Year B
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Psalm 22
Hebrews 10:16-25
John 19:1-37<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today is about the loss of hope\u2026 after years of preaching\u2026 teaching\u2026 healings\u2026 miracles\u2026 and revelation\u2026 after promises of the Kingdom\u2026 Peter’s denial shows that he fears guilt by association\u2026 No\u2026 not me\u2026 I don’t know that man<\/em>\u2026 and the disciples are gone\u2026 they’ve run away\u2026 maybe afraid of suffering the same fate\u2026 the unthinkable has happened\u2026 Jesus is dead\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today is about unanswered prayers\u2026 of wondering what went wrong\u2026 of wondering what goes wrong\u2026 how and whether we can pray harder\u2026 deeper\u2026 how to pray without ceasing\u2026 of saying the right words\u2026 and saying them the right way\u2026 so that God will not only hear them\u2026 but will do as we ask\u2026 that God will change God’s mind about us and our circumstances\u2026 so we don’t have to change our minds about God\u2026 after all\u2026 what we ask is reasonable\u2026 It’s not for me\u2026 she doesn’t deserve that\u2026 why didn’t you prevent that awful thing\u2026 God\u2026 why have you forsaken me<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today is about a dark void\u2026 a dark void in creation\u2026 in our lives\u2026 an in-between time\u2026 we’re waiting\u2026 anxiously\u2026 nervously\u2026 for far too long\u2026 is the other shoe about to drop\u2026 will things get worse\u2026 what will be the signs so we know when something’s about to happen\u2026 so we can hedge our bets\u2026 how long will we have to wait\u2026 God\u2026 I hate waiting\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today is about being out of control\u2026 will I get sick even though I eat well and exercise\u2026 will what I’ve inherited from my grandparents remain dormant or make itself known\u2026 will my disease get worse\u2026 will someone I love be in an accident\u2026 will it be their fault\u2026 will my boss take notice of how hard I work so I’ll be able to keep my job after the merger\u2026 will the Twelve Step group really help with my addiction\u2026 will I be able to love my children and will they love me back\u2026 will I be able to control what I really can’t control\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today is about ignorance and hatred\u2026 about lashing out\u2026 out of the fear of losing position\u2026 or privilege\u2026 or authority\u2026 or investments\u2026 or losing who you think you are in relation to others\u2026 ] about how God’s children are too often killed\u2026 because of who someone thought they were\u2026 Jewish\u2026 or Muslim\u2026 or gay\u2026 or transgender\u2026 killed by someone who themselves may have had no hope\u2026 who may have been brought up on hate\u2026 or who felt trapped\u2026 cornered\u2026 threatened\u2026 and wanted others to feel that way too\u2026 or who according to John 16:2\u2026 will think that by killing you\u2026 they are offering worship to God\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today is about how Empire doesn’t want us to have too much hope\u2026 we’ve all heard of Bread and Circus\u2026 give them just enough food\u2026 just enough distractions\u2026 to keep them satisfied\u2026 with blockbuster movies\u2026 and awards and game shows\u2026 and state sanctioned gambling\u2026 ever increasing degrees of spectacle\u2026 give them just enough to keep them docile\u2026 so there’s no payoff in loving their neighbors as themselves\u2026 but don’t give them too much hope\u2026 or things may have to change too much\u2026 don’t give them too much hope\u2026 or they may see the man behind the green curtain\u2026 don’t give them too much hope\u2026 or they may see that the emperor really has no clothes\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know what it is to lose hope\u2026 maybe some of you do too\u2026 dealing with issues we just want to go away\u2026 issues we don’t even want to be there\u2026 because if they really are there\u2026 others might be hurt\u2026 or we will be\u2026 because if they really are there\u2026 and we deal with them\u2026 the world might never be the same\u2026 so we make all kinds of deals with God to just make these things\u2026 not\u2026 be\u2026 there\u2026 because feeling hopeless is feeling like there’s no way out\u2026 like there are no options\u2026 there are no more choices\u2026 like there’s nowhere new to turn\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe this is how the disciples felt\u2026 hopeless\u2026 and trying to make sense out of something that didn’t make sense\u2026 they left everything behind\u2026 what they knew\u2026 who they were\u2026 the relationships they had\u2026 risked being abandoned by their parents and friends\u2026 and the securities on which they relied\u2026 in order to follow a man who promised a new paradigm\u2026 a new way of being\u2026 a new way of living… and who brought light and hope\u2026 who made things happen which ought not to have been possible\u2026 of feeding others\u2026 healing others\u2026 forgiving others\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n But now\u2026 Jesus is dead\u2026 hope’s embers are waning\u2026 hope’s warmth has cooled… and our hope with him\u2026 but somewhere deep within the human heart\u2026 we are still waiting to see if God’s breath can breathe Spirit\u2026 and can fan those embers back into a blazing fire\u2026 we are waiting for the mystery of God’s initiative\u2026 but how long will we have to wait\u2026 waiting for the world’s craziness to turn into sanity\u2026 waiting for broken promises to turn into fulfilled promises\u2026 waiting for a new kind of fire\u2026 a new fire\u2026 that holds more promise than we can begin to imagine\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today is about who we are\u2026 and who we’re not\u2026 about who we think we are\u2026 but really\u2026 are not\u2026 it’s about finding something deep within ourselves\u2026 that maybe doesn’t come from us\u2026 but gives us the strength to carry on\u2026 today is about holding on to grace\u2026 about forgiving others even when they don’t forgive you\u2026 about saying\u2026 Father forgive them\u2026 for they do not know what they are doing<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The way forward is right in front of us\u2026 ] is right within us\u2026 instead of trying to make God’s handling of things be different\u2026 instead of trying to change God’s mind\u2026 can we begin to see that the way forward is for us to change our minds\u2026 can we begin to see that the answers we want are hard to find because we’re asking the wrong questions\u2026 and that we have to die to some of the lies by which we live\u2026 in order to be reborn\u2026 die to outdated prejudices and hatreds\u2026 outdated attitudes\u2026 outdated understandings of what it is to be human\u2026 outdated interpretations of scripture\u2026 outdated laws of so many kinds\u2026 God I can’t even count them\u2026 and outdated expectations of others\u2026 and yes\u2026 even ourselves\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus is dead\u2026 will we deny him\u2026 and run away too\u2026 or will we stand by at the foot of the cross\u2026 will we shout Hosanna\u2026 or Crucify\u2026 when we fall\u2026 will we get back up again\u2026 will we seek the truth of who we are\u2026 broken but beloved children\u2026 and see each other\u2026 as God sees us\u2026 it is our choice\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Year B Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Psalm 22 Hebrews 10:16-25 John 19:1-37 May the words of my mouth O God\u2026 speak your truth\u2026 Today is about the loss of hope\u2026 after years of preaching\u2026 teaching\u2026 healings\u2026 miracles\u2026 and revelation\u2026 after promises of the Kingdom\u2026 Peter’s denial shows that he fears guilt by association\u2026 No\u2026 not me\u2026 I don’t know that man\u2026 and the disciples are gone\u2026 they’ve run away\u2026 maybe afraid of suffering the same fate\u2026 the unthinkable has happened\u2026 Jesus is dead\u2026 Today is about unanswered prayers\u2026 of wondering what went wrong\u2026 of wondering what goes wrong\u2026 how and whether we can pray harder\u2026 deeper\u2026 how to pray without ceasing\u2026 of saying the right words\u2026 and saying them the right way\u2026 so that God will not only hear them\u2026 but will do as we ask\u2026 that God will change God’s mind about us and our circumstances\u2026 so we don’t have to change our minds about God\u2026 after all\u2026 what we ask is reasonable\u2026 It’s not for me\u2026 she doesn’t deserve that\u2026 why didn’t you prevent that awful thing\u2026 God\u2026 why have you forsaken me\u2026 Today is about a dark void\u2026 a dark void in creation\u2026 in our lives\u2026 an in-between time\u2026 we’re waiting\u2026 anxiously\u2026 nervously\u2026 for far too long\u2026 is the other shoe about to drop\u2026 will things get worse\u2026 what will be the signs so we know when something’s about to happen\u2026 so we can hedge our bets\u2026 how long will we have to wait\u2026 God\u2026 I hate waiting\u2026 Today is about being out of control\u2026 will I get sick even though I eat well and exercise\u2026 will what I’ve inherited from my grandparents remain dormant or make itself known\u2026 will my disease get worse\u2026 will someone I love be in an accident\u2026 will it be their fault\u2026 will my boss take notice of how hard I work so I’ll be able to keep my job after the merger\u2026 will the Twelve Step group really help with my addiction\u2026 will I be able to love my children and will they love me back\u2026 will I be able to control what I really can’t control\u2026 Today is about ignorance and hatred\u2026 about lashing out\u2026 out of the fear of losing position\u2026 or privilege\u2026 or authority\u2026 or investments\u2026 or losing who you think you are in relation to others\u2026 ] about how God’s children are too often killed\u2026 because of who someone thought they were\u2026 Jewish\u2026 or Muslim\u2026 or gay\u2026 or transgender\u2026 killed by someone who themselves may have had no hope\u2026 who may have been brought up on hate\u2026 or who felt trapped\u2026 cornered\u2026 threatened\u2026 and wanted others to feel that way too\u2026 or who according to John 16:2\u2026 will think that by killing you\u2026 they are offering worship to God\u2026 Today is about how Empire doesn’t want us to have too much hope\u2026 we’ve all heard of Bread and Circus\u2026 give them just enough food\u2026 just enough distractions\u2026 to keep them satisfied\u2026 with blockbuster movies\u2026 and awards and game shows\u2026 and state sanctioned gambling\u2026 ever increasing degrees of spectacle\u2026 give them just enough to keep them docile\u2026 so there’s no payoff in loving their neighbors as themselves\u2026 but don’t give them too much hope\u2026 or things may have to change too much\u2026 don’t give them too much hope\u2026 or they may see the man behind the green curtain\u2026 don’t give them too much hope\u2026 or they may see that the emperor really has no clothes\u2026 I know what it is to lose hope\u2026 maybe some of you do too\u2026 dealing with issues we just want to go away\u2026 issues we don’t even want to be there\u2026 because if they really are there\u2026 others might be hurt\u2026 or we will be\u2026 because if they really are there\u2026 and we deal with them\u2026 the world might never be the same\u2026 so we make all kinds of deals with God to just make these things\u2026 not\u2026 be\u2026 there\u2026 because feeling hopeless is feeling like there’s no way out\u2026 like there are no options\u2026 there are no more choices\u2026 like there’s nowhere new to turn\u2026 I believe this is how the disciples felt\u2026 hopeless\u2026 and trying to make sense out of something that didn’t make sense\u2026 they left everything behind\u2026 what they knew\u2026 who they were\u2026 the relationships they had\u2026 risked being abandoned by their parents and friends\u2026 and the securities on which they relied\u2026 in order to follow a man who promised a new paradigm\u2026 a new way of being\u2026 a new way of living… and who brought light and hope\u2026 who made things happen which ought not to have been possible\u2026 of feeding others\u2026 healing others\u2026 forgiving others\u2026 But now\u2026 Jesus is dead\u2026 hope’s embers are waning\u2026 hope’s warmth has cooled… and our hope with him\u2026 but somewhere deep within the human heart\u2026 we are still waiting to see if God’s breath can breathe Spirit\u2026 and can fan those embers back into a blazing fire\u2026 we are waiting for the mystery of God’s initiative\u2026 but how long will we have to wait\u2026 waiting for the world’s craziness to turn into sanity\u2026 waiting for broken promises to turn into fulfilled promises\u2026 waiting for a new kind of fire\u2026 a new fire\u2026 that holds more promise than we can begin to imagine\u2026 Today is about who we are\u2026 and who we’re not\u2026 about who we think we are\u2026 but really\u2026 are not\u2026 it’s about finding something deep within ourselves\u2026 that maybe doesn’t come from us\u2026 but gives us the strength to carry on\u2026 today is about holding on to grace\u2026 about forgiving others even when they don’t forgive you\u2026 about saying\u2026 Father forgive them\u2026 for they do not know what they are doing\u2026 The way forward is right in front of us\u2026 ] is right within us\u2026 instead of trying to make God’s handling of things be different\u2026 instead of trying to change God’s mind\u2026 can we begin to see that the way forward is for us to change our minds\u2026 can we begin to see that the 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