Your Faith Journey - Finding God Through Words, Song and Praise

This has been an interesting week in our household

My two boys are enrolled in One Wild Life Learning Community for school

They began this school group last year and continue this year

This week their two teachers have been home recovering from covid

All of the kids have remained healthy, and I’ve had an up-close opportunity to observe their learning this week

One Wild Life promotes student-led

And place-based modes of learning

One Wild Life uplifts and respects the kids’ ideas

One Wild Life focuses on discovering and cultivating one’s passion

This week I’ve had seven kids age 9 – 14 continuing their learning in my basement

They connect with their teachers on zoom a few times per day

But mostly, amazingly, they are the drivers of their learning

I’ve served as the adult upstairs if I’m needed,

But I’m not

Except as a privileged witness to this incredible community

Little gems drift up from the basement throughout my day

Celebrations like “We’re so smart!”

Support like “Oh, here, I can help with that!”

And words of encouragement like “Don’t worry, you got this!”

Warm my heart

I’m stunned by the silence of these kids working diligently on the next step along their learning path

As I continue my own learning in my Masters of Divinity program upstairs

I’m in awe of the parallel between their self-driven learning and mine

They are young

They are so very capable

They can do hard things

They are empowered to learn…  and grow…  and thrive…

Outside of the traditional systems and structures of authority      \         \

It’s within this heartwarming week that I reflect on today’s Gospel encounter between Jesus and Pilate

This encounter is all about

Authority    \         \         Identity       \         \         and Power \                   \

Brene Brown deeply explores dynamics of power in Dare to Lead

She distinguishes between

Power over – which is quite a traditional hierarchical top-down power dynamic

And Power with – which is collective power, power that is empathy-driven and shared

Power-with is collaborative

Power-with leadership looks like service to others

One Wild Life Learning Community is an in-my-face example of power-with this week

This empowerment didn’t occur just on Monday as the kids gathered independently

This empowerment has been cultivated throughout their time together,

with the teachers creating space and releasing control to the kids

growing their confidence in their ability to drive their own learning        \         \

As I engage the Gospel and consider Jesus Christ the King

I observe that God is a power-with God

God refuses to participate in power-over dynamics

God denies that power is finite, and promotes power shared with all

God will not use fear as a tool to exercise power-over others

God refuses violence to achieve power

Let’s explore the context of this Gospel reading and identify how power is used

This encounter occurs in the time just preceding the Jewish Passover

The Jewish leaders, specifically the high priestly authorities Annas and Caiaphas,

have Jesus arrested and questioned about his teaching – exerting power over Jesus

Jesus responds that he’s done everything in public,

And questions the intent behind this arrest and interrogation – an attempt to balance power between them

The nearby police strike him in the face – reinforcing the power-over dynamic between the high priest and Jesus

Jesus is then taken from the high priests to Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea

Pilate’s there, in Jerusalem, to keep Roman order during the time of Jewish Passover

Pilate is not Jewish, but a gentile

This collaboration between the Jewish authorities and the Roman governor builds power over Jesus

This next interaction is fascinating

There has been much cultural tension between the Jewish authorities and the gentile Roman rulers as they vie for power over one another

Pilate initially responds that the Jewish authorities should take care of their own business

and judge Jesus according to Jewish law, however,

Roman rulers didn’t allow Jewish authorities to carry out death penalties

And so the Jewish authorities submit to Roman rule by requesting Pilate’s support

This seems to further Roman leadership’s power-over Jewish leadership as they acknowledge Pilate’s authority

Through Pilate’s dealing with Jesus, the Jews recognize the Roman emperor as their king

Can you feel the tension within this power struggle?

This brings us to the scene we hear about today where Pilate questions Jesus

The hierarchy of power-over kingship is interwoven throughout this entire story,

From the arrest of Jesus by the Jewish authorities

Through the questioning by the high priest

To turning Jesus over to the governor, Pilate

And now Pilate’s questioning of Jesus

The Roman rulers didn’t necessarily think of Jesus as a threat as he compassionately went around healing and preaching throughout the region.

But now the leaders within Jesus own religious group are alarmed

They find his behavior – and perhaps his power – out of the ordinary

This alarms the Roman empire because they’re afraid of the Jewish God

Jesus was perceived as a threat by the empire because

his ministry served as a sign of God’s inbreaking kingdom

God’s action within the world had a reputation,

and God’s kingdom didn’t side with power-over empire dynamics

God’s power is with the marginalized and strangers of the land who are oppressed by the system

Remember what happened with Pharoah and Moses in Egypt?

So King Herod and Governor Pilate worried about the thinness of their thread of power-over the people

They worried about the end of their ability to oppress and exploit people within their kingdom

They feared a time when the nobodies could rise up in power against them

This is the context of Pilate’s question:  “Are you the King of the Jews?”

And Jesus the Christ’s response:

“If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.” (Jn 18:36)

Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world

Jesus followers don’t, and will not, fight

What kind of a king is this?

Jesus embodies the power of God that refuses power-over others

even others like Pilate, Herod and the high priests

Jesus the Christ is the kind of king that ushers in a different power dynamic

A power dynamic that is out of this world

A power that is with and for abundant life for all

“For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” (Jn 18:37)

Jesus indicates that the incarnation is about to culminate within this time and space

The next question that Pilate asks is the question that remains for us:

“What is truth?” (Jn 18:38)

The truth is:

The power of God’s presence within humankind is about to be revealed through Jesus the Christ

This is a collaborative power that flows within and through all of God’s creation

The truth is

Within creation God designed humankind to not be alone

The truth is

God breathes power into creation through the Holy Spirit to co-create with God

The truth is

We worship God who chose to be enfleshed in human skin

As Jesus is headed toward crucifixion

The truth is

that the God we worship takes all of this authoritarian power

From the Jewish authorities

From the Roman empire

Into God’s self

God transforms and re-creates this power-over

Through the resurrection

Into power-with

The truth is

that Jesus the Christ, resurrected and made new

breathes into us, God’s followers,

This collaborative power of the Holy Spirit        \         \

And sometimes the truth is too much to grasp

Sometimes the truth overwhelms

Sometimes the truth is diminished by the reality that we continue to live within a power-over society

Sometimes we forget the power we have

And I think back to the precious words that have drifted up from my basement this week

From these kids living One Wild Life

“Oh, here, I can help with that!”

“We’re so smart!”

“Don’t worry, you got this!”

And I am encouraged…

With Jesus as our teacher we are empowered

We are so very capable

We can do hard things

The Holy Spirit is with us as we learn…  and grow…  and thrive…

As we participate in, work toward, and even demand power-with systems

This is our inheritance,

This is our call

Amen.

Today’s gospel reading from Mark is guaranteed to raise one’s heart rate a bit as Jesus begins to tell the disciples about signs of the end of the age. This entire chapter in Mark's gospel is called the little apocalypse because it falls into the genre of apocalyptic writing. Apocalyptic literature was a special kind of writing that was very popular during Jesus’ lifetime and in the early church. What “apocalyptic” means is to pull back the veil, to reveal what one might call the underbelly of reality. It uses hyperbolic images like stars falling from the sky, the moon turning to blood, and violent future earthquakes. The closest comparable literature in contemporary 21st century writing would possibly be science fiction, where suddenly you’re placed in an utterly different world, where what you used to call “normal” doesn’t apply anymore. So, as you listen to today’s gospel reading you need to understand it is meant to shock. It is also very important to note, the purpose of apocalyptic literature is not to foretell the future as some fundamentalists would have you believe. No, the purpose of apocalyptic literature is to encourage faithfulness and patience in the present time, in present challenges. In fact, one commentator, when talking about apocalyptic literature, writes, "The premium of discipleship is placed not on predicting the future but on faithfulness in the present, especially in trials, adversity, and suffering."  This is precisely what the thirteenth chapter of Mark is about. It is also important to look at the last words of today’s reading. After Jesus mentions frightening things that will take place, he says, “This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”  Birth pangs bring forth new life. Apocalypse is for the sake of birth, not death. Yet most of us have heard this reading as a threat. It is not a threat. Apocalyptic writing is about hope. It is writing that suggests falling apart is for the sake of renewal, not punishment.

Apocalyptic writing reframes reality in a radical way by flipping our imagination. I love the way Richard Rohr talks about apocalyptic writing. He says:

We would have done history a great favor if we would have understood apocalyptic literature. It’s not meant to strike fear in us as much as a radical rearrangement. It’s not the end of the world. It’s the end of worlds—our worlds [including our little individual worlds] that we have created. In the book of Revelation (also called the Apocalypse, or Revelation to John), John is trying to describe what it feels like when everything falls apart. It’s not a threat. It’s an invitation to depth. It’s what it takes to wake people up to the real, to the lasting, to what matters.

So, with that in mind, let’s look at our reading from Mark. The

disciple's comment about the greatness or size of the temple is quite ironic because it comes right after Jesus praises a widow who gave the smallest of coins to the temple. Right there we can discover that what is great and what is small in God's kingdom are probably not the same as in our kingdoms. Then, leaving the Temple for the last time, Jesus takes the disciples to the Mount of Olives which is opposite from the Temple. Perhaps the separation of Jesus and his disciples from the temple can also symbolize that the "place where God dwells" is now in Jesus and his Word rather than in the building. He then proceeds to share apocalyptic words, the words we see in today’s gospel reading. And, he shares these words as everything truly is about to fall apart for the disciples, as he himself faces betrayal, trial, and crucifixion within a matter of days.

Responding to a comment on how magnificent the Temple was, Jesus looks past the building to a time when the Temple would be destroyed. Indeed, the Temple was to be destroyed within a generation of Jesus speaking these words. And, by the time Mark wrote these words which are part of the first written gospel, the Jewish revolt had taken place and the Temple had been destroyed. Anyway, Jesus takes the disciples on a verbal journey to the end times, the end of worlds that are always before us. He focuses on symbols and events that will show the end time is about to happen. But the reason Jesus tells the disciples these things is not so they could pinpoint a date. It is not to give them a head start so they can get their affairs in order. The point Jesus was making was to watch out, be awake, be prepared, and persevere during the struggles that are to come.

Now, quite honestly, the early Christians truly believed that the end was near. Yet, within a decade or two, nearly all the twelve disciples would be dead, most of them having died as martyrs. Within a generation, persecution would seek to destroy the Church, even as the Temple was destroyed. The end of the world didn't come but threats to bring about the end of faith and the end of the Church were certainly on the horizon. The key was to be alert, be prepared, and persevere. Believers would have to dig deep to continue to be enthusiastic and energetic about a faith that could cost them their lives. Things were not easy for anyone who followed Jesus. Their own end could come at any time. And, quite honestly, it is the same for us.

Jesus was telling the disciples they would have to live on the edge as things seemed like they were falling apart. They would face danger and that danger would create an edginess in their lives. Their faith would have to persevere in times when it would be a lot easier to give up and give in to the pressures that opposed God. After the resurrection, in those early days of Christianity, as many in the first-generation Church did believe that Christ would return before they died, they lived in expectation. They lived on the edge, an edge that came from listening to Jesus' words as he told them to keep watch, be alert, persevere, and keep the faith.

As we look at our lives and think about Jesus’ message, I am deeply aware of the way we seek comfort and security. But, quite frankly, seeking and attaining comfort and security can be very hard on faith. We can find our faith and our lives become too comfortable, too protected. Faith needs to have an element of edginess to it. Faith and trust in God during challenging times, at times when things seem to be falling apart, does require an edginess and enthusiasm as we face uncertainty. A comfortable faith in a comfortable Church leading to a comfortable life trying to make sure that our part of the world remains comfortable isn't what Jesus had in mind for 1st century Christians or 21st century Christians. I suspect that the world will not end for a long time, probably many, many generations from now. But no one can say, as an individual, that tomorrow is promised to them. The end of our world might be just around the corner. This is something we have learned anew throughout this Covid-19 pandemic.

Living out our faith while aware that our world could end tomorrow, can make an incredible difference in the way we serve God. It can make an incredible difference in the way we see others. It can make an incredible difference in the way we live our daily lives. Living on that edge, remembering our world could end tomorrow, reminds us how to truly live! One day the great buildings and structures of our life will fall. Things will seem like they are falling apart. The very things that we often trust and rely upon to give identity, meaning, purpose, and security will crumble. This is not a prediction of the future or a forecast of doom and gloom. It is just a statement of reality. Life changes, loved ones die, institutions fail, people disappoint, relationships break up, bodies get sick. In those moments the great stones of our temples are all thrown down. Faith in Christ helps us let go of illusions and pretenses so we can be more and more present to what is. That’s why, just a few verses later, Jesus says, “Be awake.” God puts us in a world of passing things where everything changes, and nothing remains the same. The only thing that doesn’t change is change itself. It’s a hard lesson to learn. It helps us appreciate that everything is a gift. We didn’t create it. We don’t deserve it. It will not last, but while we breathe it in, we can enjoy it, and know that it is another moment of God, another moment of life. We can live, pulling back the veil to see the underbelly of reality, to see what is, what is already here. And, what is already here, is God’s presence to us, Immanuel – God with us! That is what truly matters and what is lasting. And, this God of grace and love, who holds us and carries us through all the challenges and changes and chaos of life, calls us to live awake in the NOW, allowing the promises of God about the future to infuse our every present moment.

This is a special musical presentation of City Called Heaven by the Faith Chorale and a solo by Victoria Waler at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

Throughout this pandemic, I feel as though we have been living what one theologian calls “the Saturdays of our lives.”  The Saturdays of our lives represent those despairing places in life between the crucifixion of Good Friday and the resurrection of Sunday morning. They represent the stench of death we have experienced and felt throughout this pandemic. They represent the emptiness and longing we may feel in the wilderness of despair. They represent those places in life where what is crystal clear is the suffering and the pain and the agony and the chaos, and where the resurrection of Sunday and the promise of new life seem like a fantasy or fairytale that is certainly nowhere in sight. Living in the Saturdays of our lives is a difficult place to live. And, that place of death and despair is the context for all our readings on this day, readings that are truly life-giving.

It is important to note that, when the Bible speaks of death, it does so in terms of the future. Using poetic writings and visions, the Bible speaks words of hope and promise, and words of a future that is before us but not yet here. They are words we need to hear in the Saturdays of our lives. In our first reading, Isaiah was speaking to displaced people in the 8th century BCE. The Assyrians had swept in and captured the Israelites and forced them to scatter throughout the empire. It was, in essence, yet another wilderness experience and the people were asking THE big despairing question, “Where is God?”  Many had lost their faith and it was there, in the anguish, that God came to the people of Israel. God met them right where they were, made God’s presence known to them through the prophet Isaiah, and gave them desperately needed words of hope. God gave them words of hope and promise that ring down through the centuries to provide the words we so desperately need to hear in the Saturdays of our lives.

Isaiah speaks to the people of Israel and to us, and he beautifully describes a future day when God will throw a massive, gigantic party, when the “Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food.”  God will destroy “the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations.”  With poetic words that describe the most hope-filled future, we hear that God will swallow up death forever, wipe away the tears from all faces, and God will take away the disgrace of God’s people, wiping it away from all the earth! Oh, these are hope-filled words we so desperately need to hear in the Saturdays of our lives. 

In our reading from the Book of Revelation, speaking words to despairing people facing persecution, we are gifted with another vision of the future as the writer describes a whole new heaven and new earth.  And, what is so interesting about this vision is that it is about the future of everything, the future of ALL things.  It is about an amazing future that God is creating where the chaos, pain and destruction of this present time will be no more!  Oh, we need to hear the promise of this future as we experience our present challenges and the Saturdays of our lives!

But, wait.  There is yet another story of hope and promise!  On this day, we are also told of the raising of Lazarus when the very shroud of Lazarus is cast off.  Oh, we need to hear these words because the stench of death and the roiling chaos have been swirling all around us for too long.

Lazarus, Jesus’ close friend, has died.  Mary and Martha knew their brother, Lazarus, would not have died had Jesus been present.  They are living and experiencing the Saturdays of their lives. And, like us, we discover Mary using the “if only” phrase as she kneels at Jesus feet saying, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  Then, as Jesus responds to Mary’s weeping, we are confronted with the harsh but ultimately comforting truth of the situation.  In this moment of darkness, this moment that renders God’s very Word silent, we find that Jesus himself weeps. It is in this moment that we discover the incarnate God who weeps with us as Jesus reveals the passion and love of a powerless yet seemingly almighty God. When Jesus experienced Mary and Martha weeping for their dead brother Lazarus, he was "deeply moved in spirit and troubled."  As we look at this piece of the story, theologian N.T. Wright is insistent as he says:

When we look at Jesus, not least when we look at Jesus in tears, we are seeing not just a flesh-and-blood human being, but the Word made flesh. The Word, through whom the worlds were made, weeps like a baby at the grave of his friend. Only when we stop and ponder this will we understand the full mystery of John’s gospel. Only when we put away our high-and-dry pictures of who God is and replace them with pictures in which the Word who is God can cry with the world’s crying will we discover what the word “God” really means.

The God we worship is not a remote and aloof "sky god" somewhere out there. No, God is a tender God who is deeply moved, even grieved, by anything and everything that threatens our human well-being. In this moment, we discover Immanuel – God with us, a God who even weeps with us. And, oh my, as we experience the Saturdays of our lives, we need to hear these words!

But, wait!  The story does not end there.  Jesus commands those present to take away the stone blocking the entrance to the tomb.  Now, there is nothing pretty about death.  Death brings decay, rotting and stench.  Oils and spices applied to a dead body would have held unpleasant odors at bay for a while, but after four days the stench would have been overpowering.  And, so it was with Lazarus.  Martha becomes the realist as she says, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”  However, Jesus responds by saying, “Take away the stone,” and with those words we cannot help but be reminded of Jesus’ own coming resurrection. Oh, yes, we need to hear these words in the Saturdays of our lives.

When Jesus cries out with a loud voice saying, “Lazarus, come out!” he heralds a stunning new possibility as the stench of death meets the fragrance of the resurrecting power of God’s Son. Jesus’ shout brings life to Lazarus! Lazarus, the dead man, emerges from his tomb, bound from head to foot in burial wrappings.  Jesus then commands that these burial wrappings, that shroud, the last remnants of death, be removed as he says, “Unbind him, and let him go.”  The shroud, that death sheet that had been spread over Lazarus’ body, is removed and the stench of death is gone.  Oh yes, we need to hear these words in the Saturdays of our lives.

People, Lazarus is us.  Bound by death in our current lives, we are called to life by Jesus who is the Light and the Life of the world. And, it is from the light of Easter dawn that we confront the darkness of death.  Jesus stands at the edge of the Saturdays of our lives, at the edge of our tomb, even the tomb of Covid-19 and the many tombs in which we presently exist as we shrink from being fully alive.  Jesus stands shouting, “Come out!”  He calls us to come out and walk into the light of day, pulling free of our grave clothes as we go.  From the other side of Christ’s resurrection, we gain the courage, not to deny death, but to be honest about its ability to cripple us. And, crippled we have been! We gain the courage to not let the fear of death distort our lives, but to walk through it and figure out ways to integrate it into our lives. As we do this, we walk placing our faith in the Risen Christ who has promised us that death does not have the last word. And, knowing that death is not the last word, we are free to live, truly live. We can stare death and darkness in the face and even embrace its reality as a part of earthly living – even in our grief, and even in our pain. Oh, yes, we need to hear these words on this day!

Theologian, Frederick Buechner, says, “Resurrection means the worst thing is never the last thing.” Friends, we are Lazarus, and the good news is that, in Holy Baptism, we have been joined to Christ’s death and resurrection! We have been promised not only life eternal but also abundant life right here and right now. We are called to live as though the Eternal were now because God is, and because God is present to us here and now. We are called to live as though we belong to God, in life and in death. We can let go of all that holds us in the Saturdays of our lives because the future God holds out before us is not dominated by death. It is one of life and God is calling us into life! Come forth and live!! Oh, yes, we so desperately need to hear these words in the Saturdays of our lives!

This is a special musical presentation of This Little Light of Mine by the Faith Chorale and a Tamborine solo by Rich Weingartner at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

It often seems as though we are presently living in a post-truth culture.  Michiko Kakutani is a writer and former chief book critic for The New York Times.  In 2018, she wrote an excellent article titled “The death of truth: how we gave up on facts.”  In that article, Kakutani eloquently describes the disease of “truth decay” and the way it is permeating and dismantling our culture and our society.  Commenting on our present perilous relationship to truth and facts, she writes:

The term “truth decay” has joined the post-truth lexicon that includes such now familiar phrases as “fake news” and “alternative facts”. And it’s not just fake news either: it’s also fake science (manufactured by climate change deniers and anti-vaxxers, who oppose vaccination), fake history (promoted by Holocaust revisionists and white supremacists), fake Americans on Facebook (created by Russian trolls), and fake followers and “likes” on social media (generated by bots).

Her article is quite helpful as she articulates the way “truth decay” is infecting our perception of truth, our understanding of freedom, and the way this disease characterizes the deep brokenness in our culture.  And, while Kakutani wrote this article in 2018, her words are even more poignant today as we think about what has happened over the past three years. Truth decay just continues to grow wider and deeper.  Quite honestly, we may even ask the question, “What is truth, what is really true?”  So, it is fitting that today, we are reminded of Jesus’ perspective on the meaning of truth. Jesus is speaking to us about truth and freedom, and Jesus’ words could not be more different from the way these concepts are discussed in the news and in present culture.

Today’s passage from John takes place within the context of a dialogue between Jesus and his opponents.  Jesus’ opponents are trapped in their sin, trapped in a dead-end life, and they do not believe in him.  They do not believe Jesus is the new revelation of God, the one who is truth.  The focus of the dialogue is all about Jesus’ identity, it is all about who Jesus is.  It is a dialogue of faith that centers around two words – truth and freedom.  Jesus says, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  The truth Jesus is talking about is himself.  This truth is not just some concept; it is not an abstract idea, and it is not the opposite of falsehood.  This truth is a real, living person – the person of Jesus, himself, the person who reveals to us the truth of what God is really like, the truth that God is a God of love.  And, to connect to Jesus and live in his truth that God is love and holds each one of us in love, is to be set free from unfaith. Knowing God loves us truly sets us free in so many ways.

Today, we are celebrating the Reformation, a change that took place within the church when Martin Luther discovered something about the truth of Jesus 504 years ago.  Luther was a man who knew intense inner struggle.  Luther was tormented because of his own sinfulness, and he knew the depths of depression.  Then, one day as he was studying the passage we heard today in our reading from Romans, he made a discovery that transformed not only his life, but also the life of the church and, ultimately, our understanding of the gospel.  Luther heard the following words as if for the first time and they transformed his entire being.  Listen again to these words. “For there is NO distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift!”  Did you hear those words?  Justified by his grace AS GIFT!   And, who receives that gift?  The writer of Romans says, “There is NO distinction – ALL have sinned, and ALL ARE JUSTIFIED BY HIS GRACE AS GIFT!”  The Gospel is quite clear.  ALL receive the gift!  When Martin Luther read those words and truly heard what they were saying, they changed his life, and his new understanding and insight brought transformation and change to the church. 

It was when Luther made this great discovery about justification by God’s grace as gift, all gift, that he finally began to understand the truth of Jesus’ identity.  He understood that Jesus is the truth, and Jesus reveals to us the truth about God.  Luther knew his own captivity to sin, and he was very aware of the church’s captivity to sin.  Luther also knew he was not able to free himself from bondage to sin.  His freedom could only come through Christ.  He was set free when he finally came to understand God’s grace is so encompassing that this God of love accepted him as he was.

Becoming truly free is never easy.   Luther found out that grace and truth are not cheap.  Knowing the truth of Jesus and living in that truth always means facing the cross.  And, the cross always means death, death to self, death to systems, death to systems of oppression, death to ideologies, and even death to religious practices and understandings when they are not faithful to God’s living Word.

When we face the truth, we ultimately must look at ourselves.  We cannot become free from the chains that bind us unless we can honestly face all that holds us in bondage, and unless we die to self.

There are all sorts of ways we live in bondage.  Not one of us is totally free.  We live in bondage to addictions of all kinds, to competition, to work, to consumerism, to ideologies, to political perspectives, to fear, to anxiety, to our desire to control, and to so much more.  And, quite often the things that hold us captive become a way of running from our fears and running from the pain of life. 

Friends, the one truth that will set us free from all our fears of living and of dying has eluded most people. The absolute truth that liberated Luther and liberates all who believe it is the truth of Jesus as he tells us God deeply loves us and bathes us in grace and mercy.  God loves and accepts us as we are!  Now, quite frankly, this ultimate and awesome reality doesn't keep us from the fires and trials of our life journey; rather, it strengthens and carries us safely through them and beyond them.  That is what Luther experienced and that is what we experience. The good news for you and for me is that when we finally come to realize that we stand in the presence of God and are embraced by the gracious loving arms of Jesus, we become able to face the cross.  And, when we continue in the Word and become faithful disciples, only then are we able to live into the freedom of the Son.

The Reformation that began with Martin Luther is ongoing.  As Lutherans, we are a reforming church.  We are continually being made new.  God continually calls each of us to change and become new beings.  God continually calls the church to participate in a dialogue of faith and engage in the process of being re-formed as we live into the in-breaking reign of God.  And, I am really looking forward to see where that dialogue takes us as we move beyond Covid-19, because the church is becoming changed and WILL again be re-formed and transformed.

So, hear this truth and live in this truth.  It is the truth that really matters. Jesus is saying to each of us, “[Come, let go of your issues and get to know me.  Live in my love and live in my Word.] If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure.  Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you….[because] if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through.”  (The Message)

This is a special musical presentation of Amazing Grace by the Faith Chorale and a solo by Bob Nelson at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

The trajectory of Mark’s gospel is so very interesting. The central section of Mark’s gospel focuses on Jesus’ teaching about discipleship, and it is book-ended by two stories of Jesus healing persons who are blind. Today’s story of blind Bartimaeus, is the second of the bookend stories and it marks the end of the discipleship section. It also presents one of the key points in Mark's gospel. This story unlocks the gates to Jerusalem and what is to come as Mark continues the Jesus story.  This book end story of Mark’s discipleship section is the gateway into the last week of Jesus’ life and, the question we are being asked is, “Do you really want to see?”

 Jesus asks Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?”  Some commentators say this is a rhetorical question because Bartimaeus is blind and what he wants is obvious. However, it’s not that simple. Jesus is essentially asking Bartimaeus and each one of us, “Do you really want to see?” This passage needs to be read on two levels:  yes, it’s about physical blindness, but it’s also about spiritual blindness.  And when it comes to spiritual blindness, I’m not so sure that we really want to see because, once we do see, we cannot unsee, and our lives become forever changed.

In his book, The Naked Now, Richard Rohr describes three ways of seeing and viewing reality.  He tells of three different men who stood by the ocean, all looking at the same sunset. One man saw the immense physical beauty and enjoyed the event in and of itself. This man was the "sensate" type who, like 80 percent of the world, deals with what he can see, feel, touch, move, and fix. This was enough reality for him, for he had little if any interest in larger ideas, intuitions, or the grand scheme of things. He saw with his first eye, which was ok, and it was good.

A second man saw the sunset and he enjoyed all the beauty that the first man did. However, like all lovers of coherent thought, technology, and science, the second man also enjoyed his power to make sense of the universe and explain what he discovered. He saw with a second eye, he saw more than the sunset.  He thought about the cyclical rotations of planets and stars. Through imagination, intuition, and reason, he saw with his second eye, which was even better.

Finally, the third man saw the sunset, knowing and enjoying everything both the first and the second man did. But, in his ability to progress from seeing to explaining, to what some might even call "tasting" or absorbing, this third man saw so much more.  He remained in awe before an underlying mystery, coherence, and spaciousness that connected him with everything else.  He saw with real depth.  Rohr says, “He used his third eye, which is the full goal of all seeing and all knowing. This was the best way of seeing.”

“Third eye seeing” is seeing at a deeper level.  It’s seeing spiritually, it’s seeing with the eyes of Christ.  Describing people who see at this level, Rohr writes the following:

They do not reject the first eye; the senses matter to them.  Nor do they reject the second eye, but they know not to confuse knowledge with depth.  They know not to confuse mere correct information with transformation of the consciousness itself.  This deeper seeing builds upon the first two eyes but it goes further.  It happens whenever by some wondrous “coincidence” our heart space, our mind space, and our body awareness are all simultaneously open and non-resistant.  It’s a moment of deep inner connection.  It pulls you, intensely satisfied, into the presence of God.  It involves both profound joy and profound sadness.  When it happens, you either want to write poetry, pray, or be utterly silent.

The first eye was the eye of the flesh and of the senses, the second eye was the eye of reason, and the third eye was the eye of true, deep understanding, connecting all that exists.

When Jesus asks, “What can I do for you?  Do you want to see?” this is what he’s asking:  Do you want to see at this deeper level?  Do you want to see spiritually?  My guess is that you’re all saying, “Of course we do!  Why are you asking such a stupid question?  Who doesn’t want to see a sunset in all its fullness?”  But, it’s not that simple.  Seeing in this way involves more than sunsets….

To see at this deeper level requires seeing everything, not only the beauty and wonder, but also the suffering and pain.  Remember, looking at today’s gospel, from this point on we move toward Jesus’ death.  And, one of the deep truths of life is this – you can only appreciate how precious life is to the extent that you know the reality of death. To see at this level is to see with the eyes of Christ. It’s to see not only the good things about our history as a country, but also the tragedy and sin of slavery and the way the sin of racism is still present in every system and structure. It’s to see not only the gift and blessing of vaccines, but also the deaths of over 730,000 people in this country alone whose lives have been lost to Covid 19, and the families that have been forever changed by that loss.  It’s to see not only the beauty of our world, but also the harrowing fires and hurricanes, and the complicit role we have played and are playing in climate change.  It’s to see the way racism, Covid-19, and climate change affect the most vulnerable, and then realize we must face these issues and address them.

Jesus pushes seeing to the social edge, to the places where we see those who are most vulnerable.  Richard Rohr puts it this way – “Can you see the image of Christ in the least of your brothers and sisters?”  In fact, Jesus uses that as his ONLY description of the final judgment: nothing about commandments or accomplishments.  It’s simply a matter of our ability to see: “Can we see Christ in the least of our brothers and sisters?”  They smell. They’re a nuisance. They’re on welfare.  They’re a drain on our tax money, my tax money.  We say these kinds of things far too often.  Rohr concludes, “When we can see the image of God where we don’t want to see the image of God, then we’re seeing spiritually.”

So many of the problems in the world are due to our short sightedness as people.  From individuals to governments, without deeper seeing it is difficult to move beyond ego, beyond the desire for control, and beyond public posturing.  Everything gets divided into liberal versus conservative, Democrat versus Republican, us-versus-them.  It’s not an exaggeration to say that the “us-versus-them” way of seeing, and the divisiveness that results, is the cause of most of the discontent and violence in this world.  Without an ability to see more deeply, we have no big picture to guide us for the long term.

Bartimaeus teaches us the only way to see at a deeper level involves risk, it involves becoming vulnerable.  When Bartimaeus throws off his cloak, he risks everything.  He bets everything on God.  One commentator puts it like this: “Leaving his cloak on the ground is like leaving your car running in a crowd in some inner city while you duck into a shop.”  To throw his cloak on the ground is to give up the only security he’s ever known.  His cloak was his bed at night, his protection from the rain and cold. To throw off his cloak is to throw off all that kept him safe.  It means throwing off his old life so he can receive the new life that awaits him.  To throw off his cloak is to become vulnerable so that God can restore his vision.

New vision sounds wonderful but is it worth the risk?  Is it worth the risk of allowing ourselves to be vulnerable by giving up the ways we protect ourselves? To throw off our cloaks is to make the ultimate statement of faith.  It’s to give up an old way of seeing things, trusting that God will give us the ability to see in a new way.  Not a way that’s easier, but a way that’s clearer and truer and more faithful, a way that leads us to wholeness.

Someone once asked Helen Keller, “Isn’t it terrible to be blind?”  She replied, “It’s more terrible to have eyes and sight, and not see.”  To see means to look beyond appearances into the depths of the way things really are.  It means to recognize God: God before us, God beside us, God inside of us, and the God who calls us into a journey toward wholeness.  It means to be free, free like Bartimaeus.  Free to follow God wherever God leads.

Jesus asks us “What can I do for you.  Do you want to see?”  May we have the faith to say, “Yes, help us to see deeply, open the eyes of our hearts!” Then, may we go out to share what we see, to share God’s healing love for the sake of our children, for the sake of our broken, hurting world.

This is a special musical presentation of When Morning Gilds the Skies by the Faith Bells at Faith Lutheran Church in Okemos, Michigan.

I have had the opportunity of traveling to Washington DC numerous times in my life.  And, each time, as I get closer to the city, I feel a certain excitement rise within me as I approach the seat of power in this country.  I feel a sense of reverence as I remember our country’s history.  And, as I see all the monuments, the Capital building, and the White House, I feel and sense the presence of power and authority embodied in that great city. 

As I studied today’s reading from Mark’s gospel, I thought of these experiences.  You see, today we find Jesus and the disciples on their way to Jerusalem.  They are nearing the end of their journey to that city which for them represents the ultimate place of power and authority.  Jesus has been attempting to prepare the disciples for what lies ahead.  However, they still seem clueless.  They know Jesus keeps talking about a kingdom.  They know Jesus is bringing change to their world through his proclamation that the kingdom of God is at hand.  So, one can almost sense the excitement and energy escalating as they get closer to Jerusalem.  After all, they are headed to the most important city in the world, at least the most important metropolis for any good Jewish man or woman.  Jerusalem is the city where the Temple stands – it is where the seat of religious authority exists, and the disciples think this is finally going to be the time!  You see, they think the time is about to unfold when Jesus will claim his power and authority and take his place as the long-awaited Messiah.   They are thinking Jesus will finally lead the Jewish people in a revolt that will free them from Roman rule. 

I sort of understand James and John’s desires.  As they begin to approach Jerusalem, they know something monumental is about to take place and they want to share in that experience.  They want to sit beside Jesus and hold places of power as change happens.  So, they boldly say to Jesus, “Arrange it so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your government – one of us on your right, the other on your left.”  They want the most important cabinet positions.  You can almost hear the sigh and sadness in the depths of Jesus’ heart as he listens to their request.  You can feel Jesus’ sadness as he says to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I will drink, or be immersed in the same bath that I will be immersed in?” Jesus was trying to bring them back to reality, the reality he was living.  Yet, his response to them must have been confusing.  Then Jesus said, “Come to think of it, you will drink the cup I drink, and be baptized in my baptism.  But as to awarding places of honor, that’s not my business.  There are other arrangements.”  

Jesus has just spoken about the change that is coming, but it is nothing like the change the disciples are expecting and anticipating.  Jesus knows those who wield power in the world will do all they can to protect themselves and their prerogatives.  And, James and John have no clue that, because of their leader’s boundary-breaking ministry, rejection and death will be the inevitable baptism or bath Jesus will be “plunged into!”  They have no idea they, too, will share in the same baptism as they live into this coming reign of God.

The events James and John were about to see were going to be both life shattering and transforming.  Yes, there will be a shift of power and authority.  Yes, there will be an enthronement as Jesus assumes “kingship.”  However, the enthronement of Jesus will be claimed when he is lifted high on a cross and dies as an utterly despised and powerless “king.”  And, the two people who will share in this enthronement as Jesus fully enters into solidarity with the world, the two who will be positioned one on his right and one on his left, will be two common criminals! 

Anyway, James and John desired positions of power and authority.  And, when the other disciples saw this, they lost their tempers.  When the ten other disciples get angry, Jesus again tries to teach them about power, the power of God’s kingdom.  Jesus says, “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads.”  Jesus knows that power corrupts as it is wielded to maintain and protect those who hold positions of authority.  He describes sociopolitical authorities who rely on coercion, on lies, and on deception to control and maintain dominance.  Then, in absolute contrast to such power, he says, “It’s not going to be that way with you.  Whoever wants to be great must become a servant.  Whoever wants to be first among you must be slave of all.”  Jesus tells them the greatness and power they will know will be measured by their ability to live as servants and slaves.  This kind of greatness means suffering oppression at the hands of those who wield power!  

The disciples’ shock must have made them speechless!  Who in their right mind chooses to become a slave?  Jesus then goes on to say, “This exemplary servitude is what the Son of Man has done.  He came to serve, not to be served – he came to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.”  Well, the disciples must have thought Jesus was a bit crazy.  After all, why would someone become a slave as a way of freeing those who are held hostage? 

Jesus has been trying to tell the twelve his death will be an example of the violence and resistance to his teaching and ministry, a violence produced by those who hold and wield power over society.  His death, this cup and baptism he is talking about, will be a radical renunciation of corrupt authority and privilege.  And his death will do something.  His death will be a ransom for many! 

The Greek word used for “ransom” means liberation or freedom.  What Jesus is really saying is that, through his death, God will free people from oppression and captivity to ungodly powers.  God will restore people to membership in the community that is the kingdom of God.  He makes all of this quite clear.  And yet, the disciples simply do not grasp such servitude and, quite frankly, neither do we!

Power is such a subtle thing.   The accumulation of power slowly turns what was once abundance and “more than enough” into necessity as we focus on trying to protect all that we have accumulated.  Power turns us from living lives of service into people who want to be served.  However, today, we again hear that Jesus offered the world a new pattern of power and leadership.  Jesus calls us to live differently as he empowers us with his presence and a power that is not to be maintained and kept.  It is a power that is to be poured out.  Our power is the presence of this one whose life is broken and poured into ours.  And, Jesus draws us into his love so our lives can then be spun out, poured out again into the dark places where tyrants rule and are consuming all things for their own benefit. 

When we follow Jesus, we give ourselves in service to Christ and in service to others, so that the vulnerable will be cared for and lifted up.  As we do this, Jesus sends us to resist the ungodly powers, patterns, policies, and rhythms of this world, rhythms that intentionally let others go hungry, poor, and oppressed for the sake of our perceived safety, rhythms that are not a mark of faithfulness but a mark of our blindness and desire to control.  Instead, we are new creatures in Christ no longer ruled by the rhythms of an unredeemed world.  We have been freed from our captivity to ungodly powers.  Hear Jesus’ words to us today as he calls us to live the patterns and holy rhythms of God’s kingdom, to live a new song where our very lives are extensions of God’s grace and love for this broken world.