28 Mar - Giving Everything

What was missing from Luke’s description of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem that we heard in the first part of the service?

Palms.

There are no palms in his description.

Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem – from his description would you call it triumphant?

I wouldn’t. What was normal for a king like Caesar, or even someone like Pontius Pilot, to do upon entering a city like Jerusalem was to find the finest, largest war horse and put on the finest armor and follow a parade of soldiers and chariots. The idea being that this is a triumphant king and no one would dare challenge him. Now Jesus – Jesus enters as a king of peace. He enters on a donkey, a work animal. And he enters just as he is.

The other thing missing from Luke’s description is the people who welcome him are not everybody in Jerusalem, but his disciples – the people that have followed him and the people who have heard of his great works and believe in him. And instead of palms, they lay before him their cloaks.

What’s so special about a cloak? According to Jay Cormier in the Lenten Reflection Not by Bread Alone that we’ve been reading this Lent, a cloak was the single most valuable item of clothing a person in that time had. You got one. You mended it and took care of it and for some, for the poor, it was more than just something to keep them warm, it was their home. So here the disciples are laying before Jesus their best.

What might Jesus have been thinking and feeling as he rode into Jerusalem, not just to give his best, but to give everything for us?

Peace,

The Rev. M.E. Eccles, LPC

21 Mar - You Do Not Always Have Me

We are nearing the end of our Lenten journey. Just ahead of us lies Palm Sunday, when we will remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem, hailed as a king. Then, quickly, we shift into the events leading up to his death: his arrest, trial, and death. It is a moment for us to pause and take a deep breath.

In the Gospel lesson for the 5th Sunday of Lent (John 12:1-8), we find a similar moment.

Jesus is a guest at the home of his friend Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary. We are reminded that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, and now he sits at the table with the other guests. Although it is not mentioned here, Jesus was a guest in this home earlier in his ministry. On that occasion, Martha was preparing the meal, complaining that Mary wasn’t lifting a finger to help. Instead, Mary was seated at Jesus’ feet, eager to learn from him. Here, Martha is serving the guests. And Mary? Mary is no longer sitting quietly at the feet of her teacher. She has become active, assertive, even daring. The Gospel tells us: “Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair.” It is an action of lavish love and hospitality. The fragrance of the nard fills the room. No one could miss what is happening here. Mary’s action is an extraordinary, lavish demonstration of love for Jesus. It is an act of intimacy, using her hair to wipe his feet. This event reaches beyond the specific time frame of this Gospel story. Jesus tells the others that Mary bought the nard to be used on the day of his burial. Past, present, and future are intertwined in this story.

In the final sentence of the Gospel passage, Jesus says of this moment, “. . .you do not always have me.” He is pointing to the future, anticipating his death. The reality that soon he will no longer be present to his friends and his followers. Not in the same way that he is here in this story. Not in the way that he has been throughout his ministry. Right now, in this time and this place, everyone should take a deep breath and focus on the moment. Focus on Jesus as present, as honored guest. Value what they have. Be aware of what lies ahead.

So we, like the people in the Gospel story, pause to remember and celebrate Jesus’ ministry. To give thanks for what has been. To gather our own courage for what lies ahead. As you move on in the final part your Lenten journey and into Holy Week, may it be a blessed time. Rich in anticipation. Rich in experience. Rich in meaning.

Peace,

Deacon Sue

7 Mar - Lenten Thought

Luke 13:1-9

This gospel lesson today sounds so strange to our ears. People brought Jesus this report about Pilate killing Galileans in the midst of their offering sacrifices in the temple. The crowds wondered what those people had done wrong – why were they being punished. And more to the point, how could they avoid meeting the same fate. As is quite normal for Jesus, he doesn’t give them the response that they expect. After adding two more stories of his own, the story of the tower of Siloam and the story of the Fig Tree, he says, “Unless YOU repent, YOU will all perish.”

In other words, Jesus took two violent stories, and used them to talk about repentance – to warn people that they too would perish unless they repented. The story of the fig tree was similar. Jeremiah had talked about the people of Israel as barren fig trees – the people to whom Jesus was speaking knew that. This is also a frequent theme of Jesus. Our lives, he tells us again and again, are accountable. We are responsible beings who are judged by the fruits of our lives. Then, the parable gives us a glimpse of a merciful love which will give this tree more nourishment, more tending, more time – yet another chance. So will a merciful God respond to any possibility of a response in us. So Jesus says, “Unless YOU repent, you will perish.”

When we think of repentance, we usually think of feeling sorry for something we did wrong. But feeling sorry is just the first step. The second step in repentance means changing something – changing some behavior. True repentance requires making changes. Making changes is never easy. But repentance can be an everyday thing – by making small changes, a daily purging of the things that cause us trouble - - a daily turning more and more toward God.

I will close with an invitation. Let me invite you to think of one thing that you need to change today. What do you need to do to make your life better? What do you need to do to bring your life into harmony with God’s plan for you? What repentance do you need to make? Then ask yourself, “Why am I having trouble letting go of this thing that is causing me trouble?” Then, make a decision, get rid of that thing, and change direction – make a course correction - - and prepare to receive God’s great blessing!

Lenten blessings to you, Bob+

28 Feb - Lenten Message

Jesus now moves steadily toward the capital city, toward Jerusalem,
and toward his fate on the Cross.
And as he does, without a thought for his own fate,
he takes a moment to warn us about our own fate.
Jesus takes a moment to call God’s people, and each of us, to repent.
Lent is the season of repentance,
40 days of honest reflection upon our identity as sinners,
yet sinners who, by the grace of God,
are being redeemed through the work that Jesus goes to do in Jerusalem.
Yet we shall not be redeemed unless we repent.
Jesus calls us to repent – urgently.

There is an urgency in Jesus’ call for Jerusalem to return to God,
to be Re-created, Renewed and Reborn as God’s people,
and of course, that call comes to us once again in Lent.
God sees what our life is like, what it might be like without God,
what our life could be like, with God as our center.
There is an intensity in God’s love for us,
And there is an intensity of God’s wanting to show us mercy.
Jesus speaks about this when he says that he has often desired
to gather the children of Jerusalem together
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.
God’s desire to do that for all of us is unceasing.

And there’s a fierceness about God’s love and mercy.
There’s a fierceness about Christ.
Frederick Buechner writes about our Lord as “Christ the Tiger.”
Jesus’ fierceness is hounding us – calling to us,
tiger-like in its strength.
Mother-hen-like in its gentleness.
Those two are not working alternately, but rather, simultaneously.

Jesus is not putting up barriers or hurdles for us to leap over.
Instead, Jesus is willing to give himself up for us,
in order to transform each one of us.
Jesus will give himself up to be killed if that will help him to do that for us.
And that is precisely what Jesus does for us.
Jesus gives himself up to be crucified, knowingly,
because Jesus just can’t give up being a mother hen for us - -
to gather us up under those loving wings.

Blessings on your Lenten journey,

Fr. Bob