"Close to Home: Homesick" a sermon on Luke 21:25-36

Luke 21:25-36

“Close to Home: Homesick”
Preached Sunday, November 28, 2021

Have you ever been homesick?

As a child I went to camp every summer, would spend nights at friend's house’s and grandma’s. I did so with excitement and was fairly independent for a kid, always excited to go and have an adventure. So I never expected homesickness to hit me... until it did.

I experienced tremendous homesickness during my two study abroad experiences. In the summer before my senior year of high school I spent 6 weeks in Sapporo, Japan and then, in college, I spent a semester, 4 months, in Kyoto, Japan.

That homesickness I felt in high school almost kept me from going back again - I didn't want to feel that again. I hated the feeling of homesickness so much, that I truly debated giving up this once in a lifetime experience to not have to feel that again. But after much prayer and deliberation, I decided to go forward with it and went back to Japan again. Now, I do have to say, to this day I am so so glad I did. The experience was formative, insightful, and, in retrospect, a lot of fun. AND, it wasn't long before the homesickness settled back in - honestly, it probably settled in while I was still on the plane and I had a panic attack as we were flying over the Artic. Only this time it was worse - I was living alone instead of with a host family and that definitely exacerbated it. And on top of that I had been dating this amazing man for 8 months when I left and I thought he could be you know, The One and I didn't want to lose him - spoiler alert: that man was my now-husband Zach so that all worked out... but in general, the homesickness came and it stayed - for four months. Until my feet were back on American soil and I was in my own home with my loved ones.

While homesickness may be something of the heart and mind, it's also something of the body. Doctors say that homesickness can affect sleep, cause fatigue, make it harder to concentrate, create a lack of appetite, stomach problems, headaches...homesickness can even be a trigger for hormonal imbalances and depression. Homesickness is a sickness that affects the whole body, heart, soul, and mind.

The best way that I can explain homesickness is - if you know that home is where the heart is, then it's the constant knowledge that your heart is not where you are. And what that constant knowledge does to your body and mental state.

When I think about my brief stints w/ homesickness - cause really, what are a couple months in the span of a lifetime? But when I think about my own brief stints, my heart breaks for those who homesickness has become a part of their regular lives - immigrants and refugees, those who serve abroad - military or otherwise, and those who have homes they can never go back to - war, destruction, exile, or even a family who doesn't love and accept them as God made them to be.

Homesickness is an almost universal feeling- WebMD estimates that 50-70% of adults have experienced homesickness at some point in their lives. How many here have ever experienced homesickness? Show of hands?

Now let's put a pin in this idea of homesickness and we'll come back round to it.

Before that, first - today is the first Sunday of Advent and we're starting a new sermon and worship series called "Close to Home."

“When something hits close to home, it affects us deeply. During the Advent and Christmas season, we journey through scriptures and rituals that are tender, heavy with emotion, and vulnerable. We carry the memories and truths of this season close to our hearts. The Close to Home theme acknowledges the “already but not yet” tension of our faith: Emmanuel is with us, and yet, God’s promised day—our everlasting home—is not fully realized. It names our deep longing for God to come close to us.” ( A Sanctified Art)

And so as we explore this theme together, every Sunday we will be talking about the theme of Home - starting today, with homesickness.

So now I want to go back to this idea of homesickness and ask - are we, as a society, as Christians, even, as a congregation, are we collectively homesick? For another world? Another place? Something of the past or something not yet?

The holidays can stir feelings of homesickness. For homes we can never return to. For homes we wanted but never had. Homesick for those missing from our tables and gatherings - for a multitude of reasons: distance, death, this blasted pandemic - Are we homesick for a pre-pandemic world? Desperate for things to go back to the way they were - and even sometimes in denial of the signs that they aren't and might never go back the that pre-Covid world.

I know that I miss many of your faces - I can relate to Paul who in his letter to the Thessalonians writes, "night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face." To be clear, this is not a shaming moment for those who have not, “returned” to the sanctuary. My own family is not back to church yet. We don't feel Covid levels are safe for our unvaccinated daughter to be in a crowd this size yet. I know many families and individuals have similar concerns. I also love and celebrate our live streaming ministry and its, well, convenience! All I am saying is, and hear this in the earnestness in which it’s offered, I miss you. There is always room for you here - in this church home.

Maybe we're homesick for a time gone - nostalgic for another time that we look back on and remember it as easier, safer- whether it actually was or not.

And as Christians, we are actually meant to experience homesickness - to be homesick for our true home: God's Kingdom. For we are not meant to be citizens of this world, but citizens of God's Kingdom. We are always meant to have our hearts turned not to things of this world but toward Christ's Reign of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.

In today's Gospel Lesson from Luke, Jesus is painting a picture of that day when he shall return to establish his reign in a New Heaven and a new Earth:

“"There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.
People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in a cloud' with power and great glory.
Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

And then Jesus says to them - look at the Fig Trees.

And as a former camp counselor, I had a little “aha” moment

See, I have experience not just of being homesick, but as a camp counselor, walking campers through their homesickness. At Camp Asbury, we never wanted to send campers home due to homesickness if we could help it. Working through homesickness is much more rewarding and helps you learn so much about yourself than turning in the towel and going home - I have found this to be true both in a camp setting and in my own personal life.

So when you have a camper with homesickness what do you do?

You give them hope. You give them something to look forward to. We didn't share the whole day or week schedule with all campers all the time because we wanted them to be present in the moment. But when there was a homesick camper, I would take them aside and give them space to cry, to share their feelings, to process away from the rest of the group and then I'd pull out the daily schedule and say, let's pick something coming up today or tomorrow that we can look forward to, that will keep us moving, that will fill us with anticipatory excitement - and see, look! We have art 3 more times this week and before you know it it's the closing picnic and you're going home. And almost every time, honestly, every time - I can’t think of a time when it didn’t work - at the end of the week, the camper was so glad they saw it through.

So Jesus says to his disciples - “Look to the Fig trees" - they sprout leaves and you know that the summer is near. So too, you will see signs of the Kingdom of God and you will know it is near.

How do we know God's Kingdom is near? We live in this Already But Not Yet time - that God has already come to earth to be with us, Emmanuel, in the form of Jesus. God has already defeated death...Already...but the not yet part is that God has not yet returned to establish his reign on Earth, to create a new Heaven and a new earth, to share the resurrection with us all.

Already but not yet - another way to say it would be close to home... and not quite home yet.

So we look for those signs that God’s Kingdom is near.

Christmas is a sign. That first Christmas and every year since. The prophet Jeremiah points to that first Christmas as a sign of hope when he says,

“The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David; and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. And this is the name by which it will be called: "The LORD is our righteousness."

And every Christmas since - wherever there is hope, peace, joy, love in this world whenever we see glimpses of God in this world - those are signs that God’s Kingdom is near.

Jesus tells us that “heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." In this homesick world, Jesus invites us to make him our home. To turn to him and have hope - to look for the signs. Signs that God's Kingdom is near. And it is near! But we know it can feel far away in our homesick world.

And so, today, with the candle of hope burning, let's look forward to God’s Kingdom, let’s look for the signs, and turn our minds toward our everlasting home in Jesus.

Amen.

"What Day Is It?" A sermon on Mark 12:1-8

Mark 13:1-8
“What Day Is It?”
Preached Sunday, November 14, 2021 

The end of Daylight Savings Time has caused some minor chaos and an above average consumption of caffeine in the LeBrun household over the last week. As our child has been working through a nap transition AND a time change, well, we’ve seen 4AM multiple days over this past week. Is it really an hour more sunlight in the morning when you’ve been up for several hours before the sun rises?

A time change with a lack of sleep has been leading us to ask, over and over again, “What time is it???” And, if I’m being honest, on several occasions even, “What DAY is it!?”

Did anyone else seem to lose track of all sense of time this past week?

This sense of confusion as to time was compounded by a devotional I led at Admin Council on...what day was it??? Just kidding, it was totally Tuesday. For those who have not served on the Administrative Council while I’ve been pastor here, I start every meeting with a short spiritual devotional. I decided to do something themed for Christ the King Sunday as it was or, well, IS the next high holy day on the church calendar. So on Tuesday night we listened to the words to the Charles Wesley hymn, “Rejoice, The Lord is King” in the style of lectio divina, that is, listening closely to how God could be speaking to you through the word. You read it once to take in the meaning. Twice for a word or phrase that jumps out at you, snags your attention, calls to you. And a third time to focus on that word or phrase to see what God could be saying to you through it. This is a great tool or technique for reading Scripture prayerfully. So we did that with the hymn, “Rejoice, The Lord is King.” If you didn’t know the hymn before, we sang it as our opening hymn this morning.

As we were going around the table at Admin Council and sharing, several people shared how the words brought them great comfort in these anxious times that we live in, especially the word’s in the first line of the third stanza: "His Kingdom cannot fail.” That these words brought comfort in the midst of all that is happening in the world - that no matter what goes on in our world, what upset, what tragedy, what confusion or terror - GOD’S Kingdom cannot fail. And in that moment, as I listened to my parishioners, you, talk, my sermon just clicked in my head and I got so excited! Yes! Those words from the hymn paired so well with this week's difficult Gospel Lesson. I knew what I was going to preach! Yes, I was going to take this Gospel Lesson, known as Mark’s Little Apocalypse and pair it with this line from the hymn and the theme of Christ being King.

What clicked for me was this simple but also deeply true, powerful and comforting thought: That while all things in this earth may fail, fall down, crumble, institutions and empires - God's Kingdom CAN NOT FAIL. Cannot fail!

That while there may be wars and rumors of wars and earthquakes and truly a million little apocalypses where it feels like our worlds are ending, God's Kingdom CANNOT FAIL! So where should we place our trust, our hope?

In a Kingdom where Jesus is King! In a Kingdom where Jesus reigns! In a Kingdom where Jesus reigns, as the hymn says, with truth and love! And oh the sweet sweet promise that Jesus gives us - that he came to usher in this Kingdom, that his Kingdom is near - this gives us reason to rejoice! Not to succumb to the anxiety, fears, and turmoils of this world and this worldly kingdom - but to rejoice in glorious hope that God’s Kingdom is near!

Now - let’s put a pin in this. We’ll come back to it. But first - back to that moment of realization of what I should preach in the Administrative Council meeting. My excitement didn’t last long when I realized I had made a mistake about what day it was - or what day this Sunday, today, would be. My issue was the pairing of this hymn with this Scripture worked so nicely in my head because I thought this Sunday, today, was Christ the King Sunday. Christ the King Sunday, also known as The Reign of Christ Sunday, is the last Sunday in the liturgical year, the Christian calendar, and it is meant to be a holy day reminding us that Christ is indeed in charge.

And here’s the thing - today is NOT Christ the King Sunday -that's NEXT Sunday and the hymn was recommended for NEXT week where the Scripture is Pilate asking Jesus if he is a King. Okay, deep sigh and I went back to the sermon drawing board to try and find another way the Spirit would speak to me through the text, another sermon idea to flesh out and preach... and, STILL, I couldn't shake these two thought:

One - first thought: Is Christ not King every Sunday - every DAY?

And two - second thought - well, the worship team and I decided to leave the white paraments up...Since technically last Sunday was white and this Sunday green and next Sunday white but that was a lot of work so we were just gonna leave the white up for three Sundays...

So yes, I decided that, this Sunday, today, regardless whether this day is a specific liturgical day or not, I will proclaim that Christ is King. Christ is king in the sanctuary and in worship. Christ is King when buildings and institutions and kingdoms come crashing down. Christ is King in natural disasters and war, in rumors of war, in times of unease and distress. Christ is King in world ending or world altering events, Christ is King, yesterday, today, and tomorrow too. Christ IS King.

And, in essence, that is what Jesus is conveying to his disciples in Mark’s Gospel Lesson today.

We often interpret this passage to be about THE end, THE apocalypse, but the language here is not necessarily THE END but "a" end.

In Greek, Eschaton would be THE end where Christ returns in final victory and establishes a new heaven and a New Earth. And here in this passage we have Jesus using a different word. Jesus uses the word telos for end, *A* end, the end to the way things currently are.

How often do "the way things are'' change or “the world as we know it” end in our lives? I’d say more often and more rapidly than we’d prefer or like to think. War, a natural disaster, buildings and lives crumbling - when these things happen, the world as we know it ends. It changes. And we can never go back to how it was before.

In my lifetime I can think of multiple examples of this, in just my short 30 years.

9/11 - never going back to the way things were before.
The subsequent wars and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan - never going back to the way things were before.
Covid - March 2020. Never going back to the way things were before.

In some your lifetimes,

JFK being assassinated - never going back to way things were before
The moon landing - never going back to way things were before
The civil rights area and the assisination of MLK - never going back to way things were before
The Vietnam War - never going back to the way things were before
The Cold War - never going back to the way things were before

Even those things that pushed us forward like the moon landing and the civil rights era - once those things happened, the world was irrevocably changed. Like the Temple that Jesus was saying would fall down and crumble. While the temple was standing in Jesus’s lifetime, when the Gospel of Mark was written, that temple was no longer standing. And for the Jewish people whose lives were centered around that temple - that was a world ending, world changing event. They could never go back to how it was before.

Jesus references these world changing events as birth pangs - and, well, literal birth pangs are another thing that, once they start, your world will never be the same.

Every ending of the world as we know it is a chance for something more - more peaceful, more just, more loving, more like God's Kingdom. Now, do we always get that right? No, sometimes we do exactly what Jesus warns his disciples against - we are led astray. We are led astray by people telling us that we have to pick sides, we have to fight, we get caught up in the war, we go to war - trying to trust the nations and kingdoms and ways of this world that fight and rise up against each other... and eventually ALL will fail and fall. We do this instead of focusing on the Kingdom that will be there after every ending, the Kingdom that Jesus showed us, the Kingdom that Jesus invites us to build - God's Kingdom of truth and love, a Kingdom where Jesus reigns from his eternal throne, a Kingdom that cannot fail.

And so today, whatever day it is, and every day, let us put our trust in Christ, a king whose Kingdom cannot fail - rejoice in that glorious hope.

Amen.

An Order of Worship For Christ the King Sunday including A Festival of Scripture & Song for the End of The Christian Year

Welcome & Announcements

Call to Worship (Psalm 93)

L: Let us join in praising God using the 93rd Psalm.
All: He is exalted, the King is exalted on high; I will praise him.

L: The Lord reigns and is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed and is girded with strength.
P: The Lord has established the world;
it shall never be moved.
L: Your throne has been established from of old;
you are from everlasting!
P: The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
the floods have lifted up their voice,
the floods lift up their roaring.
L: Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
mightier than the waves of the sea,
the Lord on high is mighty!
P: Your decrees are very sure;
holiness befits your house,
O Lord, for evermore.

L: This has been the Word of the Lord. Let us worship in Word and song.
All: He is the Lord, forever his truth shall reign, heaven and earth rejoice in his holy name. He is exalted, the King is exalted on high. Amen.

Opening Hymn: Christ the King
Crown Him with Many Crowns, vs. 1 & 3, UMH 327

Children’s Moment & Teaching of the Christian Year

A Festival of Scripture & Song for the End of The Christian Year

Introduction: Christ Is King
Revelation 1 tells us: “To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Today is the last day of Christian year. Much like, in the secular year, it is a chance to pause and reflect, to take stock of what has been and what is to be. It is a chance to turn the past year over to Jesus and to ask him to guide us through the next. It is a chance to praise the one who is Alpha and Omega, who is and who was and who is to come.

It is a chance to remember that Christ reigns in every season of our lives. And a chance to remember the journey we walk alongside Christ in the Christian year. And that is what we will be doing today, through song and Scripture we will journey through the Christian year together, praising the one who is Alpha and Omega, King in every season.

We begin in the new year with Advent.

Advent: Isaiah 11:6-9 & “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus” UMH 196
Christ is King in the season of Advent. Although our world is at its darkest, we look toward the one who is Light. We prepare ourselves not only for the festival of Christmas, but for the day when Christ shall come again and establish his Reign of Peace and Love here on Earth. In Advent we cry out with all of Creation to the One who is King: Come, Lord Jesus, Come!

Isaiah 11:6-9:

The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

This ends the reading. Let us sing.

Christmas: Isaiah 9:6-7 & “What Child Is This,” vs. 1-2, UMH 219
Christ is King in the season of Christmas. God took on flesh in the form of a helpless babe, born in Bethlehem. In the manner of his incarnation and birth, God showed us what kind of King he is: a King who knows us intimately, a humble and lowly King, a King who came to serve, to walk among us, to be Emmanuel, God with us. It is this child King, Love Incarnate, God who took on Flesh that we hear about through the Prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 9:6-7:
For a child has been born for us,

a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onward and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

This ends the reading. Let us sing.

Epiphany & The Season Thereafter: Matthew 2:1-2 & “We Three King,” vs. 1 & 5, UMH 254
Christ is King in Epiphany and the season thereafter. On Epiphany we recount how the Magi followed the star the place Jesus was and laid gifts before him. Moreover, the story of Epiphany and the trials with Herod show us that Christ being King is not like the Kings of this world. His ways are not their ways. Kings of this world rule with fear, violence, and political manipulation. Christ rules with peace, truth, and love. On Epiphany and the season after, we are reminded through the life of Christ to follow not the kings of this world but, along with the magi, the one who is the true King.

Matthew 2:1-2

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

This ends the reading. Let us sing.

Lent: Luke 23:33-43 & “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded,” vs. 1, UMH 286

Christ is King in the season of Lent. After his baptism, Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, undergoing temptations, and preparing himself his earthly ministry. In the season of Lent we too practice fasting and sacrifice, walking the journey of discipleship to the cross. It is in this season that we remember how Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to shouts of Hosanna that would soon turn into shouts of “Crucify Him!” We remember how the only crown that Jesus wore on earth was a crown of thorn, a king mocked and derided, but a king nonetheless.

Luke 23:33-43

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

This ends the reading. Let us sing.

Easter: John 20:11-18 & “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” vs. 1 & 3, UMH 302

Christ is King in the season of Easter. Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen, Indeed! Death could not hold him. Our glorious King has rose again, defeated the grave, triumphed of Hell and death. In his Resurrection, Christ promises us that he is but the first fruit. That day will come when he is seated on the throne of a New Heaven and a New Earth and we all shall share in the resurrection of the body. In the Kingdom of our Lord, death has no sway.

Please stand for the reading of the Gospel, an account of the resurrection of our Lord. John 20:11-18

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

This ends the reading. Let us sing.

Pentecost & The Season Thereafter: Acts 2:1-4 & “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” vs. 1 & 7, UMH 57
(You may be seated)

Christ is King on the day of Pentecost and the season thereafter. At Pentecost we remember how, following Christ’s ascension to his heavenly throne, God gave us the gift of The Holy Spirit, the very presence of God, the One who is and who was and who is to come, to dwell and stay here among us. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit we are daily sanctified and moved ever toward ushering in that Kingdom where Christ will reign forever. Every time we move toward perfect love of God and neighbor, we move toward that day where every tongue will confess and every knee shall bow, worshipping Christ as King.

Acts 2:1-4

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

This ends the reading. Let us sing.

Conclusion: Christ Is King

We have traveled through the Christian year together, bringing us back to this day, Christ the King Sunday. Christ is King in every season of the year, and every season of our lives. May we always trust in Jesus while praying for and working to bring forth the Reign of Christ. Let us pray together:

God of Eternity, we stand with the courage of those who insisted, even in perilous times,
that not even the most powerful rulers of this earth hold our eternal destiny in their hands.
We are secure in Christ, whose reign is just, whose power is endless, and whose love is unfathomable.
God of Eternity, we join the chorus of saints who continue to declare that Christ is our King.
Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)

Sharing of Joys and Concerns

Prayers of the People

L: Lord in your mercy,
P: Hear our prayers.

The Lord’s Prayer

Invitation to Generosity

The Doxology

Closing Hymn
He is Exalted, x2, FWS 2070

Responsive Benediction

L: Grace United Methodist Church, what is our mission?
P: To invite all into a joyous and caring Christian community.
L: People of Grace, Christ is King. May we go out from this time of worship, at the close of our Christian year, in the hope and promise of the Kingdom that is to come. And in faith, to live into God’s Kingdom today. Now go in peace in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

"Those We've Loved," sermon on John 11:32-44 & Revelation 21:1-6a

John 11:32-44
Revelation 21:1-6a
“Those We’ve Loved”
Preached November 7, 2021, All Saints Sunday

This morning we are presented with two of the most powerful images in Scripture...that being said, I am pretty sure I told you the same thing two weeks ago. And give it a week or two and I may tell you the same thing again. Of course that is because Scripture does, indeed, have power. It shapes our worldview, it gives us life, it feeds our souls, it challenges, it confronts, it comforts - it is powerful.

Today’s passages have power on their own. The vision of a new heaven and a new earth from Revelation. And the passage from which comes the shortest verse in all of Scripture, by no means lessening its impact: Jesus wept. (Read today as “Jesus began to weep.”)

Moreover though, when you read these passages side by side, they create a very meaningful juxtaposition, imbuing them with more power than they may have on their own.

Indeed we have two scenes, imagine them with me, open your heart to feel their emotions:

First from the Gospel of John. Mary, at the feet of Jesus, weeping and maybe even - mad at Jesus? Glad to see him but oh how her words sting! “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” What use are those words? Should she have said them? All she has is a lump of pain in her chest, a hole where she can physically feel her brother missing. And all those around her, weeping and crying and now Jesus - shedding tears! It just adds to the heightened emotion of this moment. Jesus too! Jesus, too, weeping.

And then there are those mocking Jesus, challenging him - “can heal a blind man but can’t save his own friend.” Said while crying.

I am pretty sure you can find almost every stage of grief at this scene, denial and anger and depression, a whole truckload of heavy emotions intermixed with each other and the crowd.

And not to mention, not to mention Jesus’s bewildering words: “Take away the stone.”

And then the stench, oh the stench of four days dead.

Can you imagine this scene?

Can you feel this scene in your chest?

Overflowing with conflicted emotions, with tears, with loss.

Secondly, we have the scene from Revelation. A promise, a vision of a new heaven and a new earth. Of no more mourning, no more crying, no more pain. A beautiful, glimmering scene, a vision of beauty like a bride adorned for her husband. A voice, a voice like no other, a voice that is the Alpha and the Omega, finally completing all the promises that were ever made to us by God, a voice that says “See, I am making ALL things new.”

Now, what the juxtaposition of these passages does not do and should not do, is negate the pain, the grief, the tears of the Gospel passage. The vision from Revelation of no more grief does not negate the grief in John’s passage.

Nowhere in the Gospel story does Jesus negate the mourning of Mary or Martha or any of those present. He doesn't tell them, stop crying, it will be all right! He doesn’t tell them that Lazarus is not dead or that he won’t be dead soon. He doesn't tell them that all will be okay. He doesn’t offer any platitudes or excuses or superficial words of comfort.

Jesus himself is greatly disturbed and weeps alongside Mary and Martha and all those weeping. Jesus weeps. Jesus weeps...even though he surely knew what he was about to do. Jesus weeps...even though he knows this vision from Revelation, a vision which hasn't even been given to John yet and still- Jesus would have had God's - the Triune God’s endgame in mind...And yet, Jesus STILL WEEPS.

Jesus weeps because his friend has died and he is human.
Jesus weeps because he loved his friend and in that moment, his friend is gone.
Jesus weeps because he is mourning.

Ecclesiastes famously reminds us that there is a time for everything: a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.

We know that the laughing does not negate the weeping and the dancing does not negate the mourning.

We have both in our lives. We go through seasons. And sometimes that laughing and dancing can seem so far away. And other times laughing and dancing are even mingled with the weeping and the mourning in a way we can’t fully explain. But again, they don’t negate each other. They are things we fully feel and fully experience, on their own. We are capable of laughing and weeping, mourning and dancing. Fully allowing ourselves the full range of emotions of what it means to be human and what it means to be alive.

They don’t cancel each other out, they just are.

Just as we know that Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead does not negate the tears that Jesus wept.

Jesus bringing Lazarus back from the dead does not negate all that his sisters went through for those for 4 days.

The promise of a day when mourning, crying, pain, death will be no more does not negate the mourning, crying, pain, and death we go through and experience here and now.

All of us, like Jesus, have people we’ve loved - people we love still - whose loss has caused us to weep. And that’s okay. That’s human. Our pain and grieving are real and made no less real by the promises we believe as Christians.

The Good News is that the promises of God means we do not, as 1 Thessalonians tells us, we do not grieve like those who have no hope. We grieve and we mourn and we weep, yes. But we do so as those who have HOPE.


Hope that one day, this will be no more.
Hope that one day, death will be no more.
Hope that one day again there will be laughing and dancing.
And yes, hope, that, one day, we will all share in the glorious resurrection alongside those we’ve loved.

Not only do we have the present hope for “one day” - we also have The Spirit with us, this day. In the midst of our loss and grief we can take comfort that our God is a God who has mourned, a God who was wept. Our God is a God who mourns with us now, weeps with us now, and gently, wipes away our tears, offers comfort, love, hope.

We worship a Savior who knows what it’s like to have loved someone dearly and to have lost them.
And Jesus took the time to mourn that loss.
And that is what we do today, on this All Saints Sunday. We hold together the tension of our present mourning with the hope of the promises of God, a hope that one day, death will be no more. And today we take comfort knowing that the God who promises that day, is also a God who is always with us, in weeping or laughing, mourning or dancing. God is here, offering us hope.

Amen.

"Celebrate: Where Our Hearts Are" a sermon on Exodus 36:1-7 & Matthew 6:19-21

Exodus 36:1-7
Matthew 6:19-21
“Celebrate: Where Are Hearts Are”

Preached Sunday, October 31, 2021

In middle school, my class was given an assignment: pick a topic you are passionate about and give a speech/presentation on it. The objective, of course, was for students to practice their public speaking skills but at the time, we were all just excited to truly be able to pick any topic. But I had a realization, even at that young age, which has stuck with me all these years since. I love watching people talk about things that they are passionate about, that fill them with life, that give them a glow of excitement. As I watched my classmates I realized that I had never seen some of them so animated, so filled with life. Honestly, so...beautiful. I remember thinking, “Wow! Who are these people all of a sudden?” And, because I was already steeped into church, I remember thinking: “Is this how God sees them?”

Throughout the class’s speeches I started looking at every speaker through new lenses - I was trying to look at each of my classmates as God sees them. Not as people in different friend groups or jocks or nerds - but to try and see each of them as God saw them - as full, unique, beloved children of God. The memory sticks with me all these years later because that day, for just a brief window of time, I think I did look at my classmates like God looks at them - children, worthy of love. Seeing them so full of passion and life made that easier for me. And to this day, still does.

So today I want YOU to think - what are you passionate about? What fills you with excitement and life and puts a kind of glow around you?

Moreover- as a collective community, as a church - what are we passionate about? What fills us with life? What gives us a glow? What causes people to see us through the eyes of God?

Our Vision team sought out to answer these questions. And you have heard a lot about this work already...

And what I want to drive home today is that we didn’t just make up that stuff. We didn’t make up our mission statement or our shared values - we looked hard at our church to see what fills us with life. We asked - How does God see us? In the passions God gave us, the abilities and Spiritual gifts God has given us, the things that God believes we can do…

That’s what we identified. That’s what we sought to name - to name that which gives us life, that sparks passion inside of us, which helps us see each other as individuals and each other together as a community and people looking at us from outside - gives all of us that glow that is the image of God inside of us shining forth.

So today, today we are going to celebrate that. We are going to name the mission God has called us to. We are going to name the values that we share. We are going to name what we are to do together as a community. We are going to name and CELEBRATE these things. How will we celebrate them? We will celebrate by doing one of our favorite things, lifting our voices in song, singing hymns that directly relate to our mission, our values, and our strategy. My prayer is that the singing of these hymns will be a celebration of who we are and where our hearts lie, in our joyous and caring Christian community.

Jesus tells us where our treasure lies, there our hearts will be. It’s kind of a chicken and egg situation. Do we give our treasures where our hearts are? Do our hearts follow our treasures? The answer, of course, is yes. And it truly works best when our treasure and hearts are in the things that fill us with joy, that bring forth the imago dei , the image of God in us, that do the work of God in this world.

And for us here at Grace, that’s well...us, here at Grace. This joyous and caring Christian community that has been a gift in each of our lives, that bolsters our faith, that works to change our community and world to make it look a little more like God’s Kingdom, overflowing with life and love.

In this morning’s reading from Exodus, we see a people whose hearts and treasures are in their faith community. The Israelites are building their sanctuary. And that’s the mission God has given them.

Mission: build the sanctuary in order to love God with all their heart, soul, and might
They have a leader: Moses
They have workers whose hearts are invested so they give of their time and their skills:
“Moses then called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skillful one to whom the Lord had given skill, everyone whose heart was stirred to come to do the work”

Then, even in ancient times, monetary gifts and items were needed to do the work of the faith community - and the people, the Israelites, their hearts are completely in this and so they pour their treasures into it - tying their hearts to the sanctuary even further. And an amazing thing happens! They give so much they have to be told to STOP giving!

“Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing; for what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work.”

Friends, we have the mission - to invite all into a joyous and caring Christian community
We have the leaders - humbly, me, alongside so many of you who lead our church
We have the workers - again, so many of you who give your time and talents to the church
And yes, we have the monetary gifts. Thank you so much for your continued generosity - I would like to tell you today that we have more than enough for the work before us and to restrain you for bringing anything more! And that is not yet the case - and we can pray that one day it will be so!

So as we now celebrate who we are through sharing our mission, values, and strategy - I pray that your hearts are stirred for this community and for this work, that through our celebration, you may search out where you heart is in this community and to find the joy when are treasures, our time, our talents, our whole lives match with where are hearts are.

Now - let us celebrate and sing!