"Faithful Steps"

Proverbs 3:5-8, 4:26, 16:9

 April 26, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 

The Road Not Taken (Robert Frost, 1916)

 TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

 Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that, the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

 And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I marked the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

 

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Frost suggests that what "made all the difference" was taking a road less traveled.  A journey not as popular.  A path not as easy as the other.  Have we done the same?  Did we strike out on our own and forge our own way?  Are we about to start a journey that's safe and comfortable in part because it is so popular?  Do we look back on life and regret that we didn't take another "road less traveled" after all?

The "road", the "path" or the "way" have long been a metaphor for life's journey.  We find this in literature, painting and music among other art forms.   Each life has a beginning and an end.  Each life is very much like a journey with a start and a destination.  Where are we going?  What is our path?  Where will it lead?  Those are relevant questions whether we are 9 years old or 99!

Our faith tradition would suggest that God has everything to do with that journey.  We sing "I want Jesus to walk with me..." or "...and he walks with me and he talks with me...." or "I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back...".  All symbolic for the sense of God's guiding hand along life's journey.

As comforting as the notion of God walking with us on the road of life, there is nothing easy about it.  Intentionally choosing to follow God's path in life is certainly "a road less traveled".  But it doesn’t guarantee success or safety by the world’s standards.

Consider:

Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.  (Matthew 7:13-14)

When we say we are followers of Jesus it doesn't mean that we've joined a club, or signed up for an insurance policy, or that we will fit in his teachings or attend to his priorities when it’s convenient.  It means we are followers of his way.  We are the ones who turn the other cheek when insulted (Matthew 5:39).  We are the ones who pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44).  We are the ones who refuse to return evil for evil but rather we return evil with good (Romans 12:9-21, I Peter 3:9, I Thess. 5:15).

Jesus says:

"If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake...will save it." (Mark 8:34-35)

Now that's "a road less traveled"!  That is not the path taken by most in a "me first" world, where winning is more important than anything else.

John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement in 18^th century England, was born and raised in a devout Christian family, was an ordained Anglican priest and an instructor of Church History at Oxford University.  He could have chosen a successful academic career.  He could have maneuvered for a prosperous and prestigious parish to serve as pastor.  In his zeal he volunteered to serve as a missionary to the colony of Georgia.  It was a disaster.

As a result of an unrequited love for the daughter of the governor of the colony his short term there would be a terrible failure.  He returned to England discouraged and depressed.   Seeking encouragement for his faith he sought out fellowship and counsel from a group of Moravian Brethren to whom he was introduced on the passage home.  

On the evening of May 24th 1738 at the Aldersgate Chapel in London, while Martin Luther’s commentary of the fifth chapter of Romans was being read, Wesley understood in his heart and not just his head, God’s unconditional love; “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly…but God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us…” (5:6-8).  These verses from the apostle Paul are the heart and soul of the Protestant Reformation.   We do not have right relationship with God because of anything we do, believe, say or practice.   God loves us before all that.  God’s nature is so completely love that God offers us that grace before we deserve it, in spite of our failures, simply because God is love.

After a life of academic learning and organized piety, that night Wesley received the good news in his heart.  It transformed his life and set him on the course that would change the world.  He described the moment as “heartwarming”.   He didn’t call it a “conversion” experience; although an important spiritual experience in his life it was one of many (Heitzenrater, Wesley and the People Called Methodists, Abingdon, 1995, pp. 80-82).   Months later he would begin the open air preaching and small group organization that would become the Methodist revival which changed England and contributed to the Protestant Reformation.   When he died at the age of 91, John Wesley was one of the most well-known and respected Christian leaders in England and the world.

Wesley’s journey to Georgia may have been a failure in many ways but it was the path that lead him to become all God had called him to be.   To go off to an Indian colony in a distant land was not the normal course for an academic such as Wesley.  To refuse to serve Holy Communion to the family of the Governor of Georgia because his daughter was betrothed to another was the wrong thing to do for an Anglican Priest.  But this road not taken, even with failures along the way, lead John Wesley to something much greater indeed.

To find the right direction in life the heart and the head need to be connected.  When the intellect and center of our emotions are in balance we find a passionate purpose for living.  Few will take the “road less traveled” without it.

That was true for Lori Piestewa.

Pfc. Lori Piestewa, of the 507th Army Maintenance Unit, died during the invasion of Iraq on March 23rd, 2003 (“Mom, soldier and Hopi Indian: 'She fought and died valiantly'”, Jeordan Legon, CNN, 4/03).  She was the first woman to die in that war.  It is believed that she, a mother of two, was the first Native American woman in the uniform of the United States military ever killed in combat.

 

She died fighting during an ambush near Nasiriya.   Piestewa was driving the truck that was transporting Pfc. Jessica Lynch and other soldiers. When the Iraqi soldiers attacked her convoy, Piestewa and the master sergeant riding next to her tried to hold the attackers back.   "She fought. She drew her weapon and fought," said Congressman Rick Renzi at the memorial service held in her honor at the Tuba City, Arizona Roman Catholic Church. "She fought and died valiantly with courage and honor."  Nine soldiers, including Piestewa, died in the battle while Lynch was taken prisoner.  They were roommates and friends at Fort Bliss.  

During High School Piestewa was the head of her school’s ROTC unit. She put off joining the military due to marriage and pregnancy.  Yet following in the tradition of her father, a Vietnam veteran, and her grandfather, a World War II veteran she joined up as soon as she could.  Some questioned why an indigenous American would fight for a nation that so oppressed and marginalized their people.  But in the Piestewa family it was an honored tradition of service that transcended the injustices done. 

Two Phoenix landmarks, Squaw Peak and Squaw Peak Freeway have been renamed Piestewa Peak and Piestewa Freeway in her honor; a decision hailed by Native American groups who consider the word "squaw" offensive.   The "Lady Warrior," as her family referred to her, was buried on the Hopi Reservation. Her brother, Wayland Piestewa, told reporters: "She is our hero.  We are going to continue to believe that. We're going to hold that in our hearts forever. She will not be forgotten."  In fact, annual memorial services have been held ever since to honor Pfc. Piestewa in Arizona and Jessica Lynch has attended everyone, now with her own children.

It is no easy thing to have a heart in a heartless world.   Some soldiers sign up to defend the innocent, to fight for justice, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the welfare of others.  When they do so we hear the echoes of Jesus’ words that continue after our text this morning, “This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends…” (15:12-13)

So precious is that sacrifice that it is the duty of those of us who send them off to war only do so when there are no other options left and with the promise that we will care for them and their families after their duty is discharged.

Not many members of Pfc. Piestewa’s community chose or choose to take the journey of national service as she did but for that community, her family and this nation it made all the difference.

Most often we measure the success or failure of our journey in life by social standards; wealth, fame, influence.  For the followers of Jesus in the end life is all about love and compassion.

That’s good to remember when we’ve lost our way and we don't know what to do.

Remember the ancient words attributed by the Apostle Paul.  They are still true for today, maybe even more so for those seeking "the road less traveled"..:

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Phil 4:4-8)

Or in the words of a not-so-ancient American, Mark Twain:

 

"Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest."

          (Mark Twain, 1835-1910)

 

Amen.

 

"Generous Hands"

 Proverbs 11:24-25, 16:8, 22:9

April 19, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel

During the Lenten Season we focused on the last words of Jesus while dying on the cross.  On Easter Sunday we considered the first words of Jesus as Risen Lord.  In the weeks following let’s consider our life as Easter People, children of the resurrection.

For the gospel writer John, Jesus is the "Word of God", the incarnation of the divine light of creation itself:  "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth." (:14)  Jesus is the embodiment of God's creative wisdom in the Hebrew tradition identified as the divine force the binds all of creation.  It is the spirit that animates human life.  The unifying force of life and time together.

In this spirit, Easter people seek to live lives of wisdom but probably not in the way we usually think of as wise.

An internet search finds these definitions of "wisdom":

"Knowing what to do with the things that you know."  (businessinsider.com)

"Wisdom is knowing that a tomato is a fruit yet having the wisdom not to put it in a fruit salad."  (answers.yahoo.com) 

"Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many [people] know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as the knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom."   (C. H. Spurgeon)

There has been a very popular joke on the internet that illustrates the point:

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below.

He descended a bit more and shouted, "Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am." The woman below replied, "You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the woman, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip."

The woman below responded, "You must be in Management."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault.  (Hot Air Balloon Joke, January 19, 2004, by ptumelty)

 

The Biblical understanding of "wisdom" is not the accumulation of knowledge, data or academic achievement, all of which can be good things but not necessarily wisdom.  Wisdom is choosing to do the right thing, discerning God's intention in the moment for love and creativity.

Throughout the Bible we learn that the wise life is the generous life.

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.  (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

Generosity is an indicator of a "life that is truly life".

Remember, we don't get to take our college degrees, stock portfolios and community awards with us when we die.  All of the wealth and social status, by which so many of us measure our success in life, doesn't travel with us to the next.  The only thing we bring with us to that mystery is the love we've nurtured and shared with each other during our short time on this earth.

I've had the privilege of officiating at the funerals of extra-ordinary people; some with fame, fortune and accomplishment.  I've buried a designer of the Hubble Space Telescope, a chief engineer on the Space Shuttle, a CEO of HP and the first female engineer hired by that company.  I've buried war heroes, a banker who died traveling to Latin America to establish micro-credit programs for the poor.  I've eulogized people who grew up dirt poor and ended up building successful companies that helped to change the world for the better.   At every funeral, memorial or grave side service I have been a part of, I've never heard mentioned one word of how much money the deceased had in their bank account when they died.  Their “net worth” was never measured by their money but rather by the laughter they shared, the kindness they showed and the generosity with which they spent their time, gifts and talents.  That's what we remember and never forget about people.  That's what makes us wealthy; our generous hearts.

 

During July 1995, an African-American cleaning woman from Mississippi, Oseola McCarty (1908-1999), who from working all her life by taking in other people’s washing and ironing, accumulated great savings, donated to the University of Southern Mississippi $150,000 for a student scholarship program.  "I want to help somebody's child go to college," Miss McCarty said.

Bill Pace, executive director of the USM Foundation at the time said, "This is by far the largest gift ever given to USM by an African American. We are overwhelmed and humbled by what she has done."   The selflessness of 87-year-old woman's $150,000 gift to the University of Southern Mississippi from her life's savings sparked national as well as worldwide attention.  She was honored by the United Nations, the Congressional Black Caucus and at the White House by Hillary and President Bill Clinton.  She would receive more than 300 awards. Oseola McCarty died [twenty] years ago but people all over the world still know who she was and what she did.  (http://www.nathanielturner.com/oseolamccarty.htm) 

Do you remember the gospel story of Zacchaeus found in Luke (19:1-10)? Seems appropriate to consider during “income tax week” on and around April 15^th!

He entered Jericho and was passing through it. A man was there named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax-collector and was rich. He was trying to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, because he was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today.’ So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, ‘He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.’ Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, ‘Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.’

As a collaborator with the Roman occupation of Palestine, Zacchaeus became rich but isolated by the scorn and hatred of the people he taxed.  Something about this Jesus so compelled Zacchaeus that he was willing to climb a tree just to see the Nazarene.  When he invites himself to dinner at Zacchaeus' home, the short man is thrilled to have Jesus as his guest and uses the occasion to exhibit extraordinary generosity; making restitution to those he had defrauded and giving extravagantly to the poor.  Zacchaeus was a wise man.  He did the right thing.  He had the right heart.  And as a result he gained re-entrance into his Hebrew community and the salvation of his soul.

The National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE.org) representing 300,000 members, including many former Internal Revenue Service employees, offers a variety of employee benefit and advocacy programs, such as a credit union and insurance programs.   One might not expect such a group to have a significant commitment to community generosity, but it does.  Along with educational scholarships and disaster assistance to its members and their families, since 1985 NARFE has donated over $ 9 million to the Alzheimer’s Association research programs to end that disease; most donations coming in the form of small denomination gifts collected at the regular chapter meetings.  One would not think that retired Federal and IRS employees would have too much to give but their organization is one of only four such non-profit organizations to make such a level of commitment.    NARFE members are not only known for their service to our country but for their on-going generosity.

The Bible says:

Those who are generous are blessed,

   for they share their bread with the poor.

 

Susanna Wesley, mother of the founders of Methodism, John and Charles, was an ingenious, hard working woman who often had to provide for her family while her husband Samuel was in jail or away fighting the hierarchy of the Church of England.  Together they had 19 children, 8 of which survived.   All the while she educated each of the children, taught bible study in her kitchen, led worship when Samuel wasn't around and donated food and clothing to the poor.  Her Christian discipleship inspired both of her sons to go on to do great things based on the generosity they saw in their mother.   They were "methodical" in their faith and disciplined in their ministry in large part because of Susanna.  She taught them this simple wisdom about money which they often repeated:  "Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can."  John expanded to a general concept of generosity:

“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”  (John Wesley)

Easter people seek to live lives of wisdom.   It may be ancient wisdom but it's still true for today, a wise life is a generous life, a life that is life indeed!

Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Wise Words"

Proverbs 10:18-19, 15:1, 18:21

 April 12, 2015

 

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 

During the Lenten Season we focused on the last words of Jesus while dying on the cross.  Last Easter Sunday we considered the first words of Jesus as Risen Lord.  In the next few weeks I suggest we consider how we use our words with and about each other as Easter People, children of the resurrection.  The very first words of the Bible read:

 

"In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3)

 

God "speaks" creation into existence.

It is no accident then that the author of the gospel of John begins his testimony like this:

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. (John 1:1-5)

 

Now for all you Biblical scholars, in English "word" is the translation of the original Greek "logos".   And "logos" is the masculine Greek synonym for "sophia", derived from the Hebrew feminine word which in English we translate as "wisdom".  

 

"Word"="Logos"="Sophia"="Wisdom"

For the gospel writer John, Jesus is the "Word of God" the incarnation of the divine light of creation itself:  "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)  Jesus is the embodiment of God's creative wisdom in the Hebrew tradition of "sophia/logos" identified as that divine force the binds all of creation especially that spirit that animates human life, that force which binds all of life and time together.

"Wisdom" is much more than the accumulation of knowledge, academic achievement or data.  Wisdom is found in "the how" of life.   Wisdom understands how life works and how to make the right decision.  When we have wisdom we do the right thing.   We are connected to nothing less than the will and intention of God's creative light and spirit; the God that speaks creation into existence. 

It puts a whole new light on the importance of speech, doesn't it?  There are hundreds of verses in the Bible dealing with gossip, rumors, slander.  The ninth of the Ten Commandments says "Thou shall not bear false witness, you shall not lie" (Exodus 20:16).  It would seem that how we speak to and about each other has everything to do with how we relate to God.

Along with the warnings about negative speech in our lessons from Proverbs this morning, we also hear:

 

Anxiety weighs down the human heart,

                    but a good word cheers it up. (Proverbs 12:25)

 Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,

                    sweetness to the soul and health to the body. (Proverbs 16:24)

 Which of you desires life,

                    and covets many days to enjoy good?

Keep your tongue from evil,

                    and your lips from speaking deceit.  (Psalms 34:12-13)

 

Those may be ancient words but they remain remarkably true for us today.  How we speak to and about each other has everything to do with how we relate to God.

Today we are graced with extraordinary new technologies for communication.  Smart-phones, email and texting have expanded our ability to speak with and about each other.  We do so instantaneously and globally.  In 2013 on average 294 billion emails were sent each day; 107 trillion for the year (businessinsider.com).  According to the Pew Internet Project, the average smartphone subscriber sends 41.5 text messages each day; people in the 18-24 year old range send 110 text messages per day. (Americans and Text Messaging, 09/19/11, pewinternet.org)  

My two sons and I rarely speak to each other over the phone but we text daily about the things that matter most in life...the Giants mainly and what we are cooking for dinner that night.   Expanded communication technologies can be a wonderful tool for us to connect with each other.  When we really connect with each other it’s a "God moment".  The positives of our new technologies far outweigh the negatives but the negatives can be real indeed.  

As one of the worst spellers on the planet, I love that my gadgets and computers can correct my spelling on the go but as most of us know "auto-correct" can sometimes get it wrong, like in this example:

 

Hey my grandpa is in the hospital.  I hope he gets better! :(

Yeah, I hope he dies! :)

You hope my grandpa dies!?  What kind of friend are you?!  And you sign that with a smiley face?!

I meant "does" not "dies", I hope he does get better! 

 

Not too long ago the West Hall middle and high schools in Oakwood, Georgia were put on lockdown because of an auto-corrected text message.  A smartphone auto-corrected the word "gunna" to "gunman". The full, accidental text, reading "gunman be at West Hall today," was reported to police. The text message was also sent to the wrong phone number -- adding to the misinterpretation.  (Huffington Post, 3/2/12)

It has always been true, even in the Biblical times that one has to choose one's words carefully.  Our new communications technologies are marvelous but we still have to take responsibility for what and how we speak to each other, maybe even more so.

Remember the old saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me"? That's a lie.  Words can hurt as much if not more than a slap in the face or a stab in the back.

A high school Vice Principal recently told me of coming to a new school.  She was shocked to learn that many of her students avoided a certain section of hall way while changing classes each day because they would have to pass a gauntlet of teasing, taunting members of the football team.  These young men would stake out this territory each day and push the smaller boys around and inappropriately comment on the appearance of the girls as they passed by.   Other students said that they would completely walk around the outside of the school to avoid going through that corridor of bullying.

What shocked my friend the most was that most of the teachers knew about it but didn't really think it worth intervention.   They explained that it was just a normal part of high school life.  No one in the administration of the school said a word although everybody knew about it.  That is what bothered her the most.  As soon as she became Vice Principal at the school, she put an end to it.

We've all become aware that such bullying has amplified with the use of internet technologies.  And don't think this only happens for young people at school.  Cyber bullying happens with adults at work, celebrities have been stalked and hacked, public figures such as elected officials, government administrators and business leaders daily receive vile and offensive, even violent, electronic messages.   Often the sender would never consider saying such words to one's face but somehow feel they can do so with the antinomy of the internet.

One of the most powerful weapons against negative speech is refusing to be a part of it, either directly or indirectly.  Whether on your Smart Phone or over a cup of coffee or while discussing the world’s problems in the parking lot don't go along with negative language.  Refuse to join in the teasing and taunting.  Say something when people are being mean.  Say out loud that it’s not OK.

In a 2012 editorial on CNN News, Presbyterian pastor Tangela Ekhoff commented on the internet traffic regarding the murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida.  She was shocked by the racist and violent postings on-line from both dominate and minority communities about each other, many of whom identify themselves as Christian:

 

We should take a moment to think before we click. Would Jesus of Nazareth "like" an image or message that you are about to share, or would your Lord and personal savior un-friend you for spreading hatred of your brother or sister? Would Jesus read the comments section and be proud that you call him Master? ("Online anonymity is the new robe and hood of hatred", Rev. Tangela Ekhoff.  CNN news.com, 04/18/12)

 

Cyber-bullying is an example of technology’s ability to isolate us from the consequences of our communications.   A colleague once said a great truth in a sermon: "We simply do not do life alone."   How we speak to and about each other has everything to do with how we relate to God.

During my second year in seminary I went through one of the worst emotional crisis of my life.  Although I had graduated as one of the "Outstanding Students" of the University of the Pacific in 1974, I could barely keep up in graduate school.  The amount of work and expectations for excellence were overwhelming me.  The pressure and stress really got to me.  I endured a six month period of panic attacks, depression and anxiety.  It was terrible, and something, thanks be to God, I have never had to go through again.

One of the most powerful aspects on my road to healing was seeing a counselor each week for six months.  Therapy was a safe place to say out loud what I was afraid to admit.  It was a place I could be heard.  "Talk therapies" where we speak what needs to be said, explore our feelings and feel heard by a trusted professional remain one of the most effective tools to deal with emotional problems.

If you are going through such a time in life, you don’t have to live with bitterness and anger that can keep you up at night about things that happened in the past.  Neither do you have to let anxiety over things that might happen in the future ruin your present. You can always speak with your pastor or be referred to one of the many therapeutic professionals in our area that can help. 

To speak our truth and be heard with love and respect is one of the places we find God.  It doesn’t have to be in a therapist’s office.  It can happen in friendships, in committed relationships, in families.  It can even happen in an email, a text or a Twitter when the communication is done in loving kindness.

The ancient truth remains the same for us today.  How we speak to and about each other has everything to do with how we relate to God.

Amen.

 

 

The First Words

 John 20:1-18

 

April 5, 2015

 

Mark S. Bollwinkel

 

Historians tell us that there were a dozen self-professed messiahs in first century Palestine preaching the end of the world, doing miracles and calling for the restoration of the Holy Land (note as examples: Zealot by Reza Aslan or Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography by John Dominic Crossan).  A number of them came from Galilee, Jesus' home turf, which had a long tradition of resisting foreign powers and local corruption.    They would all die a martyr's death.   If Jesus of Nazareth were "just another one" of these prophets, why are we still talking about him 2,000 years later?

 

Because of Easter.

 

None of the gospels record the resurrection.  There are no eye witness accounts of Jesus' dead body coming back to life that Easter morning.  No one can report how the stone got rolled away.  All they are sure of is that the tomb is empty and his body is not to be found.  In Luke's version of the story an angel asks the women, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" (Luke 24:5)

Scholars tells us that before the stories of Jesus' birth were written down, even before the Easter stories were written down, the earliest Christians told the world that Jesus was alive because they had seen the risen Lord themselves.

To those questioning his credentials as an apostle, Paul writes years before the first gospel is written:

 

For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to someone untimely born, he appeared also to me.  (I Corinthians 15:3-8)

These early Christians, most illiterate and poor, would suffer persecution, imprisonment and death for their new faith absolutely convinced they had encountered Jesus alive and well as the Risen Lord.  The Easter story confirmed what they knew in their hearts; God's love can never die, even at the cruel hands of power and greed, love wins.

 Indeed, Jesus is found among the living not the dead.  That is still true today.

This has been a most Holy Week.  If we were looking, we could see all sorts of signs of resurrection:

 

On Thursday, the day we remember Jesus’ last supper with this disciples, the evening of his betrayal and arrest, the City of San Jose celebrated the life of Police officer Michael Johnson who was killed responding to a domestic violence call last week.  Officer Johnson served the SJPD for 14 years and was considered one of their best and most highly accomplished members. He leaves behind wife Nicole and a wonderful family in which he was a huge part.

Eight thousand people attended his service.  Uniformed officers came from all over California and the nation.  Many thousands more citizens lined the route of the entourage from the funeral home in Los Gatos to the SAP Center in San Jose, waving flags, praying in silence as the hearse passed by.

Bishop Patrick J. McGrath, the head of the Catholic Diocese of San Jose, compared Johnson, who was 38, to a meteorite that flashes across the sky and disappears all too quickly. "They don't last long, but those who experience their light remain forever dazzled," McGrath said. "And that was true with Mike."

Jamie Radack, Johnson's older sister, explained how Michael always sought to follow in their father's footsteps as a police officer.  "I knew he would grow up to become a cop," Radack said. "Whenever Mike and I played cops and robbers as kids, he always insisted on being the cops and I always had to be the bad guys.  That turned out to be fortuitous, not just because Mike grew up to become a cop, but I grew up to become a lawyer," she said, eliciting laughter from the crowd.

David Solis, a police academy classmate of Johnson and now a Menlo Park officer and one of Michael’s best friends spoke for all police officers;  "[Mike] We thank you for your life and your sacrifice to us. Death did not make you a hero. You were already a hero while you lived. You are forever stitched to us, bonded to us, and now your heart will beat through ours."  (“SJPD Officer Michael Johnson: Police, family, community say goodbye to hometown hero”, Robert Salonga, Mark Emmons and Mark Gomez, San Jose Mercury News, April 2, 2015)

 

Love never dies.   It cannot be killed by the most evil darkness.  It lives on in us not just shaping our memories but the way we live.

I could care less what the latest carbon dating test of the Shroud of Turin says about its origins.   That archeologists debate the authenticity of a stone ossuary reported to contain the bones of Jesus' brother James means nothing to my faith.  

I know that Jesus lives every time I see an act of true compassion.  I know that Jesus lives every time someone who has hurt another seeks forgiveness and a way to make amends.  I know the Easter tomb was empty every time someone speaks out for justice in a world bent on power and greed.  

This has been a most Holy Week, indeed.

My father died last year just after we had finished the Maundy Thursday Holy Communion services at the church I was serving.  They had been managing his leukemia with monthly blood transfusions for two years and my mom's at-home round-the-clock care.   The transfusions stopped working and he had a dignified, pain-free death in a Hospice unit in Northern Sacramento.  Calvin Arthur Bollwinkel had no complaints; his 88 years were full of blessings.  He adored my mother Julia during their 64 year marriage.  As a lifelong and devoted San Francisco Giants fan we are convinced that his influence from Heaven was the reason they won their third World Series in five years last year, which could be the only logical explanation!

On the night before his death my mom, brother, sister and I got to say our good-byes. We received a very special gift.   As my mom kissed my dad good-bye she whispered, "I love you...we will be together again..."  

She didn't plan to say that.  It just came out.   It came out of a life spent together.  It came out of the reality that love never dies.  In spite of the enormity of illness, suffering and death, it is love that gets the last word.  It is love that defines us.

And the Easter tomb is empty and Jesus is raised from the dead.

Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb on Easter morning expecting to finish the preparations of Jesus' body for burial which were interrupted by the Sabbath.   What she finds is the empty tomb.  She runs to tell the disciples, who after checking it out, leave her there to weep alone.

Here at Church of the Wayfarer we have spent the Lenten season contemplating the final words of Jesus from the cross.  This morning we hear his first words as the risen Lord; “Woman, why are you weeping?  Who are you looking for?"  [Please note…men leave the dirty work to women and then leave them alone to cry…sounds familiar doesn’t in the life of the church?!  But it will not be the last word we hear from Mary…]

At first conventional wisdom would have her ask, "Where have you taken his body?"  That is only logical.  But when he calls her by name, "Mary", she realizes it is Jesus and this woman left alone will be the first to announce "I have seen The Lord."  And the world has never been the same.

So who are you looking for this bright and beautiful Easter morning?

If we are here to make Grandma happy and then go to brunch, there’s nothing wrong with that!   If we come in hopes of reviving a memory of a time, a person or a faith in the past, wonderful.

But if we are looking for Jesus, we won't find him in the relics of the past, they only point to what is all around us now.  We find the Risen Lord in the lives of those who live in the promise of God's love.   Passionate worship, deepening faith, social justice, radical hospitality and extravagant generosity these are the signs of Easter, these are the pathways to discover who we really are and one whom we seek.

For the last two thousand years, Christians have identified themselves to each other, sometimes during periods of persecution, hiding or oppression, with the liturgical confession and response, “Christ has risen…..Christ has risen indeed”.

Let’s do so together yet again as we claim the promise of our faith; “Christ has risen…..Christ has risen indeed”.

 

Amen.