John 20:1-18

Jottings on John…Easter Day…Revised 2019 

(For Luke 24:1-12 see Laterally Luke ad loc)

The first of two big challenges I see in Easter preaching is bringing the story out of its past - & Jesus out of His with it! - & telling it on in the Present Tense. In us! So Jesus is raised & among us by His Spirit now. If the story ends back then it ends indeed! The second challenge, at the other end of the time scale, is, again, making Resurrect-ion happen as a Now thing; not something vaguely, or even enthusiastically, hoped for on some future Last Day. Compared, though, with taking Easter & Resurrection as only a thing of the past, or a possibility of the future, taking the holiday, is very much Present Tense! How can we bridge that gap between Eternal & Secular time?

On the First Easter Day God turns the tables on Caiaphas & his cohorts, Herod & his, &, of course, Pilate & his! All of them representing misdirected power at one level or another! There’s a lot of that about now, too! In many parts of the world. ‘Nominally Christian’ nations can be found arguing over how to create, or, save physical energy, but overlooking the Divine Energy Resurrection represents. If we fail to live out Christ’s Raised Life in our communal structures, no wonder the wheels fall off!

Rather than emphasise the need for personal & individual responsibility for Faith, as we often do, why not explore the possibilities & consequences of Easter from the angle of community, national, & corporate responsibility in very laissez-faire times? Rather than simply blaming politicians for the state we’re in, why not ask if our own failing to live out being resurrected with Christ is backfiring on us all?

Finding the raised Christ can be a very elusive business if we’re looking for Him only in some half-light. Mary M is first to be baffled. Next, one of the others reaches the tomb ahead of the other, but at first doesn’t go in. How like the way Resurrection dawns on believers today! We must go in! 

The two men go home, more than a little chastened, but Mary M, who’s returned to the tomb with them, remains. She meets up with two angels, then unwittingly, with Jesus Himself. Always be on the look-out for angels, whatever their guise. They’re always pointing us in the direction of Christ raised from the dead, alive in the world, &, as a consequence, offering us new possibilities for raised life too, in all sorts of situations!

 Our trio, &, later, other disciples, represent stages any of us may need to pass through on the way to a discipleship based on experiencing Christ raised in or lives! Someone else telling us about their experience is no substitute for our meeting the Raised Christ in Person!

Brian 

Afterthought: As our own stories of being raised with Christ grow & expand, the more all the God-dots are joined. The more Belief & Joy & Confidence break through into our personal & communal experience the better we’ll all be. 

JOHN 18:1-19:42

Jottings on John…Good Friday…2019

Today’s Gospel is so vast it seems unwise to try to cover, or preach, more that a modicum, but choose to highlight one aspect. I’m for choosing ‘Truth’.

With OZ facing a Federal election in a month’s time, & politicians & churches having a pretty bad press on the whole, why not remind our flock Jesus is the Victim of hard-line Politicians & Religionists, both. Would Jesus willingly have voted for any camp, politically, if He had a vote! Would He be found in any of our churches, except to stir the things-of-God up a bit as we often see Him doing in synagogues in the Gospels?  

 To try to bring all this together, the entry point I suggest is emphasising that the fact of Jesus being God’s Truth is an uncomfortable Truth, take that where God wills us to take it in our preaching. When we settle for ‘alternative truths’ over Truth with a T in the Person of Jesus, we’re aligning ourselves with Pilate, the Chief Priest, & their cronies & how they see things, rather than with God & God’s Way of seeing things. 

Truth goes to the heart of Jesus' mission & kingship. At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus has had to wrestle out in the wilderness to test the Truth of Who He is; what kind of Messiah He’s to be. He’s been tempted to hand Himself over to devilish ways but discerns there’s no Truth in that direction.

Pilate doesn’t ‘get’ Jesus. “You’re not really a king, are you?” he asks. (Try saying that using differing inflections!) When Jesus replies, “You’re the one saying I am”, Pilate’s response is,“You don’t look like a king to me!” Is this still many people’s response to Jesus today? Do we ‘get’ Jesus any better than Pilate & Co? Pilate can’t see the God in Jesus. When is a king not a king?’ Let’s ask our flocks “What is it about Jesus that puzzles us?” Why does He puzzle us - if he does?

Is there any other way to help anyone, inside or outside the church, puzzling over Jesus’ kind of kingship except by our living out the puzzling Truth of His Kingship? So they can see Jesus living God out in us, and ‘get’ it! Get Him! Get God!

Jesus tells Pilate, “Everyone who belongs to the Truth can hear my voice”, echoing what He’s earlier said to antagonistic fellow Jews [8:47]. When Pilate refuses to change the wording over Jesus’ cross, is this Truth-about-Jesus question still bother-ing him? How much does it really bother us today?

Brian

Afterthought: Jesus, nailed to His cross, is the Essence of the non-negotiable Truth of God. He puts the seal on that in His last words before He dies. Let’s not settle for the tame, ‘It’s finished’, or ‘It’s over’, kind of translation. Jesus is saying, & means, “I’ve done it!” “I’ve brought it off!” And that’s God’s Truth! Now it’s our turn to live that Truth by His Spirit.

JOHN 12: 1-8

Jottings on John…Lent 5…New 2019

[Next week back to Laterally Luke!]

“Do you know what Mary’s done? You know, that Mary! Lazarus’ & Martha’s sister! Haven’t you heard? That hussy has been & washed this Jesus’ fellow’s feet! That chap who’s always hanging out at their place! She’s actually gone & washed His feet! Not only that, she’s gone so far as to let her hair down in company & then dry His feet with her hair! Scandalous stuff! Pity Lazarus doesn’t run as strict a family as his father did when he & their mother were still alive!

Bethany’s calmed down a bit now since this Jesus brought Lazarus back from death a few days back. We’re still trying to come to terms with that, when there comes this new whammy! This new buzz in the air. This feet washing & hair drying business starts things up all over again about that family! I’d never have thought of Mary as being a hussy before, but now she’s brought her family & our village well & truly into disrepute! All over again. After what this Jesus has done for Lazarus!”

Whatever else happens at Bethany that day, in anointing Jesus, Mary, one of His closest friends, Celebrates Jesus; Marks Him out for whom He is; Proclaims within her family & to some others (inc. Judas, who’s there, too) whom Jesus actually is; Prophesies what’s going to happen Him; Declares her personal faith & trust in Jesus. Puts her own standing in the community at risk by not only washing Jesus feet, but drying them with her hair! With Compassion!

Drawing closer to Palm Sunday & Holy Week as we are, there are a few sermon starters above, & no doubt you can think of more. Such as, what kind of King Jesus is committed to being when He enters Jerusalem, knowing full well the consequences of the actions He’s taking. That He’s already raised His old friend Lazarus confirms His own confidence in God’s ability to raise Him, too, ‘on the third day’. And, the love & compassion we’re challenged to show to others as lovingly as Mary cares for Jesus.

When Jesus dies in Jerusalem, there’s not going to be any opportunity for anointing or any other funerary rites, so what Mary does here are the real thing. There will be no other. Are there things we need to do for Jesus in life now, that no-one else is go-ing to do for Him if we don’t? How good are we at seizing opportunities to serve God through serving others? Even if & when it causes others to turn their noses up at us?

Brian 

Afterthought: It’s important we keep the Jesus story & the Jesus stories up to date in today’s world. By our own equivalents of Mary’s foot-washing & drying; of her  loving & serving selflessly. By our own confidence in God’s provident care for both served & serving. Is our congregation a committed carer for those for whom no one else cares for in our community? Or would that outlaw us, too? 

JOHN 2: 1-11

Jottings on John…Epiphany 2…2019

Is John standing in for LK today because LK - a later-comer to Christian Faith - isn’t at the party? Nor Matthew, nor Mark? Whereas John is? Whatever, it’s an invitation to explore, in an imaginative way, a question of who’s in & who’s out when it comes to giving & receiving hospitality. Hospitality is one of those ‘spiritual gifts’ that don’t make it onto the biblical lists! Who gets invited to our celebrations, & who misses out? Are you & I on anybody’s list? To invite, or not to invite!? In the Eucharist, YHWH God invites us all to the altar to share God-self, play Host to us all. But are our Eucharists, be they formal, or less structured, recognisably a Celebration? Of  God & each other? Where we can genuinely enjoy God through Jesus & by His Spirit in His Body & Blood? And, remember, enjoying each other’s company!

The Presbyterian ‘Larger Catechism’ (approved in 1648!) begins with the Question: ‘What is the chief & highest end of man?’ The answer is ‘..to glorify God & fully enjoy him for ever’. I like that. Many of us do our best to ‘glorify God’ in our varying ways. But is ‘fully enjoying’ God in the here & now part of our experience? Can we expect to enjoy God’s hospitality in any future world if we can’t recognise Him & enjoy Him among us today? Today’s Gospel may help us explore the issue. Why not have a go! 

I pretty sure most people think of Jesus at this wedding breakfast as a by-stander; sitting, or standing, watching others enjoy the proceedings. Maybe with a glass of water in His hand? I prefer to picture Him in the midst of the celebrating with a glass of wine in hand. Chatting to His relies, or partnering someone - why not Mary? - in an enthusiastic & energetic Jewish dance! Let’s think of Jesus as a participant, not a spectator, in everything that’s on offer in celebrating life today. Whenever there’s a celebration, a wedding or anything else, at Cana, or anywhere else. Including at our altars. Look for Jesus as Host, in Bread & Wine at the altar, & also in the midst of His guests. Unlike some of His followers, Jesus is no ‘kill-joy’!

I like to think the Chair of the wedding feast’s reaction on discovering how good the New Wine is - without knowing its Source - as a kind of allegory for those of us who benefit from Grace & how good it is - even if we haven’t yet worked out where it comes from! The reality, though, is that only those who draw on, & taste, & recognise God’s New Wine of Grace can savour it to the fullest!

Brian 

Afterthought: The wine’s long run out at Cana, but how is the wine of grace flowing among us, whoever & wherever we are?

JOHN 1: 1-5, 9-14, 16-18

Jottings on John…Christmas…Revised 2018

Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Scriptures launches with its magnificently imaginative & evocative story of a Creation told into being by YHWH God: ‘In the beginning God created the heavens & the earth..…’ Is it simply a co-incidence that the writer of John also chooses to start with ‘In the beginning…’ & a magnificently & imaginative, evocatively poetic expression of how the New Creation comes into being? Can any account of Creation improve on that of the Genesis tale-teller? Any more than accounts of how the New Creation comes into being can improve on JE’s? For me, it’s always JE when it comes to Christmas Gospel & Christmas preaching! 

For one thing, it offers us the opportunity of reflecting on our own physical & spiritual beginnings. But has JE’s Hymn to the Word with its deep, meaningful, imaginative, & creative take on the Christmas event become too hard to preach? Compared with stables, mangers, & other MT & LK trimmings? Some Christmases ago, I happen to be sitting near another priest I know at a Midnight Mass. The ‘sermon’ turns out to be a kind of watered-down ‘kids’ talk’. This at one of the big, largely adult, congregations of the year. After the Dismissal, as we’re leaving, my colleague turns & whispers to me, “He sure dumbed that down, didn’t he?!” Do we really need to do that? Are we really called to do that?

I always omit vv.6-8 because they’re an interruption - by whom we don’t know - to JE’s original hymn. A distraction that destroys its integrity. They belong, with v.15, after the hymn where JB properly makes his entrance after v.18. Let’s not gazump the Evangelist’s mind-blowing, spirit-expanding verses! Is interrupting the flow of the Gospel with the insertion about JB perhaps a metaphor for us inserting ourselves in the wrong place between God & God’s purposes. A warning we need to heed all year around, not only at Christmas!

The Word who speaks Creation into being now speaks a new, restored Creation - personal & universal - into being in Jesus. God’s Divine Word, God’s ‘new beginning’ for us. Jesus doesn’t simply speak God’s language to us, He is God’s own language! Are we recognisably God’s language, God’s ‘Word’ for others?

Brian

Afterthought: Whatever else John wants us to take in from his magnificent poem he wants us to glorify God as Jesus does. If our Christmas worship, including a sermon on this passage, gives glory to God, John the Poet has achieved what he sets out to achieve, hasn’t he?

JOHN 18:33-38

Jottings on John…The Reign of Christ / Christ the King…2018

I suggest we read to v. 38, where the 2nd of two punch-lines, both from Pilate, occurs - the 1st being in v. 37. Try saying Pilate’s, ‘You’re not really a king, are you?’ & ‘Truth? What is that?’with various emphases & intonations. Get your congregation started  by doing the same.

In asking, “Truth? What is that?”, Pilate’s dismissive of both Jesus, &, Truth. Today’s political & other leaders who don’t know the difference between Truth & ‘alternative truth’ are also dismissive. Not only political leaders, but sports, business-people & other leaders. Where are we in all this? How observant are we of Jesus as the non-negotiable Truth in our lives - personal & public? Are we peddling ‘alternative truths’ rather than presenting Jesus as Truth with a capital T? Are we, even unconsciously, aligning our-selves with Pilate’s way of seeing things, rather than Jesus’; God’s Truth among us, still, by His Spirit.

At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus wrestled out in the wilderness with the Truth of Who He is. What kind of Messiah He’s to be. Tempted to follow devilish ways of being Messiah. Instead, He discerns there’s no Truth in that direction, & commits to being God’s Truth. Living out God’s way of seeing & doing things. Come what may. We need to get this ‘Truth’ issue out of our Bibles & into the pages of our lives as we write new chapters.

When someone sums us up, whatever the circumstances, are we recognisably a Jesus-like person? A follower of the True King? Is the likeness unmistakable? When we try to discern the truth about others, do we consider their Jesus-like-ness? The way to help anyone, inside or outside church, puzzling over Jesus’ kind of kingship, is by our living out the Truth of His kingship. People need to see God’s Truth as Jesus lives God out in us to ‘get’ it! Get Him! Get God!

Later, when Pilate refuses to change the wording over Jesus’ cross, has he simply had enough of the Jewish leaders & their complaints? Or, is that, ‘Truth-about-Jesus’ question still in the air? Perhaps it should be a lot more in the air today?

Brian

Afterthought: Jesus, nailed as King to His cross, is the Essence of the non-negotiable Truth of God. Personally, I can’t settle for the tame, ‘It is finished’, or ‘It is over’, translation. Jesus says, & means, “I’ve done it!” “I’ve brought it off!” And that’s God’s Truth! 

PS. Next Sunday we begin Advent, & with that, the ‘Year of Luke’. My blogspot for Luke is: laterallyluke.blogspot.com 

JOHN 11: 32-44

Jottings on John…All Saints…Revised 2018

(For Pentecost +24, see MK 12:13-34 at marginallymark.blogspot.com.

I’ve commented on this somewhere before, but J.A. Swanson’s bright cover for William Willimon’s ‘The Intrusive Word’¹, vibrantly illustrates the scene in the cemetery at Bethany. An icon, really. A crowd of people wending their way to Lazarus’ grave via different paths. Carrying arms-full of bright flowers. The tomb, in the foreground. Singers & musicians are playing, &, no doubt, wailing. Children are climbing on top of the tomb for a better view of what’s going on here.

Men have rolled the great stone seal aside. Martha & Mary are there, of course, comforting one another. Jesus & Lazarus are hugging. Lazarus, a grey-looking figure, still bound in grave cloths. Jesus, in bright gold, looks to be using His free hand to remove His friend’s head cloth! This vivid portrayal is brimming with life. Brings the whole scene alive. As Jesus brings Lazarus to life. As Jesus is Resurrection & Life. This picture by Swanson has helped bring the story of Lazarus alive for me more than any sermon I’ve preached - or heard! Can we bring out in our preaching how Lazarus’ raising might speak meaningfully to us now? Can we bring ourselves to let God hug us as Jesus hugs Lazarus? And pass that hug on to others?

Let’s preach to the moment, rather than as a history lesson. Vividly, vibrantly, colourfully. No more shades of grey. Resurrection’s in the air. Not only for Lazarus back then. For us, too. Now! How can we bring the story to life so it brings us all back to life? Help us all find ourselves in the picture in a today version of the story? Jesus can still raise us up from any deadness we’re experiencing. No need to wait for any raising up on some ‘Last Day’! God in Jesus can free us right now from whatever binds us & keeps us dead & ‘grey’. Once we come to the point of owning whatever it is we need ‘raising’ from. 

The ‘icon’ I’m referring to above also illustrates the way our lives are all inter-linked: with the colourful & not so colourful all caught up together with, one way or another, everyone & everything going on. And finding them all Life-giving. Can we bring today’s story out of its past & into our own present? Can we put the ‘raising’ question in a not-back-then-but-alive-in-us-all-&-making-us-all-alive-&-kicking-with-God-in-God’s-Present-Tense? God’s Now. 

Afterthought: As I join in reciting the Creed, Eucharist by Eucharist, I find myself pondering - along with other questions - whether if we don’t find & enjoy Resurrection in this world we’ll ever recognise the one we expect to experience & enjoy on That Day?

Brian