Where else would we be?

Luke 2:41-52 is the Lectionary text for Christmas I (or should be). 

Jesus the “Tweenie.”  It was the Passover, and they all went to Jerusalem to celebrate it. 

 It was a time of joy for the people of God, but they were under the occupation and oppression of Rome’s empire.  The meaning of Moses’ confrontation of Pharaoh, the plagues and the Exodus would maybe mean something different in a time of oppressive occupation.  They were exiled in their own land under a new “pharaoh.”  The fruits of their labor did not go for their families but to continue to build the empire under which they suffered.  The cruelty of those who believed themselves superior was felt in every aspect of life.

 And this pre-teen Jesus went to the Temple.  He went unnoticed as they sojourned back to their own place under occupation.  They noticed when they stopped after a day of walking.  They could not find their son.  They returned to Jerusalem.  After three days of searching for the missing Jesus (note this), they found Jesus in the Temple, asking the teachers questions.  The four questions of the Passover Seder did not cover His concerns.  But it was not like the children asking in the Seder.  They were amazed at His ANSWERS.  Jesus was teaching them.  They marveled at His level of understanding.

 This was Jesus’ sweet spot.  This was His wheelhouse.  Already He is recognized for embodying the Law of God.  He knew exactly where He was and what He was supposed to be about.  This was His confirmation.  Maybe for Him, maybe for the Temple leadership or for His parents, but He was now standing in His own faith before the leaders of the Temple, declaring what He believed.

 And this precocious pre-teen sassed His mother in His declaration of where He belonged.  Mom played the guilt card, but Jesus in matter-of-fact fashion preaches His purpose and calling to His parents.  He went back with them and was obedient to them, seemingly waiting and growing in “wisdom and in divine and human favor.” 

 On the first day in my 7^th Grade homeroom was when I told my class that I would grow up to be a pastor.  I did not know exactly what that meant, but that is what came out of my mouth when our homeroom teacher asked us all what we would like to do with our lives.  I was in church often.  It was my sanctuary from the chaos, anxiety and cruelty of an oppressive home occupied by an abuser.  It felt safe.  It felt like a place where I could collect thoughts shaped by what I heard there in the preaching and teaching of the Gospel.  I was at the church building multiple times a week for classes and activities, but also sometimes just to sit in the dark, still sanctuary and ask my questions, and wrestle with the answers.  I was determined to live differently and to be different.

 In times when our lives are occupied by forces beyond our control, when we are oppressed and abused, turning to God is very natural.  Finding the serenity in moments of wisdom and understanding, Grace and Truth can save our lives for a time.  Gathering with other people facing their own occupations and oppressions can help us feel that we belong, are understood and can stand for another day or week.  Where else would we be?  We have a Loving and Gracious heavenly Father, whose steadfast love and mercy endure forever.  Also, we worship the God of deliverance from oppression.

 I often think about that time with pre-teen Jesus in the Temple and wonder if the discussion may have centered on God’s deliverance of them from empire, just as God had done generations before with God’s people in Egypt.  How could an occupied and oppressed people, exiled in their own land, not think that as they celebrated the Passover together?  My thoughts quickly go to those who are suffering under the oppressive occupation of empire in our own land, here and now.  Those who are systemically, intentionally and cruelly held down, back and out for generations may be able to identify with Jesus here, and with a people who turn to God for deliverance.  Knowing that God sides with the oppressed throughout history, perhaps there is some hope, some solace and determination to be found in pondering God’s presence with us in steadfast love.

 And when others may ask them why they turn to this God, who has seemingly allowed them to be put in this plight for hundreds of years, perhaps they will answer “Do you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

 Whatever your occupied and oppressed life may look like, please know to whom you belong.  God’s steadfast loving mercy endures forever.  God delivers, using others who have been oppressed and who have been called to stand up to and speak truth to power and lead God’s people to their freedom.  Perhaps God will use you, too for that purpose in the lives of those around you.

 

Pastor Jamie

 

 

Word made Flesh

 

 John 1:1-18 is the text for Christmas I on Sunday, December 26.

    Into every lectionary year, a little John must fall.  This is, without a doubt, my favorite passage in John’s Gospel.  It ties it all together in a nice package with beautiful words.  This is what it is all about.   God.  Jesus is God.  He is God from the beginning.  He is the Word of Creation, the Word of Power and the Word of Life.

   Until He was in the flesh, the world did not know Him as God, even His own people.  John was sent to prepare the way for God’s light to shine in the darkness of the world of corruption, occupation and oppression.  Something inside us is stirred to believe in Him and His Way.  It gives us determination and hope.  Those who are born to believe in this Way of God are spiritually born and live spiritual lives.

   The Word, creative, powerful and life-giving became flesh.  God is incarnate.  God has reached into these lives of hopelessness and sent the Word made Flesh to live among us, identify with us and deliver us from our oppression, physical, political, economic and spiritual. 

   His glory is not in wealth or power, but in Grace and Truth.  The fullness He has come to share with us means Grace upon Grace for us.  The Law of Moses was God’s first covenant to bring us together with God and one another.  In Jesus we have a new covenant built on Grace and Truth.  It is upon this that our lives with God will be restored and upon this that our lives of Shalom will be built. 

   Make no mistake.  This is God.  It is of God.  Jesus, the Word made Flesh has dwelt among us to reveal to us the Will of God in our lives, here and now. 

   And for all who believe, this Good News of God with Us means a different way of life in the new covenant.  It means living the Good News of Jesus – living Jesus’ Way in the world.  We are to be the Flesh Made Word as followers of Jesus, in that we live Kingdom-minded and work to bring agaph and karis to bear in a world that has lived in darkness and needs this light of God.  We are to be Jesus’ hands and feet, Jesus’ Word of creation and power and life in a world that has destroyed the creation, abused power and threatened the lives of countless of God’s children.  We have the opportunity to be the children of God here and now and lift up the lives of others of God’s children here and now.

   Messiah has come.  It means the transformation of the world from one of death, destruction and despair to a world of Love and Grace and the Shalom that comes from living those values of the Kingdom in the world.

   This is what Jesus is all about.  This is now what we are to be about – the work of building Shalom community, full of Grace and Truth, full of Life and Love, full of Shalom, here and now.

Pastor Jamie

 

 

Messiah arrives

 

Luke 2:1-20 is the lectionary text for 12/25/21, Christmas.

A census to count the people, originated by the oppressive occupiers, was instituted.  It meant that everyone had to return to their hometown to be counted.  For the poor, travel is always difficult.  The cost of it is prohibitive.  It is always less expensive to stay in one’s daily routine of survival.  But it was the Law.

 They went, and this betrothed couple had a child.  It is always a scandal that a couple would have a child outside of marriage.  Judgments and stigmas are assigned and attached.  It takes away from the joy and expectation, as does the concern over another mouth to feed, and fears of whether or not this child will have a better life and, indeed, live to see a long life.

 For generations, the poor have been born in their poor surroundings.  No beautiful gowns, no lovely and plush bassinettes, no colorful nursery for this child.  It was cold, dirty and dark.  He was wrapped in strips of cloth.  Hardly the place for the birth of a King, especially the King of Kings and Son of God.

 But wasn’t it?  Wasn’t this where God would be?  Is this not by design, that God would send the Son, in the flesh, born in blood and sweat and tears, a conceived scandal, and in poverty and uncertainty?  That is where God’s people were for two generations at this time of Empire’s occupation and oppression.  Isn’t this where and how God would send Messiah to bring deliverance and hope?

 It was to the night shift of laborer shepherds that the glory of God was shown and heard, while Mary pondered these things in her heart.

 God reached into this part of the Kingdom to deliver it from its oppression and death.  Of course, the Son of God, Messiah, would come to identify with the common people of God and not with Kings and Priests and Emperors.  Of course, scandal would be a part of this.  It is scandalous to think that God would bother to reach into these occupied and oppressed lives to deliver them from those with power and wealth.  Of course, the Son of Man would come in poverty to give hope to the poor, powerlessly to give hope to the powerless and glory for those whose lives were anything but glorious.

 This was their hope.  God was WITH THEM, and on their side.  God came to identify with “the least” in society because of God’s great love for humanity.  God came to deliver those who were victims of oppression from their oppressors.  God came to set God’s people free, again.  This was Good News in a bad news world, liberation from occupation and oppression and deliverance from the hopelessness and despair of life under empire.

 Come, Lord Jesus.  Again.  Come, Lord Jesus.        Pastor Jamie

It has been announced...

 

The Lectionary text for next Sunday, December 19, Advent IV is Luke 1:39-55.

   Mary had been given the announcement.  She was being lifted up by God to do this wondrous thing.  Her life was not her own before this event, and now it would certainly not be her own but for very different reasons.  And she went to see her cousin who was also with child.  Elizabeth’s son leapt within her when he heard Mary’s voice.  John’s destiny lay before him, and he was a “go, getter.”

   John’s whole life was in preparation of Jesus.  The annunciation for his birth came first to Zechariah, revealing that the spirit of Elijah would be in him.  He was born first, served in his ministry first, was arrested first and died first.  His whole life was in preparation for Jesus, and his purpose to be Elijah in ushering in the Messiah.

   Mary magnified the Lord with wonderful images of how God would bring down the proud and powerful, lift up the lowly, feed those who were hungry and send the rich away empty.  This God would do in order to help God’s people, Israel, according to God’s promise of old.  She was one of the people who suffered under empire.  She knew first-hand the emotional strife, lack of well-being, fear and struggle to survive under a people who took everything for themselves and left God’s people with little on which to live.   Mary’s hope was the hope of the people, and she was filled with hope.

   The people who walked in darkness are about to have a spotlight put on their situation.  On those who have been sitting in deep darkness, the glorious light of justice and liberation was about to shine.

   God was using the lowly to do incredible things in the world.  Those young women who had very little means and no power in their society were being lifted up to birth liberation, the salvation of their people.  God did not send Messiah from the clouds, or place him in the palace.  God sends Messiah, the Son of God, to a lowly, poor couple who are among the many lowly and poor people of God, downtrodden and abused by empire.  God sent the Son in scandal to an engaged couple, to restore justice and bring Shalom to God’s people.

   There are millions of young maidens who are powerless and penniless in the world.  Their plight is the plight of women for centuries, being held down, back and out by patriarchal society and by the forces of empire that devalue them.  But God sees their value.  God reaches into their lives to help them see their value in the Kingdom and among God’s people.  Wise people see it too.  Their considerable worth needs to be celebrated by the world again.  Under empire, that will not happen.  In the living of the Good News, it must.

   The Kingdom does not measure strength as does empire.  Strength in the Kingdom is the power within a person to bring about change for good in the world around them by remaining hopeful and vigilant in the living of agaph in the world.  The Kingdom does not measure purity in the same way that empire does.  It is not about pure bloodlines, lineages of power and wealth, life without scandal or other outward considerations.  Kingdom purity is about one’s heart, intentions and motives regarding the lives of those around them.  The Kingdom does not mark righteousness in the same way that empire does.  It is not about appearances of being upright, having status above others in the religious community or ostentatious shows of ritual purity.  Kingdom righteousness is about faithfulness to what God in Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us on how to live His agaph and caris in the world around us, with God’s children.

   In the Kingdom, young, powerless and penniless maidens have strength, purity and faithfulness to God.  They are not ruled by the norms of greed, lust for power over others and desire for status above others.  They can live with joy instead of fear, love instead of apathy or hatred and hope instead of despair because they know that the Kingdom of God values them, though empire does not.  In the Kingdom, the young black and brown women of the world who have been held down, back and out all of their lives have value.  In the Kingdom, they are recognized and valued for their strength and purity and faithfulness.

   Thy Kingdom come, O Lord, Thy Will be done on earth as in heaven.  We have sat in the darkness of empire long enough.  Come, long expected Jesus.  Set your people free.  Empire has had its reign in many iterations for many generations.  Let your reign begin on earth.  Now.  Please.

   Live the agaph and caris of Jesus in the world.  Do that in the face of empire’s values, resist empire’s ways and live faithful to what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us, as we have that in the Gospels.  The world around you will be transformed – the world in which YOU must live.  The is the Advent of Jesus’ coming to us.  As John’s whole life was preparation for His ushering in Jesus’ coming and salvation, so has your whole life been preparation for Jesus’ coming to you and us now, for the liberation of God’s children from the destruction and despair of empire and the hopeful expectation of lives in Shalom, which is the Kingdom of God.

Prepare His way in the world in which you live.

Pastor Jamie

Turn, turn, turn

 Luke 3:7-18 (through 20 for me) is the lectionary text for Advent III on Sunday, December 12.

Good News is relative.  Here it is good for those who have been occupied and oppressed for a couple of generations.  It is good for those whose lives have been controlled, whose livelihoods have been taken, whose people have been beaten down and exploited and whose own leaders have abused them.  It is not Good News for those who have benefitted from systemic tyranny and exploitation, those at the very top and those in the midst who have engaged in the ruthless behaviors of division and devastation for others.  The Good News here is that God will turn things around, and that all the people had better get with the program of turning from a system and ideology of exploitation and abuse to one of mutual support, equality and equity.

John did not mince words when he spoke to the people.  He accused the crowds that came to be baptized of being "vipers" who perceived God doing something, as ones who came to try and justify their participation in empire and its evil.  He demanded repentance - producing fruits of it - ACTION in turning around in thinking and direction.  He told them that their heritage of walking with God and their ancestry in that walk meant nothing if they did not act correctly.  He threatened them with God's wrath - the wrath they came to have baptized/ritualized away.

So, the crowds asked for direction in their repentance, and John gave them specifics.  Those of you who have lived under the evils of empire, and who still have more than you need must share with those who have nothing.  The devastation that empire creates in the lives of the masses under it has destroyed them, and those who have weathered it better must make sure that the basic needs of those who have been left with nothing are met.  Business folk who benefitted from a ruthless system of taking are to stop gouging people for more profit for themselves, at the expense of others.  Enough profit is enough.  It is a time to change the predatory and consumptive business practices that keep people down, back and out.  Those who use their positions to corruptly make money off the backs of the people must stop doing so.  Those with power over others must stop abusing their power over others.  Believing that one's position or power (or both) entitles him/her/them to exploit others through that position or power is not consistent with the Kingdom of God.  Jesus, Emmanuel, is coming.  It is time to turn around.

John was forceful.  The authority with which he spoke startled them.  Some thought he was the one sent to turn things around, but he pointed out that he was only Elijah, and that the one who was coming had more power and authority, and that His baptism is not just for ritual repentance, but a purifying of our spirits by the Holy Spirit.  Again, he threatened those who would not turn from their thinking and wrong directions in life.

I love that this is GOOD NEWS.  It IS Good News for anyone waiting on the Lord to save them from oppression.  It is Good News for all those who have been told that they are "less than" by others claiming to be "better than."  It is Good News for all those who are powerless and abused by those in power.  It is Good News for families who struggle just to survive because others have milked a system created to hold them down, back and out so that the ruthless can take more for themselves and their families.  It is still Good News for them.

And the reaction was predictable and swift.  John got locked up for talk of God's Kingdom Come and God's Will being done.  He got locked up for saying that God's Way is different from Empire, and that it will change the world.  Like the prophets of old and like our modern prophets, he had to be silenced in order that the status quo might be maintained for all who benefitted from it.  

But we still have this GOOD NEWS, even in the midst of this iteration of empire, under which many in our nation and in the world struggle while a few enjoy their power, prestige and opulent wealth.  In this Advent season, we will either see that God wants this repentance in ushering Emmanuel into our lives and embrace it, or we will see that as something to be avoided and treat this as one more quaint religious story and holiday.

For you, this Advent, which will it be?

Pastor Jamie  

prepare the way

 Luke 3:1-6 is the Lectionary text for next Sunday, December 5, the Second Sunday in Advent.

The Emperor, the Governor, the vassal King and the High Priests are all named.  It speaks to the political climate.  It speaks to the state of things for the people of God, who had to live under the oppressive occupation of empire and the corrupt and immoral participation in it by their own leaders.  It was into this environment that Messiah would come, ushered in by Elijah (in the form of John, son of Zechariah, a priest), as prophesied (Isaiah 40:3-5).  

And the message that he took to the whole region around the Jordan river?  Repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  

metanoia: to turn around, change one's mind - to change one's thinking, and therefore one's direction.

This environment was not what God wanted.  The people of God were suffering under the ruthless and violent reign of Ceasar.  They were beaten down by the economic realities of empire that takes all resources for the sake of the few elites at the top and the armies that keep them there.  They were demoralized by the length of time during which they "sat in deep darkness."  Things had to change, but before they could change, people needed to see the wisdom of the change, and have a value for a different way - God's way.

When the prevailing values in any culture are centered on Greed, lust for Power over others and desire for Status above others, divisions develop as hatred and desperation become the way of those who are being held down.  When people are pitted against one another for whatever scraps they can take for their own survival, everyone else becomes the enemy, and not just those at the top who have created the unsustainable environment.  People turn on each other because they do not have the power to take on those who hold power over them.  They look for vulnerable and weak folk to oppress, because they are oppressed and live in a climate of oppression, and it is, they believe, their only hope for survival.  Politicians, religious leaders and finance workers do whatever they can to keep their positions, power and relative wealth compared to average citizens, and to get more.  Average citizens position themselves to get whatever advantages they can get over their neighbors, out of the desperation created by their lack of power and means, and they become as ruthless as those at the top who created this system of economic, political and social oppression.

Does any of this sound familiar to you?

Social, political and economic systems under empire are designed to keep the few over the many in power, prestige and prosperity.  Society's leaders exploit that and everyone they can under it, to get all they can, which creates environments of violence, corruption and hopelessness.

We are there.  We have a political system that is designed to keep the status quo of empire.  Even the most "caring" of politicians benefit from and promote the two-party, centrist system that does not make waves and benefits a few more in our society, but does not champion the equal value of or equitable treatment for all people.  Those who are most corrupt have "justified" their ideologies around greed, lust for power and desire for status so that huge percentages of the people believe that they can benefit from the immoral systems, though they never will.  They are vying for scraps and exploiting, abusing others around them to get them, believing themselves to be entitled to it by virtue of their race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.  They become as predatory as those who are at the top, but their methods are most often much more violent than systemic in nature.

The courts, the legislators, the police, the military, healthcare, education, economics, taxation, theologies and other institutions and social norms are designed to keep the systems of oppression going and normative in the minds of citizens who live under them.  As long as some can be duped into believing that they can have their convoluted and twisted sense of well-being maintained under the system, the system will be seen as normal and even "the best thing going in the world."  Rather than see the evil of the systems themselves, people under them continue to fight one another about the evils of some who are just better at practicing the normative practices within those systems to get more for themselves.

Yes, this describes Israel then, and America now.

THIS ADVENT, we have the same old texts about something new coming at God's hands.  And still, those who promote the systems that promulgate empire ignore the truth that God calls for a different way, sent Messiah to give us the Good News of a different way - Jesus' Way of Agape Love and Grace in the world, which addresses the abuses of power, wealth and status - indeed, counters it.  Those in politics, economics and religion would have us believe that this story is the story of a one time, quaint coming of God in the world to uphold the systems while placating the masses with a nice, warm message of "God is with us."  

The message of Luke is NOT the message of Status Quo.  It is NOT the message of a God who is pleased with how things are going.  In fact, even in order to grasp what Jesus is about to share as Kingdom of God values for God's people to live, John comes and says we must change our thinking so that our direction will follow - SO THAT WE CAN BE FORGIVEN for creating, participating in and promoting these evil systems of corruption!  This Good News has EVERYTHING to do with politics, economics and social norms.  It has EVERYTHING to do with morality.  It is meant to change minds and hearts, and directions so that people live in alignment with God's Kingdom values - a value for Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of the other - even stranger and enemy and especially the most vulnerable - see Luke 10:25-37) and Grace (undeserved loving mercy) for ALL people, equally.  Jesus commands it.  

So, can we change our thinking and direction from normative greed, lust for power over others and desire for status above others to active commitment on behalf of ALL others around us?  Will we?

The message of Advent is STILL speaking to us.

Jesus is STILL coming to us, His Good News still before us, to bring about this transformation in the world.

STILL, sustainable life hangs in the balance.

The only question is - will we accept and live it as the people of God?

Pastor Jamie

The Advent of...

 Luke 21:25-36 is the lectionary text for next Sunday, November 28 - Advent I.

In the lectionary text of two weeks ago, it would seem that Jesus was dissuading His disciples from looking for signs.  In this text, Jesus acknowledges the signs of the end.

The signs will include distress in the world - among the nations and in the creation itself.

Jesus warns His followers to guard their hearts against being weighed down with moral slides, anesthetizing ourselves against the stresses of the world and obsessing over the conditions of the world around us.  That will keep us from being aware and alert to what is actually happening, and keep us from addressing the conditions of the world with the Good News of Jesus.

We must keep our heads in the work of radical, Agape Love.

We must keep our hearts engaged in life with God and Neighbor.

We must keep our feet and hands engaged in the work of lifting up and building up the lives of our sisters and brothers in need.

We must keep our spirits focused on God's Will through Jesus' Way, God's presence, power and love.

We SEEM to be in the Advent of world collapse.  We SEEM to be in the Advent of extreme hateful violence and injustice on our streets, in the halls of government, in the courts and in business and all economics.  We SEEM to be in the Advent of natural disasters beyond what we can manage, the migration of desperate peoples beyond what we can manage, the right-wing assaults on democracy and decency beyond what we can manage, and the violent chaos that will ensue because of those realities.  

It would be very easy to join the fray of those destroying the world, in order to get a little more for ourselves.  It would be very easy to self-medicate our way into oblivion rather than watch these things happen.  It would be very easy to get obsessed with all of this and ourselves turn into hateful, violent reactionaries to those who have continued to promote this evil.

It will be faithful for us to Be Alert and Aware of what the truth is in all of this, and to engage in the work of Agape Love in the world, to transform the world by transforming individual lives and communities within it.  It will be faithful for us to be determined to follow Jesus by living what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us in the Good News of Agape Love, and address the injustices by speaking truth to power and exhibiting an alternative based on that Agape Love.  It will be faithful for us to show a better way - Jesus' Way, for the world and everyone in it.

Then, when Jesus comes back, we will have been engaged in the work of the Gospel.  Whatever happens between now and then, we will have been engaged in the living of Agape Love and Grace in the world.  Then, however things evolve, we will stay engaged in making life better for God's creation and God's children, in alignment with God's Kingdom values.  Then, we will "stand before the Son of Man."

Let this not just be the Advent of world collapse.  It is the Advent of Emmanuel!  It is the Advent of God's Will being done on earth as it is in heaven!  It is the Advent of Jesus' return!  Let this also be the Advent of the fulfillment of the movement of Agape Love that Jesus started in faithfulness to God.  Let this be the Advent of YOUR transformation, the transformation of the church that bears Jesus' name, the Advent of transformation for whole communities and the Advent of the transformation of the world by the living of Agape Love and Grace by the followers of Jesus.

What do the signs tell you?  I believe they are telling me that IT IS TIME.

Pastor Jamie

to testify to the truth

 John 18:33-37 is the lectionary text for Sunday, November 21 - Christ The King Sunday.

The truth was that Jesus' Kingdom* and His presence represented a threat to those who had the power in that time and place, in empire, in society and in the religious community*.  Jesus' presence, authority and teachings flew in the face of the empire values of greed, lust for power and desire for status that drove those living under empire, even those in tentative positions of power under them.  Herod, the Sanhedrin* and most of the people had resolved to their plight under empire, and within that occupation and oppression sought to get whatever it is that they could, some just to survive and others, those in position, to thrive.

Jesus' Good News of the Kingdom of God provided a different vision based on Kingdom values.  It was centered on the living of Agape Love for God and Neighbor, and defined neighbor as stranger, enemy and the most vulnerable - those most held down, back and out by empire.  This radical Agape Love, Grace and Mercy presented by Jesus as God's Will flew in the face of the empire values that Rome, the Throne of Israel and Temple Cult Leaders* had embraced and manipulated to gain more at the expense of the people of God.  It was a growing certainty that Jesus would have to go, because more and more folk heard His message, saw His examples of it at work and could not have that disrupt their systems designed to get them more power, wealth and status.

Pilate was caught in the middle, but he represented empire.  Empire had the absolute power to occupy, oppress, imprison and execute whoever they wanted for whatever reasons they wanted.  He had to uphold that power.  The Sanhedrin and Herod found a way to exploit empire to serve their purposes of ridding themselves of a Jesus who exposed them as the frauds that they were in that time, based on the Word - here the Logos made flesh.  Jesus was the real deal.  Every time Jesus spoke and acted, it uncovered the inconsistencies that their duplicitous and disingenuous values and practices had set up as truth.  Jesus' truth was God's truth, and it exposed their falsehoods.

So, Pilate's truth, The Sanhedrin's truth, Herod's truth were exposed as being incongruous with God's Will.  Jesus' inconvenient truth threatened to open the eyes, hearts and minds of the rest of the people, which would put their positions, wealth and prestige in jeopardy.  Jesus had to go.

Jesus' Kingdom, a movement of people following a servant-King, did not reflect in any way the world's views of Kingdom.  Empire was built on the many serving the few, the destruction of many lives to benefit the few and the absolute power of the few "elites" over the common masses.  This King came to sacrifice for His subjects, to teach them a better way for their sake and to deliver them from exploitation and destructive systems of oppression.  This King taught the use of power for the sake of all, the sharing of resources with all and the equal value of all.  Those with power, wealth and status could not have that become the world's new norm.  Jesus had to go.  

But Jesus' Kingdom is not limited to time and place.  Just as empire has had its many iterations over the centuries, so the movement of Jesus has addressed it since the First Century CE.  "The Kingdom of God is within/among you."  "The Kingdom of God has come near to you."  "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."

In our iteration of empire, the church of Jesus Christ can and must regain the teaching and embrace of Jesus' Good News values based on Agape Love, Grace and Mercy.  We can continue, as an institution, to gain what can be gained for the institution under empire, or we can align ourselves with Jesus' Good News and address empire with Jesus' truth - God's Will, and be a part of Jesus' movement of radical love, be the Shalom Community and transform the world of empire to life in the Kingdom of God.  

Jesus testified to the truth and said, "Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

Are you listening?

Are WE listening?

Pastor Jamie

* Sanhedrin, religious leaders, Temple Cult Leaders are references to corrupt leaders of that time and place, and do not reflect any kind of polemic against a whole people for all time.  Empire corrupts, and those subject to it are easily corrupted, at least for a time.

*Kingdom is biblical language for REIGN OF GOD.  It is purposefully used here because of the truly opposite orientation of God's realm from what empire has done under the same term, thus pointing out the threat that Jesus posed by being called "King."

I would also submit that anti-Roman polemic is more vastly a polemic against empire in the Gospels, as all empires represent occupation, corruption and oppression for the peoples who are subjected to them.

Externals

 Mark 13:1-8 is the lectionary text for Sunday, November 14.

I had one - an edifice complex.  I was all caught up in the beauty and grandeur of church buildings, and am still most at home in a city skyline.  There is something amazing about them.  But they are not eternal, nor are they that about which the eternal is concerned.

"The end is near" has been written about and talked about since Jesus.  People look to the environmental disasters, horrible state of affairs in politics and economics, seeming moral decay and violence on our streets and across the world as a sign of the end.  This is not that about which the eternal wishes us to be concerned.

Here and Now.  What is going on within, between and among us.  How we are living with one another in Agape Love and Grace, Loving-Mercy.  THAT is the thing.  THAT is eternal and what is valued within the eternal.

The end will come.  Temples tumble, as do empires.  I pray for the end of empire everyday.  It cannot come too soon.  And some days I pray for Jesus' return more earnestly than others, as well.  The end will come.  Whether it is because of our own arrogant ignorance and hatefulness or by some cosmic act of God, it will come.

It should not effect how we live and on what we focus here and now.  To be faithful to God as followers of Jesus is to focus on living the Agape Love and Grace that Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us.  If we do that, then we will not destroy the planet ourselves and we will welcome the coming back of our Lord.  Temples fall, as do empires.  Natural and human-created disasters will happen around the world.  Corruption, exploitation, oppression, abuse and their consequences will take place.  There is also much GOOD going on.  There are also those who have not lost sight of continuing the mission of the Good News of Jesus in the midst of all these things.  There is also still faith in God's love and grace for us.  There is also the mission of Jesus - that we transform the world by living His Agape Love and Grace in it.  THAT is the thing.  

Getting caught up in the externals keeps us from focusing on what is within, between and among us - Agape Love and Grace, and it keeps us from working to put those things out in the world around us so that it might be transformed to be in alignment with Jesus' Kingdom values, which is faithfulness to God.  It is ALL about living that Agape Love and Grace, Loving Mercy until Jesus returns.

Don't get caught up in the signs, the prophecies and dystopian (or utopian) visions.  Don't be heaven-minded so that you ignore the plight of sisters and brothers in front of you.  Don't be fearful about or bitter about the end coming.  See the Good in here and now.  Be faithful to Jesus' Way here and now.  BE the good in here and now.   It IS enough.  That IS faithfulness.

Pastor Jamie

sincerity

 Mark 12:38-44 is the Lectionary Gospel text for Sunday, November 7.

The scribes had given it all over to empire.  They looked the part they were playing (hee-po-cree-teis).  They had the status they sought, seats of honor in front of everyone.  They loved life under empire.  They also lived the ruthless greed of empire, in stealing widows' houses, exploiting and destroying the lives of the most vulnerable for their own gain, even while saying long, fancy, elaborate, well-fashioned prayers to God.   Jesus warned people IN THE TEMPLE of them, even after acknowledging that ONE of them "got" the message of His Good News.

Then Mark's author pivots to the teaching and example of faithfulness in this passage.

It comes in the form of one of the poor widow who was probably defrauded of all that she had by the scribes under empire.  Jesus watched the crowd that came to do what was demanded of them by the twisting of the Law of Moses perpetrated on the people by the religious leaders of that time.  The rich came and put in large sums, no doubt so that everyone could see how generous they were with the money they had stolen from them.   They were seeking status for their giving of stolen wealth.  And, like in our culture, economic system and time, they got it.

Then came the poor widow with very little.  She gave a pittance, but it was ALL that she had.  Unscrupulous religious leaders or not, she was making a sincere offering to God as commanded.  A victim of their twisting of God's Word and unjust dealings with God's children in full view, still she gave her sincere gift to God.  It was tragic.  Just as it is tragic today when the scribes of our time in Thousand-Dollar Suits and shoes, driving Bentleys and living in mansions, dupe thousands of children of God into giving under false pretenses of being blessed monetarily in their desperate plight, she was being used for the gain of the unscrupulous religious leaders of her time.  And just like so many today, she gave out of a sincere, though perhaps misguided, heart.  The wealthy give, as they did then, to gain status and perhaps more wealth under the same false promises of the false teachers.  This woman gave, perhaps out of desperation, but also perhaps from a sincere obligation to God, regardless of what was being done with her offering, trusting in the act of giving to God from a sincere heart.

Jesus assigned the greater condemnation to those who twisted the Word of God and lived their duplicitous and predatory lives and schemes.  Jesus recognized the poor widow for giving all that she had in sincerity of heart to God.

Three people in my ministry, all from the same parish in Cleveland, exemplified this kind of faithful giving.  

One, a woman on public assistance, who joined the church and was eventually elected to the church council, only to be pushed out later by members who thought she was beneath them, gave a half bag of corn meal in what our youth group called a "pantry raid" to collect food for our emergency food bank.  It was all she had to give, and she gave it.  She had a heart for the neighbors who were struggling and often gave from her own, meager means to help them out.  She was, in truth, beneath no one.

The other was a woman of limited cognitive abilities and very limited monetary resources, who weekly made a homemade get well card and took the bus to all members of the church in the hospital to talk and pray with them.  She accidentally put her name on a stewardship survey that the Synod required of us, and her income as a pittance, but she gave 10% faithfully AND incurred the expense of her travels and materials to do her "unofficial" ministry.  I will never forget her.  She gave me $5 in a homemade Easter card one year.  When I asked the church council to make her an Emeritus Deacon for her ministry over the years, they refused because she was never "duly elected" by the congregation (and never would have been because of her limitations).  She was a giant in the faith and the living of Agape Love as commanded by Jesus.

The third person who exhibited this kind of sincere faithfulness to God was also on public assistance and never heard an end of it.  She was a single mom with physical disabilities involving arthritis.  She volunteered as an unofficial secretary for the two-point parish, so that when I was available at one church building, she was available at the other.  She answered phones, helped put the bulletin together and provided a hand-drawn picture for the children to color, based on the Gospel lesson each week.  She also helped organize and carry out a successful Vacation Bible School program every summer with almost 100 children, and provided the crafts for the two week program, guiding teen volunteers.  Yet, when I recognized her for her many ways of helping the parish, members did not hesitate to point out her "questionable life choices and habits," even to her.  She was a faithful follower of Jesus.

Regardless of a church leadership (and membership) that ignored their plight and specifically refused to recognize the gifts of these women, they offered their gifts and themselves to their God in sincere and faithful service, even at times, benefitting those who refused to recognize them, and who championed a system that exploited them and held them down, back and out.  But Jesus knew.

Jesus knows.  Jesus recognizes.

Pastor Jamie

the end of the argument

 Mark 12:28-34 is the lectionary text for next Sunday, October 31.

They had been arguing over minute issues regarding the Law.  One of the Scribes asked about which is the FIRST commandment. 

Jesus answered with the SHEMA... Jesus quoted both Deuteronomy 6 AND Leviticus 19.  It is all about LOVE... love for God and love for Neighbor.

We are commanded to love God with all we have: heart, soul, mind and strength, according to Jesus.

We are commanded to love Neighbor as self, according to Jesus.

Nothing is greater than that.  The Scribe agreed.  Jesus (kind of) complimented and affirmed him.

THIS IS IT!

We can spend the rest of our lives working on this, applying it to life, relationships and our place in the world.  If we love God with all our heart, soul, MIND and strength, we will strive to please God above all, and not walk away from God.  We will feel that love, walk consistently with God, critically DISCERN the truth of the Kingdom and use all the strength we have to live that love ACTIVELY in our lives.

We can spend the rest of our lives working on this, applying it to life, relationships and our place in the world.  If we love Neighbor as Self, we will no more want harm or lack to come to our Neighbor, who Jesus (Luke 10) defines as stranger, enemy and especially the most vulnerable among us.  The word is agapao in Greek, which means to ACTIVELY COMMIT on their behalf.  It is not about feelings, those we give to God.  This is about obedience to God's Will for us in the world, this part of God's Kingdom, here and now.  

Want to be faithful to God?  Love God with all your have and love (treat) your neighbor as you love (treat) yourself.  

There it is.  Period.  Don't complicate things.

Does it help or hurt neighbor (stranger, enemy, most vulnerable)?

Therefore, is it pleasing or displeasing, faithful or unfaithful to God?

That ends the argument.

Pastor Jamie

who is the greatest?

 Mark 10:35-45 is the Gospel text for next Sunday, October 17.

James and John want to be important, to be recognized as great - to have status above the others, and presumably power over them.

Jesus asked them if they were able to drink the cup He must drink.  Having no idea, they said, "Absolutely."  Jesus informed them that they would drink the cup He drank, but that the seating arrangement was not up to Him, but rather to God.

The ten were indignant.  Why didn't they think of it first?  They were a product of worldly values, having lived under empire for much of their lives.  Status was that upon which Roman society was built.  Power and wealth came with it and, to some degree, helped create it.  Status was critical to them, but not in the Kingdom.

Jesus used gentile leaders as an example of how NOT to be.  Power and status are different in the Kingdom.  To be GREAT is to be the one who serves the most humbly.  To have POWER is not to have it over others, but that in the sharing of power ALL may have Shalom (completeness, wholeness, well-being) and therefore peace.

Jesus used Himself as an example, because He gave up His GREATNESS to be born in lowly, human form and live this life.  He gave up His POWER in dying for others, and thus giving the most powerful gift of all.  

It turns upside down the worldly, empire notion of first and last.

Throughout the Gospels Jesus takes on the corrupt, evil values of empire.

So, who among us is the greatest?

Pastor Jamie

who can be saved?

 Mark 10:17-31 is the lectionary Gospel text for Sunday, October 10.

So this man comes up to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life.  Was it a sincere question out of concern, or was it fishing for a statement of divine blessing?

Jesus referred to the Commandments of old, which this man claimed he kept all his life.  He had checked off the list, met the legalistic and literal criteria, had satisfied quid pro quo.

Jesus then looked at him with LOVE and told him the TRUTH.  He had to demonstrate AGAPE LOVE in committed action on behalf of the poor, thus giving away his wealth, in order to gain eternal life.  It is not about quid pro quo, checklists or legalistic criteria.  It is about living LOVING relationships with others out of our Love for God.

He was SHOCKED.  He had been led to believe that his wealth was a sign of God's blessing a favor, a sure sign that he would be accepted into the Kingdom.  His prosperity was not such a sign?  He went away grieving, probably for a great deal in his life!  He had been falsely taught about what God wanted of him.  He grew to love his wealth and the idea that it meant that God was onboard with him having it.  He could not just abandon his wealth and the beliefs that made him feel so good about himself, especially for the sake of nameless, undeserving poor folk.  He was SHOCKED and saddened.  He went away grieving, because as much as he wanted eternal life, he could not give up his addiction to wealth and the power and status that came with it.  He was grieving a loss that he could have prevented.  It was truly tragic.

Then Jesus told his disciples that it is HARD for the wealthy to enter the Kingdom - harder than for a ROPE (kamilos) to go through the eye of a needle!  Near impossible!  And they were perplexed as well by that.  Weren't wealth, status and power signs of God's blessings?  If those who claim to be blessed by God cannot be saved, then who can be saved?

We do not decide that.  We have no clue to that.  More accurately, we ignore the clues to that.  In Matthew's Gospel there is a huge clue regarding the criteria for salvation in 25:31-46.  Here, in this text is a huge clue as to who will inherit the Kingdom of God in eternal life.  Spoiler alert - no mention of praise, tithes, quoting scripture, tongues or having wealth.  It is about Loving Neighbor as Self (Agape - active commitment/committed action on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy and especially the most vulnerable) out of our Love for God.

God decides who is saved, not the rich, powerful and famous.  Another spoiler alert - it doesn't look to good for them, that is, if you believe JESUS.

Pastor Jamie

Jesus - the original family guy

 Mark 10:2-16 is the Gospel lectionary text for Sunday, October 3.

Jesus addressed divorce.  For the record, Jesus said NOTHING about homosexuality or abortion, or practically ANYTHING that have become hot-button issues today for those who profess to follow Jesus, but who use HIS Gospel to divide, take control over others and gain the appearance of faithfulness for themselves while not living the LOVE that Jesus DID COMMAND.

Jesus was tested by the religious leaders, as always.  It was a trap.  They wanted to catch the "libtard" in some awkward sound byte to discredit Him.  Jesus instead schooled them on the intention of God's Law through Moses, and its context because of THEIR hardness of heart.  Jesus gave the Law context and thus discredited the hypocrites.  It seems to me that "libtards" may need to learn that lesson from Jesus for our interactions today.  We must reclaim the Gospel from those who have been twisting and weaponizing it for over 41 years.

Yes, for their hardness of heart, God did allow for divorce - a certificate to be drawn up by the men against their wives.  They were looking for reasons to ditch wives who did not do everything they wanted - to abandon their wives so they could run off with someone else.  Sound familiar?  There are sub-cultures among corporate executives who do this very thing and have been for years - "trading her in on a younger/newer model," like a car.  The trouble is, it left these women without means because of other rules designed to hold them down, back and out in their society.

So, Jesus clarified - if there is infidelity, then divorce may be justified for the man, but God created us male and female (note there is no hierarchy of importance attached to this statement by Jesus), and put us together as ONE flesh.  Would a man rip off his arms because he saw some bigger guns on someone else?  No.  You work with what you have been given.  Women were vulnerable - among the most vulnerable in that society, and under empire.  Jesus provided protection for the most vulnerable against those who would exploit them and throw them away in the society - men. 

And children - Jesus was blessing them.  They are always the most vulnerable.  They have no means of their own and are subject to whatever great or horrible things their parents or guardians dish out.  They have no status in a society based on merit, because they have not earned any yet.  They are of great value in the Kingdom because of their loving, trusting innocence.  The world victimizes them.  Our nation victimizes them.  Christian folk who claim to be "pro-life" victimize them once they are born.  They are the most vulnerable among us, yet it is to them that the Kingdom belongs.  And if we do not learn from them the receptivity to accept the Kingdom of God in trust and love, we will not enter it, according to Jesus.

Not much has changed in the world since Jesus walked among us.  Empire values still corrupt, especially in our nation.  Women and children are still exploited, abused and thrown away.  And the Gospel of Jesus still addresses the inequities and injustices to the most vulnerable, and counters that with Agape Love and Grace.

Jesus values women and children.  Do you?  Do we?

Pastor Jamie

us and them

Mark 9:38-50 is the lectionary Gospel text for next Sunday, September 26.

They wanted to create a division - us vs. them.  Someone was doing something good in Jesus' name but was not among THEIR group, not "one of us."  Jesus shut that down.  Here, unlike in another context of those who are assumed to be "of among us," Jesus said, "Whoever is not against is for us." If they are living the Agape Love of the Kingdom, they are with the program.

Then, Jesus talked about not being a stumbling block to the young.  Do not pollute their minds and hearts with your biases and prejudices.  Let them remain innocent of such contrived differences that make you feel superior to or entitled above someone else.  Do not put your hatreds in their hearts and minds and do not give them an example of judging others, with your unfaithful rationalizations and justifications.  Believe in Jesus and Jesus' Way.  The Kingdom is beyond "you and yours."  Jesus' Way includes, lifts up and loves all.  Teach them that.

In fact, whatever it is within you that causes you to think that way, get rid of it.  It is causing you to sin.  Separate yourself from it, even though you may be VERY attached to it, and even if you believe that it is something you need to survive in the world.  It is better to go through life without it, even hindered in the eyes of the world, of empire, than to lose the real life God provides in Jesus - life in the Kingdom.  Get rid of those things that would keep you from the Kingdom of God in Jesus and Jesus' Way.

Because you will be purified - NOT in the way that the world teaches, or the fundamentalists - the purity you will find is one in motive and in Agape Love - the purity of assuming trust and living a guileless existence, even a purposefully healing existence with those in the world around you.  Lifting others up, advocating for them, working on their behalf, being their power and voice, standing with them and transforming the world in which they live to be more just, equitable and loving.  THAT is the purity taught, commanded and modeled by Jesus.  THAT is Jesus' Way.

There is no us vs. them.  WE are children of God, ALL of us.  Are we going to see that and teach our children that and LIVE our responsibility to one another as sisters and brothers, or are we going to continue to live the insidiously evil values of empire that divide, delude and destroy others?  Will we follow Jesus or empire?  What will it be?

Pastor Jamie 

humility in The Way

 Mark 9:30-37 is the lectionary text for Sunday, September 19

Jesus again told them what it meant for Him to be Messiah - self sacrifice for the good of all.  They were not interested enough in that to ask what it meant.

Instead, they argued about who was the greatest.  Number One.  Champion over the other disciples.  Jesus had a teaching moment, and used it.

It is in empire that status above others is valued.  The Roman iteration of empire thrived on it, was built on it.  Somebody had to feel like they were better than, above, higher than someone else.  Pride, hubris and arrogance drive this kind of thinking - that is empire.

Jesus told them that the greatest in the Kingdom, in His Way, is the one who makes themselves last with regard to the well-being of others.  The first is the last, the last first in Jesus' Kingdom.  Humbling oneself to serve a child.  Caring for "the least", the most vulnerable who most need our care, is the GREATEST thing one can do as a follower of Jesus.

You can recite scripture until you are blue in the face, use it to hurt others, worship without missing a Sunday, tithe, praise Jesus, "save souls" and live the purest, holiest life of anyone around you.  What will make you GREAT in the eyes of Jesus, is how you care for the most vulnerable among us while humbling yourself so as not to get credit for it.

Empire AIN'T the Kingdom of God.  Its values are not God's values as we have been taught, commanded and modeled by Jesus.  Agape Love means lifting others up in humility, and gaining nothing for self while doing it.  

THAT is faithfulness to Jesus.

Pastor Jamie

ashamed

 Mark 8:27-38 is the lectionary text for Sunday, September 12.

Peter confirmed that Jesus is Messiah, but could not get with the idea of redemption and Grace.  Peter could not think in Kingdom terms.  He could only see the human values of long life.

Similarly, Jesus pointed out that to be His follower means leaving the typical worldly values of a self-serving orientation.  It is not about indulging, edifying, glorifying, promoting, serving or even saving self.  It is about losing self for His sake and the sake of the Good News in the world.  For followers of Jesus, it is not about what we get, even heaven, but about losing a life of worldly values and saving a life in Kingdom values now and in heaven.  If we focus on preserving our own lives rather than giving them in service to our Lord and our Lord's children, we will lose life with Him, now and later.  It is Jesus' rebuke of the tempter.   It is Jesus' rebuke of empire values.  It is Jesus' rebuke of those who would claim to follow Him, but who will not go to the Cross with Him.

Prosperity Theology, Church Growth Theology, Personal Salvation Theology, Self-Righteousness through personal purity and holiness Theology are all contrary to the Gospel of Jesus that does not talk about US saving souls, but rather the Holy Spirit doing so.  They are contrary to the Gospel of Jesus that does not talk about even saving ourselves, but in giving ourselves for the sake of others, even following His example, even to the Cross.

It is about sacrifice and finding a new life in the love of others - a life of living Agape Love that is a life worth saving, rather than holding onto worldly (empire) values and walking away sadly from our desire to inherit the Kingdom.

If we are ashamed of the Good News of Jesus because it runs contrary to the American way of life, American Civil Religion, laissez-faire Capitalism and the false, bad theologies that promote them, then Jesus is ashamed of us when He returns.

A pretty clear message, I think.

Deny self, lose the life you have been pursuing according to empire values, and again a life faithful to God - a life centered in the living of Agape Love and Grace.  Do it without shame, unabashedly proud to counter, resist and challenge empire at every turn because the Way of Jesus is a better, more sustainable way for all humanity.  That will save a lot of lives, a lot of souls, even perhaps the soul of our nation.  If not, then... 

Pastor Jamie

even the dogs

 Mark 7:24-37 is the Gospel text for Sunday, September 5.

A gentile, unclean.  A woman, never one of power and not one with whom a Rabbi should be talking.  The marginalized and disenfranchised came to Jesus.  Jesus at first put her in her place, acknowledged the social mores of the time.  Then He shattered them.  She "talked back."  She persisted.  She stood up to Jesus and debated Him, the Rabbi.  She also recognized who Jesus was - a powerful man who could help her daughter.  It worked this time.

Our social mores, religious practices and pieties hurt people.  We set up these precepts of humans as a reflection of our own bigotries, ideologies and false beliefs of superiority.  Jesus knocked them down with His words and actions.  After two thousand years, should not those who claim to follow Jesus also knock down the divisive, derisive, discriminatory and destructive expressions of empire?  Should we who claim Jesus' name not be tearing down political and economic systems and social practices that marginalize and disenfranchise some for the gain of others who are just like us?

Should women not have equal pay for doing the same jobs?  Should they not be represented equally in the government of, by and for the people?  Should they not be able to make their own decisions about their moralities, particularly concerning their own bodies?  Should those of different ethnicities, faiths and sexual orientations not have equality and equitable treatment in our society?  

Should we not be tearing down the systems that promote the greed, lust for power over others, desire for status above others and normalized hatred as a people who claim Jesus?  Yes.  But do we?  No.  We reflect empire, rather than address it with the Gospel.  In fact, we twist the Gospel to suit our empire values.  It is idolatry.  For people who claim devotion to a Lord who reached out to the marginalized and disenfranchised, and who addressed the corruptions of empire in politics and religion, it is at the very least hypocrisy.  

And the demons win because the church in America that claims to be of Jesus, walks away from those whose lives are being destroyed by the powers and principalities that occupy them.  They win because the church in America has become the church of idolatry, hypocrisy and evil forces.  It has become the promoter of empire and its evils in ideology and practice.  Oh, there are some who give lip service to Jesus, but there hearts are far from Him.  There are others who do live loving, generous and faithful lives, but they are often silent about the evils of the systems that hold down, back and out their sisters and brothers.  There are others who do speak, write and demonstrate, but they are marginalized for doing so by the public AND the church (i.e. Cornell West, William Barber, Jim Wallis, Michael Eric Dyson, Dr. Jacqui Lewis, Jacqueline Grant, Traci C. West, Yvette Flunder, David Eng, etc.).  The church is afraid to "lose members," if it makes a stand for those who are marginalized and disenfranchised among us.

But Jesus.  Jesus reached out to powerless, gentile, female dogs.  Jesus did not dismiss their cries or their attitudes, their begging or their debate.  Jesus saw the need and practiced the Agape Love that He preached, according to Mark's Gospel.  He healed the people in the Greek ten cities region that were influenced and occupied by Rome.  He built bridges and not walls.  He tore down barriers.  He touched lives and changed them.  And His followers did the same in the First Century, until empire subjugated the movement into an institution to serve her.  

And Jesus' followers today?  We have seen where the institution of church has gone in ideology and practice.  The movement of followers of Jesus is something else, within and beyond the institution.  Of which are you a part?

The Gospel of Jesus is relevant in resistance to empire and its values.  It is rendered irrelevant in compliance with it.  In that context, it is just one more tool used to hold God's children down, back and out.

So the question is, will the followers of Jesus be relevant or irrelevant in the Kingdom, here and now?

Pastor Jamie

"Precepts as Doctrines"

 I choose not to shorten the text as does the Lectionary.  The Gospel lectionary text for next Sunday is Mark 7:1-23.  I am not afraid to offend with the truth of Jesus here.  If you are offended, you may leave as did those from last week's lectionary.  Thanks.

Thank GOD we are back in Mark!

The corrupt religious cult leaders accused Jesus and His disciples of uncleanness.  They just loved to weaponize the Word for their own purposes - to judge others out of hatred, to exercise control over their lives in order to gain more money from their sacrifices in the Temple, to give the appearance of being authorities by their abuses of power, and to appear to be upright to gain status over others.  These are, of course, BOGUS claims.  Their unfaithfulness to God's Word is the stuff of Gospel corrections and admonishments, as we have in this text.

Jesus, quoting Isaiah 29, accused them of giving lip service to God but their real devotion and obedience to other gods, including themselves.  They used their own, twisted precepts to get what they wanted, as do we.  Prosperity Theology, Purity/Holiness Self-Righteousness theologies, Personal Salvation theologies, Church growth theologies with Blessed and Highly Favored theologies serve self as god, rather than Jesus.

As Jesus graphically pointed out (perhaps why the lectionary folk were offended), regulating purity and holiness, false pieties produce SHIT just like anything else.

Instead, we need to find our faithfulness in following Jesus' Law of Agape Love in Grace.  We need to purify our motives and live guileless, agape loving, self-sacrificing, humble and generous lives, instead of the self-serving lives that the false teachers and prophets promote in the church.  It was true then, and is still true.

We right now see the mess that the falsehoods of laissez-faire Capitalism have brought us to, and we can see, if we will, how the church in America with Jesus' name on it has promoted these falsehoods as well.  Peoples' hearts and minds have been polluted with the twisting of the Gospel of Jesus in this nation and across the world, thanks to the American Desolating Sacrilege which began long ago.

Outward pieties mean NOTHING to God.

Do you want to show your love and respect for God?  Do you want to be right with God?  Respect God's Word by living Jesus' Gospel Way in the world.  Strive to live Agape Love (active commitment on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy, and especially the most vulnerable among us) in Grace (undeserved loving mercy, given freely).  Jesus COMMANDED it.

Then, the world may be saved, from sin and ultimate death, and so may you and I be saved.

Pastor Jamie

Coming or Going?

 John 6:56-69 is our lectionary Gospel text for Sunday, August 22.

Jesus had His best day and worst day on the same day.  He raised an army of 5,000+ and fed them, but then He talked to them until they were offended and many or most left.  His 12 and some others only remained with Him.  Jesus turned to Peter and said, "What?  You're still here?"  And Peter made His confession that only Jesus had the words of eternal life.

Thousands left because He told them the truth.  (Read that again, pastors.)

But then, as the disciples, turned Apostles lived what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled as Kingdom of God values, thousands were touched and moved and gathered to live in Jesus' Way.  The First Century community, movement of followers of Jesus changed their world and ours.

This message of Jesus came under empire's corruptions among the religious leaders and in the religious institution.  It was a new iteration of an old song.

In our iteration of empire, the desolating sacrilege was not Rome's entrance into the Temple cult, but Reagan/Falwell getting together to twist the Word of God to fit empire values - the ideals and values for greed, lust for power over others and desire for status above others which is still empire.  Jesus' Way did not fit in with their ideals or pieties and did not get them what they truly treasured, so they changed it.  They gave lip service to Jesus while giving their devotion to empire.  It was/IS their golden calf - their Ba'al gods' promise of providing what the people want.  They had "itching ears" to hear what they wanted and gladly are "blown about by every wind of doctrine" that will serve their desires.  Laissez-faire Capitalism, Military/Police might, Fame, False Superiority and Bigotry are their gods.  Holding the many down, back and out for the sake of the few "elites" is still the goal of empire, and the divisions, hatreds, violence, depravation and destruction of God's children and God's creation are the biproducts. 

So, many are offended with Jesus. or just continue to give Him lip service while giving their devotions to Ba'al/empire.  Tony Campolo once said, "Sometimes for the church of Jesus to thrive, the right people must come, and sometimes the right people must go."  Would that the purveyors of empire would just leave and take the name "Christian" off their twisted cult beliefs, ideologies, words and actions.  Then, the followers of Jesus could transform the world.

But many hear us calling ourselves "Christians" and associate us with what they are doing.  Instead of "People of the Way of Jesus," we are lumped in with them, in their perspectives.

It is time to distinguish ourselves from the empirical, American civil religion, right wing institution that claims Jesus name, and live what Jesus taught, commanded and modeled for us, as we have witness in the Gospels, on how to live the Kingdom values of Agape Love and Grace in the world.  Then lives will be transformed, communities, the church and the planet.

Pastor Jamie

taking Jesus in

 John 6:51-59 is the lectionary Gospel text for Sunday, August 15.

Jesus fed the 5,000 and they continued to follow Him.  He preached to them, and as often happens with preachers, the more He talked, the further in trouble He got.  Jesus always seemed to take it that one step further than they were ready to go.  Ain't that just the way.

Jesus claims to be the Bread of Life, offered for the salvation of the world.  Then, Jesus says that they must eat Him.  No, it was not a derogatory comment.  They would have to take Him in to themselves, receive Him, the gift of His flesh, the Passover Lamb, the body and blood of redemption, atonement for salvation.  They were offended by it.  It wasn't kosher.  Their pieties and embedded theologies could not allow them to accept this from the Rabbi.  Jesus "upped the ante" and said, "Whoever eats me will live because of me."

Take me within you.  Take in my gift of atonement in redemption.  Take in my Way of walking with God in Agape Love and Grace.  Take in my beliefs, my principles, my Kingdom values and my Way of walking in faithfulness.  Take it all in.  Be ALL IN.

But they would not allow it for themselves and tried to deny it to others.  Their greed, lust for power over others and desire for status above others were threatened by Jesus' Way.  They were empire, and Kingdom values do not allow for empire's values.

It is the same today.

Oh, folks are drinking the kool-aide, taking the poisoned pill of hatred and false superiority to justify their greed, lust for power over others and desire for status above others.  They have swallowed that just fine - hook, line and sinker.  They have chosen the cults of personality, false teachings and ideologies that believe will get them all that they want.  They have had "itching ears" to hear these false doctrines and have adopted them, and have "blown with every wind of doctrine" that has fed their egos, pockets and halls of injustice.  They have been very willing to take in everything that the social media, ideological networks and false teachers and liars have served them in the form of conspiracies, myths and ideologies that divide people and destroy others' lives.  It has become who they are and it seen in what they say and do.

What we take in becomes us.  What we value, we take in.  "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."  Junk in, junk out.  It is reflected in our words and actions.  "By their fruits you will know them."

What will we take in?  What will BECOME US?  What will become OF us?

Will it be the beliefs and ways of empire, or of the Kingdom?

Jesus often said, as we have witness in the Gospels, "The Kingdom has come near to you."

Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God is within/among you."

So, what will we take in?  What will we become?

Will it be the greed, hatreds, lust for power and desire for status of empire, or the Agape Love and Grace of the Kingdom?

Will our embedded theologies and ideologies of the last forty years, and our pieties allow the Kingdom of God in Jesus into our hearts and minds?

Will we take Jesus in?

Pastor Jamie

Resistance

 John 6:35, 41-51 is our lectionary text for the Sunday coming up.

Jesus declares I AM... He is God... I am Who I am... here, the Bread of Life... that which sustains life.  The corrupt religious leaders of that time and place resisted that declaration and all that it/He stood for.  The question is begged - Will you resist empire or Kingdom?

Jesus commanded us to FOLLOW Him.  He also said that all who believe in Him/His Way of living with God in this part of God's Kingdom, here and now, would have eternal life.  He punctuated this by claiming again, I AM.

Jesus pointed out that the ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness that God provided, but they eventually died.  THIS BREAD sustains beyond just this part of God's Kingdom, here and now, to the other part - to life for eternity with God in love, joy and peace.  This is the LIVING BREAD, that which God gives in Jesus - His flesh.

Clearly, if you have stayed awake for any or all Gospel readings, you have heard that God wants us to have enough here and now, with justice and peace.  It is for the living of a quality of life for all people in this part of the Kingdom that Jesus teaches, commands and models the Good News of Agape Love and Grace.  It is also, incidentally, about life for eternity in heaven.

God's guidance in the Good News of Jesus is all about living Agape Love and Grace, here and now.  God's Grace in Jesus is all about salvation, here and now, AND for eternity in heaven.

It is given for ALL people.  We either believe that and resist empire, or we don't believe it and resist the Kingdom of God and Jesus' Way of Agape Love and Grace - we resist God.

The one who believes has eternal life.

Do you believe it?

Pastor Jamie

Don't get it twisted...

 John 6:24-35 is the lectionary Gospel text for Sunday, August 1.

The crowd followed from "Tiberias", a town named in honor of the Roman emperor.  It is still about Rome here, folks.  It is still about being under the occupation and oppression of empire.

The people said, "Give us this bread."

Jesus knew what they were asking.  They wanted the trinkets of Kingdom, just as they were killing themselves for and settling for the crumbs and trinkets of empire.  They would settle for barley loaves if they could get them.  They were conditioned to believe that empire was inevitable, that it was the best system going, and that it was not the system that was the problem, but rather they, themselves, somehow.  They believed that they did not have what it took to be "on top", and therefore were on the bottom.  They got the whole thing twisted.

Jesus brought Kingdom values that lifted up all, equally.  Empire created wealth for the few elites, at the expense of the many.  The Kingdom values everyone having enough and being satisfied with enough.  Empire promoted the abuses of power over others that allowed a few to control the many and exploit them. The Kingdom values each person being empowered to live their lives, make their decisions and control their own destinies because of equitable opportunities in life.  Empire lifted up status above others as a way of life, so that some felt superior to others and justified in their abuses and exploitations of them.  The Kingdom values humility, shared value for one another, equality in value and value for community over individuals.

Some in the crowd were "Wannabe's."  Though they would never be among the elites, they bought into the empire system and wanted to be on top within it.  They were true believers in this world view, and got whatever they could get under it, even at the expense of others around them.

Some in the crowd were demoralized.  They felt powerless over the system under which they lived, and powerless to change it.  They were held down, back and out so long that they believed it could never be changed, so they did nothing to change it.

Some in the crowd were simply angry.  They would take shots at whoever crossed them, whether isolated Roman soldiers in dark alleys or other citizens who irritated them.  They were striking out in futility, out of shear anger and frustration.  They were the ones who would have made Jesus a military king.

Some in the crowd would get it.  There IS a better way.  Jesus' Way of Kingdom here and now is a better, more sustainable life for us, and for everyone in the world.  They would organize, follow and work to resist the empire values that brought oppression to so many.  They would work to ease the suffering of those under it and to offer a different, better way - Jesus' Way for living in the world together.  They were the ones through whom the First Century world was changed for a time, until empire subjugated the movement and institutionalized it under empire, toward its own ends.

It is about the bread, but it is about much, much more.  It is about the UNITY, GENEROSITY, AGAPE LOVE and GRACE that sustains life and brings transformation.  It is about destroying a system that is hateful, greedy, abusive and inequitable through Agape Love and Grace, to be in alignment with God's Kingdom and its values.

"This is the work of God - believe in the one whom God has sent." - Jesus

So, when they demanded of Jesus, "Give us this bread."

His answer was - "You have it."  "I AM the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

Jesus' Way sustains us in the wilderness of empire.  Agape Love and Grace are the ONLY sustainable way for the world.

The "food of the world" perishes.  The crumbs from the table of the elites, the trinkets given to placate the victims, the trickled down drops from the bounty above, the false power over a few others to control and abuse them, the false status above others that justifies our hatreds out of fear - these just promote an unjust, ungodly system that hurts God's children, our sisters and brothers.

Jesus' Way of Agape Love and Grace sustains.  It delivers us from sin and death, here and now in THIS PART OF GOD'S KINGDOM.  It kills a system that devastates and destroys lives.  THAT is the Bread of Life that sustains us, if we will only come to believe in it, commit to it, apply it and live it.

Under the occupying and oppressive evils of empire, don't get it twisted - there is only ONE Bread of Life - Jesus' Way of Agape Love and Grace.

Pastor Jamie