Monday, April 9, 2012

Easter Sermon


“A Message Worth Sharing”
Scripture: Psalm 118 sung as a psalter and Mark 16:1-8
Preached by Linda Jo Peters
10:30 Easter Morning April 8, 2012 with communion
Unity Presbyterian Church ~ Terre Haute, Indiana

INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE:
Mark 16:1-8
Like many funeral suppers, it is the women taking over what needs to be done.  Jesus was buried in a hurry; all the proper rites to care for his body have been neglected.  So in Mark’s recounting, three women close to this beloved Rabbi, head out to take care of what needs to be done.  All their expectations are about to be shattered, not with grief or obligation but with joy, but in Mark that is not their reaction.  This great message is silenced by fear.

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

SERMON
Wait!  Where is the rest of the story?  The Gospel of Mark has a weird ending. In fact, the ending was is so uncomfortable for early Christians that they penned another ending to the Gospel. While Mark 16:9-20 are in our Bibles, there is no shortage of footnotes to tell us that the earliest manuscripts of Mark don’t include them. More than likely Mark didn’t write this longer ending.[1] So Mark’s Gospel ends with the women—who have just been commanded to tell the disciples the Good News that Jesus had been raised from the dead—running off in fear not telling anyone anything.  I think this is an ending for today’s believers.  We too avoid sharing this message of hope.  Perhaps we are not afraid of an angelic encounter, but some of us are afraid we will be looked down as “Jesus Freaks,” as naïve, or gullible.  Sometimes our fear is that we cannot speak well or we lack the knowledge to answer people’s questions. What keeps you from sharing this worthy message of new life found in Christ Jesus?  Maybe Mark knew people who did not tell the Good News story, so he ended his gospel in this abrupt manor for a purpose.   

Professor Lose writes in his commentary that throughout the Gospel of Mark the people who should stand with Jesus do not.  But…

… there's one other person who has seen and heard everything Jesus has said and done. One other who heard Jesus' predictions and then watched as they came true. One other who listened to the amazing news at the empty tomb and heard the order to go and tell. Do you know who what other person is? It's you. And me. And all the readers of Mark's gospel, including all those gathered to worship this Easter morn all over the world. Mark writes this open-ended gospel that threatens to end in failure, you see, precisely to place the burden of responsibility for telling the good news squarely on our shoulders.[2]

So will we take responsibility for sharing Jesus’ story?  What would help us be better at sharing this worthy message of hope?

Today we will celebrate our Lord’s Supper and there is a distinctive, fourfold pattern of action that can be seen each time Jesus shares a meal with his disciples: taking, blessing (or giving thanks), breaking, and giving. This Eucharistic pattern of action is evident in a variety of contexts—not only in the Passover meal before Jesus’ death, but in the accounts of him feeding the multitude and in the meals he shared after his resurrection from the dead.[3]  Take, bless, break and give.  To me this simple rhythm can fit our sharing this worthy message as we share this worthy meal. 

Take: we need to know the story.  We too need to hear it over and over.

Bless: give thanks to God for the gift of Jesus in our lives.

Break: take apart the story into manageable pieces so people can receive it.  It would not be good to stuff a whole loaf of bread in your mouth.

Give: Share this amazing and worthy message with all.

Take, Bless, Break and Give.  Take in that Jesus was crucified that he truly died that day and his sacrifice is redemptive of our sinful nature.  Bless and give God thanks for all we have been given in Jesus the Christ.  Break the story apart and in the breaking come to know it well for sharing.  Give what you have been given reminding them that now they too have a message worthy of sharing.  We began this time of reflection on Mark's Gospel by woundering where the rest of the story is.  Just remember, you are the rest of the story!  Amen.

[2] Commentary “Just the Beginning” by David Lose, Marbury E. Anderson Biblical Preaching Chair, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN posted 4.1.12  http://www.workingpreacher.org/dear_wp.aspx?article_id=574
[3] http://www.pcusa.org/media/uploads/worship/pdfs/fourfold_action.pdf
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Sunrise Homily


“He Calls you by Name”
Scripture: Psalm 118: 14-17 and John 20:1-18
Preached by Linda Jo Peters
April 8, 2012 ~ Sunrise Service with communion
Unity Presbyterian Church ~ Terre Haute, Indiana
INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 118: 14-17
The celebratory tone, the rejoicing in the deliverance from death, the confidence in God’s mighty works: all of these themes and images are appropriate for Easter, and are entry points for how we in the modern church might recapture the passion of those first Easter experiences.
This psalm carries many images that speak to us of the Messiah who is Jesus the Christ.  But here is these four verses are the heart and gift of Easter.

14 The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.
15 There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
16 the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.

John 20:1-18
Our creation story begins in a garden and now in this text we are back in a garden remembering who Jesus really is.  We recall that this gospel began with a wonderful hymn of praise:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He 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.
And today we gather in a garden to remember it is always about life and the giver of life.

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

HOMILY
Names are very important to understand who we are.  When we were yet unable to make a choice, we were given a name.  Over time we may grow to love our name or reject it.  Rob has been called Robby, Bob, Robert and even Robert Earl.  His Dad so disliked his first name which is Reginald that he has always gone by his middle name Earl.  He was a Reginald Earl the second but would not pass Reginald on to a son who he loves very much.  Rob passed the changed tradition on to our son, Raymond Earl.

There were a lot of Marys in Jesus’ life: Mary Magdalene[1], Mary, Martha’s sister, Mary the mother of James and of course his own mother, Mary.  It must have been a very popular name.  In Hebrew the name Miryam מִרְיָם as in Moses’ sister means “bitter.”  But its Greek derivative Mariamme means ‘wise woman’. Mary may have been popular because of it was so close to the name of the beautiful young Jewish princess Mariamme, married to King Herod the Great of wise men encounter.  Herold resented and envied the love his subjects had for the former royal family, the Hasmoneans, of which Mariamme was a member and in his madness ended up murdering most of the members of that family, including his wife, their two sons, his young brother-in-law, his mother-in-law, and Mariamme's aged grandfather. I like to think the Jewish people who had little power over their occupiers used the naming of their girl babies as a way to challenge Roman authority. 
But it is more than just the naming process that makes Mary’s encounter with her beloved teacher so amazing.  It is something we cannot read in the text.  It is how Jesus said her name.  Hearing him call her “Mary” transformed her life from a minor supporting role as someone he healed to someone who was a leader of the early church.  So too Jesus is calling you.  Have you heard him call your name?  He calls you from death to life.  Listen…

This is Easter and every day of your life, Jesus is calling.  As the great hymn of faith says:

Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling, calling for you and for me;
          See, on the portals he's waiting and watching,
watching for you and for me.
          Come home, come home; ye who are weary come home;
          Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling, calling, O sinner, come home!

Life’s abundance is poured out on us through this communion with God.  Let us remember all he has done for us and hear him call our name.  Amen.
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Sermon: April 1,2012


“Why are you doing this?”
Scripture: Psalm 118: 19 – 29 read responsively and Mark 11:1-11
Preached by Linda Jo Peters ~ April 1, 2012, Palm Sunday
Unity Presbyterian Church ~ Terre Haute, Indiana
INTRODUCTION TO SCRIPTURE
Psalm 118: 19 – 29 read responsively
This individual song of praise becomes a communal song of praise as it moves others to testify to what God has done in their lives. The celebrant could be any one of us who has born witness to God's mighty act of delivering us from bondage when we cannot free ourselves.  Its theme fits well with Palm Sunday, when we recall the salvation of Christ entering our lives as he did the city of Jerusalem.

19Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
20This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.
21I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
22The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
23This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
24This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
26Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.
28You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.
29O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Mark 11:1-11
I highly recommend Tom Long’s commentary on this passage. He talks about the glorious questions asked of those of us privileged to be ordained as elders or deacons, such as.  “Will you seek to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination and love?" He writes that:
Such language implies that ministry is a brave white-water romp over the cultural rapids toward global transformation in the name of Christ. Never once is it mentioned that serving people with energy, imagination and love often boils down to stuff like ordering bulletin covers, changing light bulbs in the restrooms, visiting people in nursing homes who aren’t quite sure who you are, getting the brakes relined on the church van, making a breathless Saturday afternoon run to the florist because someone forgot to order the palm branches and, as two of Jesus’ disciples found out, finding a suitable donkey at the last minute.[1] 
Often what is mundane is a sublime mission in our discipleship.

When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting,

“Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Then he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

SERMON
Imagine that you hear a noise in your garage.  You go out and discover two men trying to start you brand new convertible that you have saved for years to own.  When you ask them “Why are doing this?” They reply, “The Lord needs it.”  What would be the real surprise would be if you did not call the police or worse shoot  them, but instead said, “Wait, let me go get the keys.” 

Though no one knows what these two disciples were thinking, I am pretty sure they had a grander and more noble role on this triumphant entry to Jerusalem than being on donkey detail. Mark does not name these disciples, but maybe they were James and John, who only hours before had proposed to Jesus, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But it hardly matters which two they were. All of the disciples had been jockeying for advantage, angling for glory, arguing about who was the greatest. So it is deliciously ironic that on this very public and glorious day of Jesus’ ministry, a day when he will be welcomed into Jerusalem with joyous hosannas, these disciples themselves engaged in a most unromantic form of ministry, mucking around a stable, looking suspiciously like horse thieves, and trying to wrestle an untamed and no doubt balky animal toward the olive groves. They may have been wondering, “For this we left our fishing nets?”

But are we any different when opportunities to serve Christ come to us?  I get stuck in the question of why, where, who and what.  What is the goal, what is the purpose, how much will it cost are all familiar road blocks to just doing what needs to be done.  What we know God wants us to do. 

Here we are at the beginning of Holy Week.  It can be like watching a train wreck, following Jesus to his death on Friday.  In fact many of us to avoid the pain run right past Friday to the Good News of Easter. 

Jesus gave us the best example. In just a few (days) he will take off his tunic and wrap a towel around his waist and wash those same disciples’ dirty road-stained feet. He will tell us – all his disciples, “If I…have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet.” He was willing to go all the way to the cross for those he loves. Though he was God, he took on human flesh. He humbled himself and became a servant. Service is the life he asks his followers to lead.[2] God is in the mundane as well as the grandiose.

So what does that mean for your life of discipleship?  It means every act of service has value and is important to the life of Christ.  Whether you are reading scripture, changing a diaper, singing a great aria, helping a stranded stranger; mowing the lawn, lighting candles or praying by a friend’s bedside all are important and of value. I know, I hear Jesus tell Martha that Mary as chosen “the better thing.”[3]  Mary’s choice was valued because she first chose her relationship with Jesus over activity.  If our activity flows out of our need to feel important or out of a sense of duty and obligation, we will not hear what we have truly been called to do.  Listening to the stories of Jesus, studying God’s word with other believers, praying and meditation will inform you about your life, your ministry and your service.  But remaining in the listening mode is not sufficient for disciples.  We are sent on donkey detail.  If you have a personal relationship with Christ, you may just be hunting those car keys.  Amen.


[1] http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=3389
[2] “Donkey Fetchers” by The Rev. Dr. Susan F. DeWyngaer, Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church, Severna Park, Maryland preached Palm Sunday April 17, 2011 See: http://images.acswebnetworks.com/1/551/110417SD.pdf
[3] Luke 10:42
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