Entangled States

There’s so much to unpack in this story. It happens just before the final chapters of Jesus’ journey to the cross, and it’s really his great signifying miracle, at least in the way that St. John tells the story of Salvation.

Anyone who hears it is left with all sorts of questions. Why did Jesus tarry? Did he choose to let Lazarus, the person he loved so deeply, die deliberately? What was that purpose? He healed others from afar, why didn’t he heal Lazarus that way too? Why let his family go through the pain and grief of losing their brother?

Someone said that Jesus, calls forth the dead from their tombs by the power of his voice. In this case, he very specifically calls Lazarus to come forth, and only Lazarus. Why didn’t he call forth everyone else buried in that graveyard? Or why not all the dead at once? God speaks in the vision given to Ezekiel of the valley filled with dry bones, and an entire multitude is given new life. Why only Lazarus here? Why not the people we’ve lost too?

Jesus is weeping as he comes to the tomb. Why is he weeping? He sees others weeping, and it disturbs him greatly – maybe even making him angry. Why does he react that way? Why does it make him weep?

The direct link to the sermon that considers these questions is found here.

This week’s Gospel reading tells the story of how Jesus used mud to give sight to a man who had been born without it. It is another account that will let those with understanding and real insight recognize who Jesus is and what he is doing in the World.

I am following St. Irenaeus, a 2nd century bishop, martyr and commentator’s interpretation of what is happening in this passage. Jesus shows himself to be completing the Creation that God began by finishing the work accomplished on the sixth day by healing on the seventh, the Sabbath, day. Given the narrative that precedes this particular account and what will follow, we are being told something very important.

But more than that, the argument that ensues as result of the healing is an argument over plain visible fact versus interpretation of scripture. It is the religious authorities who are unable to see the truth of the fact standing before them, because they are blinded by their preconception of who God is, and their concepts of the limits to God’s freedom.

It turns out that what was true back then is still true and happening today.

The direct link to the video is found here.

There’s so much to talk about in this week’s lesson from the third chapter of the Gospel of St. John. There’s one of the most well known verses in America today (John 3:16), there’s Jesus’ description of the new birth and his use of metaphor for the action of the third person of the Trinity and for his own crucifixion and there’s the first appearance of Nicodemus. Over the years I’ve preached on all the other ideas but not on Nicodemus. So… 

Raymond Brown points out in his magisterial commentary of John’s Gospel that Nicodemus is essentially the mirror image of Judas. Judas moves from standing in the light to being cast into the darkness in the events of the Gospel narrative. Nicodemus does the opposite, he arrives in the night, and moves slowly but surely into the light of a deeper relationship with Jesus and his Father.

There’s a model for us in how Nicodemus grows in his faith and his understanding. And in this season of Lent, as the light comes back into our days and Spring returns, that model of Nicodemus’ journey can inspire our own.

The direct link to the sermon video is here.

Each year of the lectionary, when we arrive at the First Sunday in Lent, we hear the story of how Jesus was driven in the wilderness immediately following his baptism and was test by the Satan. The First Sunday in Epiphany we hear of his baptism, and then weeks later we hear of the temptation, but in truth, there’s no gap between the two as the Gospels present the story. The wilderness immediately follows the moment of beginning.

The experience of the wilderness can be understood as a time of taking the measure of who Jesus is, and should be heard in the larger context of the ongoing story of the Chosen People of God. God’s people passed through the waters of the Red Sea and became a nation formed in the wilderness. Jesus goes into the wilderness but has a very different experience – he does not rebel against God and he refuses to put God to the test.

You and I are maybe, at this point in our faith journey, somewhere between the two models. We may not fail the tests as often as we did when we set out, but we are no where near the example that Jesus gives us as he faces trials. But we aren’t where we were, and that’s something important for us to remember. Each year, as we come to our Lenten fast, we can remember what we have accomplished, and use that memory to encourage ourselves as we face the next test of our lives. By remembering, we can see how the Holy Spirit has been part of our life and what the work of the Spirit has accomplished in us. That memory gives us hope to face what comes next – if we take the time to remember…

The direct link to the video is found here.

Again and again in the Bible stories, God’s people misunderstand what God is doing, or what the prophets are saying to them. We end up doing the opposite of what God desires for us – and if we listen to the prophets – we often do that when we think we’re obeying God’s will. Remember how the prophets critiqued the religious leadership of their day for observing the outward forms of the faith and at the same time ignored the real commands of God to welcome the outsider, care for the alien and the marginalized – or to stand with the persecuted. Instead they focused on the length of the fringe on their garments, and making sure they were celebrating the right feast or fast on the right day.

Luckily we’d never do that today would we…?

The point of the transfiguration is that many times in our history we have marginalized the very voices that are speaking God’s words to us, and have lifted up people who misunderstand or who mistake God’s will and focus on the wrong things.

The direct link to the sermon video is found here.