April 27 2008

April 27 Everyday to us is Easter
Ad lib intro......Did you get the feeling that Easter was just too early this year?
came up around too fast
did you feel like that?
well you're right
it was early ...there won’t be another Easter that early for 152 years
this early Easter ....was something very rare
but at least you can say.... that you were there in 2008
you did it
one of those "once in a life time" kind of Easters
I’m still thinking
it just came up too fast ..
But then
I noticed (as I said )
we get another chance at Easter on the orthodox church calendar .
..it's Easter today..
So I decided to do Easter all over gain..
And I tested this idea out on the Wed Bible study group and they seem to like it.
,,,Easter all over gain..
I know...
We don’t have the Easter crowd
and the extra chairs
and the sunrise service with youth and the Easter breakfast..
No we don’t have all the Easter flowers..
I tried to tell Lorraine Ehrich that I needed about 40 flowers for today
And of course
I didn’t give the choir time to get ready again
so we are not going have the hallelujah chorus at the end
.and d Angel rolled the stone away..
But we’ve got some special music..
And "no" I don’t Easter candy. for all of you
.I was too late to get the Easter candy on sale

But its still Easter.
We have the whole season of Easter
so its never one day on the calendar
Easter is who we are
Easter is the new life that we live in..
.as we sang "everyday to us is Easter and
And you do know
that the reason we have worship on Sunday
is because every Sunday is a little Easter
our whole life in Christ is pointed to the resurrection..
We are the Easter celebration
this is simply who we are

now with that
let me go back to one of the Easter gospel lessons
back in March
we looked at the lesson from Matthew
but John's Gospel can be used for Easter every year..
And what always get my attention in Johns Gospel
is the timing...
you’ve heard me say this before
but in John
when did the resurrection happen?

In John 20 it says
early on the first day of the week
while it was still dark..
May Magdalene came to the tomb
and saw that the stone had already been rolled away
That intrigues me..
that means
that Easter happened in the dark ,
resurrection happened
in the dark,,
by the time that Mary got there
the tomb was already opened..
Easter happened in the dark,
Now the orthodox church has this figured out
Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox and so on.

so they usually start the Easter service
just before midnight.
.they start in the dark
and its a kind of candle light service
as they spread the light of the Easter candle though the congregation there in the dark
It's a powerful
liturgical way of saying
." the light shines in the darkness
and the darkness does not overcome it"
But you hear that?

.they seem to know
that Easter starts in the dark
and it does
look at the days before Easter Sunday..
the darkness of the suffering for Jesus
the darkness of that night in the garden of Gethsemane
the darkness of Judas betraying him and Peter denying him
the darkness of the cross
and Good Friday
the darkness of our sins and the injustice of it all
the pain and the agony
MY God my God why hast thou forsaken me..

The darkness of the tomb and that long day of Saturday
the disciples are hiding in the in fear and confusion
Easter gets set up.. The stage get set in the dark,,
now this is not just the way the Bible story plays out
this is not just some interesting theology
this is the spiritual truth in our life..

This is the reality of faith
That’s how it is

you cant have resurrection without the cross
you cant have Easter without Good Friday
you cant have the life... without having the death
Jesus himself said it.. Again and again
to find your life you must loose

you see what’s going on ...don’t you ?
we are being invited to look into the dark
and see it in a different way
we look at the dark and we don’t see just the darkness
we can look at the darkness of world
the pain of this world
the suffering in the world and we can see it..in a different way
some people look at the war in Iraq and the thousands of people who have died
or they look at the fuel prices ..food prices,
and the economy and the mortgage crisis
or global warming
...and yes those are serious
and complicated ,,troubling things..
But some people just get sour and cynical..
.and they want to just drop out somehow..
they get down
. They don’t have the energy of hope
But if we believe that Easter happens
that resurrection happens
in the dark
or even
especially in the dark,,
then we cant afford to be cynical
and passively resigned..
We get to be Easter people
searching and looking for the hope .
.for the signs of resurrection
in the dark.
and maybe
you and I can also dare to look in our personal darkness
of our confusion and our brokenness
we can look at the darkness of our shadows and pain
and we can trust that we are not alone in the dark
God is already there rolling away stones in the dark
God is already there working for life even in the dark.
In your life
Do you believe this
that resurrection is happening in you ..
God is raising you from the deadness
maybe your emotional deadness/
God is in the moving business ..on the night shift..
in your heart..
Moving away the stones of sin and death
this is where faith meets you life..
can you hear that!
The darkness is not Godless
and the darkness
is not hopeless
because resurrection happens
when?
in the dark.
in Jesus Christ we are being that picture.
Easter is the picture ..it is the revelation of Gods ultimate power and truth
Let me add a little story from
Rachel Naomi Remen
she talks about this in her book called
Kitchen Table Wisdom
its about something in her home growing up
when she was just a very little girl
her parents liked to do jig saw puzzles
they had those great big thousand piece puzzles kept up on a table
but just to make it more of a challenge.
Rachel’s father would always hide the top of the puzzle box
so you couldn’t see th e picture ..
you didn’t get to see what you were making.
You couldn’t see the picture ahead of time
now this was an ongoing project
and the custom was
that if you came to visit at their house
you could go ahead and work on the puzzle ..
if you saw a piece that would fit you could just put in
so people would do that for few minutes
or sometimes Rachel mom or dad
would be there for hours..
working on the puzzle
......usually in a few weeks
with these hundreds and hundreds of pieces
it would all come into place..and they would see the finished puzzle
Rachel said that over the years her family did dozens of puzzles like that
and she got pretty good at it.
She really loved being the first one to guess what the picture was
when they got some sense of what the pattern was.
She could see what had been hiding there all along
but then she tells about the first puzzle that she could remember
They had just gotten the puzzle table
it was a birthday present to her mother from her father
she was about 3 or 4 years old
and she can remember how happy they were
when they set up the table
and dumped out the puzzle pieces on the table

back then for this first time as just a little girl
she didn’t understand what this was about
and they figured that she was too young to play this game
or whatever it was they were doing
so they didn’t explain it to her
but of course she wanted to know what this was
so one morning when she was alone in the living room she climbed up on a chair
and dug around in all the loose puzzle pieces and all these pieces spread out loose on the table
.of course these pieces are pretty small
; some of them had bright colors
and they looked like they might be birds or flowers
and they seemed to be the fun shapes..
But
some of them were dark and shadowy.
And The dark ones seemed kind of scary
shaped maybe like they were spiders or bugs,
ugly and strange.
She didn’t like dark things. So she took some of those dark scary puzzle pieces and hid them underneath one of the sofa cushions.
For several weeks, whenever I was alone in the living room,
she would get up on the chair,
take a few more of those dark pieces,
and she would stash them in that hiding place
down in the couch
Well of course it was taking the adults forever to finish that puzzle
something was just wrong
and people got frustrated when they tried to work on the puzzle

,the mother finally counted the pieces
and she realized
that more than a hundred pieces were missing!
By this time
Rachel had been seen hanging around the table now and then
so the mother said to her
Rachel have you seen any of the pieces
do you know anything about this

so Rachel took her over the couch
over to where where all the missing pieces were hiding
The mother got the missing pieces and in just a little while
she got the whole puzzle put together
Rachel remembered watching her do this.
And she could see the picture coming to life
As she watched it come together
little Rachael back them
didn’t even know that it would be a picture
so she was surprised
to see this the beautiful picture of a deserted beach
with just a start.. of the sunrise
the sun was coming up to start this new day.
that was the picture
but Rachel had taken out the dark pieces..
And the picture could not happen
without those dark pieces
the sunlight
the sunrise
the beauty
the wholeness
could not be seen with out those dark pieces
.
There is a lesson in there
maybe it is the gospel story
th Easter story..


Maybe it tells me something about living in faith..

There are e pieces that we don’t like in this puzzle of life
we don’t understand them
probably don’t want them..
..but pieces like that...are in every persons puzzle

And when they are just a single piece ..its true
they can be senseless and frightening and ugly..
And that’s a fact.
But can we leave them out
can you leave out pieces of your life.
Can you leave out
and hide or deny the pieces
that t you don’t want..
Well we do that in some ways
we take out those pieces
and stash them deep in some hiding place in our hearts..
But that doesn’t really work...
The puzzle work of life .gets stuck..
eventually we have to go and find them
and dig them out
Because we cant live with those holes in the puzzle
those blanks... in our life ..
to get the picture We have to eventually claim all the pieces.
The failures
the losses
the choices we made
the mysteries
and the bad ..along with the good
every life has those pieces that we think... cant fit
When you look at the story of the cross
and the Easter Sunday
I'm sure those dark pieces
standing alone ...
By themselves..
have nothing much to offer..
But like Mary on that Easter morning
we can go ahead and go to the tomb in the dark

not knowing at all what could be there..
Probably expecting only to grieve..and
then to find
that God has already been there..and rolled away the stone
something indeed had happened
and more of it..will come to light
like Rachel and her puzzle
we can....see that t life is not just one piece at a time.
.and life is more than the piece of the puzzle
that you might be holding right now in you life.
Trust that there is a promise of light
a son rise
the rising of God’s son
it’s a bigger picture of life
its like getting to see the picture of the puzzle
on the box
"While it was still dark
Mary went to the tomb..and saw the stone had already been rolled away"
Christ is risen
Christ is risen indeed







.

Caring for Creation

Faithfully caring for Creation April 20th 2008 PUMC R Swenson

I thought about some ways to talk about this Celebration of God’s creation
Of course it is designed to stand along side of earth day
which ,,by the way..
is now printed on my little church calendar from Cokesbury
I hope you know.... all across the church

Catholics.... Protestants
right and left ,,conservative and liberal.
evangelicals or.. mainline
the church might actually agree on this issue !

we just might try to be eco friendly
Caring for creation is getting talked about

as a basic and essential part of Christian living and discipelship.

Its not just a little special interest for some people on the fringe
its really a core concern
... centered around the belief
that God is the creator
that somehow
this life..
whether intelligent design
or creationism..or evolution
.the methodoolgy ....is not even the point
because ..in faith...
this creation... is a gift from God

and it needs to be treated that way

as human beings we have a special responsibility for taking care of creation.

That is what the Genesis story is really saying


Christianity also teaches us that all of creation

is included in Gods healing and saving work in Jesus Christ
Paul in (2 Corinth) says
God was reconciling the world
restoring the world back to God..

God so loved the world..... ,,not just people on the world

so as ....the church
we’re trying to pay attention to how we live on the planet
and with each other


..well anyway

I thought about going on with all kind s of theological support
and Bible verses
and their really is quite abit of Biblical material for us..

But I also choose the lesson from Matthew

because so much of the injustice in world
and the waste and the environmental abuse
happens

because we are over consuming and we aren’t sharing things very well.

we are all wrapped up with our worries
and our comforts..and insecurities
about getting enough

“What shall we eat... what.. shall we wear...and so on..”

.instead of keeping our eye on God..

anxiousness \and greed
..Lack of faith feeds the environmental problems....

Worry and insecurity
feed the ecological problems.

and those are spiritual problems

Worry and insecurity

are ,not just political or social problems ..
but spiritual issues.

And as the church..
we need to say that.

faithful living
involves a more trusting and simple and balanced kind of living....

It means that we live prayerfully and gracefully on Gods earth

That’s the theology behind it.

then too
for this morning

I thought about some of the practical things that we can do


and that could be the whole sermon ....

.there are policies and practices for us to implement

again
we need to pay attention to the problems in the world

when the word is sick... the people get sick...

doesn’t that mean that we need to learn about alternative energy..

And the carbon footprint ?

and trying to be more socially and politically educated about global conditions...


Do you know about the connections between rainforest and agriculture and global markets

and pollution..

Do you know
about the deforestation and the hunger riots in Haiti


Can you make some sacrificial consumer..choices in your life..

.because for you
its an act of faithfulness


I know that many of us are trying to be more green

in our lifestyles and in our shopping...

most of us..
I think try to reduce and reuse and recycle

and I admit that I don’t do enough

Personally..this is something that I want to do more of...

.and by the way

one of the things that we haven’t gotten done here at Park church

we’re trying to use less paper.. But
we still need to get our paper recycled

.. We got the cans and bottles covered and so on.

.but we need somebody to collect the paper.. And recycle it.

Personally
I would invite you to pick one thing you can do,,,
This week even

think of one thing
you could do that would be better for the environment
and know that you are doing it as a follower of Jesus Christ.

Now
I want to tell you a story that about caring for the gifts of creation
with deeper spiritual respect.


once upon a time
long ago when the earth was still very young
there lived a women who decided to live near the water

there was also village nearby

and the people lived by planting their fields and setting out their fishing nets..

Now the woman had been born in that village

but as the years went on
she moved farther and farther a ways form the village

you see
while she was growing up

and the other children were learning their skills and trades form the teacher s and the elders

she discovered that she had a very special gift..

Instead of putting out nets to catch the fish as they went up stream

she would spend long hours looking into the water
until she could see the fish

then,,exactly at the right moment
.the fish that was going to be caught

.would come right up into her waiting hands.

She would catch the fish with her bare hands

and strangely enough.
.whatever she caught
was Always enough to feed her and her family with even a little bit left over
for someone who might be visiting.

All the villagers
soon heard about this
she tried to explain her new way of catching fish

she told her friends
then she told the elders f the tribe..

but they just laughed and made fun of her.
After all.they had been putting out the nets the same way for years and they had always gotten plenty of fish.

In fact they caught so many fish that they had enough fish to toss the leftovers to the dogs
and they could use the fish as fertilizer in the gardens and the fields
well sometimes thy just didn’t need it all. The fish would always be there!

Besides
this new way
was stupid and time consuming

what good could there be

from something that took more time
..waiting
and wasting endless hours ............
watching the water ?

so they decided that the young woman didn’t have any special gift

she was just lazy
or slow witted..or strange

And the people just mocked her
more and more
so ,,
sadly
she moved farther and farther away from the village

and she spent more and more time..watching the water.

Then one day

after thinking about this for quite awhile

she decided to break with her tradition
she would even move down stream
and go to another village
maybe these other people would understand
and they would take her in.
And so she moved on.
Settled into the next village
worked in the fields
taught the children
lived like everyone else

but always she would go back to the edge of the water
dangling her feet in the water
watching the water

sometimes she would be there very early when the sun was barely up..
sometimes she would come out and watch the mist and the fog over the water
before the sunlight melted it away


sometimes
she would just go out and watch how the wind

would make its ripples and waves,,,


or sometimes at night

she would come and see how the stars reflected on a clam night on the water
sometimes it was so dark
with no moon at all..
no stars
but she could hear and smell the water in the darkness.

Through all of this
she knew the water
almost everything about it.
.and when the fish came rushing up stream

or when they came just to swirl around in the sunlight or the shade

they would look at the women there along the shore


and sometimes they would jump out of the water and into the air.
And the women knew exactly which ones she was supposed to catch
..and which ones belonged to another village and which ones needed to be safe so they could spawn and keep the species strong
And whenever her village set out the nets,,

she cringed inside...
such unnecessary..

indiscriminate death.
Finally she had to speak out.
She told them about this other way to fish..
.standing still..watching..

Taking only what you need,
,carefully thoughtfully.


But again...
just as they did back home in her other village..they just laughed,

they told her to leave them alone..


And so she did.

.and she went like that from village to village

always the same old story

finally she came back to the village of her childhood,

she had changed..and so had they

They didn’t remember her days when she was a young woman with them

but there was another change in the people as well.

They were tired
and slow moving..
They were hungry and there was no laughter.
Strangers were not welcome anymore because
They were just another mouth to feed
and their was barely enough food to go around.
She went back down the path to the old house down by the water. Where she used to live
No one had been there.. All those years..

But she could still here the water calling to her..
.. and so
obedient to the call
she went down to the water
and looked deep into the water,,
for a long time a very long time.

But she now she could se that the water had also changed..

It was murky ,slow, stale and lifeless.
She felt this ache in her heart,she had lost her gift..of water watching...
and she could not see though the water.
Worse than that,,, she had also lost the fish

their were no fish in the water.

And she began to weep
well now

she understood why her village was lifeless

and she knew that this was going to be the fate of all the villages that she had visited, o


now she was weeping for her people

who had lost so much because of their carelessness
..and their ignorance.

Even she, herself

had not seen how important her own gift had been,

and how she had to insist on teaching this wisdom to others.

Now she needed to learn to feel as much tenderness and appreciation

for the people
as she had felt for the fish and the water
and the gift for catching them.

And so she cried,,

for the villagers as well as all that happened,

and as she bent over and cried,,
she could not stop her tears,
they fell into the water at there feet
and then something so mysterious happened,
as the tears entered the water

they darted away

flashing for a moment before swimming away as fish.
The tears streamed from her eyes
dripping into the water.. Turning into fish
and the fish multiplied.

Until the villagers,,, hungry and desperate
saw the gleaming of the fish
leaping once again in the water.

But this time they remembered the strange words of that young woman
who lived in the village long ago

so They watched the fish and went to the water
with patience and gracefulness and newness
they sat still with waiting hands and the fish came to their hands now
just as they had come long ago
to the hands of that waiting young woman,
They say that this woman is still there.
By the edge of the water..
Alone and weeping still keeping her people alive..
Learning the truth of her gifts.
And so it is said. In the old sayings
The old wisdom..
What you catch and take for your own..
Can be returned by compassion alone.

So it is today that we sit..at the edge of the water..
With the res to the village.
Watching.. And leaning to se and to be in true compassion and wisdom.. not to abuse or to hoard or to waste..
So My friends remember the woman who caught fish with her hands..
As you think about the story of the woman whose compassionate tears
continue to give life

its not that far fetched of a story....it’s a sacrificial picture
isn’t it.?.. based on love..

Don’t we also talk about being saved...... and fed
by the sacrifice of Jesus ..
the suffering servant
..his sacrifice is the bread of life..
(A Fish was also the ancient symbol for Jesus and the church ...)..

don’t we talk about a compassionate savior
who gives his life for us
and
that his sacrificial love is still

giving life to this wounded world.....

not just for the people but for the world
..
Life depends on compassion

For God so loved the world
Perhaps we need to love it as well
that the gift we have been give..and it must be taught


Adapted From Keepers of the Story by McKenna and Conan p. 103 Orbis Books 1997