Last week I talked about the image of Jesus as the Good the Shepherd and we His sheep. Despite the fluffy and sappy art associated with it, it turned out to be a pretty strong image.
This week I get to talk about vines.
Once again, it sounds like a weak imagine. But it's not.
I dunno if you've ever been to a winery or (much less fun, by the way) needed to clear out wild grapevines, but it's really, really hard to tell which parts are the vine and which are the branches—all of it is just that entwined.
When people talk about having a personal relationship with Christ, that's what it's supposed to be like—an intimacy so completely entwined that it's hard to tell where one part ends and the next begins.
If The Good Shepherd is "You Shall Not Pass" then The Vine is Voltron or (God forgive me) Captain Planet. One of those deals where combined powers are greater than the sum of their parts.
For the record, Jesus forms the head.
Except, of course, the fact that the special powers (the sweet, sweet grapes) you gain by being entwined with Christ is not a Blazing Sword or a... a... whatever Captain Planet's deal was.
It's hard to say what it is without sounding completely and utterly sappy, like some creepy Bo Dallas motivational speaker. But when you look at the example of the modern Christian saints, you can see how powerful the answer really is.
Mother Theresa
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Fred Rogers...
The fruit is love. Love like Gandalf facing down the Balrog. Love like a Blazing Sword.
Love for God.
Love for Humanity.
That's the fruit of the Vine.
Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
042815
Lectionary texts
Acts 8:26-40
Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.
Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth."
The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?"
He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Psalm 22:25-31
From you comes my praise
in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear God.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek God shall praise God.
May your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to God;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before God.
For dominion belongs to God,
and God rules over the nations.
To God, indeed, shall all who sleep
in the earth bow down;
before God shall bow all
who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for God.
Posterity will serve God;
future generations will be told about God,
and proclaim God's deliverance
to a people yet unborn,
saying that God has done it.
1 John 4:7-21
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.
So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us.
Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.
John 15:1-8
[Jesus said:] "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."
I suspect that the passage from the Gospel of John commonly known as "The Good Shepherd" usually provokes warm and fluffy imagery. And I blame Bernhard Blockhorst. You probably haven't heard of him. In all honesty, I had to look him up myself. But I bet you've seen images of his painting, "The Good Shepherd." Doesn't Jesus look all serene? And look at how calmly the sheep gather at his feet!
And he's holding a lamb! A lamb!
All soft, and fluffy...
But that's so not what this passage is about. It's not a soft and fluffy thing. It's just hard for us to see it because we aren't shepherds in first century Palestine.
So I've been trying to find a way to express the danger—the legitimate fear—that should be wrapped up in the phrase, "the wolf snatches them and scatters them..."
The closest I've been able to come in gamer terms was one of the very first things that happened to me when I played Red Dead Redemption for the first time. I've left the ranch for the first time and I'm cantering my way to Armadillo because, quite frankly, I'm not feeling competent enough to gallop yet.
And that's when I hear a man shrilling crying for help. I reign my horse in, clear leather, and shoot a wolf—just in time to watch the rest of the pack bring the poor guy down. All in less time than it took for you to read that sentence.
Poor sucker never had a chance.
In real life? I just have to ask you if you've ever met the gaze of a large dog intent on protecting its territory—or its people?
I'm domesticated!
And now stop and think—that's a domesticated dog.
So when Jesus talks about the difference between the hired hand and the good shepherd—when he says that the hired hand saves his own hide rather than face off against the wolf to protect the sheep. When Jesus says the good shepherd lays his life down for the sheep—we're not talking warm and fluffy.
We're talking Gandolf facing down the Balrog and crying out "You shall not pass!"
We're talking the Battlestar Pegasus staying behind and stomping on Cylons to secure the escape of Galactica.
We're talking Gorman and Vasquez taking as many Aliens with them as possible with a grenade.
The hired hand sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away because he doesn't care about the sheep. But the Good Shepherd, Jesus?
He loves us.
Not in a soft and fluffy way.
In a die to defend you way.
So be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
042115
Lectionary texts
Acts 4:5-12
The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is 'the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.' There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."
Psalm 23
God is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
God makes me lie down in green pastures;
and leads me beside still waters;
God restores my soul.
and leads me in right paths
for the sake of God's name.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff — they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of God
my whole life long.
1 John 3:16-24
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us — and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.
And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
John 10:11-18
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father."
To be perfectly honest, I get it. I do. I've even smiled and giggled hear Professor Farnsworth blurt out, "Sweet Zombie Jesus!"
And this meme certainly isn't the first place where the cannibalistic overtones of the Eucharist have been pointed out.
But I think Know Your Meme only has it half-right when they claim "The Christian Church is known for spreading the word of god, whether people like it or not. Zombie Jesus is often used in order to retaliate against the churches (sic) constant preaching." The site assumes that the Christians who yell the loudest get to represent the rest of us.
I'm here to tell you that they don't.
Truth be told, I don't have beef with atheists, generally speaking. Not any more than I have a beef with certain strains of Christianity—you know the ones I mean: the ones that aren't content to say "This is where I am, and this is why..." and then leave it there.
I have a hard time with the ones who simply can't help going on. "...and you're an idiot for not believing the same way I do."
Yes, I'm looking at some of you, too, atheists.
So I get, I do. You don't really see the story of the Resurrection of Jesus as a case of zombification. After all, what zombie ever said, "Peace be with you. Why are you frightened..." and then asked for some fish to eat? (Cooked even!)
Zombie Jesus isn't about that. It's a way to provoke a reaction from that brand of Christian I was talking about. The ones who scream the loudest.
I get it, I do.
But...
Isn't there a name for people who say things just to provoke a negative reaction?
And seriously, how can you get any satisfaction out of that kind of trolling? I mean, it's so easy.
So how about I give you a more positive, if slightly less funny, interpretation of the Resurrection of Jesus?
Martin Bell once wrote that "God raised Jesus from the dead to the end that we should be clear-once and for all-that there is nothing more important than being human. Our lives have eternal significance. And no one-absolutely no one-is expendable."
So be good to each other
Rev. Josh
041415
Lectionary texts
Acts 3:12-19
When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out...."
Psalm 4
Answer me when I call,
O God of my right!
You gave me room
when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me,
and hear my prayer.
How long, you people,
shall my honor suffer shame?
How long will you love vain words,
and seek after lies?
But know that God has set apart
the faithful for God;
God hears when I call.
When you are disturbed,
do not sin;
ponder it on your beds,
and be silent.
Offer right sacrifices,
and put your trust in God.
There are many who say,
"O that we might see some good!
Let the light of your face
shine on us, O God!"
You have put gladness in my heart
more than when their grain and wine abound.
I will both lie down
and sleep in peace;
for you alone, O God,
make me lie down in safety.
1 John 3:1-7
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
Luke 24:36-48
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you — that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."
I feel sorry for poor Thomas. I really do. I think he's been given a bum deal over the years. Can you imagine your nickname (or epithet, if you prefer) being "Doubting"?
It is entirely too easy for us to smirk at the expense of poor Thomas as we read the words of Jesus, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." We feel like Lydia Deetz explaining that the living ignore the strange and unusual.
Except us, of course. We ourselves are strange and unusual enough to immediately understand what Jesus is saying without putting him to the test. We're just that good, right?
Well... probably not.
We all like to think that we're Fox Mulder, with our passionate belief in the Truth that is out there--whether the evidence supports it or not. But if we're honest with ourselves, in this technological and scientific age we live in, we're all more likely to get all Scully up in this business.
Christians in general like to make Thomas a cautionary tale concerning the quality (or, God forgive us, amount) of our faith. And considering those words of Jesus, I can see why that might be so.
But that's not how I see read it, honestly. It's so easy to read those words in a harsh, pejorative tone of voice. But what if it was said with a soft, knowing smile on Jesus's face?
I don't think the issue was so much about faith as it was about the relationship between Thomas and Jesus. If you love someone that you're in a healthy relationship with, you don't want or need to ask them to "prove it."
On the other hand, Jesus loves Thomas—even his tendency to get all Scully up in there—and the situation was indeed strange an unusual. Besides which—Jesus did it. He went ahead and proved it, because he knew and loved Thomas.
I can't imagine that scene being anything but happy and kind of funny, actually. Jesus is alive! And right in front of Thomas! And... he's having Thomas put his finger... inside...
ew.
That's love, right there.
Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
040715
Acts 4:32-35
Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
Psalm 133
How very good and pleasant it is
when kindred live together in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard,
upon the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there God ordained the blessing,
the blessing of life forevermore.
1 John 1:1-2:2
We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us — we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
John 20:19-31
When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."
A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
Some of this post will look very familiar. A lot of it contains things I have said before. But the truth is that while there a plethora of Christ figures to explore in fantasy, science fiction, and even horror—when it comes to Resurrection, for me, it will always be Aslan the Lion:
The rising of the sun had made everything look so different — all colours and shadows were changed— that for a moment they didn't see the important thing. Then they did. The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no more Aslan.
In one of his many letters, Lewis refers to the Stone Table as Narnia's version of the tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written. But I can't help interrupting the narrative here to point out that there's another allusion here. When Jesus breathed his last, the curtain in the temple that separates the Tabernacle—the place where the Glory of God resided in a very real sense—split from top to bottom. It tore in two pieces. From end to end. And where is the Glory of God then, one wonders...?
"Who's done it?" cried Susan. "What does it mean? Is it magic?"
"Yes!" said a great voice behind their backs. "It is more magic." They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
"Oh, Aslan!" cried both the children, staring up at him, almost as much frightened as they were glad.
"Aren't you dead then, dear Aslan?" said Lucy.
"Not now," said Aslan.
"You're not — not a —?" asked Susan in a shaky voice. She couldn't bring herself to say the word ghost. Aslan stooped his golden head and licked her forehead. The warmth of his breath and a rich sort of smell that seemed to hang about his hair came all over her.
"Do I look it?" he said.
"Oh, you're real, you're real! Oh Aslan!" cried Lucy, and both girls flung themselves upon him and covered him with kisses."
When the girls calm down, Susan asks Aslan what it all means. But I'm not going to give you Aslan's answer here—that quote is easy to find and it even made it into the resurrection scene in the Walden Media film. The point of theology is, indeed, to make meaning. But sometimes in our struggle to make meaning we forget to pay attention to how we feel. And Lewis painted a brilliant picture of how the Resurrection—and therefore Easter—should make us feel!
"Oh children," said the Lion, "I feel my strength coming back to me. Oh, children, catch me if you can!" He stood for a second, his eyes very bright, his limbs quivering, lashing himself with his tail. Then me made a leap high over their heads and landed on the other side of the Table. Laughing, though she didn't know why, Lucy scrambled over it to reach him. Aslan leaped again. A mad chase began. Round and round the hill-top he led them, now hopelessly out of their reach, now letting them almost catch his tail, now diving between them, now tossing them in the air with his huge an beautifully velveted paws and catching them again, and now stopping unexpectedly so that all three of them rolled over together in a happy laughing heap of fur and arms and legs. It was such a romp as no one has ever had except in Narnia; and whether it was more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten Lucy could never make up her mind. And the funny thing was that when all three finally lay together panting in the sun, the girls no longer felt the least tired or hungry or thirsty.
"And now," said Aslan presently, "to business. I feel I am going to roar. You had better put your fingers in your ears."
Happy Easter!
Be good to each other,
Have a good romp,
Rev. Josh
041514
“It isn't Narnia, you know," sobbed Lucy. "It's you. We shan't meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?"
"But you shall meet me, dear one," said Aslan.
"Are -are you there too, Sir?" said Edmund.
"I am," said Aslan. "But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
John 20:1-18
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
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 Sunday is Palm Sunday, the Christian holiday where we celebrate the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. This is his Big Heroic Moment. This is the point in the story where the people recognize Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. And because they're expecting a King David, Master Chief-style military tough guy, that's what they see. And they greet him with a ticker-tape parade.
The problem clergy have encountered with Palm Sunday over the years, though, is that fewer and fewer people come out to the Maundy Thursday and/or Good Friday services—the holy days that remember the betrayal and execution of the Messiah.
The people expected the Master Chief, but what they got was Jesus—a man who was as close a thing to a natural pacifist as a human can be. It's important to remember his betrayal and execution, or Easter and the Resurrection have no meaning. If you go directly from the ticker-tape parade atmosphere of Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday Jesus becomes the Master Chief.
And that would miss the point.
So Palm Sunday has gradually morphed into Passion Sunday, a kind of thumbnail mash-up of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday rolled up into one.
Evangelion is so much more than a simple giant mech anime. It relentlessly explores everything it means to be human. Every awkward, horrible, depressing, misanthropic, violent thing it means to be human. With just a dash of hope thrown in every once in a while. Every so often a moment when the tension breaks.
It draws imagery from multiple religious traditions, and as such it is not a direct allegory for the Gospel. But I cannot help equating Shinji with humanity: the disciples who cannot understand, the young man in the linen cloth who runs away naked... Judas... even Pilate.
And even though he's a Christ figure in only the strictest literary sense, I can't help seeing Jesus in Kowaru.
This video is pretty long. And it cuts off at a key moment. But it is dubbed in English and gives you a good taste of the Lenten, sordid nature of man flavor that I'm talking about:
And this video is in Japanese. And subtitled in Spanish. But it shows the key moment:
Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
032415
Mark 14:1-15:47
It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him; for they said, "Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people."
While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. But some were there who said to one another in anger, "Why was the ointment wasted in this way? For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor." And they scolded her. But Jesus said, "Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her."
Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.
On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?" So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, "Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, 'The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there." So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.
When it was evening, he came with the twelve. And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me." They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, "Surely, not I?" He said to them, "It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me. For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born."
While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."
When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, "You will all become deserters; for it is written,
'I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.'
But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee." Peter said to him, "Even though all become deserters, I will not." Jesus said to him, "Truly I tell you, this day, this very night, before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." But he said vehemently, "Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you." And all of them said the same.
They went to a place called Gethsemane; and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be distressed and agitated. And said to them, "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake." And going a little farther, he threw himself on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. He said, "Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want." He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep awake one hour? Keep awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. And once more he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they did not know what to say to him. He came a third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Enough! The hour has come; the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand."
Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "The one I will kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard." So when he came, he went up to him at once and said, "Rabbi!" and kissed him. Then they laid hands on him and arrested him. But one of those who stood near drew his sword and struck the slave of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Then Jesus said to them, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit? Day after day I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. But let the scriptures be fulfilled." All of them deserted him and fled.
A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked.
They took Jesus to the high priest; and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled. Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest; and he was sitting with the guards, warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none. For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony did not agree. Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, "We heard him say, 'I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.'" But even on this point their testimony did not agree. Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, "Have you no answer? What is it that they testify against you?" But he was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?" Jesus said, "I am; and
'you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power,'
and 'coming with the clouds of heaven.'"
Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, "Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?" All of them condemned him as deserving death. Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, "Prophesy!" The guards also took him over and beat him.
While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, "You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth." But he denied it, saying, "I do not know or understand what you are talking about." And he went out into the forecourt. Then the cock crowed. And the servant-girl, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, "This man is one of them." But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, "Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean." But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, "I do not know this man you are talking about." At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, "Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times." And he broke down and wept.
As soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate. Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" He answered him, "You say so." Then the chief priests accused him of many things. Pilate asked him again, "Have you no answer? See how many charges they bring against you." But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.
Now at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked. Now a man called Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection. So the crowd came and began to ask Pilate to do for them according to his custom. Then he answered them, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate spoke to them again, "Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call the King of the Jews?" They shouted back, "Crucify him!" Pilate asked them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him!" So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them; and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified.
Then the soldiers led him into the courtyard of the palace (that is, the governor's headquarters); and they called together the whole cohort. And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him. And they began saluting him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They struck his head with a reed, spat upon him, and knelt down in homage to him. After mocking him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take.
It was nine o"clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, "The King of the Jews." And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, "Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!" In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, "He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe." Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.
When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah." And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down." Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was God's Son!"
There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.
When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.
So, last week I had some kind of technical difficulty (it might have been with my brain) and my blog post got written but not published. O.o I think I'll post-date it, so it will be searchable by when it was supposed to pop up in the lectionary. And hey, maybe you'll enjoy reading it, even if it is late.
Into every generation, there is a chosen one. One girl in all the world. She alone will wield the strength and skill to stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness; To stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer. ~The Prophecy of the Slayer
Usually when I try to provide a pop culture illustration of what Roman occupied Israel was like I turn to the setting of Star Wars. There are so many great parallels there, that I have to wonder if George Lucas didn't have the political realities of that time and place in the back of his head somewhere when he was creating that story.
What Star Wars doesn't have, however, is the powerful echo that the Jewish people must have been hearing when Rome conquered Israel. To my knowledge, in Star Wars, the fall of Jedi Order was a new and shocking development with no historical precedent. The Hebrew people had a historical precedent, though. They had a national and religious catastrophe lurking the history that had to have every man, woman and child thinking "Oh no, not again."
They had Babylon.
I have yet to run across a story in popular culture that has the same political parallels for the Babylonian Exile that Star Wars has for Roman occupied Israel.
But when I think of the prophets of that time, Isaiah, Jeremiah... The all ahead full honesty of them. The way they stood up to evil, even when it was being perpetrated by their own people. For some reason, it keeps bringing Buffy the Vampire Slayer to mind.
Maybe it's because the prophets tend to be kind of brash personalities. Maybe because, like Buffy's special Slayer powers, God's protection allowed them to mouth off against foes who would appear to hold all the cards and get away with it—all in the name of Good, of course.
But more than that, the scriptural focus for this Sunday—a passage from Jeremiah that speaks of God making a new Covenant with the Jewish exiles—reminds me of one the reasons that Buffy was the greatest Slayer of all time.
After all, she was always willing to do a new thing.
A lot of people feel that Buffy jumped the shark before the series ended, and I'll freely admit that the earlier seasons were probably better than the later ones, but I LOVE where it ended. I loved the theme of potentiality—all those girls who could potentially be the next one and only Slayer. As one by one the potentials are taken out by a hellish evil, they remind me of the Jewish Exiles. Broken. Defeated.
Then there's the New Covenant:
this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And that, that reminds me of the new thing that Buffy orchestrated. The moment when all that potential get's realized. The moment that changes everything. No more "One girl in all the world." No. Every potential slayer becomes a Slayer in full.
It's enough to make you feel like you can do anything, doesn't it? Like there's something in your heart that cannot be denied?
Look into your heart.
Be good to each other,
Rev. Josh
031715
Jeremiah 31:31-34
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
Psalm 51:1-12
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.
You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit
Hebrews 5:5-10
So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"; as he says also in another place, "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek." In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
John 12:20-33
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
"Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say — 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
