Jesus prays for us

Acts 1:6-14

The Ascension of Jesus

 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.

John 17:1-11

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

 “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

At about 10:40 on Sunday mornings, a small group of folks gather in the Quiet Room to pray.

We pray for the congregation, sometimes by name. 

We pray for folks whom we've never met but for whom folks have asked for prayer.

We pray for the community we serve.

We pray for those making their way to the service.

And we pray for our worship.

More often than not, our prayers include a prayer for the minister, for which I am always grateful.

It is good to know that folk are praying for you.

I know that such prayer is not confined to the small group who meet every Sunday just before worship begins.

Every day, folk gathered here pray.

In their own way.

In their own places.

In their own time.

A line of a favourite hymn says: The voice of prayer is never silent.

I like to think of that being fulfilled by the people who gather here not just when we are together but when we are on our own too.

Praying for one another.

Praying for those we know and those we don't know.

Praying for our congregation, our community and our world.

I've shared with you before the story of this prayer shawl.

A gift from some women with whom I used to work.

It lives in my study, draped over a chair.

When I'm working late at night or in the wee small hours when the heating has gone off, it provides warmth.

But much more than that.

Every time I look at it, touch it or drape it around me, I am reminded of the group of women who prayed as they knit this shawl.

Those women whose ministry was to pray for others and to gift others with a tangible sign of their prayers.

Prayer is a gift often overlooked or undervalued.

Even by those of us who believe in prayer.

In our gospel reading today, Jesus prays for us.

And allows us to listen in to that prayer:

And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

Jesus prayed for us.

Right before he left his disciples, he prayed for them - and he prayed for us.

"I am no longer in the world but they are in the world...protect them."

This is the last Sunday in the season of Easter.

Next Sunday is Pentecost.

This is also the Sunday when we celebrate Ascension.

And so, Jesus' words, "I am no longer in the world but they are in the world...protect them" are even more poignant heard today.

These words are like a blessing prayed on us by Jesus as he leaves the world that he entered as a baby born in Bethlehem.

That part of God's mission is over. Mission Accomplished.

Time for Jesus to return to God.

But what's next?

That's the scary bit.

Because the message of Ascension is - that it's over to us.

Jesus hands over the tools for us to continue the mission of God.

Next week, we'll celebrate the coming of the Spirit in Pentecost.

We'll celebrate that Jesus didn't leave us on our own to accomplish God's mission.

But celebrating the gift of the Spirit does not lessen any the responsibility that is ours - to serve God in the world today, to make known to all the world the love of God.

"I am no longer in the world but they are in the world...protect them"

Those words of Jesus are a fitting benediction as he passes on the baton to us.

And Jesus continues to pray for us as he leaves Gods work in our hands.

"I am no longer in the world but they are in the world...protect them"

The Ascension of Jesus is not the end - but a beginning.

As the disciples witnessed Jesus being taken from them,,they are left uncertain and afraid.

They stood around, wondering what to do next.

And were chided for their inactivity.

why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

That is a phrase that has distracted Christians for centuries.

This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

All through the ages, folk have spent many hours trying to ascertain just when that promise will be fulfilled.

When exactly will Jesus return - in the same way that the disciples saw him go?

It's so ironic that a phrase intended to spur those disciples into action has become the phrase that has proved a distraction for many others.

Countless people have put lots of energy into determining when that promised return should happen and then have spent even more effort on travelling the world in order to enlighten others as to when that will be.

A phrase intended to stop the navel gazing has become the basis for folk to indulge and work themselves into a frenzy of inactivity in the building of God's kingdom.

Fortunately the first disciples saw that admonishment for what it was - a call to action.

And what did they do?

They got together and devoted themselves to prayer.

In prayer, they were able to discern the "What next" that God had in store for them.

And, in prayer, they were equipped to continue the mission begun in Jesus.

They saw the Ascension of Jesus for what it was - a passing on of the baton to them.

And, fresh in their memory, was the prayer of Jesus for them.

Jesus prays for us as we engage the world with the message of God's love.

Jesus prays for us as we pray for others.

The Ascended Jesus commissions is to continue the work he began.

The mission of God - In our hands.

A scary thought - but one mediated by the knowledge that Jesus prays for us.

How can we then stint on praying for one another?

May you know yourself sustained by prayer this week- and pray for others.

Amen

Proclaiming the unknown God

Acts 17:22-31

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god. ’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.

 For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring. ’

 Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

John 14:15-21

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, revealed in his closing address that those at the top table during the week, were fuelled by Jelly Babies. During the week, they consumed 23 packets of Jelly Babies.

Where I sat for most of the time, in the gallery, we were fuelled by Percy Pigs.

(Did you know that Percy now has friends, a cow and a sheep, there is also a vegetarian version of Percy with green ears and a globetrotting version of Percy and friends.) You can no doubt guess that I ate not a few packets!

One day, when I went to my pigeon hole to collect my daily notices, someone had left me some chocolate - a very welcome gift. It was a while before I discovered who the donor was.

In our gospel reading this morning, we find Jesus promising his disciples that he will leave them a gift, the gift of the Spirit. A gift of love that reminds us of the presence of God in all of life.

Jesus, having prepared his followers,having given them the commandment - to love one another-  now promises them help with that, to practice loving as a way of life. Jesus promises his disciples help with living in love so that folk notice. So that they too want to know the God that we know.

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god. ’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.

Having started to prepare this sermon during the General Assembly - (it may surprise you to know that not all the debates are riveting!) these words about an altar to the unknown God struck a chord this week. Much of the business we dealt with arose directly out of our quest as people of God, to discover and to make God known in our communities and in the world. It may also surprise you, or perhaps not, to learn that there are as many opinions on how to do that as there were commissioners in the Assembly Hall(if not more!)

What Paul preaches is that discovering God comes through relationship.

It is not an academic pursuit, though to listen, at times, to the debate in the Assembly Hall, it may have seemed that way.

And while we are grateful to all those who are skilled in examining biblical texts and other ancient documents, the discovery of God is not the task of academics.

Nor is it an artistic pursuit to be undertaken by poets and painters though we will always be grateful to those who are able to portray some of the many facets of God in words and music and poetry and picture.

But.

The revelation of God is a revealing of relationship.

We are children of God.

In God we live and move and have our being.

And, however we might choose to understand that academically or portray it artistically, God offers relationship to us.

And that relationship is eternal.

It is a connection that was there before we ever knew it, a connection that stalks us through all of life,waiting to be discovered.

What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 

The Apostle Paul looks at those around him grappling with the pursuit of faith and finds himself buoyed up in faith. Buoyed up with the knowledge that for those who are prepared to grapple, there is the hope of discovering something real and lasting. It is difficult to reveal the living God to those who already have some fixed notion of a poor imitation or stereotype of God. But for those still seeking, we have a message to proclaim, a God to reveal. A God who cannot be contained in any description or illustration, a God who confounds even our wildest dreams and exceeds our greatest expectations. A God who cannot be pinned down. A God who forms an intimate relationship with us so that we can experience the love of God surrounding us through all of life.

That's why we cannot lead folk into faith simply by describing God in words or music or pictures.

We encourage those around us into faith by living out of the love that we know in God.

Sure, our words, our images and our worship help.

But if the way we live our lives does not mirror the way we speak of God then how can we hope to encourage those looking for depth and meaning in life, looking for something beyond themselves to explore the possibilities of relationship with a living God?

What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

What are the ways that we proclaim, in daily life, the God whom folk seek, the unknown God who is right beside us?

That is the question with which we grapple every day.

How to reveal God for all those who seek a deeper meaning in life?

Those who are looking for something beyond themselves.

What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

Many folk, if they think of God at all, have such distorted notions of God.

You and I have the opportunity to change that.

Not by what we say. But by what we do.

Proclaiming God by living as those who are loved by God.

Proclaiming God as one who is near,waiting to be discovered.

From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.

As I sat through the many debates this week what probably saddened me more than anything else was not that we are STILL debating same sex relationships as though that were the only thing that mattered to the rest of the world, sad though that is. What saddened me most was the confident voices of those who think they have God all sussed. Those who think that the God of the Universe can be explained or encountered in a neat and tidy package. I used to yearn for that kind of certainty. But then I realised that that kind of God would not satisfy. That kind of god would not be the kind of companion I long for in everyday life. Because there are always questions that cannot be answered and mysteries that cannot be explained. And I need a God who presents us with a quest of discovery. I suspect that you do too. A God for whom we grope and in the searching, discover God not far from us. A God who loves us through all of life.

The gift of Gods Spirit remains with us today, enabling us to obey Jesus command - to love one another.

To love so much that others notice and want to know more about the God who m we follow.

To love so that those around us, who are looking for meaning in life, searching for something other, will be introduced to the God whom we serve. The God who is all around, closer than we might ever imagine.

Let us go and proclaim the God whom people seek by living in the love,of God.

For the glory of God. 

The Gatekeepers

Acts 2:42-47

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

John 10:1-10

Jesus the Good Shepherd

 “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

 So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

I was invited to be part of a World at Work day on Friday at Forehill Primary School.

There were about a dozen different occupations represented, from the police force to hospital scientists, from lollipop ladies to bakers, all giving the Primary 7s information on what their job involves.

Although the Church of Scotland, nationally, now employs a Vocations Officer, there are no materials available yet to engage youngsters and inform them of career opportunities in the church.

I decided it would be useful, as well as alerting the young people to all the other opportunities there are to work for the church, rather than ordained ministry, it would also be helpful to create a collage of "a month in the life of a Parish Minister" I simply put together pictures of things I've been involved in in the last month- and asked them to guess what the various activities were.

I was quite surprised that the young folk who see me around a lot, whether at school or the youth organisations or visiting one of their neighbours still saw my role as confined to Sundays and to the church building.

Each group as they listened and looked at the words and pictures I'd taken to illustrate the work, said they hadn't understood the diversity and complexity of ministry.

The most enlightening part of the morning, though, was the break, when the youngsters left for a while and the adults talked together. A number of the adults had searching questions for me, as well as some compliments about the profile of this congregation in the community.

Sadly, the school community has been rocked by bereavement this week.

And folk simply wanted to talk.

How to sum up Christian faith and, in particular, hope, in just a few minutes?

Fortunately that wasn't necessary.

Just being there was.

The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

It's fascinating how the meaning of words change subtly with time and usage.

While "gatekeeper", according to Wikipedia, traditionally meant someone who controls access to something, like a city gate, for instance, it has been purloined as a metaphorical term assigned to those who decide whether a particular message can be distributed by mass media. 

Gatekeepers today, if understood in this sense, exert considerable power and control and, it has to be said, could easily skew our world perception. 

Gatekeeping seems to be a role that can easily be abused.

Which seems a polar opposite to the gatekeeping of which we read in the gospel today: The gatekeeper who protects the sheep in the fold.

The history of the church, it has to be said, reveals differing understandings of the tasks of Gatekeepers in different times and places.

For instance, the gatekeepers who once controlled who could read Holy Scriptures and what language worship could be conducted in.

And if folk couldn't understand the language, so much the better  - that would prevent a lowering of standards. And it meant that only the learned could interpret Gods word.

Surely a recipe for abuse and corruption.

The Gatekeepers who drew up the rules and regulations of who could belong to particular Christian communities and what the rites and obligations of admission would be.

Gatekeepers have, through the ages, held considerable power, keeping undesirables from participating in the body of Christ.

But, of course, Gatekeeping is not just a historical phenomenon.

Still, today, there are those who would happily deny access to community for all sorts of reasons, many of them arbitrary.

Even if we don't articulate our exclusion policies today, still they exist.

And still they are pretty obvious to those who try to gain entry.

We may not be wholly exclusive.

We may perceive of ourselves as welcoming.

But it is the unwritten rules that are just as off putting for those who don't yet belong.

Our rituals and traditions that we see no need to explain.

Our cliques and our customs that we see no need to expand.

Gatekeeping that results in exclusion seems to be  a particular past time of the Christian community.

Today, I'd like to reclaim the term of Gatekeeper.

Restore it to its positive aspect.

While Gatekeepers can, of course, keep folk out, they can also invite folk in.

Gatekeepers can be at work encouraging others to come and explore community together.

Gatekeepers can be the folk engaged in inviting others to step into faith.

In the passage from Acts we read an account of the early Christian Community  devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Clearly this was a community that aroused the interest of those around. That attracted folk and inspired them to become involved.

A community that invited folk in, to pitch in their lot and explore faith together.

We have ample opportunity to do that today.

To catch folks attention.

To invite them in.

To journey together in the exploration of faith. 

I regularly meet folk in this community who are interested in what we are doing.

Whose curiosity is aroused by the way we do things, by the activity they see here, be it our coming together to celebrate times and seasons or our coming together to mourn a loved one.

People notice and they pass comment.

They are curious about our life together.

Do we have the desire and the confidence to invite them to join us on the journey?

Does this community of faith have the space and the will to embrace the wider community, a community that is hurting, a community that is bewildered and seeking answers just as we are?

Can we who are gatekeepers be the kind who welcome rather than repel those who are seeking a safe space to explore the mysteries of life?

Jesus said: I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

As we struggle to believe these words in the midst of all that life throws at us, are we willing to be joined by others in that struggle?

Is the glimmer of hope, however faint, that we have, enough to share with others, enough to light the way to the Light of the world who comes to bring us not just life but abundant life.

Let's believe today that the hope that we have is enough.

God honours our honesty when we struggle, carries us when we need to be carried and encourages us to share with others whatever we have.

May we be known as the Gatekeepers who create a safe and comforting space for others to come and find abundant life.

Thanks be to God.

The sacred gift

Luke 24:13-35

The Walk to Emmaus

 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Have you ever been involved in a conversation where folk are talking about you though they don't know it's you that's with them?

That's happened to me a few times.

Usually in churches.

Folk start to talk about something the minister has done, not realising that I'm the minister.

It's not all bad.

And it can be quite entertaining!

But I never know what to do when it happens.

Should I come clean and reveal who I am?

Should I let the conversation come to an end and slip away quietly and hope that I don't meet them again too soon, hoping the penny doesn't drop?

It's awkward.

It actually happened again just yesterday. 

I convened a meeting at another church during the week.

Yesterday I went to a coffee morning in that same village.

And I heard all about the meeting - from someone who wasn't even there!

Normally in that kind of awkward situation, I'd make my escape without revealing my identity.

But, yesterday, that wasn't possible because someone else recognised me, came to greet me, and introduced me to the folk with whom I'd been talking.

My cover was blown!

But I've never been a "Do you know who I am?" kind of person.

And I always like folk to get to know me before they find out what I do for a living.

Awkward at times.

How about Jesus on the road to Emmaus?

I like to think of him chuckling inside as he walked with those two disciples.

Hearing their take on his story!

I wonder if they got all the details right?

Were there bits that they embellished, or missed out?

Jesus could so easily have said : "I know, I was there!"

But he didn't.

He let those disciples get it off their chests.

He let them pour out all their excitement and their grief and their disappointment.

He walked alongside them and he listened. 

I know that if I have something on my mind, going for a walk is a great way to work on it.

Being out in the fresh air, whatever the weather, engaged in the physical act of walking, gives space for clearing the head.

I usually like to be on my own.

Then, as I walk I can pray and process and turn things over in my mind.

But, sometimes, it's good to have a companion with whom to share.

Just after Easter last year, we went to Virginia to visit friends.

This picture was taken of my friend Beth and I, out walking.

When I saw the picture, probably because it was this time of year, I immediately thought of the Emmaus Road and the two friends walking along, sharing their stories.

Beth, too is a minister.

We had lots of stories to share.

And we knew that Christ walked alongside us, sharing our stories and reminding us of his.

Two women walked the road

And as they walked

they talked - 

of death and resurrection

of hope and promise

of faith and discernment

of love and discipleship

Sharing a vocation

that is costly and demanding

Sifting through the detritus

for the jewels that are buried.

And between them

was the risen Christ

listening and encouraging

consoling and affirming

making his presence known

in the breaking of the bread of life

- the sharing of stories

of joys and disappointments

of comfort and longings

Souls laid bare

not seeking answers

or solutions

not even congratulations

or commiserations

But simply the sacred gift

Of listening

in which the work of healing is begun.

I would just LOVE to know what was going on in Jesus' head as he listened to those disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Did he want to interrupt?

Did he want to correct the details?

Was he desperate to reassure them or comfort them,put their minds at ease?

Jesus stayed quiet.

He walked alongside them and let them do the talking, unburdening themselves as they covered the miles between Jerusalem and Emmaus.

And, only when he had heard their story, did he share his, opening the scriptures to them.

Christ waits.

Christ listens.

And then he speaks the words we need to hear.

Whether he is recognised or not.

Christ speaks and reveals Gods word for us.

Still those disciples did not know who their walking companion was.

But they had been heard.

Their healing had begun.

And they loved the way that he opened up Scripture for them.

They reached their destination and, as Jesus made to go on, they invited him to share a meal with them.

They extended hospitality to him.

And, as they shared supper together, they recognised him in the breaking of bread.

That instant of revelation.

That aha moment.

Must have been quite something.

I wonder if those disciples were busy mentally retracing their steps, going back over all that they'd said, wondering if they'd put their foot in it?

But I suspect not.

The occasion was too momentous for that.

They recognised Jesus in the breaking of bread and they immediately retraced their steps to Jerusalem to share the good news.

There was no time for sitting still.

No time for regrets.

They were custodians of a miracle - and they simply HAD to share.

Jesus could have revealed himself much sooner in this story had he chosen to do so.

Just a word would have done it.

Instead, he revealed himself by his actions.

He gave those disciples the sacred gift of listening - listening to their story, a gift that all of us are capable of. 

Listening. 

In the midst of grief or excitement, sadness or joy, it is a gift to listen to another's story.  

And then, after listening to their story, he broke bread with them.

And in that act, he revealed himself.

Not in clever words.

But in the breaking of bread.

The gifts of listening and of breaking bread.

Gifts that are ours to share today.

Gifts that are much more valuable than words.

Gifts that make a difference.

That reveal Christ.

That proclaim resurrection.

The story of Easter goes on and on and on.

We are called to share that story today.

Making space to listen to others.

Offering hospitality.

Breaking bread.

Revealing Jesus right beside us.

Christ is risen.

He is risen indeed!

The waiting...

Matthew 27:57-61

The Burial of Jesus

 When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

Waiting

So often the hardest part

We who are doers

are not so good at waiting

And even now,

though we know the outcome

and know that it is good

we still want it to be over.

We want the tomb

to be burst open

so that we can celebrate

and then get on

with the rest of living.

We are impatient to tidy away

the vestiges of the wilderness

the Palm branches

the temple clutter

the oil of pure nard

the foot washing paraphernalia 

and the black draped cross.

We want to release the Alleluias

from their exile,

reclaim the space taken up

by the Labyrinth or the prayer garden

and restore our sanctuaries

to their usual order.

But, thankfully,

THANKFULLY

Easter will not allow that.

For Easter changes everything.

Two thousand years ago and now.

Easter seeps in with the slow light of dawn

and changes everything it touches

until we give up trying

to restore order.

The much anticipated Easter dawn 

promises yet more havoc.

But, for now, we wait...

The challenge!

Following a donkey riding king
presents us with challenges
we may not have signed up for
The challenge of humility
Of taking our place up front
in the knowledge
that that is where we're called to be
not because we are God's gift.
but because of God's gift
Gods gift of love
about which we cannot be silent
Gods gift of love
that we have to model up front

Following a donkey riding king
presents us with challenges
we may not have signed up for
The challenge of subversion
Finding ways to quietly
and peacefully
subvert what others perceive
as necessary evils
so that justice can prevail.
Quiet subversion
that brings love to the fore.

Following a donkey riding king
presents us with challenges
we may not have signed up for
The challenge of humour
Finding humour 
even in our darkest moments
laughing with the God
who transforms
tears of sadness
or frustration
into belly laughs of joy

Following a donkey riding king
presents us with challenges
we may not have signed up for
The challenge of uncertainty
Following even though
we do not know
how or when it is going to end
Following even when we do know
how or when it is going to end
because in all the uncertainty
is the promise
that God's love will be enough

Following a donkey riding king
presents us with challenges
we may not have signed up for
The challenge of compassion
being so moved
as Jesus was
about the plight of the world
that we can do no other
than do whatever it takes
to make a difference

Following a donkey riding king
presents us with challenges
we may not have signed up for
The challenge of love
that makes us want to serve
And, in serving God and each other,
finding that love
really does change everything
and allows us
to meet all these challenges
head on
following our donkey riding king.

Liz Crumlish Palm Sunday 2013

In the desert

Exodus 17:1-7

Water from the Rock

 All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarrelled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarrelling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

John 4:5-14

So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” ( For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Our readings this morning speak of a search for a basic necessity - water - water from a rock and water from a well.

Two ancient stories of the quest for thirst quenching water, set in two very different circumstances, but each story speaking right into our culture today.

We read of the Israelites in the wilderness - we seem to have spent an awful lot of time wandering with them recently.

In our reading today, they're searching for water.

And, of course, looking for their leader Moses to provide some.

Settling into their usual default position- Harking back to the way it was in Egypt, when they always had sufficient water to drink.

Now, here they are, out in the wilderness, dragged there by Moses and dying of thirst.

Sound familiar?

It's a familiar refrain in the story of Moses and the Israelites, always harping back to the way things were, to how good it was in the old days.

And, perhaps, it's a familiar refrain for us today.

To harp back.

To see the past, especially in the church, through rose tinted spectacles.

See how good things were then.

And how dry and barren they are now.

Like the Israelites, we sometimes prefer to live in a time warp.

Forgetting that everything else has moved on, progressed.

But wanting our church to stand still.

So - the Israelites in the wilderness do what they always do - they complain to Moses their leader - Did you bring us out here to die of thirst?

And Moses uses his usual coping mechanism - he complains to God- God what am I to do with these people?

As I said, a familiar refrain. :)

God told Moses to take  the elders with him and strike the rock - and Moses did.

He showed the elders how to obtain water in a dry place.

How to satisfy people who are thirsty.

And then Moses named those places.

Last week, when we considered Abram's journey, we considered all those places he sought out, the thin places where he could commune with God.

And the places he named as places of blessing.

Moses, too as he travelled with the Israelites, named places as he went along.

And the names spoke of the trials and tribulations of their journey.

Massah and Meribah was the name he gave to this place where the people complained about lack of water.

Massah and Meribah,

is the Lord with us or not?

Massah and Meribah.

That place of questioning,

that place of dryness

where, in the desert of our souls

when we question the presence of God, we discover the answer:

a resounding Yes!

God is with us

especially when we lack sight. 

God is with us

refreshing our dry,

discouraged spirits

with wonderful cleansing water.

Massah and Meribah,

those desert places

where God is revealed.

There is no doubt that, sometimes, we need those dry places to enable us to see God.

When things are clipping along, when we're feeling content we can often lose sight of all the ways that God is at work.

So a little dryness, a little thirst can go a long way to help us to sharpen our focus on God in our everyday.

The dryness opens our eyes to God.

And that, I think, is just one of things that happens when Jesus comes to the well in Sychar.

As I mentioned earlier, both of our readings today, speak to us of plumbing the depths - to get to resources that are already there.

Both speak of a quest for life giving water.

The Israelites, on their wandering through the desert, looking for water to drink.

And Jesus, stopped at a well at midday. 

That particular well at which Jesus stopped, is one that had been used for a long time.

It is the well where Jacob met his wife Rachel when she came to draw water many years before.

A watering hole well used by all those who lived round about as well as by those who travelled through.

Jesus was sitting by the well, wearied from his journey, needing a drink.

But he has no bucket to lower into the well to get himself some water.

Along comes a Samaritan woman who can quench his thirst by drawing him some water.

And Jesus allows her to minister to him, to meet his need.

In that service, the woman's eyes are opened to God.

Sometimes  it is in serving that we are served.

As we do things for others that we realise that our needs are being met.

Or we begin to appreciate how much those whom we imagine need us actually bring to us, teaching us about life.

Jesus paid the foreign woman the compliment of asking her to serve him, to draw him water to quench his thirst.

And then he gave her a gift beyond imagining - the water of life.

And once she realised what a gift that was, she went off to share the wonderful news with her neighbours.

We only read a part of the story this morning.

If we'd read,on, we would have read about the woman urging her neighbours to "Come and see"

She was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah and she wanted her friends to meet him too and also benefit from the water of life that Jesus offered.

Dryness exposes us to all kinds of opportunity.

Thirst, be it our thirst or the thirst in others, focuses our attention on things that matter.

It opens our eyes to the presence of God.

We might ask of ourselves today:

Where are the places that we feel dried out right now?

Where are the dry places in our lives and in the life of our community?

And what might that dryness be teaching us?

Where can we see God at work in our desert?

And when can we allow water to become more than just something we need for survival?

When can we allow water to be used for quenching thirst and also for celebration.

As in the waters of baptism

Water that brings fullness of life.

May we look at water in a whole new light - as a necessity for life but also as a life enhancing gift.

And, in all our dry spells may we be especially conscious of the presence of God.

As we welcome the water of life, may we welcome the Messiah and go and invite others to Come and see and to Come and drink of the fountain of life.

Jesus said  “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

May it be so.

Amen.