Real

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

March 18, 2018

5 Lent B

A reading from “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Margery Williams:  

"What is real?" asked the Velveteen Rabbit one day. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?" "Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, who was always truthful. "When you are Real, you do not mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," the Rabbit asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because when you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

What is real? That is the question The Velveteen Rabbit asks the Skin Horse in this children's story. That question is also at the heart of our gospel lesson this morning.  What is real?

What is real? This morning, some Greeks approach Philip and they say "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Jesus’ response to the Greek’s request borders on being rude. When Philip and Andrew tell Jesus that the  Greeks wish to see him, instead of saying "yes," or "no," or "let’s meet for coffee tomorrow," Jesus says "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified" and goes on about seeds dying and bearing fruit, and so forth.  That sounds like a “no” to me, but I find it rather hard to tell.  What kind of answer is that for those who simply wanted to see Jesus?

What is real? My guess is that the Greeks wanted to see Jesus because they had heard about the water Jesus changed into wine, the blind man Jesus had healed, the 5000 people Jesus fed with a few fish and loaves, and the man Lazarus Jesus had raised from the dead. They wanted to meet Jesus, to talk with him, and to try to understand this man who could do such miraculous things. Perhaps they may have even recognized that this man was from God, since no one could do such wonders apart from God. But those acts, incredible and wonderful as they are, are not what makes Jesus real.

What does make Jesus real? In response to the Greeks' request, Jesus offers three reflections on his death, and why the crucifixion and resurrection make Jesus real, rather than the miracles he has done. First, Jesus states a simple law of nature. In order for there to be more life, there must first be death. "Unless a single grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." In order for Jesus to be present in all times and in all places, to all people, he must die as one seed must die to produce much fruit. Secondly, real discipleship requires death to self-interest in order to have abundant life. "Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." The reason this is true for Jesus’ followers is because it is true for the one they follow.  In order to have more life, both now and forever, we, like Jesus, are called to give our lives away. And lastly, Jesus’ mission is to draw all the world to himself, and it is in his death that this will happen. Jesus’ death will not prevent his mission from being accomplished. Quite the opposite; according to the gospel of John, Jesus’ death is necessary for his mission to be fulfilled.

Jesus death is real. It is not what the world considers real, however. It is not glossy or shiny or pretty and it most definitely will hurt. It is nothing like having things that buzz inside you or a stick out handle. But if Jesus is to bring all the world to himself, which is John's understanding of salvation, Jesus must be freed from this world through his death, resurrection and ascension.  The Greeks say “Sir, we want to see Jesus.”  The message of Johns' gospel is that through Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension, people in all times and places can say “We want to see Jesus” and Jesus will be available and present.

So, Jesus does give the Greeks a proper response, although perhaps not the response they were looking for.   We, like the Greeks, want to see Jesus.  We want to know what is real.  So, we will journey through these next two weeks, not leaping ahead to Easter, but walking with Jesus through his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, to his last supper with those whom he loves, his agony in the garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal by those closest to him, his trial and crucifixion, his death and his burial in the tomb. We walk with Jesus, not by simply tagging along, but by looking at our own lives, our pains, our disappointments and hurts, our failures and fears, the deaths we die daily and offering all of that to God for resurrection. We, with Jesus, offer the seeds of our lives to the ground, so that by God’s power those seeds can have new life and our lives can bear much fruit.  With Jesus, we use our lives to show others God’s glory so that they, too, will see Jesus. By connecting our own lives with the death and resurrection of Jesus, we will we experience the power of Easter as something real, and our lives will point to the resurrected Jesus.

Sir, we wish to see Jesus. The promise of the gospel is that through his crucifixion, death, and resurrection, we will see Jesus. And that, my friends, is real.

                                                                   Amen.

Snakes

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

March 11, 2018

4 Lent B

If our reading from Numbers this morning was the totality of Scripture, I would have to find something else to do with my life.  The problem is not so much the snakes, although they are a bit problematic.  A long time ago in a church not so far away and in this diocese, a parishioner brought his very large pet snake, draped around his shoulders, to church on the Feast of St. Francis for the animal blessing.  The parishioner did not much care for women priests and I did not much care for snakes.  So we were even.  But while a serpent may have gotten Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and be evicted from the Garden of Eden, I was going nowhere.  I blessed the snake with all the conviction I would have blessed a lovely plate of chocolate chip cookies and moved on down the line without so much as a grimace, at least on the outside. 

This morning my problem is less with snakes and more with God.  The Hebrew people have been wandering around in the wilderness for a while now.  The bit of grumbling we hear this morning is not the first time they have grumbled against God by a long shot.  Just about as quickly as God got the people out of Egypt, they were complaining about a lack of good water to drink.  God showed Moses a piece of wood that Moses could throw into the water to make the bitter water sweeter and more drinkable.  Not many verses later, the people are longing to go back to Egypt where at least they had decent food to eat.  So, God gave the people manna, or bread from heaven, to satisfy their hunger.  Then, thirst strikes again, and the people accused Moses of bringing them out into the wilderness to kill them with thirst.  This time, Moses struck a rock with his staff and water emerged from the rock for people to drink.

But this morning, God appears to have had enough.  We are told that the people spoke against God and against Moses and said "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?  For there is no food and no water and we detest this miserable manna."  The people have just told God that they detest the very life-giving bread God has provided.  My mother always told us not to bite the hand that feeds us.  Perhaps the Hebrew people should have thought of that.  Because now God loses patience.  God sends poisonous serpents among the people.  The serpents bite the people and they die.  As a result, the people recognize the error of their ways and repent.  They ask Moses to ask God to take away the serpents.  But rather than remove the creatures, God tells Moses to make a poisonous serpent and set it on a pole, so that those who look at the snake on a stick will live.  Where Moses got the bronze, the mold, and the fire to make the bronze serpent, I have no clue.  But Moses does as he was told and anyone with a snake bite could look at the serpent and live.

The story leaves me with many questions about God.  Why is God's patience suddenly exhausted by the complaining Hebrews?  Not only do the Hebrews complain in the wilderness, but the psalms are full of complaints hurled against God.  We just call them laments instead of complaints.  I certainly do my share of complaining to God.  My guess is that I am not alone.  So, I'd like to know exactly what put God over the edge this morning, so I don't go there.  Why does God take such drastic action against the people?  Why doesn't God simply take the serpents away rather than have Moses enshrine one and require that the people look at the serpent to be healed?  Is the purpose of the bronze serpent to remind the people of their wickedness?  Isn't that a lot like kicking people when they are down? That doesn’t seem like very godly behavior.

While I don't have good answers to any of these questions, the questions are floating around in my mind when I hear Jesus say to Nicodemus "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."   Somehow, Jesus calls us to use the disturbing story about Moses and the serpents to understand the cross on which Jesus will soon be lifted up.  What connections does Jesus want us to make?

Here are some ideas.  First, in the story from Numbers, rather than take away the serpents, God turns the image of this agent of death into an agent of life.  By looking at the bronze serpent that has been lifted up, the people are healed, and they live.  Likewise, God will take the cross, an instrument of death, and when Jesus is lifted up, the cross will become an agent of life.  In John's gospel, the cross and resurrection are two pieces of one action, so in the cross, John also sees resurrection.  Secondly, perhaps instead of getting rid of the serpents, God has Moses lift a bronze likeness on a pole so the people can remember both their wickedness and God's mercy.  One of my least favorite lines in the Book of Common Prayer comes in the Ash Wednesday service when the priest offers absolution with the words "Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who desires not the death of sinners, but rather that they may turn from their wickedness and live."  Wickedness is a strong word, and one I would rather avoid myself.  But the word does point to the fundamental but painful truth that we are capable of deep separation from God and that separation is of our own doing, not God's.  The good news is that our salvation is completely dependent on God's mercy not our own goodness.

Lastly, in my imagination, once Moses lifts the bronze serpent up before the people and people begin to be healed when they look at the creature, people begin to tell their friends and neighbors and soon everyone is drawn to the bronze serpent, and they all begin to be healed. They are reminded of the cause of their affliction, for sure, but they are also united in the reminder that God's healing power is even more powerful than their own wickedness.  They are not only reminded, but shown, that God is the source of healing and life.  They are reminded that God can be trusted to take the serpents of death and create life.  When Jesus is lifted up, crucified then resurrected, for all the world to see, we are drawn together and to God as we engage both our rebelliousness and God's great power and love for us, as God takes the agent of death and creates life.

John 3:16 is perhaps the most often quoted verse in all of Scripture.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life."  John's words from there are quite polemical, which is unfortunate but reflects the reality of the tensions in late first century Judaism and Christianity.  The deeper message of John's gospel is that God acted out of love for the whole world, and with the desire to draw the whole world together and to God, as the agent of death was transformed into the agent of life.  John calls us not to look away from the cross on Good Friday, but to engage the cross.  Only on the cross will we be able to see Jesus lifted up and to wait, trusting, as all death is transformed into new life.

Amen.

Confusion

Charlotte Collins Reed

Christ Church Episcopal

March 4, 2018

3 Lent B

          My most exasperating seminary experience was the course “Anglican Church History.”  In the first nano-second of the class, we figured out that our teacher, a graduate student from the University of Chicago, had never taught a class before.  But we were kind hearted souls and tried to be patient with convoluted lectures and confusing assignments.  The last straw came when we were given a take home open-book test.  I took the test home, found and wrote all the answers, turned the test in, and was quite puzzled to receive the test back and have one of my answers marked as incorrect.  How can you get an answer wrong on a take home open book test?  At the end of class, I went up to the teacher and inquired about my answer, which he insisted was wrong.  So, I politely got the textbook out, which was required for the course, and showed him where I got my answer.  His response was that the book was wrong.  My patience was running thin at this point.  I had done everything right, used the book he required, found the answer, and now I was wrong because the book was wrong.  I left the room before I said something I would regret and headed home furious that we had been required to purchase a book with wrong information, that the seminary would hire such a teacher, and that valuable time was being wasted in that class.

          I wonder if the people in the temple felt that same combination of confusion, frustration and fury when Jesus comes barging in with his whip of cords this morning.  The people in the temple were faithful people, trying hard to live according to God’s commandments.  Cattle, sheep, and doves were sold at the temple to help weary pilgrims procure the unblemished animals God required for the temple sacrifices.  Worshipers had walked for miles to get to Jerusalem for the Passover.  They couldn’t bring cattle, sheep and doves with them.  Unless they could buy the animals at the temple, they could not make the sacrifices they had traveled so far to make.  The money changers were required to convert the Roman currency into temple currency, just like we convert currency when we travel to another country.  There is always a fee, and in the case of the temple, there were sales taxes to be paid to the Romans.  Everyone at the temple was trying to be faithful to the laws given by God in the book of Leviticus and the laws of the state as dictated by the Romans.

          So, why is Jesus so upset this morning?  Which of the commandments are the people breaking?  Fortunately, we hear those commandments this morning in the reading from Exodus.   The people in the temple buying and selling animals for the sacrifice do not seem to be dishonoring their father or mother, murdering, committing adultery, stealing, bearing false witness, or coveting.  So, they are good on the last six commandments.  The problem must be in the first four commandments.  But the people don’t appear to have put another god before God, made an idol, made wrongful use of God’s name, or violated the Sabbath.  Quite frankly, they are doing all in their power to keep the law and honor God with the required sacrifices.  So what is Jesus so worked up about?

The story of the cleansing of the temple is found in all four gospels.  In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, however, the story occurs towards the end of the gospel.  The cleansing of the temple is the last straw that leads up to Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion as Jesus refers to the temple as a den of robbers.  But in John’s gospel, the story comes in chapter 2, so at the beginning of the gospel.  Jesus does not accuse anyone of being a robber.  He simply says “Stop making my Father’s house a market place.”  John also adds Jesus’ words “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” and the note that Jesus was speaking about his body.  Those words are not found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so I think Jesus is up to something else in John’s gospel.

          Jesus obviously does not want his Father’s house turned into a market place.  The temple was thought to be the place where humans encountered God in a unique way, the place where the divine and the human meet.  The claim was not that the temple was the only place the people encountered God.  The Hebrew people had experienced God in their Exodus from Egypt, during their time in the wilderness, in their exile in Babylon far from the promised land, and on and on.  But the experience of God in the temple was uniquely holy.  However, in John’s gospel, Jesus is the place where the human and the divine meet.  John’s gospel begins “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God….and the Word became flesh and lived among us.”  In that sense, Jesus is the new temple.  When Jesus is asked “What sign can you show us for doing this,” Jesus replies “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”  The resurrection will allow people in all times and places to experience the fullness of God in Jesus.  This morning, Jesus brings all of the action in the temple to a dramatic halt, turning over tables and driving the people out of the temple in order to tell the people that he is the place where human and divine meet. 

          The people in the temple are no doubt confused, frustrated, and angry when Jesus shows up this morning and interrupts their activity.  But Jesus will do what is needed to get our attention.  Jesus wants us to know that he is the new temple, that he and God are one, and that when we encounter him, we encounter God.  Through the resurrection, Jesus is present in all times and in all places through his resurrected body.  As the Body of Christ, the Church, we are that resurrected body.  If Jesus were to show up here and get our attention by throwing furniture around, Jesus would do so to remind us that every action we take, day in and day out reflects God’s love to the world.  The sacrifice of cattle, sheep, and doves is not required.  As the Body of Christ, Jesus calls us to the sacrifice of self that makes possible the reflection of God’s love 

through our lives.

                                                                   Amen.