-Rev Melissa Fain- 1 So a person should think about us this way—as servants of Christ and managers of God’s secrets. 2 In this kind of situation, what is expected of a manager is that they prove to be faithful. 3 I couldn’t care less if I’m judged by you or by any human court; I don’t even judge myself. 4 I’m not aware of anything against me, but that doesn’t make me innocent, because the Lord is the one who judges me. 5 So don’t judge anything before the right time—wait until the Lord comes. He will bring things that are hidden in the dark to light, and he will make people’s motivations public. Then there will be recognition for each person from God. 1 Cor 4:1-4 CEB Let's get this out of the way first: God isn't sin. God isn't lying, but God most certainly exists in all places at all times. God is most assuredly in the places where sin is second nature. That out of the way: Sometimes, as a society, we punish the truth. We do so because the truth is a statement of admitting failure, or past sin. This is why so many hide in their sin. It's not so much "getting away with it," as it is knowing they don't want to be punished for something they may not be doing anymore. I mentioned on day 0 this was an exploration of God naming Godself as "I Am." I said when people speak the phrase, "I am..." we are seeing God. What I didn't explain is one of the key reasons why this is true is truth. When someone uses this phrase, they are speaking to the world their truth. The Truth is God. When someone admits to lying, it is the truth speaking beyond the sin. It doesn't take away the lie(s). Our past shall remain. It does, however, add potential to the future. It allows us the ability to change the way things have been done incorrectly and now do them correctly. We can celebrate the course correction, while weeping for the previous failure. Every time someone speaks truth to their lie they are showing the face of God. God is a liar. Let us pray:
Dear God, help us walk the thin line of human grace and human justice, and let us not veer too far in either one. Amen. 18 While this messenger was speaking, another arrived and said: “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 when a strong wind came from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people, and they died. I alone escaped to tell you.” Job 1:18-19 CEB It's amazing how casually we talk about Jesus' death as Christians. It's almost as if it's an inconvenient footnote, that must be read so we can get to Easter Sunday. We can't sit in the statement, "Jesus died," unless we can stick a "but" right after it. When Jesus actually died, no one said "but." There were no "buts." Jesus died. Period. More than that it means God's family died. When we sit in that statement, we realize there are phrases that don't work anymore. "It'll be okay." Well, no. In some way it won't. Saying it will be okay is a lie, and one said to make yourself feel better, not to better the feelings of the person you're talking to. Would you say that to God? It'll be okay. Job, blameless before God, couldn't say it, and called his friends out for sharing similar feelings. Sitting in mourning everything was anything but okay. More than that, God is okay with us not being okay. Not that God wants us to suffer. Just that God gives us space to mourn. The Israelites wrote some pretty difficult words about being a displaced people in their oppressors land. God gave space for that. Weep. Gnash teeth. Mourn. It's allowed. God's family died. Let us pray:
Holy God, I'm filled with sorrow. Be with me as I weep. Amen. -Rev Melissa Fain- 20 As he was thinking about this, an angel from the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child she carries was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:20-21 CEB There's a huge difference between talking about babies and having them. Some things just can't be understood until you're living it. There's this sheer terror at first realizing an innocent life has been placed in the care of you! When the nurses pack the new family in a car, and tell them to go home, do they realize the parents are completely unqualified? Everything about life has now changed; things will never be the same again! Is that why God did it? Our collective voice cries out to God for salvation. "Save us!" we pray. Only God took the form of a baby. It's a statement which cries back, "Save me." We are called to serve God in the most vulnerable place, where God needs to be served. Where God dies if not served. Does God realize we're completely unqualified for such an important job? No. God realized and realizes giving up power is the only way we learn to be something more. We care for God. God is a baby. Let us Pray:
Dear Lord, Help me take the role of parent when your need is great. Amen -Rev Melissa Fain- Those who exploit the powerless anger their maker, while those who are kind to the poor honor God. Proverbs 14:31 CEB Alexander Campbell was deeply invested in the Presbyterian Church. Both his dad and he were in ministry within the denomination. Only... that homeless man. He wanted to have communion, and nothing was stopping him. He had done everything he had to do. Yet, he couldn't. He was stuck in two very real questions: Where is God, and are the people able to get to God? God was in communion, but there were those who couldn't come to the table. The homeless sat outside, unable to feast. Alexander Campbell knew he was called to follow God. Where was God? God was outside the church, without a home. Campbell ultimately displaced himself in search for God. We can connect to God when we reach out to the displaced in our world. Pray with me:
Dear Lord, from our security help us help those who are insecure. Amen. -Rev Melissa Fain- 18 Weeds and thistles will grow for you, even as you eat the field’s plants; 19 by the sweat of your face you will eat bread— until you return to the fertile land, since from it you were taken; you are soil, to the soil you will return.” Genesis 3:18-19 CEB It was Ash Wednesday many years ago, and I rather naively asked the Elder, "What are those ashes made of?" "The palm fronds of last year's Palm Sunday. They're dried out, and burned to ash for Ash Wednesday." What was mere curiosity turned to horror. I loved Palm Sunday! As I kid, I enjoyed marching into the Sanctuary (ahead of the the choir, by the way!) Now I was staring at the remains of that wonderful experience. Only dust. Burned to nothingness. God was in that event! I felt the Spirit as I sang "Hallelujah!" I knew God's presence was real. Now it felt dismissed and discarded. Only, I saw it wrong. The ash is a reminder to let go of what God was, to allow us to see how God could be. Don't mistake this as something easy. This isn't some moment of celebration, or understood joy. This is a lament; a funeral dirge. What was, can no longer be. It's not anything that can be brought back. Holding on to those remains will not bring them back. It will only keep what is to come from arriving. So Ash Wednesday we mourn and say good bye. God exists in those moments. God is ash. Pray with me:
Dear Lord, help me reflect as I mourn. As I fondly remember what once was, let me accept the ash so I may let go. Amen. -Rev Melissa Fain- 13 But Moses said to God, “If I now come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they are going to ask me, ‘What’s this God’s name?’ What am I supposed to say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am.So say to the Israelites, ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:13-14 CEB Where is God? We force this question into an answer, because contemplating it too long scares us. We yearn to know, but only if the answer suits our needs.It seems our collective wonder only dives to a surface level testimony. Beyond that, we quickly push any ideas aside until it’s too late. God’s fine because we are fine. We’re fine. I’m fine. It’s all fine. In reality, there is no way to fully understand God. Either we pull out so much there is nothing we can say that doesn’t go beyond generalities, or we focus to the point where we fail in our explanations. It’s like a child drawing a picture of her parents. As humans we know there is no way a child could correctly capture the truth of her parent, and in that context we understand. Her abstract stick person is a beautiful parent in the eyes of her loving mom. We can’t extend the same grace when our fellow brothers and sisters try to do the same thing with God. A few years back I ripped into the art of Thomas Kinkade. In my mind his art was too perfect. I wanted to see the slushy snow, the dying leaves, and the dust. I kept this view until I heard he committed suicide. He was living with crippling depression. His painting was a desire to find perfection even when everything looked dark and lost everywhere else. My naive desire to see God my way, failed to see God his way. I wanted to take it back. We weren’t fine. It wasn’t fine. We’re not all fine. God is everything. God is. The radical notion of God telling Moses, “Tell them ‘I Am’ has sent me to you.” allows us to look beyond ourselves to something greater. Whenever someone declares who they are, we can see a piece of the Divine. I am a minister. On a deeper level, God is a minister. I am a sister, mother, daughter, and friend. On a real level, God is our sister, mother, daughter and friend. We say this not because I’m God, because I am completely and utterly am not. We say this because God calls us to see the Light within each other. Draw us to the greater need, because that which we did not do for the least of these, we did not do for God. God is, I Am. I couldn’t see God in a Thomas Kinkade painting, but God was in a Thomas Kinkade painting the whole time, even if I was too naive or arrogant to see it. God was crying out for us to find perfection in a broken world. How foolish I was. We spend countless hours trying to understand how we were made in the image of God. There is something beautiful in that endeavor. I’m not going to tell you to stop. It’s just, it’s Lent. Lent is the forty days, excluding Sundays, before Easter. It exists for a very simple reason: To prepare the Body of Christ for a Risen Christ. It’s a preparatory time. We should push ourselves and ask tough questions. Who is God? God is. God is what? God is. In the places we like to go to most. God is. In the places we like to go to least. God is. And those difficult dark places are the places we are called to during this time. The least of these. That’s where God is. Today we prepare for preparing. Today we set our course. To find God on a broken tree, we must first look at our communal failings. Where those find their loss, God is. Pray with me:
Dear Lord, prepare us. Draw us close enough to see, while not getting burned. Help us see you in new ways. Amen. 1 Lord, I have so many enemies! So many are standing against me. 2 So many are talking about me: “Even God won’t help him.” Selah[a] 3 But you, Lord, are my shield! You are my glory! You are the one who restores me. 4 I cry out loud to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain. Selah 5 I lie down, sleep, and wake up because the Lord helps me. 6 I won’t be afraid of thousands of people surrounding me on all sides. 7 Stand up, Lord! Save me, my God! In fact, hit all my enemies on the jaw; shatter the teeth of the wicked! 8 Rescue comes from the Lord! May your blessing be on your people! Selah Psalm 3:1-8 CEB -Rev Melissa Fain- (Soft trigger warning for depression.)
Being able to read the whole story, and having read the whole story year after year, we forget how spiritually dark today really is. As a camper I enjoy the predawn night. The campfires are out, the stars seem to glow in ways I couldn't see before going to bed. At that point I'm used to the dark. I've lived a whole night with it. Holy Saturday, in contrast is a quick and deepening darkness. Now depression? That's a feeling and a darkeness I am not comfortable with, nor do I want to re-experience. It does trick the mind into thinking happiness and hope will never return. All appears lost. I think many Americans can connect with the Disciples this Saturday before Easter. Their hope is dead. Jesus, the one they thought was going to take down the system and become the warrior king of scripture, didn't lift a finger to fight and died on a cross. On Saturday, not only could none of them understand what was coming, they were completely lost in the darkness. What do we do with that today? The Disciples, the ones who saw Jesus face to face, and witnessed his ministry were scared. We, as biblical readers, know there is a blinding light on the other side of their darkness, but they did not. This day is here to remind us the truth about darkness: The darkness does not take away or destroy the things that give us hope and love, it simply hides it from view. God is always there, and always present. Just because you can't see it, doesn't make it any less true. If this particular message seems to be speaking directly to you, I'm so sorry you are dealing with the weight of depression. My personal experience lasted about two years, and part of my journey was being honest about it. Please seek out people with spiritual flashlights to help you see what has always been there. You are not alone, and the light is right around the corner. -Rev Melissa Fain- The first Communion. It is a meal that has been discussed, explored, shared, acted and pantomimed out trillions of times over the centuries. The symbolism is easy enough for a child to understand, while complex enough for sages to write books upon books of what it means. The rich cultural understandings of Communion are all rooted in Maundy Thursday.
What is Maundy Thursday? (I just assumed some of the readers would be asking.) Maundy Thursday always takes place the Thursday before Easter. If we put the timeline together from Palm Sunday to the Resurrection, the first Communion takes place on that Thursday before Jesus is crucified. Maundy is one of those Latin holdovers. The closest word we English speakers have is "mandate." Since this is also the day Jesus washed the Disciple's feet, we are given a mandate to serve the world as Christ has served us. Like I wrote so many years ago, there are tensions we should keep at the Communion table. Our experience should sing, so to speak. I compared these tensions to guitar strings. Both sides have to pull against one another or it is all mess. While there are many tensions I can discuss, here's the one I want you to take with you today. We are called to be served, and to serve others. Maundy Thursday should be a reminder that one of our focuses should be on being served and serving others. We are called to the table while we are also purposefully repelled from it. Being pushed from the table should lead us to service to others. Both of these actions create a beautiful tension that will help us through Holy Week. How are you letting Christ serve you this week? How are you serving others in return? -Rev Melissa Fain- That evening a man named Joseph came. He was a rich man from Arimathea who had become a disciple of Jesus. He came to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate gave him permission to take it. Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had carved out of the rock. After he rolled a large stone at the door of the tomb, he went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting in front of the tomb. The next day, which was the day after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate. They said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will arise.’ Therefore, order the grave to be sealed until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people, ‘He’s been raised from the dead.’ This last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate replied, “You have soldiers for guard duty. Go and make it as secure as you know how.” Then they went and secured the tomb by sealing the stone and posting the guard. Matthew 27:57-66 CEB I fully believe the bravest people in the world are the ones who have the most to lose, and they risk it all for the sake of others. That’s what I think of when I read Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Jesus and placed him in his tomb. Two important bits of context. First, Jesus’ closest disciples were currently hiding. They were fearful for their lives. Second, during this time there were tons of really poor people, and a few very rich people. Forget middle class, that just didn’t exist back then. For Joseph, there was nothing to be gained from admitting you were a disciple of Jesus, but there was everything to lose. That’s a kind of bravery I doubt many in America would understand. We know the ending to this story. We know what happens in act three. Joseph didn’t know. Tomorrow we celebrate new life after death. Today we celebrate those who risk it all for the sake of others. Human or Divine, we should look on both with awe and respect. - - -
God, We know the night is darkest before the dawn. Before the sun rises on this Easter morn, show us the stars that still shine in the darkness. Amen. -Rev Melissa Fain- From noon until three in the afternoon the whole earth was dark. At three, Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani,” which means, “My God, my God, why have you left me?” After hearing him, some standing there said, “Look! He’s calling Elijah!” Someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, and put it on a pole. He offered it to Jesus to drink, saying, “Let’s see if Elijah will come to take him down.” But Jesus let out a loud cry and died. Mark 15:33-37 CEB “Follow me, and I will make your fishers of people.” By itself, what a ludicrous statement! This was a time when any sort of stable employment was looked on as incredibly lucky. Jesus wanted people to just walk away from it! Now, to be fair, it is very likely any of these fishers also continued to fish for fish in their journey to people fish. But, then they began to see something more. They began to understand; this was the savior written about in scripture. Their eyes were opened and they became willing to do almost anything for Jesus. This, in a world where Rome willingly and easily crucified anyone who appeared even slightly confrontational. Not many were willing to rock that boat. (See what I did there, with fishermen and boats… never mind. Moving on.) I think we need to understand the fear that would have emanated from the Disciples at the moment Jesus died. In their mind, this guy was not supposed to die! This guy was supposed to raze the Romans, and give power back to the “good guys.” That’s not at all what happened. They didn’t understand what Jesus was trying to do, so when he died they did two things: They ran, and they hid. When Jesus died everything pointed to them being next. That’s a very scary place to be. The darkness was doubly dark. When things are that dark perspective is lost. One can forget that light will ever exist again, but it will. Today is good because what needed to be done, was done. It is also good because as scary and dark as it is, it is not the end of the story. When you lose perspective remember this moment. There is light. - - -
To The Light, Please shine in our darkness, so the darkness can no longer hide. Amen. |
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