From the Pastor |
1 Cor. 15:35-38, 42-50 & Luke 6: 27-38
Have you ever noticed just how many movies and shows there are that deal with the idea of resurrection? Well… not in the religious sense… but in a manner that seems to have grabbed the attention of so many people. I’m talking about the fascination we seem to have (myself included) with zombies. Ever since Night of the Living Dead premiered in 1968… right up to the very popular The Walking Dead series now… zombies have become extremely popular… and terrifying. Now… I don’t know what the people in the church at Corinth were thinking about when they questioned the idea that the time of resurrection would come… maybe they were thinking of zombies… Maybe they were thinking as the Jews did that the dead would rise in the exact bodies they had in life… or like others who believed that people would rise as spirits… ghosts. They wanted to know “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” There was enough confusion around the subject that Paul felt he had to address it in this letter. So… what will the resurrection of the dead be like? Will we be raised up… exactly as we are? Reanimated? Or will we simply be spirits… incorporeal… like a ghost? Paul’s answer… neither! Paul says that we are like a seed that is planted. That seed is not in the same form… the same body as it will have when it is grown. As it grows, “God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.” That is how it will be when the time for resurrection of the body comes. Like the seed… our earthly bodies are sown and something new will rise. What is sown… is what we are now… perishable… weak… a mortal, physical body. What is raised will be imperishable, raised in glory and power… spiritual. Paul goes on to clarify that when the body is ‘sown’… planted… is not when we are buried after death… but at our birth. We know this because of his comparisons of the first and the last man: Adam vs. Jesus. Adam was created from dust… and earthly being… as Genesis 2:7 tells us “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” … a living soul! A soul planted in a mortal body… subject to decay and limitations of a physical existence… perishable. Contrast this with Jesus… the “last Adam.” Jesus was an earthly being… subject to change and limitations… but he was able to do amazing things because (unlike most of us) he was in tune with the seed that was planted in his mortal body… his spiritual self. However, it was when he was raised from the dead… that we can truly see what resurrection will be like. Jesus became a spiritual being… He had a physical form… the disciples could touch him… feel that he was real and NOT a ghost of some kind… yet… he was different… changed. He was recognizable to those who knew him… but it seems the change was enough that they did not immediately understand that it was Jesus they were talking to… Consider Mary Magdalene… she first thought he was a gardener until he spoke her name… the disciples on the road to Emmaus spent the day with him and did not recognize him until the breaking of the bread… Jesus’ body was changed but his personality and memories were still intact… and now he was truly free from the physical limitations of the mortal body. This is what Paul believes will happen for us as well… “And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.” Our mortal bodies will fail, but one day God will endow our resurrected spirits with a spiritual body… just like Jesus… Please note that this is NOT reincarnation… we will be gifted with bodies that will be changed, but recognizable… a bodies that will be appropriate to our new, glorified existence… maintaining our memories and personalities. Free from the physical pains and limitations of our earthly bodies. We were created as earthly beings just like Adam, but it will be spiritual beings… the ‘new creation’ in Christ that will be raised at our resurrection. If that is not glorious Good News… I don’t know what is. What we need to remember is that the seed was sown… our souls were planted at the time of our birth… This planting does not occur when we die and are buried… it has happened. What we are now… is NOT what we will be, but that transformation has already begun. One day we will all be like Jesus… perfected in love… living as spiritual being in God’s kingdom. But the transformation… the growing begins here in this world… Just like a seed planted in the ground that slowly grows into a plant or tree… we grow and change little by little as we follow Jesus. Accepting Jesus as Lord… being baptized and beginning the journey of discipleship is the start… but that journey… that transformation into the new creation is an on-going, lengthy process. It is not a matter of declaring you believe and… BAM… your done… your changed… just waiting to enter the kingdom. No! This transformation from what we are now to what we will be is a journey that does not end in this life. Like that seed… we continue to grow… we slowly mature as Disciples of Christ when we care for and tend our “seed” of faith… when we follow where Jesus leads us… when we strive to follow his commands and live as he lived. Our scriptures clearly tell us how to do this… by living out the Laws of Our God… the Laws of Love… summarized by Jesus: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” [Matt. 22:37-39] And today he greatly expands the meaning of the second command… Love your neighbor… to include even those we would rather not… “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you…” After all… Jesus reminds us that loving those who love us is easy… even ‘sinners’ do that… doing good for those who do good to us is easy… even our worst enemy can do that… That is no big deal… but followers of Christ… those striving to become a new creation in Christ… they are called to be different… better… “love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High…” Living God’s ways is definitely NOT easy. The ways of the world are much easier… tempting us to turn away from those who do us wrong… hating those who hurt us… allowing our anger to push aside the need to forgive... When someone hurts us, we want to respond in kind… When someone takes from us, we want to take back. But the ways Jesus, tells us something completely different… it calls us to see one another as God sees us… realizing that we are all flawed, we all experience brokenness, and we are all in the need of forgiveness and healing. Now… this is not some excuse to let abusers off the hook. Those who have caused pain to others must be held accountable. However, this is about becoming the new creation… the inner transformation for ourselves… it is about letting go of the pain and anger that fills us and leaves little room for the love of God to grow… It is about not allowing the violence and pain to define who we are. When we follow the ways of Jesus… we choose differently for our own hearts and lives. The world wants us to conform… to respect and honor those with earthly power, wealth and authority… but the faithful listen to the Lord… doing the work of justice, healing, and restoration. For this is how the transformation from what we are to what we will be takes place… we allow God to begin the process of raising us to a new life of love, inclusiveness, understanding and grace. Here… now… today… in this life, we are embodied souls… souls sown in earthly beings… subject to the needs of the flesh… perishable… fragile… weak… imperfect. We are dim reflections of the Christ who lives in us. But when we are one day raised up… resurrected… we will be embodied spirits… free from the limitations of the earthly body… raised in glory and poser… perfected in love… we will see clearly and reflect the God who gives us life. Paul stresses the point that Resurrection is real… it is not about zombies or ghostly spirits… as real and wonderful as this life can be… Resurrection is even more so… But the real joy is that we don’t have to wait… the transformation is happening now… through Jesus, we have been given a glimpse of God… through our faith we have begun to grow and change… moving from what we are now… to what we will be… Amen
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Isaiah 6:1, 5-8, 1 Corinthians 15:3-10 & Luke 5:1-11
Today we had three very different readings, but while the circumstances and the people were all different… these verses all have a great deal in common. First, they all seem to remind us that God calls ordinary people and wants us all to trust in God and be able to say, “Here I am… Send me.” But what really stood out to me was that in all three cases… Isaiah, Paul and Simon Peter… when the call was heard… was their common reaction. Isaiah was a young man when he had this vision which has him enter into the very awesome presence of God. However… he isn’t elated by this turn of events… he isn’t awe struck or even afraid. NO! What he feels is shame… he is suddenly very conscious of his failures and brokenness. He falls to his knees… figuring he is going to die… and cries out: “Woe to me! ... I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” To say he felt unworthy of being in the presence of the Lord Almighty is an understatement. The same was true for Simon Peter. Simon was simply going about his business… cleaning the nets after a night of unsuccessful fishing when along comes Jesus. Jesus asks to use his boat so he can continue his teachings to the crowd that has gathered so that all might better hear him… then after he speaks he turns to Simon and says… “Let’s go fishing!” Well… they had spent all night out there fishing with no luck and now this man tells him to go back and try again. I figure something Jesus said must have convinced Simon that Jesus was a Holy Man, because… despite his misgivings… they do as Jesus said. The result was a catch so large they needed two boats to bring it in. This event… combined with Jesus’ presence seemed to make Simon very aware of his own shortcomings… he suddenly became very uncomfortable being in Jesus’ presence and falls to his knees and says: “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Simon Peter KNEW he was unworthy. What about Paul? Our reading from 1st Corinthians doesn’t give us Paul’s call story… that we find in the Book of Acts… We are told that Jesus appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus and was literally knocked off his horse and blinded by the presence of the Lord… but we do have Paul’s continued reaction: “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” He too… freely admits to his unworthiness… still feeling… all these years later… that he does not deserve to be an apostle. Three powerful… amazing… pillars of our faith… all find themselves glimpsing the reality of the Lord… and all three are convicted by it… in despair… knowing that they were truly unworthy to even be in the presence of the Lord… let alone called to serve. They were all basically paralyzed by their unworthiness. Let’s face it… we have all sinned… we all fall short of God… we are ALL unworthy. WE cannot heal our brokenness… we cannot save ourselves… but that is where the Good News of these readings comes in. Let us look at them all again: 1st Isaiah cries out his unworthiness and one of the seraphim comes forward providing forgiveness and cleansing which is then affirmed by God who calls him into service. Next we see Simon Peter… on his knees telling Jesus to leave him… Jesus responds by lifting him up and inviting Simon to follow him. And let us not forget Paul who was forgiven for actually persecuting the followers of Christ and became the greatest evangelist the world has ever known. All three… though convicted and unworthy… were forgiven, cleansed and called by God. All three responded to that call by placing their trust in the Lord and dedicating themselves to God’s mission. We might feel unworthy, but God does not see it that way… God continues to call us by name… working to transform our hearts and our lives. No matter who we are or what we have done… Jesus calls us to put our trust in him and follow wherever he might lead us. It reminds me of a sign I have seen that reads: “When God put a calling on your life, he already factored in your stupidity… Most comforting thing I ever heard.” I like that because it is the truth. God knows us… God knows our hearts, our minds, our capabilities AND our weaknesses… God factors all these thing in when calling us to serve in the world today. When we repent and turn back to God… confessing our sins… we are forgiven and cleansed… we are sealed and commissioned to follow the Lord… bringing the Good News of Christ wherever we may go. It is our faith that lifts us up and heals us… calling us to work in love for justice and peace. As I thought about all this… I realized that there are a great many people in our world today who not only feel unworthy… but they are paralyzed by those feelings… They think there is no hope for them… they are weighed down by a sense of guilt… crying out “Stay away from me… I’m not worthy!” They do not allow anyone to lift them up… they do not answer God’s call because they cannot get past the shame and unworthiness. Sometimes it is a lack of faith and trust in God, but sadly, I think the church… throughout our history is to blame for it. For a long time, churches have focused on the confrontation of sin… proclaiming “Repent! Repent!” Bringing about a sense of guilt and not allowing faith to lead to freedom. Instead, it drags us down because all we can see is our faults and failures… our sin, but we fail to recognize and rejoice in the forgiveness. Isaiah, Simon and Paul were indeed confronted with their unworthiness and sin… but it was not the beginning. 1st they had an epiphany… an experience of being in the presence of the Lord… They were confronted… not with sin, but with God’s glory and righteousness… love and compassion. They immediately recognized what they were… unworthy sinners… but they were also offered a vision of what they could be… who and what they were created and called to be. Too often we forget that salvation comes… not in the conviction of our sins, but in the wondrous grace of God… through the vision of Jesus… reaching out his scarred hands in welcome and mercy… overwhelming us in grace, love and acceptance of who we are… as we are… unworthy though we might be. This is where the church… the community of faith must come in as well. We need to look at how WE respond to this message as a church… First of all… we need to actually be a community that accepts all… even… especially those who are broken… hurting… sinners. These are the people Jesus sought out. Jesus did not come for the righteous… he came for those in need of forgiveness, healing and mercy. If we are to be followers of Christ… we must do the same. We must be a community that enables all find the grace… the forgiveness, healing and growth that they need. And we also MUST be a community that enables people to hear the call of God… we must be willing and able to support them as they respond to that call… working together to lift up and support one another as we participate in serving God’s purposes in the world… helping each other discover and utilize our personal gifts, strengths and passions in service to God. When we hear the call of God… when we respond to the grace freely offered to us… we need to remember that we are all one in mission… our calling and tasks might be different, but we all serve together as the One Body of Christ… we are THE representative of the Lord in the world today… Whenever we feel unworthy… we need to put our trust in God and allow the burning fire of God’s love to cleanse away our sin and guilt… we need to allow ourselves to hear Christ calling… “Do not be afraid… Follow me!” WE need to stand up and respond “Here I am… Send me!” and then… forgiven, cleansed and renewed… we can start over… filled with the love of God and become agents of God’s light and love in ways we cannot yet imagine. Come as you are… unworthy though you may be… for God is calling you by name… God knows that you have the capacity to change, and the Lord can surely use you! This is the work of repentance and God’s Amazing Grace. Amen |
Yeon Shin
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