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
    and all the garments rolled in blood
    shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
    and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 
 
 
* Is there a feeling or image that arose in you? Write that down or hold onto that image or feeling as we move into the third reading.
 
3. The passage is read a final time.
 
*Attend to the way this word/phrase, feeling/image connects with the context and
situation of your life right now. How does it relate to what is happening at home, at work, in your leisure time, in your community, in the world? Has your prayer awakened a desire in you? Hold up feelings, discoveries, joys, and anguish to God (prayers of adoration and confession may occur here). 
Is there an area of your life that needs some attention? Do you sense an invitation to a new action? Perhaps you find you are grateful for something and you wish to express that gratitude.
Whatever you sense do not rush the prayer. Continue to wait and listen as God forms your prayer and desire in your heart. 
 
*We will take an extended time of exploring this connection (which you can do in thought, in your journal, in art, in movement, you can speak it or write it). Continue to listen in silence.
 
Isaiah 9: 2-6
The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness--
    on them light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation,
    you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
    as with joy at the harvest,
    as people exult when dividing plunder.
4 For the yoke of their burden,
    and the bar across their shoulders,
    the rod of their oppressor,
    you have broken as on the day of Midian.
5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors
    and all the garments rolled in blood
    shall be burned as fuel for the fire.
6 For a child has been born for us,
    a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
    and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 
 
In this final phase of the prayer, the conversation with God draws to a close. 
Having heard a word from God and having expressed your response to that word, you now allow yourself to rest in silence. 
Allow your mind to settle. Become silent, tranquil, at peace with God. Receive God’s Love.
Rest in God’s embrace. 

Reading & Proclaiming the Word
"Last week we heard about Solomon building the Temple in Jerusalem. Unfortunately, the conscripted labor for the Temple, Solomon’s political alliances through multiple marriages, and the inequality between the palace and the people meant that after Solomon’s 40 year reign ended, the succession was in a bit of disarray, and split into the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Today’s story takes place during the reign of Ahab, who was the seventh king of the northern kingdom. Ahab did not follow God’s word. In addition, he married a princess from a foreign nation, who brought with her the religious, cultural, political, and economic traditions of her own upbringing. Her name was Jezebel. 
The prophet Elijah, in an attempt to bring Ahab and Jezebel to faithfulness, declared there would be no rain in Israel until they repented and turned to God’s way. He then went to stay with a foreign widow and her son, promising that her jar of flour and oil would never run out, and even healing her son when he fell ill. In the third year of this drought, Elijah had a standoff with the royal court prophets. They and Elijah each set up a sacrifice on top of Mount Carmel, with the wood and the animal ready, and then called on their respective gods to send the fire. Baal did not answer, but God did, in a spectacular way, and everyone declared “the Lord is God.” Elijah, however, took that as an opportunity to have all the court prophets killed. We pick up the story that night in the royal palace, as the king reports to the queen all that happened on the mountain, in 1 Kings chapter 19. I am reading from the Common English Version. Let us hear how the Spirit is speaking to her Church" (From Terri Peterson, BibleWorm Liturgy).
 
         Scripture Reading: 1Kings 19: 1-18 
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, how he had killed all Baal’s prophets with the sword. 2 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this message: “May the gods do whatever they want to me if by this time tomorrow I haven’t made your life like the life of one of them.”
3 Elijah was terrified. He got up and ran for his life. He arrived at Beer-sheba in Judah and left his assistant there. 4 He himself went farther on into the desert a day’s journey. He finally sat down under a solitary broom bush. He longed for his own death: “It’s more than enough, Lord! Take my life because I’m no better than my ancestors.” 5 He lay down and slept under the solitary broom bush.
Then suddenly a messenger tapped him and said to him, “Get up! Eat something!” 6 Elijah opened his eyes and saw flatbread baked on glowing coals and a jar of water right by his head. He ate and drank, and then went back to sleep. 7 The Lord’s messenger returned a second time and tapped him. “Get up!” the messenger said. “Eat something, because you have a difficult road ahead of you.” 8 Elijah got up, ate and drank, and went refreshed by that food for forty days and nights until he arrived at Horeb, God’s mountain. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
The Lord’s word came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?”
10 Elijah replied, “I’ve been very passionate for the Lord God of heavenly forces because the Israelites have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars, and they have murdered your prophets with the sword. I’m the only one left, and now they want to take my life too!”
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand at the mountain before the Lord. The Lord is passing by.” A very strong wind tore through the mountains and broke apart the stones before the Lord. But the Lord wasn’t in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake. But the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake, there was a fire. But the Lord wasn’t in the fire. After the fire, there was a sound. Thin. Quiet. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his coat. He went out and stood at the cave’s entrance. A voice came to him and said, “Why are you here, Elijah?”
14 He said, “I’ve been very passionate for the Lord God of heavenly forces because the Israelites have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars, and they have murdered your prophets with the sword. I’m the only one left, and now they want to take my life too.”
15 The Lord said to him, “Go back through the desert to Damascus and anoint Hazael as king of Aram. 16 Also anoint Jehu, Nimshi’s son, as king of Israel; and anoint Elisha from Abel-meholah, Shaphat’s son, to succeed you as prophet. 17 Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill. Whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 But I have preserved those who remain in Israel, totaling seven thousand—all those whose knees haven’t bowed down to Baal and whose mouths haven’t kissed him.”
 
This is the Word of our Lord. Thanks be to God.
Elijah is so messy in this story, isn’t he? But it’s kind of one of things I really like about it. Here’s where I totally get Elijah.  I have been known to live in my head a little. I dream up these big ideas, maybe get a little carried away, try them out, and sometimes they just backfire. And I feel like this is what happnens to Elijah. 
“What are you doing, Elijah?” God asks. 
And Elijah says, ““I’ve been very passionate for the Lord God of heavenly forces because the Israelites have abandoned your covenant. They have torn down your altars, and they have murdered your prophets with the sword. And I’m just trying to show them who’s who and all.”
And it was awesome, right? And so dramatic. Elijah is all like, “Call on your god.” Do it again. And again. And it’s such theater, and of course their god doesn’t answer, and then the Lord, sends down fire and verse 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
It was good right? 
But then Elijah takes things a little too far, and ends up murdering all of Jezebel’s prophets. And because of this, Elijah is now in hiding.
I have this image of Elijah fleeing into the wilderness because he just wanted to die, not knowing where he was headed. Almost like a desperate teenager just trying to get away. And God shows up in the middle of this random place and says, “Here I am, Elijah.” I am with you. Here is some substance, the simple bread and water for the journey. And then God shows Elijah, who has just done some really big God things, that  and then a reminder of who God is. That yes God is the creator of the cosmos and of the really big things, but God is also in the silence. In the stillness. In the thin quiet.
It seems fitting on All Saints Sunday that we’d take the time to notice a God in the silence. 
One of my favorite poems from when I was in 9th grade is a poem called “Silence” by Edgar Lee Masters. It’s a longer poem, so I’m not going to share it today, but it names those poignant moments of life that are often captured in silence. 
In the text for today God reminds us that God is right there in the midst. 
In the silence of the flight of a butterfly. 
In the silence of a snow storm. Or the silence that fills a hospital room. 
In silence of the forest. Or the silence of a friend’s arm that wraps us in a hug. 
In the silence of loneliness. And the silence of hope.
There is God.
In the name of the one who promises to never forsake us, to pursue us even to the caves when we run, Amen.
Amen. 

-Rev. Tricia Dillon Thomas

​“Last week we heard about God calling Moses from the burning bush — telling him to go back to Egypt and convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go free from slavery. Moses and Aaron went, and pharaoh was obstinate, so God sent plagues in hopes of breaking open Pharaoh’s hardened heart. Each plague caused suffering among Egyptians and their land and livestock, but did not affect the Israelites. Sadly, Pharaoh’s response was to oppress the Israelites even more. By the time of the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn, the Egyptians had had enough and let the Israelites go. The whole people traveled as fast as they could to the shores of the Red Sea, where God parted the waters and brought them across on dry land and the Egyptian army was defeated. After a few days, the people began to worry about water as the only water they’d found was bitter and undrinkable, and God gave Moses a tree whose wood turned the water sweet. We pick up the story about six weeks later, in the book of Exodus, chapter 16.”[1] I am reading from the Common English Bible. Let us listen for how the Spirit is speaking to her church:
 
“The whole Israelite community set out from Eleem and came to the Seen desert, which is located between Eleem and Sinai. They set out on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt. 2 The whole Israelite community complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert. 3 The Israelites said to them, “Oh, how we wish that the Lord had just put us to death while we were still in the land of Egypt. There we could sit by the pots cooking meat and eat our fill of bread. Instead, you’ve brought us out into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I’m going to make bread rain down from the sky for you. The people will go out each day and gather just enough for that day. In this way, I’ll test them to see whether or not they follow my Instruction. 5 On the sixth day, when they measure out what they have collected, it will be twice as much as they collected on other days.” 
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 7 And in the morning you will see the Lord’s glorious presence, because your complaints against the Lord have been heard. Who are we? Why blame us?” 8 Moses continued, “The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning because the Lord heard the complaints you made against him. Who are we? Your complaints aren’t against us but against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole Israelite community, ‘Come near to the Lord, because he’s heard your complaints.’”10 As Aaron spoke to the whole Israelite community, they turned to look toward the desert, and just then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
11 The Lord spoke to Moses, 12 “I’ve heard the complaints of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat. And in the morning you will have your fill of bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”
13 In the evening a flock of quail flew down and covered the camp. And in the morning there was a layer of dew all around the camp.14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the desert surface were thin flakes, as thin as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” They didn’t know what it was.
Moses said to them, “This is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Collect as much of it as each of you can eat, one omer per person. You may collect for the number of people in your household.’” 17 The Israelites did as Moses said, some collecting more, some less. 18 But when they measured it out by the omer, the ones who had collected more had nothing left over, and the ones who had collected less had no shortage. Everyone collected just as much as they could eat.”
This is the word of our Lord. Thanks be to God.
 
It doesn’t escape me that the scripture which falls on the Sunday I preach at Northminster has a history and context of food insecurity. I told Laura that if by Sunday, the sermon didn’t seem to have anywhere that naturally allowed me to talk about the ministry of Hope House, the Presbyterian campus ministry at UTC of which you all support, then I would do a little something about Hope house during the announcements, but wow! Unnecessary. Right?
 
For those that don’t know, I’m the executive director and campus minster of Hope House which is a ministry of Presbytery of East Tennessee at UTC. We have an old Victorian house built in 1903 by the Hope Family that sits right on the edge of campus near the old mayor’s mansion. Our mission: Making God known by modeling the radical hospitality of Jesus Christ, looks like a variety of things depending on the season and the students, but our primary ministry over the last few years has been around the issue of food insecurity among college campuses. Every Tuesday we serve, or actually, members of churches like Northminster serve a hot meal to students, but every other day we always have food available for free for students to eat if they are hungry. Our refrigerator is always full with tea and lemonade, our coffee house with all the things you might find in a coffee house available for students if they thirst.
 
I know what some of you are thinking, how could someone afford to go to college but not afford food? And here is the best explanation I can give: We all know that children can’t learn if their basic human needs aren’t met, right. So some of you perhaps have helped collect canned goods or donated money that helps feed kids over the weekends or in the summer. And due in part to help from the community as well as their own hard work, these kids have done really well. Our programs were successful. They have stayed in school, graduated with good grades. Some have decided that a high school education isn’t enough for them. They have been told they can do anything, if they put their mind to it, and so they’ve earned the grades to get them into college. Some have academic or Hope scholarships that have paid for their tuition, but rarely does the reality at home change from when they were little. The struggle to study with an empty belly is still a reality. Unfortunately all federal funding dries up to support hungry students when they graduate from high school, so many are left having to choose between buying books and eating. Or worse, they just can’t make it without extra support and drop out. This is the story, we’re told, at least by our students. That if hadn’t been for our ministry, where we provide free access to food, and a variety of resources like computers, printers, even a washer and drawer, they wouldn’t have made it. They would have dropped out.
 
 
 
And so when I hear about the Israelites complaining to Moses and Aaron about their empty bellies, about how life was so much better under an oppressive regime, I can’t help but make the jump to our students, who I know have also thought about giving up. Going back. And I have compassion on them. On the Israelites. 
 
Even though they were under occupation, they can remember those days fondly because it least it was consistent. And the memories of fear are perhaps pushed aside by memories of as the scripture says, “we could sit by the pots cooking meat and eat our fill of bread.” And this unknown, this freedom of being in the dessert, where the provisions from the journey have run out is scary. And they want to go back. Because they knew what to expect in Egypt, but in the dessert, with a leader they’re not too sure about? That’s risky.
 
God hears their complaint and responds with such grace. I mean God has delivered them out of 400 years of bondage, held back a whole sea while they passed through it, but instead of being angry at their complaints, God simply provides their needs. And Moses is quick. Quick to say, it’s not us. It’s God. God has done these things. Maybe a little because he’s like, it’s not me you should be mad at, but also because, hey, remember who is with you. It’s not me, it’s God. The one who sent all those plagues and brought you out to here, to what’s promised next. 
 
These are people living with generational trauma. Remember Moses wasn’t even supposed to be alive. He was rescued from the genocide that I imagine most others around his age succumbed to. And they’ve left everything they know to follow Moses, who is kind of an outsider since he was raised in Pharoah’s house. 
 
Almost every time I’ve read this passage, I’ve thought, “How could they forget?”: What they left? 
What they experienced? 
The constant terror?
 
I’ve thought “they are just so ungrateful and forgetful.” But when I read this passage this week, in the midst of a pandemic and so much death, I don’t know, it strikes me that maybe it’s not a lack of gratitude that’s the issue. Maybe the issue is that when you have been pulled out of an abusive situation the unknown, even an unknown housed in liberation, is frightening. You can’t control it. You can’t predict it. And so there is something really beautiful about God just listening and responding and providing. For years, providing, 40 years providing. 
 
It was pointed out to me that the people didn’t know God was going to provide every day. God told Moses the long plan, but to the people God instructed Moses to say, “At twilight you will eat meat. And in the morning you will have your fill of bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”
Not too much information at once. Very simple. The next days meals are taken care of. This is who I am. Or who I will be. I will be who I will be.
 
But the people also have to learn how to live in this new reality. Under Pharoah they were taught to hoard to survive. In God’s freedom, there is a new way of living and being in community. 
 
I don’t have much experience with trauma informed therapy, but a colleague who does, SiriAnna Strommen says, “It's a trauma response to hoard, because you can't trust to be taken care of. So by [God] creating a structure and system that went day by day, the Hebrew people were encouraged to address their trauma and move through it.”
 
I kind of love the long game here. Just gather enough for today God says. And so after the morning dew has dissipated, the Israelites wake and gather enough. And those that gather too much, God makes sure it evens out. And those, for whatever reason can’t gather enough, maybe they’re tired, or were up all night studying, God makes sure their cup is also filled. 
 
The most beautiful part of this passage is verse 10. Hear this: “And in the morning you will see the Lord’s glorious presence, because your complaints against the Lord have been heard.”
 
First, your suffering was heard and mattered and was acknowledged by God, the creator of the cosmos. This mighty God cares about your cries. Second, though, is that they are promised they will see the Lord’s glorious presence. The glory of the Lord came in the cloud soon after, but the text reads, in the morning. And it’s in the morning, that after the dew evaporates, there is manna. Could it be that God’s glorious presence is the manna that arrives every morning? God’s glory is in the mundane every day of daily bread?
 
Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And I think there is indeed something glorious about a God who will provide enough for today against the traumatic and oppressive economic system of Pharoah the Israelites just fled where food was stored up and stockpiled. The economic system of God is one where in community there is enough. For today.
 
And for 40 years they lived this lesson. There’s an invitation in here for those who are hungry, like some of my students at Hope. God hears your cries and the God who responded to the traumatized Israelites in the dessert is the same God who responds to those who suffer today. God’s intention and purpose is for your liberation so that you can be free to love God and serve and love one another.[2]Hunger is not what God ordains. God has provided enough.
 
I think there is also invitation in here for those who have enough. That is to trust there is enough for today and the next day instead of creating new Egypts over and over. But I think it is to also to testify to the miracle of enough. The glorious presence was in the cloud and in the ladders going between heaven and earth, but it was also in the manna, in the miracle of enough. May we be witnesses and stewards of that. Amen. 


[1] Rev. Terri Peterson from BibleWorm Liturgy

[2] https://spaciousfaith.com/old-testament-texts/exodus-161-21-in-the-wilderness/?fbclid=IwAR2QZ1cNsxY5SPG9KZDbdOPaRH7J5BoCGEYseJCGY-Ppi0VplfRrIerxkN8
 

"After the creation story we heard last week, the story moves quickly along through the drama of the first sibling rivalry between Cain and Abel, to the earth’s population booming and trying to come together to become like gods and build a tower to heaven, to the flood and Noah’s family and the animals floating in the ark, to the reality that violence can never stop violence, and so God commits to another path and offers the rainbow as a sign of that promise. And then we meet Abram, whom God calls to leave his family and familiar surroundings and go out into a new-to-him land. Abram and Sarai pack up and go, trusting God to guide them and to provide what they most want: children. It’s a long journey through foreign lands, different tribes and towns and difficulties and adventures, but through it all two things are constant: God promises to make their descendants more numerous than the stars, and also Abraham and Sarah have no children. Today we hear about that promise finally being fulfilled, when Sarah and Abraham were in their 90s! 
 
A couple of years after their son Isaac is born, however, jealousy flared between Sarah and the slavegirl Hagar, who had previously borne a son to Abraham, named Ishmael. Sarah and Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away, throwing them out of the house to fend for themselves in the desert. When their food and water ran out, Hagar left Ishmael alone and travelled on until she couldn’t see or hear him, so she would not have to see him die. Both of them cried out, and God heard them and opened Hagar’s eyes to see a well, providing just what they needed to go on, so that Ishmael too would carry his part of God’s promise to his father Abraham, to be a great nation." 
I am reading today from the Contemporary English Bible as we hear the first few verses of Genesis chapter 21, and then continue in chapter 22.[1]
Let us hear how the Spirit is speaking to her church.
 
The Lord was attentive to Sarah just as he had said, and the Lord carried out just what he had promised her. 2 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son for Abraham when he was old, at the very time God had told him. 3 Abraham named his son—the one Sarah bore him—Isaac.
 
After these events, God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”
Abraham answered, “I’m here.”
2 God said, “Take your son, your only son whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him up as an entirely burned offering there on one of the mountains that I will show you.” 3 Abraham got up early in the morning, harnessed his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, together with his son Isaac. He split the wood for the entirely burned offering, set out, and went to the place God had described to him.
4 On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place at a distance.5 Abraham said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will walk up there, worship, and then come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the entirely burned offering and laid it on his son Isaac. He took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?”
Abraham said, “I’m here, my son.”
Isaac said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the entirely burned offering?”
8 Abraham said, “The lamb for the entirely burned offering? God will see to it,[a] my son.” The two of them walked on together.
9 They arrived at the place God had described to him. Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He tied up his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. 11 But the Lord’s messenger called out to Abraham from heaven, “Abraham? Abraham?”
Abraham said, “I’m here.”
12 The messenger said, “Don’t stretch out your hand against the young man, and don’t do anything to him. I now know that you revere God and didn’t hold back your son, your only son, from me.” 13 Abraham looked up and saw a single ram[b] caught by its horns in the dense underbrush. Abraham went over, took the ram, and offered it as an entirely burned offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham named that place “the Lord sees.”[c] That is the reason people today say, “On this mountain the Lord is seen.”
This is the word of our Lord. 
Thanks be to God.
 
This is such an incredibly complex and hard story. Full stop. 
For one so fraught with emotion, we get nothing of the thoughts or emotions of Abraham or Isaac. What was going through their heads during that hike? At what point did Isaac figure how what was happening? When he was bound? When he asked where the sacrifice was? Before they started their journey? Was Abraham actually going to go thru with the sacrifice? Was he actually even faithful? His knife was up, but he was rescued by God’s angels before we know if the knife fell forward into Isaac or dropped limply to his side unable to do what God asked. 
I have largely ignored this passage. It’s too messy. I’m not touching that one. But I found out that this story, the binding of Isaac, is read at Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year and there is a depth of insight from our Jewish siblings that has kicked out the walls and the box for which I held this passage in. It’s become a little more dimensional. Or in the least has helped me ask better questions. 
We are told in the beginning of chapter 21 that the Lord was attentive to Sarah and she bore the child  God promised. I love the intimacy of that phrase, God “was attentive to” Sarah. God paid attention to her. Sarah delivers the child who is named Isaac which is translated as laughter, remember how Sarah laughed when she was told she would have a baby at 90? And then our lectionary jumps to the beginning of chapter 22, which reads, “After these events, God tested Abraham.” After what events? We talked a little about this during our Bible study, but something seems to have happened between chapter 21 and 22, “some events” that causes God to need to test Abraham.
And so we journey with father and son to the mountain. That intimacy I loved between God and Sarah, I see that thread in this journey as well between Abraham and Isaac. This is something I never paid attention to before. The phrase Abraham says to God, when God calls on him is, Hinneni. Here I am.God said to him, “Abraham!”
Abraham answered, “Here am I.” It’s more than just a “present.” Hinneni is a radical presence. It means I’m ready to do the thing you’re about to ask before really knowing what you’re volunteering for. It’s a connection to who is doing the calling. 
So when God calls Abraham, and Abraham responds “Hinneni” Abraham is fully present and willing to do what God calls him to do.
 
 
6 Abraham took the wood for the entirely burned offering and laid it on his son Isaac. He took the fire and the knife in his hand, and the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?”
Abraham said, “I’m here, my son.” 
Isaac said, “Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the entirely burned offering?”
8 Abraham said, “The lamb for the entirely burned offering? God will see to it,[a] my son.” The two of them walked on together.
 
Two times in these 3 verses, it says, “the two of them walked on together.” The two of them walked Yadaw. In oneness. And though the text is absent of words from Abraham and Isaac about the situation they find themselves in, the Hebrew is very clear they are in this together. Yadaw. Abraham has not separated from Isaac. Yadaw. There is in this crucible together. 
Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?”
Abraham said, “I’m here, my son.” 
My father? Hinneni, Abraham responds.
 
Just as Abraham was fully present and committed to God, Abraham is fully present and committed to Isaac. That was surprising to me. That a person like Abraham a biblical hero would be equally committed to both in his presence. And those commitments are in tension with one another. But it humanizes the story and Abraham, too. That I can relate to. That simple phrase, “Hinneni” tells us Abraham is radically present to his son. Fully committed to his son. 
 
And that I can relate to. To be fully committed to my faith, and to be fully committed to someone. There are a myriad of stories both biblical and present day that would have us choose one over the other. It could be argued, Jesus chose his commitment to people over his commitment to the institution. We can look at our churches and how they have excluded people we love, whether it’s around LGBTQ+ identity and ordination and marriage, or if it’s the long history of segregation and racism, or even as simple as accessibility for those who have disabilities. This text doesn’t really resolve that tension, but it shows that Abraham stayed fully present to both God and his child. And that’s something.
 
As Abraham’s hand is raised with knife over his son, the angels call, “Abraham, Abraham” and Abraham answers for the third time in this passage, “Hinneni.” 
“Don’t stretch out your hand against the young man, and don’t do anything to him. I now know that you revere God and didn’t hold back your son, your only son, from me.”
 
Despite doctrines we profess about the omniscience of God, the all knowingness of God, this verse offers a counter to that. “I now know.” That God put Abraham to a test and didn’t really know what Abraham would do. 
We actually don’t know if Abraham was faithful. As the podcasters in Bibleworm say, “If it was a game a chicken, God flinched first” and stopped Abraham from having to choose. 
But there is a way in which God has changed in this passage. As Rev. Dr. Bobby Williamson says: This is a text about God coming to understand in a different way what it means to be in a covenented relationship with certain people versus God reigning sovereign. Everything is different now. God could have destroyed. God could have allowed Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, but the covenant would be null and void. What we see in this passage is a God who has yielded sovereignty to blessing. 
 
It means we have a God who is both sovereign and deeply gracious to us. At the end of the day, God’s graciousness wins out. [2] God chooses us. And that is indeed a good word.
 
In the name of the creator, redeemer, and sustainer. Amen.

​-Rev. Tricia Dillon Thomas


[1] Teri Peterson.

[2] Bibleworm podcast for Gen 21 and 22

​Living in the Moment
This summer series called the “Forgotten Books” is borrowed from the BibleWorm podcast and the book by the same name from Dr. Robert Williamson. This 10-week series focuses on the five festival scrolls, spending 2 weeks on each scroll or book. Each of the “forgotten books” which are very important to Jewish life, read during Jewish festivals, for Christians, they are mainly forgotten or not preached or taught about. Ecclesiastes is the scroll read for Sukkot or Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, “is an agricultural festival that originally was considered a thanksgiving for the fruit harvest. Sukkot are hut-like structures that the Jews lived in during the 40 years of travel through the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. As a temporary dwelling, the sukkah also represents the fact that all existence is fragile, and therefore Sukkot is a time to appreciate the shelter of our homes and our bodies”[1]which are temporary, right?
 
The Hebrew Bible is broken into 3 parts: The Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. Each of the books we are reading during this series are considered part of “the writings”. The writings contain miscellaneous content. Ecclesiastes is considered Wisdom Writing. Meaning, if we look at the traditions and theology or truths gleaned from the Torah and the prophets and apply them to our current context, do those understandings make sense? Or as is asked in the book of Job: 
’Where shall wisdom be found?’ “Humanity does not know the way to it. It is hidden from the eyes of all living things, God understands the way to it” (Job 28:12, 21, 23).[2]
So the wisdom writings often say, “this is what our tradition has said, but this is what I see. So how do we move forward? How do we live? What is our hope? What is the purpose of our life? And I want to say off the bat, we don’t have to agree where the book of Ecclesiastes ends up. Many don’t. As Dr. Williamson says, “I’m grateful the book of Ecclesiastes is in the Bible, but I’m also grateful it’s not the only book in the Bible.”
Ecclesiastes is the Latin translation of the Hebrew word Qohelet. So, you’ll hear those words used interchangeably, but it means “teacher.” Before we read today’s passage, I want to make the argument that Solomon is not in fact Qohelet or the teacher. For 1) we believe Solomon’s reign, who was the last King of Israel before it was divided into the northern and southern kingdoms was around 970-930 BCE, and scholars don’t believe Ecclesiastes was written until between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE. Therefore, the world looked much different when Ecclesiastes was written from Solomon’s reign. Under Solomon the people lived under Deuteronomic law, Torah Law and now there has been the diaspora and possible destruction of the temple, which introduces living under occupation with international influence and the idea of good behavior being awarded by God and bad behavior being punished by God is challenged. And that makes sense if we locate this text after Solomon. Qohelet is asking do these old ways of knowing and being jive with what we see around us.
Now if your recall last week’s text made clear a couple of things:

1. Every thing dies. There is no denying that and in the end we never win this rat race, there is never any progress or profit. Everything is hevel/ or vapor it doesn’t last forever.
2. There is a system that God has created that we will never be able to understand nor have access to, and instead of spinning our days miserable trying to reach this end goal, perhaps we reconsider this notion of how do we use our gifts or talents to make progress to how do we enjoy the talents we have been given.

And these same themes continue into our passage for today Ecclesiastes 1:4-11 and 8: 16-9:10. 
Ecclesiastes 1:4-11:
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
    but the earth remains as it always has.
5 The sun rises, the sun sets;
    it returns panting to the place where it dawns.
6 The wind blows to the south,
    goes around to the north;
    around and around blows the wind;
    the wind returns to its rounds again.
7 All streams flow to the sea,
    but the sea is never full;
    to the place where the rivers flow,
    there they continue to flow.


8 All words[a] are tiring;
    no one is able to speak.
    The eye isn’t satisfied with seeing,
    neither is the ear filled up by hearing.
9 Whatever has happened—that’s what will happen again;
    whatever has occurred—that’s what will occur again.
There’s nothing new under the sun. 10 People may say about something: “Look at this! It’s new!” But it was already around for ages before us. 11 There’s no remembrance of things in the past, nor of things to come in the future. Neither will there be any remembrance among those who come along in the future.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11
There’s a season for everything
    and a time for every matter under the heavens:
2     a time for giving birth and a time for dying,
    a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted,
3     a time for killing and a time for healing,
    a time for tearing down and a time for building up,
4     a time for crying and a time for laughing,
    a time for mourning and a time for dancing,
5     a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,
    a time for embracing and a time for avoiding embraces,
6     a time for searching and a time for losing,
    a time for keeping and a time for throwing away,
7     a time for tearing and a time for repairing,
    a time for keeping silent and a time for speaking,
8     a time for loving and a time for hating,
    a time for war and a time for peace.
Hard work9 What do workers gain from all their hard work? 10 I have observed the task that God has given human beings. 11 God has made everything fitting in its time, but has also placed eternity in their hearts, without enabling them to discover what God has done from beginning to end.
 
Is it really true there is nothing new under the sun? I mean when we listen to the song or study that most famous part of Qohelet is that what we know? Nothing is new?
This idea of hevel is present here as well. This metaphor that the world is vaporous, it’s transient, it doesn’t add up to anything.
Not even generations last forever.
Qohelet looks around and says in chapter verse 5: “The sun rises. The sun sets. IT returns panting to the place where it dawns.” Even the sun, nature, is exhausted. It’s not making progress. 
But the question, I think Qohelet points us to, is this: “it’s not pointless that the sun is not profitable.” If we think of life in terms of sustaining what is present, isn’t that good? Nature is exhausted, sometimes we are exhausted. Think of the young mother who is nursing a baby around the clock, or a husband nursing his sick wife through the hours and days until she gets her final rest. It’s not profitable. We haven’t gained anything at the end. But if the sun stops rising, the winds stop blowing, the rains stop falling, the world ceases to exist as it us. 
Sometimes we are so eager to get through our list of chores, we just want to be done. The ultimate goal for many of us is being done, so that we can rest, but there is a sense in which we are never done. It’s when we put this goal out in front of us that we get weary. 
Are we living exhausted and wedded to this idea of profit and progress or are we living in the midst of life?
 
In chapter 3, that most famous of part of the book, Qohelet talks about seasons of life. I think mistakenly some read this passage as justifying that we can do whatever we want. There’s a danger in that. Oh, there are seasons of war, so let’s start a war. Instead, there is a sense, here, that all of these experiences are what make us fully and wholly human. It’s observational not justifiable.  
 
This passage of seasons is fourteen examples of living: 7 x 2: That seven, biblicaly, just like the 7 days of creation, usually represents wholeness. 
 
We don’t pick these seasons, but they come to us. That this is the full continuum of experiences that happen in life. 
 
If we locate ourselves with Qohelet as I suggested before, after the falling of the monarchy of living by Torah, of foreignness and unknowing, and no predictability, like there is in our lives, there is something beautiful here. 
 
There is a space for it all. There is space for wailing. There is space for grieving. And anger. Don’t deny yourselves that.
 
It is the range of human experience, but the sum total of that experience (the adding up), if you add this up, it adds up to zero, to nothing. They cancel each other out. The joy and the tears. They all cancel each other out. Seven minus seven is zero. There is nothing new under the sun. 
There is no linear progress, we are not going to make a net effort. But that’s Qohelet’s point. It’s only nothing if we try to add it up. When we ask the question, what does it add up to, what do our lives add up to, what is our legacy, we erase the beauty of the whole thing.
Harvest festival is in the fall, it’s a celebration, where people build hut like structures, and dwell and eat food and are in the hut as much as possible. Inherently in the celebration of Sukkot, you celebrate the moment that you’re in. If you had a great bounty that’s wonderful, but it has a time stamp on it. And even if it is a great harvest, you still have to do it again next year. The work continues. There is an inherit vulnerability about it. You could have a good harvest or bad harvest regardless of your efforts. 
Instead of life being this linear goal, Qohelet affirms that we are moving between these poles of joy and grief, living and suffering. We’ll never achieve permanent happiness, but we will also not live in permanent mourning. 
 
The beauty here, is if you are in a time of mourning, mourn. There will be dancing again. 
 
And if you are in a time of dancing, then dance. Don’t worry about when the music stops but hear it and lift your eyes and see it. When it’s time to dance, be present to it. Live it. All of it. 
In the name of the Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer. Amen.


[1] https://toriavey.com/what-is-sukkot/

[2] https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/biblical-wisdom-literature/

​As many of you know, instead of following the Reformed Common Lectionary, a 3-year rotation of scriptures that include a psalm, OT and NT reading, and gospel, Renaissance follows the Narrative Lectionary-a 4-year rotation of readings that seek to tell the story of God’s people starting with the OT in the fall and NT in the winter and Spring. I love the focus on story. God’s story. The people’s story. Our story. What I don’t love about the NL is that except for Christmas, it doesn’t follow the liturgical calendar. So on a day like today, Ascension Sunday, the scripture doesn’t tell the ascension narrative. But after Wednesday’s Bible study where we dug deep into the scripture for today, I can see how it comes full circle. 
Ascension Day (which is actually a Thursday) commemorates the bodily ascension of Jesus into heaven after walking the earth for 40 days following his resurrection. It celebrates that Jesus, God Incarnate, who in human form was born for us, lived for us and died for us, who was resurrected for us, now sits in heaven on the right hand of the Creator, advocating for us, praying for us, reining in power over us. And what does that mean for us?
Let’s first hear from today’s scripture, Luke 1:68-79 but I’m backing it up a little just to give us the full context of the story.
Scripture Reading   Luke 1:57-79
57 When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a boy. 58 Her neighbors and relatives celebrated with her because they had heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy.59 On the eighth day, it came time to circumcise the child. They wanted to name him Zechariah because that was his father’s name. 60 But his mother replied, “No, his name will be John.”
61 They said to her, “None of your relatives have that name.”62 Then they began gesturing to his father to see what he wanted to call him.
63 After asking for a tablet, he surprised everyone by writing, “His name is John.” 64 At that moment, Zechariah was able to speak again, and he began praising God.
65 All their neighbors were filled with awe, and everyone throughout the Judean highlands talked about what had happened. 66 All who heard about this considered it carefully. They said, “What then will this child be?” Indeed, the Lord’s power was with him.
67 John’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,
68 “Bless the Lord God of Israel
    because he has come to help and has delivered his people.
69 He has raised up a mighty savior for us in his servant David’s house,
70     just as he said through the mouths of his holy prophets long ago.


71 He has brought salvation from our enemies
    and from the power of all those who hate us.
72 He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
    and remembered his holy covenant,
73         the solemn pledge he made to our ancestor Abraham.
He has granted 74 that we would be rescued
        from the power of our enemies
    so that we could serve him without fear,
75         in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,
            for as long as we live.
76 You, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High,
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way.
77 You will tell his people how to be saved
    through the forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of our God’s deep compassion,
    the dawn from heaven will break upon us,
79     to give light to those who are sitting in darkness
    and in the shadow of death,
        to guide us on the path of peace.”
 
This is the Word of our Lord.
       Thanks be to God.
 
The first question Phyllis asked us during our Bible study was this: “How would you raise a child like John?”
We talked about John’s role of preparing the way of the Lord. Of the symbolism of wilderness. We talked about the Holy Spirit. How it was in Zechariah to announce the ministry of John and how it came to the people after Jesus’ ascension. 
 
But the question I kept coming back to was Phyllis’s: If you were Zechariah, how would you raise a child like John?
I can’t help but think of John’s death. 
Executed by the state. Beheaded for proclaiming that there is one that is mightier. For announcing that these powers are destructible and weak. But the one who is coming is all powerful.
 
Did Zechariah know or could he predict that this son of us, whose announcement rendered him mute until he affirmed the work of the Holy by naming him John, did he know? 
I think he did. And maybe that’s why he protested in the beginning. 
 
Remember who Zechariah was. A priest in the middle of occupied territory. A Jew of authority seeking to be faithful, leading others, comforting those oppressed and hungry for justice, when putting no idol before God meant you already weren’t bowing to Caesar. 
Yeah, I think he knew what was in store for John. And I think that’s why the first time he opens his mouth in months his message is one of liberation:
68 “Bless the Lord God of Israel
    because he has come to help and has delivered his people.”
 
How would you raise a child like John?
 
I’d want to shelter him and protect him. I’d want to hide him from God. 
 
I wonder if he pulled from the depths of his tradition. Remembering. He had months of silence to think and pray. 
Did he pull on the story of Hannah, who had also been barren, taunted for it, but who gives what she’s prayed for the most, her child, Samuel, back to God when he is weaned from the breast.
Did Zechariah call on the psalms of the people who had been waiting for liberation. Who were hungry and thirsty? Who were desperate. And who testified to God’s deliverance?
 
71 He has brought salvation from our enemies [Zechariah proclaims]
    and from the power of all those who hate us.
72 He has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors”
 
Zechariah the priest preaches: 
He has granted 74 that we would be rescued
        from the power of our enemies
    so that we could serve him without fear,
75         in holiness and righteousness in God’s eyes,
            for as long as we live.”
 
Zechariah, who heard the cries of his people, preached liberation from oppression.
And He set John free to do the work of God.
 
And so Jesus was born, and baptized by John, and began his ministry to set the captives free. And he too was executed by the state for daring to proclaim a message that turned power on its head, who said the reign of God is more powerful than any Caesar. 
But the powers didn’t bury him, he couldn’t be shackled and broke the chains that tried to bind him. And rose from the dead. 
And ascended into heaven. 
 
The question remains, though, what does that mean for us?
For those of us still here on this earth fighting for liberation, seeking justice, ministering to the poor, those in prison, the widow and the orphan? The refugee and the immigrant. The abused and addicted. 
 
[1]There is a story in the works of Abba Sayah. Admittedly it’s a pretty shaky story when it comes to reality but there is no doubt whatsoever that it’s true. 
As the gospels tell us, after forty days of resurrection appearances, Jesus knew it was time to leave his disciples – his mother, his brothers and sisters, all his companions in the Way. It was hard to say goodbye, but he knew that the time had come. After all, he was the Truth and we humans can only take so much of that. 
So, Jesus called them all together on the mountain top, and made his farewells. It was a tearful moment. Mary was crying. John was crying. Jesus was crying. Even Peter, the immovable rock, was reaching for his handkerchief. 
They knew that Jesus had said he would always be with them. But they also knew it wasn't going to be the same. There would be no more breakfasts by the seashore, no more late-night discussions around the campfire, no more unexpected jugs of wine…and so they wept.
Jesus was sad too, but he was glad to be returning to his Father, and he knew it was all part of the plan. And so, he began to ascend. 
As Abba Sayah told the story, as Jesus began to rise, slowly and gracefully into the air, John just couldn't bear it. He grabbed hold of Jesus' right leg and refused to let go.
"John?" said Jesus “What are you doing?”
And John shouted back, 
"If you won't stay with us, then I'm coming too." 
Jesus calmly continued to rise, hoping that John would let go. But he didn’t. And then, to make matters worse, Mary suddenly jumped up and grabbed hold of Jesus' other leg. 
"I'm coming too," she shouted. 
By now, Jesus’ big exit had obviously been ruined, but he looked up into heaven, and called out: 
"Okay, Father... what do I do now?" And a voice came out of the clouds, deep and loud like the rumbling of thunder in the distance. 
"Ascend!" the voice said.
"Ascend?" Jesus asked
"Ascend!" the voice replied.
So, Jesus continued to rise through the air, with John and Mary holding on until they too were lifted off the ground. But the other disciples couldn’t bear to be left behind either, so they too jumped on board…and within moments there was this pyramid of people hanging in the middle of the sky. Jesus at the top. John and Mary next. The other apostles hanging on below. Quite a sight, if anyone had been watching...
And then - what was this? Suddenly all kinds of people were appearing out of nowhere…friends and neighbors from around Galilee, people who’d heard Jesus’ stories, people whom he had healed, people who just knew that he was something special…Young and old, - men, women, children, Jews and Gentiles…a huge crowd – and they too refused to be left behind…So, they made a grab for the last pair of ankles and hung on for dear life. One way and another there was quite a kerfuffle -people squealing “Wait for me” -then startled yelps as they felt themselves seized by the ankle -and above it all the voice of God calling out, “Ascend!" 
But all of a sudden, from the bottom of the pyramid, there came the voice of a small child. 
"Wait!” he shrilled, “I've lost my dog! Wait for me” 
"I can't wait," Jesus called back, "I don't know how this thing works."
But the little boy wasn't going to be left behind, and he was determined his dog was coming with him. So, still holding on with one hand, he grabbed hold of a tree with the other, and held on with all his might. 
For a moment, the whole pyramid stopped dead in the air - Jesus pulling upwards, and the little boy holding on to the tree, scanning the horizon for his lost dog. But Jesus couldn't stop. The ascension had begun, and God was pulling him back up to heaven. 
At first it looked as if the tree would uproot itself. But then the tree held on, and it started to pull the ground up with it. Sort of like when you pull a rug up in the middle, the soil itself started moving up into the sky. And hundreds of miles away, where the soil met the oceans, the oceans held on. And where the oceans met the shores, the shores held on. All of it held on, like there was no tomorrow. 
Jesus DID ascend to heaven, He went back to his natural habitat, living permanently in the presence of God’s endless love and care and wholeness and laughter. But, as Abba Sayah tells it, he pulled all of creation – the whole kit and caboodle – everything that ever was or is or ever will be – he pulled it all up into heaven with him. 
There's a sense in which we can think about the Ascension as “Christmas backwards”. At Christmas, we concentrate on Jesus coming to earth to transform us with the presence of God. At Ascension, we focus instead on Jesus taking earth back with him into heaven…
Whichever way you look at it, the work of Jesus was to transform us and the world we live in by infusing everything with the presence of God. Heaven meets earth; earth is drawn into heaven. 
That’s where we've been ever since.”
 
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Mother of us all. Amen.


[1] https://thevicarofhogsmeade.blogspot.com/2011/06/story-for-ascension.html?fbclid=IwAR2sbrV4NIDba9ckZGVIdZJPlaUaOfVy2VR1ZfcCSSlHprZaCztefDe_sbA
http://goodinparts.blogspot.com/2016/05/
 

The Hope Road Show: We want to come see you!

On the weekend of March 3 rd , staff and students of Hope House were treated to an especially unique service at Northminster Presbyterian. It was “Broadway Sunday” and there were certainly some showstopping moments of worship. The choir gave a stellar performance to go with some fantastic instrumentation, and this celebration of joyful Christianity tied in perfectly with the message brought by Hope House team member Josiah Vacheresse.

Vacheresse shared that Hope House is seeking to serve 10,000 meals in 2019. Though Northminster has been steadfast in their support of Hope House for years, the congregation was invited to participate in a new initiative for the ministry; the radical hospitality fund. They responded with incredible generosity. In all, over $4,300 was pledged to the fulfilment of Hope House’s mission; making God known by modeling the radical hospitality of Jesus Christ. This amount is equivalent to the cost of over 1,000 meals! The staff, board and students at Hope House were elated at this incredible level of giving and the resources it will provide for our ministry.

Despite these incredible results, the Hope Road Show is just getting started! If you would be open to having the Hope House present at your service and fellowship with your church community, please give us a call at 423-507-3803. Our next stops are New Hope Presbyterian and First Cumberland Presbyterian in Chattanooga. Why not put your church on the calendar? One weekend can change lives!

Hope House’s journey to the college conference to Montreat, NC titled “Beyond Babel” was a success with 12 students in attendance. Our students joined a gathering of predominantly Presbyterian (USA) Christians from various parts of the country who were dedicated to strengthening race relations within amid the current adverse climate our country is harboring. This retreat was highlighted by very motivational speakers, like Valarie Kaur and Rev. Dr. Betty Deas Clark, who touched the crowd in ways that were unexpected. For the Hope House, this conference gave many of us voice that we didn’t recognize we had, or if we did, were reluctant to exercise it.

​Participating in critical discussions and workshops and then discussing the impact it had on us afterwards piggybacked on our lock-in experience in December. I not only feel like perspectives changed, but also attitudes toward the current state of America and towards each other. The energy in this conference was overall positive and optimistic. Not solely because someone had a great speech or that one of the workshops was super fun, but the altogether effort of so many to gain a thorough understanding of different points of view was a beautiful sight, even breathtaking.

Our students led calls to worship and interpretive dances on the same stage Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once spoke on. Being present to witness and be a part of even more history was one of the most rewarding parts about this conference. I saw my friends take steps that took incredible amounts of courage and even was able to glimpse into their future selves in their attitudes at this conference. Rev. Paul Roberts Sr. gave wonderful sermons shining light on many important points on what it means to be black in America but also the importance of realizing the ultimate truth, that we are all God’s children. I am proud to have been a part of this conference with the great people who attended it with me. We made new friends and became acquainted with very dedicated and knowledgeable people who saw the potential our students and ministry possess.

Getting to meet other college students from across the country was a privilege, especially being able to witness those with immense talent during the talent show on Wednesday night. We were also able to meet UKirk Knoxville, UKirk Nashville, and Maryville for a fun evening of dancing and snacks. I was impressed and humbled to see and interact so many ministries furthering such an important call of understanding and improvement of both ourselves, our communities and our nation.
-Spencer Lim

​

Wanted to repost an article I wrote for the Herald Tribune (Sarasota, FL) on the 10th anniversary of 9-11. I still find truth in this answer to why we remember and how we remember an event like 9-11. 

My husband and I were living in a small fishing town in Alaska on 9/11/01. Because our home was on a separate island, we boated in to work every day. Upon arriving at the docks on that particular morning, we found fishermen gathered around a radio. Gathering around a radio was such an unlikely thing for fishermen to do. We knew something was amiss.
I was two months pregnant with my firstborn when those planes crashed into the Twin Towers. After watching videos repeatedly played on TV of burning buildings vaporizing into dust and sane people jumping to their deaths, it was hard to think of anything else than to what kind of world I was delivering my child. What were our lives going to be like? Should we move back home to the southeast and live closer to family? Was my child going to know the freedom of playing in the backyard with tadpoles and fireflies, or would we be too afraid to let him outside?
So it came as quite a surprise when the other morning, as I drove my now 9 year-old to school, he talked about 9/11 like I would talk about the American Revolution, one piece in the tapestry of American history. The tragedy of that day was so explicably tied to my womb. 
How did he not know he was such a huge piece of the larger narrative for our little family?


It makes me wonder, though. Why would I want him to know anything more? Isn’t knowing that people hijacked planes to kill themselves and thousands of others enough? Doesn’t he feel freer to play in the backyard and catch tadpoles and fireflies because he hasn’t been saturated in the horrid details, scared of what might happen next?
We each have our own 9/11 memories. A number of us were actual witnesses to the tragedy. Others lost family members and friends. There are even some in this town [Sarasota, FL] who were sitting at the knees of the President when he first heard the news. For many of us our lives have never been the same.


There’s a story in the Hebrew Bible about remembering. After the nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan River, God asked Joshua to gather 12 men from each tribe.
Each of these men was to go back to the middle of the Jordan River, pick up a stone, and carry it on his shoulder. 
“The stones will serve as a reminder to you. In days to come, your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Tell them that the Lord cut off the flow of water in the Jordan River. Tell them its water stopped flowing when the ark of the covenant of the Lord went across. The stones will always remind the Israelites of what happened there” (Joshua 4).
What did happen there? After years wandering in the desert, what did God want Israel to never forget?
                       It was that the living God was among them. The living God didn’t leave their side.


On this 10th anniversary of 9/11, we will do a lot of remembering. Some of our memories will be the replay of what took place that day. Some of our memories will be how our lives were forever changed. As a mother to young children who will hear about the tragedy of 9/11 over and over again, I hope what they hear is that in the midst of that terrible day, and in the midst of the months and years that have followed, God was among us. The living God never left our side. As a person of faith I know it’s my job to share that narrative as the pervading one.
May we never forget. May we never forget the display of sacrificial love as men and women risked their lives for others. May we never forget how people suddenly had compassion for one another, quelling tendencies to be quick to anger with expressions of love. May we never forget how we gathered in communities, in our synagogues, churches, mosques and other places of worship and refused to let evil and destruction have the last word, but instead put our hope and trust in God. May we never forget, so that when our children ask what happened, we can recall a day where God was indeed among us, that the living God never left us, and that the living God will never leave our side.



Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2011/09/10/3483052/ten-years-later-why-remember-911.html#storylink=cpy


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