Resurrection Life

Jesus said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" --John 21:17

Last Wednesday evening we read the story from John 21 where the disciples encounter the risen Jesus on the lakeshore. After a fruitless night of fishing on their own, they make a great catch of fish following Jesus' direction. As they do so, they recognize their Master. No one is more excited than Peter, who still suffers inwardly from having denied Jesus three times after Jesus' arrest.
Jesus prepares breakfast for his beloved followers on
a charcoal fire. We might remember that when Peter denied Jesus three times in the high priest's courtyard, it was as he was warming himself by a charcoal fire. And the large catch of fish also reminds us of Luke Chapter 5, the calling of the first disciples, when Peter and his fishing partners gained a great catch of fish after entering the deep water with Jesus. John is suggesting that memory heralds possibility.
Rather than trying to forget his failure (which Peter can't do even when he tries), Jesus will join Peter in working through the painful history so that he (and they) can begin anew. Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him. Peter responds yes three times--and he surely is telling the truth! Yet love didn't keep him from failing before. Jesus reminds Peter that love is something we DO (not just feel). He wants Peter to love Jesus' other "lambs" the way Jesus has loved Peter, to tend to their care, to nourish them spiritually. Loving Jesus means loving God's people!!! Imagine all that Peter will be able to teach others about love!! Peter will have learned from his own experience. Learning (especially from failure) is a big part of discipleship. God's love never fails, so even the painful lessons from our own lives become part of a larger story of fulfillment, community, and the victory of love over death!

The Fulfillment of God's Creative Vision

At the 7:30 am service on Easter morning, we read from the book of the prophet Isaiah, specifically Chapter 65, verses 17-25. We heard divine poetry communicating God's intention for all human life and the world that God so loves; from the very beginning. God promises that, even out of the devastation of human sin and disobedience, God is acting right now to complete the beauty that God began in creation long ago. I am moving among you to create a new earth ( a different, life-giving experience of the world), and it is almost here.
In the "kingdom of God," the "new Jerusalem," that is being revealed:
--Everyone will have a good home
--All will have healthy, nourishing food
--The health of every person will be tended to
--Child mortality will be eliminated
--There will be no more poverty
--Seniors will live to the completion of their days without having to worry about their care
--God's provision will be shared by everyone, as God has always intended
--Work will be enjoyable, and everyone's labor will be valuable to the common good.
--There will be no slave labor, enforced servitude, or working one's fingers to the bone for the endless profits of a master.
--All people will live in dignity, with respect.
--No harm will be done to one another.

When we pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," we are praying that God will inspire us to be part of shaping a world like the one described above. What might our contribution(s) be, with God's help, to making God's vision a reality on earth? How will we live, together, towards God's vision? Share some of your thoughts. Be as specific as you can!
On Wednesday night we discussed efforts like Habitat for Humanity, where common people work together so that even those without substantial money and resources can have a good home. We identified unclean water as the greatest source of child mortality in the world, and how, for far less money than is spent on weaponry, people throughout the world can be guaranteed access to clean water. The way is already available. The question is: Will the faith be present to see it through? We talked about the struggle this year over health care planning in the United States. We recognized that, regardless of whether a plan was "Democratic" or "Republican," "conservative" or "liberal," any plan guided by God's vision must include provision for everyone! Take a look again at the principles listed above. What can we do together?
Our Lord Jesus came proclaiming that the kingdom of God is near. His life was a human translation of God's will, a living, breathing, ever-giving expression of God's saving love. From the very beginning of his ministry, he announced good news to the poor, release to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and the forgiveness of everyone's debts. You heard the story. The forces of power and influence in this world, those who profited from the ways things are, lined up to stop Jesus, to fend off God's loving plan. They used the cross to try to stop him.
But the proclamation of Easter is that no amount of betrayal will kill God's promise. No amount of death will overcome the life of God. No amount of hate will stay God's gracious love. The "former things" will not be allowed to carry God's day. This is the future--by God--and you and I are made to be a part of it!

Resurrection

Resurrection, by Paul Granlund

Father, Forgive Them

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." --Luke 23:34

Even as he is dying on the cross, Jesus cries out a prayer of mercy to God the Father: "Father, forgive them . . ." For whom is he praying? Is it for the soldiers, who are "following orders?" Is it for Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, who gave the order so that he might satisfy the angry crowds and at the same time make sure that no other "king" would challenge Caesar? Is Jesus praying for the religious leaders who wanted him dead so that his message of a gracious God who loves everyone might be silenced? Or is Jesus praying for the ordinary people who first flocked to him but then became upset when he offered love instead of might, community instead of victory?? Or perhaps Jesus is asking mercy for so many of his own disciples who had abandoned or denied him. What do you think?
"They know not what they do." That's what Jesus says. But surely the religious leaders knew what they were doing when they tried to get rid of him! Pilate knew he was sentencing an innocent man, but was willing to do so for political gain. The crowds knew that Jesus was the Lord of love, but they were angry when they didn't get what they wanted from him, and sought to punish him for it. The soldiers knew they were nailing a defenseless man. And the disciples surely knew they were leaving Jesus alone, even if they were scared.
Sometimes we mistake "forgiving" for "excusing." We think that when someone is forgiven, its like letting them off the hook for something wrong. But that's not it! In the Christian Scriptures, forgiveness means (1) removing barriers (2) loosening bonds (3) laying down burdens (4) setting people free (5) giving gifts regardless of merit. When Jesus prays, "Father, forgive them," he prays that God's love will transform them even after they have done terrible things. He doesn't want even the worst sin to be a barrier from God's loving presence and inspiration. He wants people set free from their fear and their hatred, because hating and being afraid are like being in jail, and they lead to us hurting other people. He wants people to learn that even when they're angry they don't need to hurt or punish other people. He wants those who have made mistakes, even really bad mistakes, to get a new start with God. He doesn't want his disciples forever stuck in the shame of failing Jesus. He wants the soldiers, who can tell right from wrong, orders or not, to have God become their ultimate authority. When Jesus says "they don't know what they're doing," he means that they don't really know why they are doing what they are doing! And they haven't yet learned another way.
But Jesus, in his intimate prayer to the Father, shows everyone that this is how God is; this is who God is! And since we are all made in God's image, Jesus wants us to live in God's image. My friend Jim McGinnis (who started TAP) used to say: In the face of escalating violence, escalate love! That's what Jesus does, and in doing so he exposes what is wrong and takes away every excuse for it ( Responding to wrong with wrong will never make a right). At the same time he shows us clearly what is right and true. And he offers hope for a very different future, because God is committed to a future of love and peace, no matter how much forgiveness it takes. And he's going to include us in that future.
The artwork above is entitled, "Father, Forgive Us," by James B. Janknegt. It speaks to our lives, and God's for-giving love in them.

He Loved Them to the End

"Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end." --John 13:1

Life with Jesus was life immersed in the gracious love of God: Embracing, drenching, challenging, shocking, thrilling, strong yet tender love; destabilizing them in one way while deeply rooting them in another; moment by moment love, decision by decision love, coming their way; life-changing, transforming agape love--the kind that asks nothing in return.
When Jesus gathers with his disciples for the Passover, he knows that "his hour has come," the time he has been preparing them for is here. And how do the twelve arrive? Hopelessly wrongheaded, it would seem, their heads full of assumptions about their own privilege in God's emerging kingdom, bickering with each other over what positions each will hold in the new administration, blissfully deaf to the passion of his sharing. Later in the evening, as Jesus pours out heart and soul to the Father in prayer, the ones who share life with him fall asleep. But they are not hopeless . . .
Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Jesus sees them quite differently than they outwardly present themselves. He knows them, and it is his commitment that they will someday know themselves as well, and as lovingly, as he knows them.
He gets down and washes their feet. Each one of them. And he beckons them to learn how to do the same for one another. John says that Jesus washes the disciples feet "knowing that he had come from God and was going to God." In other words, the humble footwashing is a deep expression of God.
The word translated "end" is telos in the NT Greek, indicating completion, fulfillment, wholeness. Jesus loved them to completion, loved them to fullness, loved them wholly.
Jesus loves us all. He loves us to the end of our misconceptions; he loves us not just in our stubborn illusions, but to the end of them; to the ends of our inattention and sleepiness, to the end of every betrayal and denial, to the end of every barrier--and beyond! He loves us into the wonder of our true, God-made, Spirit-inspired selves. God loves us beyond every end . . . to the new beginning, to new life in the risen Christ. He loves us this way,and shows us how to do the same with one another. Because such love is the defining characteristic of believers.