Year A
Isaiah 45:21-25
Galatians 6:14-18
Psalm 98
John 12:31-36a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Three days ago\u2026 the church celebrated Holy Cross Day\u2026 we celebrate it today\u2026 ] in the Eastern Church\u2026 the feast is known as The Exaltation of the Holy Cross\u2026 and it was one of the twelve great feasts in the Byzantine liturgy\u2026 in the Roman Catholic Church\u2026 it\u2019s known as The Triumph of the Cross\u2026 and the 1979 Book of Common Prayer was the first American Prayer Book to include it\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Historically\u2026 the feast has been associated with the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher\u2026 built by the Emperor Constantine\u2026 and dedicated on September 14 in the year 335\u2026 ] Constantine’s mother Helena\u2026 supervised the construction of this church\u2026 and a relic\u2026 believed to be part of the True Cross\u2026 was discovered during the excavation\u2026 and so current claims by the Church of Jerusalem to have a fragment of the True Cross\u2026 date back to the mid-300s\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The feast has also been associated with the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius\u2026 because\u2026 although the Persians stole the relic from Jerusalem in 614\u2026 when they destroyed the church that Constantine built\u2026 Heraclius recovered it from them\u2026 and although the authenticity of any relics-of-the-cross may be questionable\u2026 Holy Cross Day provides an opportunity for a celebration of Christ’s redeeming death on a cross\u2026 and for us to ponder what it means\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For me\u2026 the Cross is one of those theological conundrums\u2026 an enigma wrapped in a mystery\u2026 something that ought to be finite and final\u2026 but which is really infinite and eternal\u2026 and the scandal of the Cross\u2026 is that it rejects the values of Empire\u2026 and turns them on their heads\u2026 turns them upside down\u2026 the scandal of the Cross\u2026 is that what\u2019s known to take life in a horrific way\u2026 instead gives life in a glorious way\u2026 the scandal of the cross is God\u2019s YES\u2026 to Empire\u2019s NO\u2026 it’s like God saying\u2026 Is that the best you\u2019ve got\u2026 I\u2019ve got Jesus<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the movie The Wizard of Oz\u2026 Dorothy\u2019s dog Toto pulls open a green curtain to expose the real wizard\u2026 but before that\u2026 we\u2019re confronted with the Big Wizard\u2026 his disembodied head is there\u2026 but he\u2019s not really there\u2026 he\u2019s surrounded by pillars of fire\u2026 and columns of smoke\u2026 and has a booming\u2026 scary Old Testament voice\u2026 and even before Dorothy and those she meets along the Yellow Brick Road\u2026 along The Way\u2026 can make their requests known\u2026 the Wizard says he already knows what they need and want\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n His request to them\u2026 to get the wicked witch\u2019s broomstick\u2026 sounds a little bit like “works righteousness”\u2026 but the journey they go on\u2026 brings out in them\u2026 those yet-as-unnamed qualities they want\u2026 and so when Toto draws the green curtain open\u2026 and the Wizard is revealed in human form\u2026 he affirms that Dorothy\u2019s three companions\u2026 already possess the brains\u2026 the courage\u2026 and the heart they desire\u2026 and he gives them\u2026 what we might call tokens… or relics\u2026 to demonstrate their gifts\u2026 and it\u2019s the Wizard himself\u2026 who offers to take Dorothy home\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the movie\u2026 something seems to<\/em> go wrong\u2026 the Wizard ascends on his own\u2026 a little bit like Jesus\u2019 Ascension\u2026 but perhaps this ascension paves the way and makes it possible for what comes next\u2026 for the Advocate to come\u2026 because then\u2026 Wisdom herself\u2026 in the form of Glinda the Good Witch of the North\u2026 tells Dorothy that she\u2019s had\u2026 Emmanuel\u2026 God with her\u2026 all along\u2026 the ability achieve her heart\u2019s desire\u2026 all she has to affirm\u2026 is that there\u2019s no place like home\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s easy to think\u2026 that when Jesus says\u2026 when I am lifted up from the earth<\/em>\u2026 that he means\u2026 lifted up on the cross\u2026 it\u2019s easy to think that he\u2019s talking only about the method of his death\u2026 that he means\u2026 when I am lifted up and die\u2026 but he said this to indicate the kind of death<\/em> he was to die\u2026 and that specific kind of death included\u2026 behind the curtain\u2026 resurrection\u2026 and ascension\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pastor Karoline Lewis wrote\u2026 the combination of these three events\u2026 crucifixion\u2026 resurrection\u2026 and ascension\u2026 are the how and the when\u2026 that Jesus will draw all people to himself\u2026 and the Farewell Discourse just a few chapters later in John\u2026 confirms that Jesus\u2019 parting words are not just in anticipation of his death\u2026 but in anticipation of his ascension\u2026 [and] perhaps [this is] a far more difficult reality to face than his inevitability in a tomb\u2026 and so if resurrection is hard to get our heads around\u2026 how much more so is this second departure\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In v. 31 of today\u2019s Gospel\u2026 the ruler of this world<\/em>\u2026 is identified in of one of my study bibles\u2026 as the Devil\u2026 the diablos\u2026 the divider\u2026 but isn\u2019t death also one of the rulers of this world\u2026 aren\u2019t many of our decisions made as though we believe that death does have the final word\u2026 because in our western thinking\u2026 in our black and white\u2026 polar opposite thinking\u2026 it\u2019s got to be one or the other\u2026 right\u2026 life is good\u2026 and death isn\u2019t just difficult\u2026 but it\u2019s bad\u2026 but what if\u2026 as the Epistle says\u2026 the same mind that was in Christ Jesus\u2026 was in us\u2026 how would that affect our decisions\u2026 what if we trusted in the eternal life we\u2019re promised\u2026 fully and always\u2026 what if all our corporate decisions\u2026 were based in God\u2019s abundance\u2026 and not our fear of scarcity\u2026 how do we think\u2026 things would look\u2026 then\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I offer an analogy\u2026 we look ahead to some time off\u2026 and go on vacation\u2026 we decide where to go\u2026 and how to get there\u2026 decide what to do and see when we get there\u2026 and what to bring\u2026 but then\u2026 when we\u2019re done sightseeing\u2026 and learning new things\u2026 and having our horizons broadened\u2026 and are tired at the end of our time off\u2026 we return back home\u2026 to comfortable routines\u2026 and familiar surroundings\u2026 and we\u2019re happy to get there\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we die\u2026 we also go back home\u2026 but to a deeper home\u2026 a more welcoming home\u2026 we\u2019re glad for the time away\u2026 to have seen and done so many things\u2026 to have loved and been loved by many people\u2026 even when we don\u2019t think we deserve that\u2026 but in this eternal home\u2026 we have all we need\u2026 we lack nothing\u2026 we are loved completely and unconditionally\u2026 and the things that separate us from each other are like green curtains which are drawn open\u2026 the things that separate us dissolve like wicked witches\u2026 and melt away\u2026 and we can let go of those things which may not be real\u2026 like inauthentic relics\u2026 and hold on to those things which can not be any more real\u2026 or any more relational\u2026 like the love of God in Christ\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pastor Bruce G. Epperly\u2026 [of South Congregational Church in Centerville, MA]\u2026 writes\u2026 inspired by his embodiment of a relational God\u2026 Jesus challenges his followers to take up their crosses and embrace the pain of the world\u2026 contrary to the world\u2019s focus on individual success\u2026 Jesus asserts that those who hang onto their lives will lose them\u2026 while those who are willing to lose their lives\u2026 will experience God\u2019s blessing\u2026. this is not a matter of martyrdom\u2026 so much as the choice\u2026 to jettison the isolated<\/em> ego\u2026 in favor of a wider loyalty\u2026 and Jesus challenges us to become big spirited in our spiritual and relational lives\u2026 living into larger and larger circles that embrace all of creation\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Holy Cross Day\u2026 is a day\u2026 not when we celebrate Jesus\u2019 death\u2026 but the kind of death it was\u2026 which led to resurrection and ascension\u2026 that\u2019s why we sometimes say that this is not only God\u2019s story\u2026 but is our story too\u2026 so that when the time is right\u2026 we too can go home\u2026 and which leads us\u2026 in the here and now\u2026 to ask Empire\u2026 Is that the best you\u2019ve got\u2026 I\u2019ve got Jesus<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year A Isaiah 45:21-25 Galatians 6:14-18 Psalm 98 John 12:31-36a May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026 Three days ago\u2026 the church celebrated Holy Cross Day\u2026 we celebrate it today\u2026 ] in the Eastern Church\u2026 the feast is known as The Exaltation of the Holy Cross\u2026 and it was one of the twelve great feasts in the Byzantine liturgy\u2026 in the Roman Catholic Church\u2026 it\u2019s known as The Triumph of the Cross\u2026 and the 1979 Book of Common Prayer was the first American Prayer Book to include it\u2026 Historically\u2026 the feast has been associated with the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher\u2026 built by the Emperor Constantine\u2026 and dedicated on September 14 in the year 335\u2026 ] Constantine’s mother Helena\u2026 supervised the construction of this church\u2026 and a relic\u2026 believed to be part of the True Cross\u2026 was discovered during the excavation\u2026 and so current claims by the Church of Jerusalem to have a fragment of the True Cross\u2026 date back to the mid-300s\u2026 The feast has also been associated with the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius\u2026 because\u2026 although the Persians stole the relic from Jerusalem in 614\u2026 when they destroyed the church that Constantine built\u2026 Heraclius recovered it from them\u2026 and although the authenticity of any relics-of-the-cross may be questionable\u2026 Holy Cross Day provides an opportunity for a celebration of Christ’s redeeming death on a cross\u2026 and for us to ponder what it means\u2026 For me\u2026 the Cross is one of those theological conundrums\u2026 an enigma wrapped in a mystery\u2026 something that ought to be finite and final\u2026 but which is really infinite and eternal\u2026 and the scandal of the Cross\u2026 is that it rejects the values of Empire\u2026 and turns them on their heads\u2026 turns them upside down\u2026 the scandal of the Cross\u2026 is that what\u2019s known to take life in a horrific way\u2026 instead gives life in a glorious way\u2026 the scandal of the cross is God\u2019s YES\u2026 to Empire\u2019s NO\u2026 it’s like God saying\u2026 Is that the best you\u2019ve got\u2026 I\u2019ve got Jesus\u2026 In the movie The Wizard of Oz\u2026 Dorothy\u2019s dog Toto pulls open a green curtain to expose the real wizard\u2026 but before that\u2026 we\u2019re confronted with the Big Wizard\u2026 his disembodied head is there\u2026 but he\u2019s not really there\u2026 he\u2019s surrounded by pillars of fire\u2026 and columns of smoke\u2026 and has a booming\u2026 scary Old Testament voice\u2026 and even before Dorothy and those she meets along the Yellow Brick Road\u2026 along The Way\u2026 can make their requests known\u2026 the Wizard says he already knows what they need and want\u2026 His request to them\u2026 to get the wicked witch\u2019s broomstick\u2026 sounds a little bit like “works righteousness”\u2026 but the journey they go on\u2026 brings out in them\u2026 those yet-as-unnamed qualities they want\u2026 and so when Toto draws the green curtain open\u2026 and the Wizard is revealed in human form\u2026 he affirms that Dorothy\u2019s three companions\u2026 already possess the brains\u2026 the courage\u2026 and the heart they desire\u2026 and he gives them\u2026 what we might call tokens… or relics\u2026 to demonstrate their gifts\u2026 and it\u2019s the Wizard himself\u2026 who offers to take Dorothy home\u2026 In the movie\u2026 something seems to go wrong\u2026 the Wizard ascends on his own\u2026 a little bit like Jesus\u2019 Ascension\u2026 but perhaps this ascension paves the way and makes it possible for what comes next\u2026 for the Advocate to come\u2026 because then\u2026 Wisdom herself\u2026 in the form of Glinda the Good Witch of the North\u2026 tells Dorothy that she\u2019s had\u2026 Emmanuel\u2026 God with her\u2026 all along\u2026 the ability achieve her heart\u2019s desire\u2026 all she has to affirm\u2026 is that there\u2019s no place like home\u2026 It\u2019s easy to think\u2026 that when Jesus says\u2026 when I am lifted up from the earth\u2026 that he means\u2026 lifted up on the cross\u2026 it\u2019s easy to think that he\u2019s talking only about the method of his death\u2026 that he means\u2026 when I am lifted up and die\u2026 but he said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die\u2026 and that specific kind of death included\u2026 behind the curtain\u2026 resurrection\u2026 and ascension\u2026 Pastor Karoline Lewis wrote\u2026 the combination of these three events\u2026 crucifixion\u2026 resurrection\u2026 and ascension\u2026 are the how and the when\u2026 that Jesus will draw all people to himself\u2026 and the Farewell Discourse just a few chapters later in John\u2026 confirms that Jesus\u2019 parting words are not just in anticipation of his death\u2026 but in anticipation of his ascension\u2026 [and] perhaps [this is] a far more difficult reality to face than his inevitability in a tomb\u2026 and so if resurrection is hard to get our heads around\u2026 how much more so is this second departure\u2026 In v. 31 of today\u2019s Gospel\u2026 the ruler of this world\u2026 is identified in of one of my study bibles\u2026 as the Devil\u2026 the diablos\u2026 the divider\u2026 but isn\u2019t death also one of the rulers of this world\u2026 aren\u2019t many of our decisions made as though we believe that death does have the final word\u2026 because in our western thinking\u2026 in our black and white\u2026 polar opposite thinking\u2026 it\u2019s got to be one or the other\u2026 right\u2026 life is good\u2026 and death isn\u2019t just difficult\u2026 but it\u2019s bad\u2026 but what if\u2026 as the Epistle says\u2026 the same mind that was in Christ Jesus\u2026 was in us\u2026 how would that affect our decisions\u2026 what if we trusted in the eternal life we\u2019re promised\u2026 fully and always\u2026 what if all our corporate decisions\u2026 were based in God\u2019s abundance\u2026 and not our fear of scarcity\u2026 how do we think\u2026 things would look\u2026 then\u2026 So I offer an analogy\u2026 we look ahead to some time off\u2026 and go on vacation\u2026 we decide where to go\u2026 and how to get there\u2026 decide what to do and see when we get there\u2026 and what to bring\u2026 but then\u2026 when we\u2019re done sightseeing\u2026 and learning new things\u2026 and having our horizons broadened\u2026 and are tired at the end of our time off\u2026 we return back home\u2026 to comfortable routines\u2026 and familiar surroundings\u2026 and we\u2019re happy to 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