Reflection on Luke 9:51-62

 

Luke 9:51-62

51 When the days drew near for [Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for his arrival, 53 but they did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 When his disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 Then they went on to another village.

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 And Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Reflection

Nothing distracts Jesus from his mission to redeem his people.  Nothing will get in the way of Jesus reclaiming all who were once his.  Nothing will get in the way.  Not even our sin will get in the way as Jesus spreads his arms wide open on the beams of the cross to grasp us with forgiveness.  Jesus seeks none other than to bring us all back from where we have wandered, so that we can be with him once again, forever. 

The Bible tells us, “When the days drew near for [Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”  Jesus has set his eyes on Jerusalem.  Jesus has set his eyes on the cross.  Jesus has set his eyes on saving the world.  And, nothing is going to get in his way, and nothing is going to distract him.

Jesus was like me the day I saw there was only one slice of Meat Lover’s pizza on the Pizza Hut buffet.  I know it might seem shocking that I could be so focused on food, but that slice was mine.  I set my eyes on it.  I did not take my eyes off.  My friends tried to lure me back with a joke, but my eyes had found their goal.  A small boy ran across my path and I stepped right over that child like a piece of gum on the sidewalk.  Because, there is nothing sadder than for all the Meat Lover’s pizza to be gone, and being forced to settle for an untouched pan of thin crust vegetarian pizza. 

All obstacles overcome, I reached the buffet, and in one swift motion I grabbed a clean plate with my left hand and swiped the slice with my right.  I set the plate down and lifted my arms in victory!  I gave an audible “whoop” of triumph right there in the middle of the Pizza Hut.  I had claimed my prize! 

And, when I looked back down to retrieve my reward, I saw that the child I had stepped over, that little piece of gum on the sidewalk, had happily grabbed my plate from right underneath my celebrating nose, as if I had graciously dished it up for him, and he was well on his way to feast with his parents.  The little thief had snatched my prize right from under my nose.

So maybe I am not at all like Jesus.  Jesus promises in the gospel of John: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28).  No one snatches us from Jesus’ hands.  And that is because Jesus does not get distracted.  He does not set us aside on a plate in order to lift his hands and do a Meat Lover’s touchdown celebration.  Jesus does not get distracted, and that is good news.  But we do, and that is not good news.

In fact, just as Jesus sets out on a half-year long, single-minded mission to redeem us and reclaim us on a cross in Jerusalem, Jesus travels through a Samaritan village and plans to spend the night there.  Because of his single-minded focus on his Jerusalem destination, a mission that he must have discussed with these less than Jerusalem enthusiastic Samaritans, the Samaritans refuse to provide him and his disciples any hospitality.  No food for the evening.  No bed for the night.  No water to wash up from the dusty road.  No anything for people who like Jerusalem.

James and John, the disciples that Jesus dubbed “the Sons of Thunder,” decide that it is time to do something about these disrespectful malcontents.  With a name like, “Sons of Thunder” you can guess that they are not planning on calling their lawyers and having a very stern letter written. 

“Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” they ask Jesus, fumes already flaring from their nostrils. 

Did I mention that Jesus does not get distracted?  What exactly is Jesus mission in the first place?  To redeem the world.  To spread his arms wide open on the cross and reclaim all who have wandered and gone astray.  A little later, Jesus will teach the disciples this parable:

“Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep’” (Luke 15:4-6).

How can you find the lost sheep if you have already destroyed that sheep?  How can you redeem someone who is no longer there?  It is nonsense.  Hate is a distraction.

The Bible says that Jesus “turned and rebuked them” (Luke 9:55).  The urge to get even is a distraction.  The blood boiling desire to make enemies of those who oppose you will always take you way off course.  There is a reason that just days before Jesus instructs the disciples: “Wherever they do not welcome you, as you are leaving that town shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them” (Luke 9:5).  

Shake the dust off.  Do not get distracted.  If they are not ready to be a part of the work of the kingdom, let them be.  Maybe, they will in the future.  They still need to be reclaimed no matter what.  Do not get distracted with hate and retribution.

One thing I always ask couples who are getting married after a previous divorce is: “How much energy do you put into hating your ex?”  I think that it is a rather good question, because if hate is just love turned inside out, the more time you put into hating, the less time and love you have to give your new spouse.  If the mission is building a new relationship of love with a new person, why would you continue to allow yourself to get distracted? 

But, this does not just happen in remarriages.  How much time is wasted in a new friendship that could have been spent having fun at a water park or sharing in a good book over coffee, but is rather spent talking about how rotten the old friend was? 

How much time is wasted by politicians trying to get back at their political enemies when all of that energy could be used for the good of the people? 

Do not get distracted.  Jesus does not get distracted from his mission to reclaim you.  He loves you too much.

“As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’” (Luke 9:57-58).

Jesus does not have time to take care of a home, mow the lawn, and paint the trim.  Jesus does not waste time surfing Amazon, looking for the best electric hand blender for his adult slushies.  He is on a mission to reclaim all who have been lost, to bring those who have wandered away, back into the kingdom of God, and he will not be distracted.  He loves you too much.

“To another Jesus said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:59-62).

In other words, do not get distracted.  Now, I will admit that burying your father, and in the very least, saying goodbye to your family, are both pretty good reasons to at least take a momentary pause in the kingdom mission.  We do have family obligations, right?  We do have to honor our parents.  I think God ordered that in the Ten Commandments, am I right?  And, we do have to be concerned about those who would miss us.  You cannot just up and disappear; that almost seems cruel.  Sometimes, the distractions from the kingdom mission, the excuses for not starting quite yet are really, really good reasons.  In fact, most excuses are pretty good excuses. 

And, though I am certain that Jesus is pulling our leg a little bit here to make a point, I think he really wants us to stop and think about why we are holding back.  “Why have we held back from truly following and living in kingdom ways?  Why are all of those other things that come up in life always so much more important than what Jesus calls us to do?”  

After-all, there are people who are so, so lost in this life; who need to be reclaimed, forgiven and loved into a new life.  What can possibly be more important than that?  When you tell the ox to start plowing toward your mission goal, that ox is just going to go; looking back is only going to get your plow stuck on a rock, busted, or wedged into the side of a tree. 

You see, Jesus knows not to look back and get distracted from the plowing.  Jesus does not get distracted because there is a thief who is currently in the process of ruining his life.  He is distracted by his own needs and desires.  He is sidetracked with all of his own excuses.  He is slowly destroying himself, and other people around him, and he is creating for himself a literal cross upon which he will hang.  The kingdom of God is not on his mind, but it will be.

It will be because there is a man who is determined to join him on the cross.  There is a man who is determined to find him and hold him tight.  There is a man who will not get distracted, because he loves the man too much.  He will arrive in Jerusalem at the right time.  He will be nailed to the cross, in the right place.  He will remember, and claim the man as his own.  And, the unworthy, lost man will find the gift of grace.

As Jesus hung on the cross, mocked by the religious leaders and soldiers, “One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise’” (Luke 23:39-43).

That is what happens when love refuses to be distracted.  We are reclaimed to live in the kingdom of God, where we should have been living the entire time.  Jesus does not get distracted from his mission of redemption and love.  So, we pray that we also not be distracted from the kingdom life.

Reflection on Luke 8:26-39

 

Luke 8:26-39

26 Then [Jesus and his disciples] arrived at the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 As he stepped out on shore, a man from the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had not worn any clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me,” 29 for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. 31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

  32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

  34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they became frightened. 36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. 37 Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

Reflection

I just returned from a vacation, and it was wonderful and relaxing, with exception to the lingering sadness that greeted me at my return.  The congregation lost two beloved members.  So, it was hard to not give the bread and wine to Pat upon my return, her empty chair where we meet at the Personal Care Home for communion just sitting there, so very empty.  Then there was the devastating news that there would be an empty seat in church as I returned to preach once again, right where Suzanne should be sitting, her death so unexpected and nonsensical because she was so full of life just the day before.  Throw in the shooting death of a teen, a school friend to one of our family members.  And, is war just around the corner?  Am I hearing the news right?  And, it is all because I decided to take a vacation!  "Oh world, I cannot leave you alone for one second!"

How nice it would be to be free: free from the grief and sadness; free from the mounting troubles of this world; free from all that grabs a hold of us and will not let go and will not let us truly live.  How nice it would be to be free from death.  How nice it would be to be free from pain.  How nice it would be to be free from sin, both the effects of our own sin and the effects of other people’s sin on us.  How nice it would be for everyone in the world to be free!

But, how do we get there?  How do we free ourselves and others?  What do we do?

Especially, when freedom for all hangs on freeing individual people who are trapped in unhealthy and destructive lives, what do we do to set them free?

Freedom is the goal after-all.  A person cannot live any other type of life until they are free from the old one.  But, how do you get a person to that place of freedom?  What do you do?

What do you do?

Take this man that Jesus and the disciples encounter as they pulled up in their boat.  Imagine a stark, naked man running up as your welcoming committee as you row ashore.  You see that the man is clearly infested with demons.  He screams at Jesus, yelling next to you in the boat, calling him by name.  He screams, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!”

What do you do?

Well, it is clear what the disciples intend to do.  The Bible clearly says in Luke 8:27 that Jesus stepped out of the boat to talk with the man.  Think about that.  It was Jesus, who “stepped out on the shore” (Luke 8:27).  What do you do? 

Apparently, one way to deal with such a man is to just stay in the boat.  The disciples did!  It is kind of like the drill sergeant who asks for a volunteer for a dangerous mission and everyone but one guy takes a step back.  “We’re just going to stay right here while you take care of that Jesus.  Thanks.”  Maybe the answer is to just stay in the boat; to just pretend like you did not see the complete mess that is standing in front of you. 

But here is the thing: no person has ever found freedom when those around him or her decided that it was not their fight.  No one finds freedom when everyone around them decides to stay in the boat.  That is the absolute truth.  So, what do you do?

I know what Jesus did.  Jesus stepped out of the boat, and he walked up to the man as if he was someone who mattered.  After-all, we are all someone who matters to God.

Caring alone does not solve the problem though.  You see, part of the issue with figuring out what to do, is that this guy (with an army of demons tormenting him) truly believes that he has found freedom by living with his demons. 

He is like the homeless person who leaves the brand new home that was a gift because they liked the seclusion of their tent in the woods much better.

He is like the child who strips down immediately after arriving home from school, finally free to be as God created them to be!  Not that that has ever been a part of my experience as a parent.  You just pray that no one comes to the door.

More than being free from restrictive clothing though, the man is free from the demands of everyone else, living in tombs rather than houses and finding freedom while living in the wild, apart from those who would force him to dress as they dress and live as they live and think as they think.  The demons have convinced the man that he is free.

But, clearly he is not.  He is exposed to the elements.  He is literally living next to the dead.  And, his thoughts are not his own.  Even his words are not his own.  The demons speak for him.  The demons make his decisions.  He is so trapped by the many demons of his life, that he cannot even see how trapped he is. 

Do you know who can see how trapped he is?  Everyone.  The townspeople can see how trapped he is.  The Bible says that “he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds” (Luke 8:29).  You see, the demons made the man think that the townspeople were the enemy.  And, when he broke free from the chains and shackles put on by those who sought to keep him safe, for his own good, and when he eluded those who kept guard, he truly thought that he had found freedom.

And tragically, all of us understand this dynamic very well.  How many of you have a really good friend or family member who thinks they are living so full and free in this life, going where they want, doing all they want, drinking what they want, eating all they want, hooking up with who they want, free from the cares of the world and free from the cares of those around them, and you cannot do anything about it but watch them slowly destroy their own lives little bad choice by little bad choice? 

“I can’t do anything about him,” the adult son admitted.  “I can see how my father is just destroying everything that he built, and there is nothing I can do.  He thinks the affair is some sort of freedom from my mom.  He thinks that he can just go off to the bar each night without consequences.  He thinks that spouting off his hateful opinions do not hurt all of us.  He is destroying our family night by night, drink by drink, and word by word, and I can’t do anything to stop him.  He thinks he is the man.  He thinks that he is completely free.  But, he isn’t…at all.”

Of course, we friends and family try to fix things.  We try to contain the damage.  We carry secrets to protect loved ones from themselves.  We smooth over hurt feelings.  We try to restrict their ability to venture into harmful situations with deflection or restriction.  We have our own chains and shackles that we clamp on people’s hands and feet, and from which they continually break free.  So, we clamp down tighter and they break free again and again, and, the cycle just keeps happening again and again.

It is like the forces of chaos want us all to be bound up in cycles of struggle and pain.  It is like the forces of chaos are legion, are like a Roman army charging forward, that cannot be stopped.  It is like chaos wants to convince us that pain, struggle, war, and self-destruction are what life is all about.

What do we do with people whose very lives have become complete chaos?  What do we do?  What can we do?

I think the book of Genesis has an idea.

“When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was complete chaos, 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.  And God saw that the light was good and God separated the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:1-4).

God sent the wind, spoke a sacred Word over the chaotic waters and gave order to the chaos.  God gave light to a dark and chaotic existence.  God separated the light from the darkness.  We, feeble human beings can try all we want to put chaos waters behind our makeshift, plywood walls, but the chaos will always leak out; every single time.  Genesis seems to say that only God is able to separate it out.  Only God is able to transform chaos into something good.  And, when we let that sink in, we suddenly realize that our problem from the very start was that we forgot to trust that God will bring order.

What can we do?  Trust the one who creates order.  Trust the one who steps out of the boat. 

Jesus stepped out of the boat and approached the man, to drive the demons out.

“Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind” (Luke 8:30-35).

Maybe, just maybe, rather than staying in the boat, pretending that the problem does not exist, or rather than relying on shackles and chains to keep the problem bound up and contained, maybe we can try something else completely.  Maybe, we can invite Jesus to step into the situation. 

After-all, it was the Word of God that calmed the chaos.  It was the Word of God that created light in dark places.  And, it is God’s Word taking on flesh who compassionately steps out of the boat.  It is God’s Word made flesh who takes the time to care for us.  It is God’s Word make flesh who does not fear talking to our demons.  He does not fear talking to the most chaotic parts of our very souls.  And, it is God’s Word made flesh who, out of a grace that expects us to do nothing to heal ourselves, casts all of our demons away so that we can finally live in true freedom.  Out of grace Jesus casts out our demons so that we can finally sit at his feet, fully clothed, and finally able to think clearly.

What do we do?  We allow Jesus to get out of the boat and trust that he can actually do something!

“Dad,” the adult son got his father’s attention.

“What is it?”

“Can you please come with me to church this morning?  There is someone there that I would really like you to meet? 

Was the son playing on his father’s adulterous curiosities he silently wondered?  Maybe?  Maybe not.  But, what he did know was that he could not fix his dad.  There is only one savior who can make a chaotic sea go still and rip that same chaos out of a person’s soul.  It was time to trust that Jesus could do something.  It was time to introduce his dad to the one who creates order in a chaotic world.  It was time to introduce him to Jesus Christ our Lord.  

And, it is our time as well.

Reflection on John 16:12-15

 

John 16:12-15

Jesus’ ongoing presence with the disciples will be made known through the coming Spirit who will guide them and communicate to them Jesus’ will and glory.

[Jesus said,] ¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

Reflection

(This reflection, from Pastor Jira's archives, was written by Pastor Jira and preached while he was on vacation, thus the use of the third person.)

Truth.  “What is truth?”  That is the famous cynical question from Pontius Pilate just after Jesus indicates that everyone on the side of truth listens to him.  Truth.

The idea of “the truth” has fascinated Pastor Jira for much of his life.  What is truth?

His first serious venture into the question of truth fell upon him when in fifth grade and playing in the woods.  Most of his time in the woods was spent playing war with his brothers. But, in between the battles, he would find a nice log and just sit and enjoy the beauty of nature around him.  And, while sitting, breathing in the smells of the wind and feeling the breeze on his face, he noticed a remarkable truth: squirrels talk!  Well, not exactly talk, he had not stumbled into a live action Disney cartoon, but he saw that squirrels actually communicate. 

He watched the squirrels as they hid their treasured acorns away in the trees.  Right after doing so, the furry creatures would make a very distinct chirp while facing fiercely out into the world…as fierce as a squirrel can be anyway.  He soon realized that the sound the squirrels made was the same each time they hid an acorn.  And, he could also hear a reply in the distance each time.  The squirrels were talking!

Though Pastor Jira usually does not go around telling people that squirrels started him on a path of philosophical inquiry…they actually did!  There was this truth…this whole world that was going on out there that he did not understand or know.  He yearned to learn more.  He yearned to learn the truth.

That sent him on a path to learn a lot about nature.  But, even after studying that, he did not feel like he yet had “the truth.” 

The lure of “the truth” sparked once again the day he realized that paintings are more than an extremely time consuming and expensive ways to do a photograph.  He learned that there was deep meaning in pieces of art.  There is meaning in the way the people face each other.  There is meaning in the colors chosen and the shapes taken.  There is meaning in the emotion that is evoked through the colors.  Yes, because of that, there is meaning even in the splattered and smeared colors of modern art that lead those without an artistic eye simply to say, “My granddaughter can do better than that.” 

But, as deeply moved as he was with art, it still did not given him the answers to “the truth.”  Rather, it only did what all good art does; pointed beyond itself to a higher truth and created a yearning to reach for more. 

He still yearned to know the truth.

Some of that art pointed him to the world religions.  He was fascinated by humanity’s attempts to understand and commune with truths that were higher than we could possibly imagine.  Buddhism especially struck a chord the Lutheran boy’s heart.  The very idea of quieting the mind in order to become one with reality; one with God; one with the source of all compassion; was very appealing to the youthful Pastor Jira.  The truth seemed so close to his grasp that he could virtually taste it.

There is a reason for all of this story-telling of Pastor Jira’s life, of course.  It is about the truth, and where that search led him.  It is also about where your search leads you. 

There were other forays into truth of course, which included learning a deep respect for science and understanding the depths of human psychology.  Needless to say, though Pastor Jira is happy that he wandered through all of these truths in life, he never found “the truth.”  At least, not until he discovered what was in plain sight his entire Christian life. 

He had never seen “the truth” that was right in front of him, because he had never truly understood that “the truth” is not about a philosophy or a feeling or a law of nature or law of the universe that can be grasped, held, and fully understood.  The truth is a relationship.  You will understand what Pastor Jira means in just one moment. 

His epiphany concerning “the truth” actually came during a boring church service.  There was nothing great about this service.  The notes of the hymns were too high.  The pastor’s monotone voice was as fascinating as watching dust on a shelf.  Despite droning tone of the preacher, Pastor Jira still heard these few words that changed his world right there in the pew.  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

His mind was simply blown away.  For all of these years he had searched for the truth as if it were something that he could grasp and understand and hold.  But, he realized in that moment that the truth is not something, it is someone.

Jesus is the truth.  If you want to understand God...if you want to understand the heart of all eternity, you need look no further than Jesus. 

We always joke in Sunday School that the correct answer is always Jesus, but Pastor Jira had not fully realized before that the answer actually is Jesus.  You want to know about the truth, look at Jesus!

Pastor Jira’s yearning to know the truth, naturally, turned into wanting to know everything he could about Jesus.  And this is where the scripture reading for today comes in.  Obviously, we cannot see Jesus today.  He is not physically present.  He has ascended to God the Father.  And, that would seem to be a problem.  Just imagine that you find out that the truth used to be right here on the first floor, but the elevator man tells you, “Just before you got here he ascended up to the 118th floor.  Oh, and the elevator is broken.” 

Jesus used to walk and talk with us.  “The truth” used to live right with us.

But, all is not lost.  The “Spirit of truth,” or another way to say it, the “Spirit of Jesus” has been left with us as a gift. 

Jesus promises, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14).

The Spirit is here.  The Spirit will lead us and guide us just as Jesus would have led us.  “He will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).  The Spirit will love us just as Jesus would has loved us.  The Spirit will do this, because the Spirit is one with Jesus.  The Spirit is Jesus’ own Spirit.

The Spirit will create a yearning in us to search the scriptures, especially the stories of Jesus.  And when we do that, we will see who The Truth truly cares about. 

The Spirit will open our closed eyes to our neighbors. 

The Spirit will fill us with a forgiving love that is almost impossible to grasp. 

The Spirit is here.  Jesus is here.  God the Father is here.  The truth is here, now, among us, speaking to us through the scriptures and through love.

“All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:15).

Now, Pastor Jira admits that he does not have a complete grasp of “The Truth.”  He does not understand Jesus fully, just like he does not understand his wife fully.  He probably never will.  He thinks that is OK, because he understands that the truth has a firm grasp on him. Jesus has a firm grasp on him and us.  And that firm grasp makes us yearn to know the truth more and more.  May the Spirit fill you with that yearning, so that we can learn together what it is to follow Jesus who is “the truth.”  Listening to the Spirit and following “the truth” together is the way Jesus wants it.

Reflection on Acts 2:1-21

 

Acts 2:1-21

¹When the day of Pentecost had come, [the apostles] were all together in one place. ²And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

  ⁵Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. ⁶And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. ⁷Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” ¹²All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
  ¹⁴But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. ¹⁵Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. ¹⁶No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
 ¹⁷‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
 that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
  and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
 and your young men shall see visions,
  and your old men shall dream dreams.
 ¹⁸Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
  in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
   and they shall prophesy.
 ¹⁹And I will show portents in the heaven above
  and signs on the earth below,
   blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
 ²⁰The sun shall be turned to darkness
  and the moon to blood,
   before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
 ²¹Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ ”

Reflection on Acts 2:1-21

(This reflection, from Pastor Jira's archives, was written by Pastor Jira, but preached on his behalf while on vacation.  Thus, the use of the third person.)

One of Pastor Jira’s theology professors had just landed in Mumbai, India and was exiting the airport when he was confronted by a little boy holding out his hand.  This is typical in India.  Poorer families will send out their children to beg in tourist areas around the city in the same way that Pastor Jira and my brothers were sent out by his parents to mow people’s yards during the summer.  It keeps kids out of trouble and to brings in a little money for the family. 

Assuming the professor was American, which he was, the little boy asked for some money in perfect American English.  Trying to get past the annoying kid and onto his waiting bus, the theology professor answered back in perfect German, “I don’t speak English.” 

Amazingly, the kid replied, “That’s OK, I can speak German too,” with a perfect German accent.  The kid got the money.

That kid’s linguistic abilities reminds me of the gifts the Holy Spirit brought on the day of Pentecost.  People from at least 15 nations had gathered in Jerusalem for the harvest festival of Pentecost, bringing gifts of the first fruits of their labor to sacrifice to God at the temple.  Little did they know that God had a gift waiting for them.

The Bible tells us, “Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of [the apostles]” (Acts 2:2-3).

The sudden appearance of flaming tongues appearing all around was not God’s amazing surprise to the people though.  The gift from God that amazed the people did not have to do with what they saw; rather, it had to do with what they heard.

The Bible continues, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:4).

Just as that little beggar boy could talk to the seminary professor in multiple languages; those standing in the crowd were “amazed and astonished” to hear these native Jews with the flaming tongues speaking, not in Hebrew, but in the native languages of their own countries.  The crowds asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?” (Acts 2:7-8).

The visitors were in a foreign country to celebrate, but it was as if they were at home.  And, as anyone who has traveled to a foreign nation and tried to urgently ask for the directions to the bathroom can tell you, there is nothing better than to have someone who can speak your own language!

This made Pastor Jira remember a foreign exchange student that he became friends with in High School.  She was from Colombia.  Today, she is a highly paid official at the World Bank, negotiating loans between nations for the building up of global economies.  This girl was no idiot.  But while in school, she was sort of treated like one. 

Though she was a genius, she could not convey it in a way that the students could understand.  Her English was not yet perfected while in High School and her limited English vocabulary hid her intelligence.  But, her face lit up with a huge smile when the Spanish teacher sought her out and struck up a conversation.  Having someone who can speak your language can be life changing.

There are two flourishing and growing churches right here in Pennsylvania that specifically minister to the drug and alcohol recovery communities.  In these recovery churches, people who have struggled to find new life beyond the drugs and alcohol have found the new life that Jesus Christ can create which forgives the sin of their addiction and builds a new future from the broken pieces of their lives. 

As you already know, there is a huge need throughout our entire nation to have people who can speak the language of recovery and new life after substance abuse.  But, not just any church, nor any person, would be able to take on such a ministry.  Only those who know the language of addiction, only those who have been through the struggle, through the single steps forward and the multiple steps back, only those who have finally been brought by Jesus to the other side of the addiction are able to speak to people in ways that give new life from God.  

Like the apostle who had been given the gift of the language spoken by the Medes, for the Medes, or the apostle who was given the language spoken by the Mesopotamians, for the Mesopotamians during Pentecost, the Holy Spirit still gifts particular people of faith with the language of addiction and recovery.  Having this gift of language from the Holy Spirit transforms a recovery minister’s embarrassing past of addiction into their greatest gift for the kingdom of God.  The same thing is true for you as well.

Maybe you do not speak the language of addiction, but I assure you that you too have been given the gift of a language from the Holy Spirit.  You too are a gift to someone waiting for the healing and wholeness that comes through knowing Jesus Christ.

Pastor Jira knows of someone who had been trained as a theatrical actor who then went to seminary in order to learn more about God.  And, after her pastoral training, she went back to the world of acting and took a job managing props at a movie studio. 

Why did someone from the theatre world take the time and spend the money to go to seminary, just to return to the world of acting?  Because, the language used in the world of acting is the language gifted to her by the Holy Spirit .  She understands the terminology.  She knows which direction you would need to step if asked to go “up stage left.” 

But, beyond terminology, she understands the unique culture and language of those in the creative, performing arts.  Where many look at those in the acting world and only see weird people with weird ways, she sees people who God created and who God yearns to redeem.  The Spirit has chosen and equipped her to be a gift to those people.  She proclaims to those people in the dark corners of the sound stage as they try to clear their minds and enter into the minds of their characters.  She can speak, in a very particular way, the good news of the grace of Jesus Christ to these very peculiar people.  They are her people, after-all.

And, just to be clear, you do not have to be seminary trained to do this stuff.  The important part of the story is not the seminary training, but rather the gift of a particular language that the Holy Spirit provides. 

Perhaps, you have been given the gift of knowing an actual second language such as Spanish and can connect in the name of Christ with Haitian or Guatemalan family who has been granted protection in our country. Someone who actually knows Spanish could be a gift from God, walking alongside them and sharing Christ’s love with them!

Perhaps, your language is quilting and you can share the good news of Christ Jesus through the block patterns that you put together.  “Block patterns,” that is the extent of Pastor Jira’s knowledge about the quilting world, so barring a flaming tongue of the quilting language falling from the sky, he will not be the choice to deliver the good news in that world.  But, you may be!

Maybe your language is dairy farming; or auto mechanics; or hunting, or motorcycle culture; or pop music enthusiast; or old guys talking at the diner for breakfast.  Pastor Jira does not speak any of those languages!  He certainly does not speak the language of old ladies at the hair solon, but you might!  And, if you have been given the gift of that language by the Holy Spirit, then you are sent from our church as a gift to those people. 

You are the one who knows the language you have been gifted.  You are the one who can speak of God’s grace, and God’s love for the sinner, and God’s care for the world to those particular people.  You are the one who has been given as a gift of the Holy Spirit to those people. 

Notice, that in the Pentecost story, it is not the divided tongues of fire that are the gift of the Holy Spirit, but rather the apostles themselves (who have been given those tongues and languages) who are the gift to the people at the Pentecost festival.  God provides those followers of Jesus as a gift to those at the festival, that they may understand and hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

You too are a gift to someone who needs to hear about the grace of God.  You too are a gift to someone who needs their life to become new.  You too are a gift from Jesus to someone else who needs salvation.  You too are a gift who knows how to share the language of God in a meaningful way.

Reflection on John 17:20-26

 

John 17:20-26

Jesus prays that the life of his followers will be characterized by an intimate unity of identity with God. To be so identified with God means also to share in God’s mission: to proclaim the word that will bring others into this same unity.

[Jesus prayed:] 20 “I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory (divine image) that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory (divine image), which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.”

 

Reflection

For those of you who remember Marian Feathers, she loved recalling the day one of her children was acting up in church.  She quietly ordered them to settle down, but the child refused to listen to her.  This got her husband Bill mad, so he quickly put the child on his shoulder to haul him out of the church.  Just as they were headed out the door the child looked out at the congregation and pleaded, “Pray for me!  Pray for me!”

It is good to be prayed for.  And in our gospel reading for today, Jesus is praying for us.

And, before I go any further, I just want to stop right there and sit with that for a second.  I just want that reality to sink in for a moment.  Jesus Christ, our king.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father.  Jesus Christ, the word made flesh, through whom all was created.  That important and busy divine Son of God took a moment of his precious time in order to pray for you.  He prayed for you.  If you do not believe me, look.  It is there in the scriptures.

While Jesus is praying to God the Father, he mentions how he is asking things, not only for the benefit of his disciples who are standing right there, but he is also praying and asking things “on behalf of those who believe in me through [the disciple’s] word” (John17:20).  And, I do not know if you have ever considered this possibility, but it struck me the other day that Jesus is praying for us.  He is praying for you.  Because the disciples told generation after generation the story of the good news of Jesus Christ, and you trust that good news, because of that, Jesus is praying for you

Way back in 33AD, Jesus stopped and took the time to pray for you.  “That can’t be true.”  Of course, it is true.  Who else could he have been talking about?  At that time, he had not yet died on the cross.  The disciples, for whom he was also praying, had not yet begun their own ministry.  So, when he mentioned, “those who believe through [the disciples’] word,” he was talking about believers in the future (John 17:20).  Jesus had you in mind.  Jesus prays for you.  And, that is powerful stuff.

A few years ago, I was talking with a young man who had gotten into quite a bit of trouble with the law.  He was on probation and was working in the stock room of a local store.  I saw him through the door while I was shopping and I asked how he was doing.  We talked for a bit about his struggles with the law and his addictions, we also talked about video games, but he said one thing that day that still sticks with me.

He said, “For a long time I just didn’t really care about myself.  I didn’t care if I hurt myself.  I didn’t care if I hurt my parents.  I didn’t care if I ever got caught.  But, I care now.  I am trying hard now because a couple months ago I overheard my grandma, just down the hall, talking in her bedroom.” 

He was living with his grandma as a stipulation of his probation. 

“She was talking, but we were the only two in the house.  So, I put my ear to her door to see if there was anything wrong, if there was an intruder or something.  I realized that she was fine.  She was praying.  Only, I heard my name.  She was praying for me.  She was praying that I would be given a life that was good and worth something. 

I didn’t know anyone cared enough about me to even think of me, let alone pray for me.  But, my grandma did.  I decided right there that if she cared about me, maybe I should start caring about me.  And, I also decided that maybe I should try praying.”

It is good to be prayed for.  And in our gospel reading for today, Jesus is praying for us. 

So, what is it that Jesus wants so badly for us that he takes the time to stop and lift us up to God the Father?  Well, it says it right in the Bible.  Jesus prays: “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21).

“May they also be in us” (John 17:21).

Just like the young man’s grandma prayed that her grandchild would return to a life of goodness and a worthwhile purpose, Jesus is praying that we might return and be with him and God the Father.  But, Jesus does not just want us back with him, he also wants us to have a purpose; “that the world may believe” that Jesus was sent by God the Father for the world as well (John 17:21).  Jesus wants more than anything for us to be one.

I want that too.  I am not even going to talk about the divisions within our nation and politics.  We do not have to look that far to desire unity.  Within my own extended family there are siblings who used to love each other who are bitterly divided.  Within my own extended family there are children who will not talk to parents, and there is a cousin who lives nearby another cousin who is struggling, but they refuse to help out.  This is all because something from the past has divided them, and none of them appears to ready to love like Jesus loved, or forgive like Jesus forgave.  You have the same thing in your families, I know.

And, all my family went to Sunday school.  All of mine learned “Jesus love me.”  All of them learned the words, “love your enemy, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).  They know John 13:34, even if they cannot tell you the verse and number.  They know that they have been commanded to “Love one another.  As I have loved you…”  They all know. 

But, they are like the little boy who was overheard praying: “Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it.  I’m having a real good time just the way I am.”

It is a joke, but it is so true.  There is something that we gain when we remain separated.  That is why we do it.  There is something that we think will fulfill our souls by remaining in a state of division.  Good fences make for good neighbors, we are told.  That is what the world teaches anyway.  The world tells us that being separated is important; that walls are a good idea.  But, Jesus takes time out of his busy day and stops his journey to the cross for a moment in order to pray that we might all be one.

Listen to Jesus’ prayer: “The glory (or divine image) that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one” (John 17:22). 

People out in the world tend to think that Christians come to church and put on a false disguise of love and goodness.  And, they think that because they have seen people who call themselves Christians out in the world and have seen what these people really do.  They have seen the truth.  All of the love and goodness at church seems to be put on for show.  They say that it is all a costume, but they have seen the truth.

My Sunday school teacher in High School, a man who was devoted to us teens and asked about our lives and our weekly struggles every Sunday morning, once talked about a guy who stopped by his little repair shop and accused him of that very thing. 

“I saw you for years at the bar.  I heard you talk.  I know who you left with at night, even though you were a married man.  What a fraud you have become, starting to go to church.  And, I heard you are teaching kids!  How can you do that?” the man accused.  Do you want to hear my Sunday school teacher’s response?

“You are right.  I was all of those things.  I still am some of them.  But, I don’t go to church to pretending to be someone I’m not.  I do not and put on a costume.  I go to church so that Jesus can wash off all of that grime, to have the costume that you saw stripped away, so that I can finally be who he made me to be.  And, you can be that too.”

The sin is the costume.  The image of the divine is the reality.  “The divine image that you have given me I have given them” (John 17:22).  We were born with an image of the divine on our faces.  We were born with an image of divine love in our hearts.  Genesis 1:27 says, “God created humans in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”  And in his prayer, Jesus reminds us of that fact.  Jesus says that the glory, the divine image, that was given to him, “I have given them” (John 17:22).

More than that.  The image we have been given is Jesus’ own image.  He is what the divine image looks like when walking and talking down here on this planet. 

And, you might have noticed that I keep saying, “We were born with an image of the divine” and that Jesus “reminds us of that fact.”  It is because that glory, that divine image that Jesus bears, Jesus says, “I have given to them” (John 17:22).

When washed clean, we all look like Jesus.  When washed clean we all love like Jesus, pray like Jesus, heal like Jesus, and serve like Jesus. And, if we all look like Jesus, then we are one; glorifying God together; bearing the image of God together for the world to see.

And, that is what Jesus prays, that we might finally be able to look at each other, see the face of Jesus in each other, love each other because of that face, and be united as one.  No more divisions.  No more hatred.  No more individuals being left out or pushed away.  No more people being forgotten.  No more sinners being barred from the table.  Jesus prays to God the Father hoping that, “the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.” 

Jesus prays that we might be one.  Jesus prays that you might be one with him and with one another.  It is good to be prayed for.