Lapis Lazuli

This week as I was reading through Exodus, a passage jumped out at me. I have been reading the Bible for as long as I have known how to read and I have always enjoyed the Pentateuch. Some find it tedious or unnecessarily detailed, but I have always found it interesting. All of the descriptions of the laws and the garments. The instructions for building, for partying, for creating a life together between God and God's people.
But this week as I read Exodus 24, when I got to verses 9 - 11, I felt like I had never read those verses before! I'm sure I have, but I don't remember them. When this happens, it always feels like a portal has opened up, a secret passageway that I could have sworn wasn't there before.
Here the verses are in the New Living Translation:
^"Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself. And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!"
I love this picture of a party to celebrate the peace/covenant made between God and God's people. There is so little description and I want to know so much more!
What did they eat? Did God serve them food? Why do they only mention God's feet? Did the surface separate them or were they all on it together? 
When I was little, my family went to see the King Tut exhibit at the Field Museum here in Chicago. It was 1977 and I remember waiting and waiting to get into the exhibit. I'm not sure what 7 year old me thought was behind those doors, but the waiting heightened my expectations. 
It was late by the time we went into the exhibit and the hush and the darkness were palpable. There were glass cases containing treasures, each one lit from inside - the majority of the light in the room came from these magical boxes. Traveling back in time to ancient Egypt, touching a bit of history. Mummies and pharaohs were mysterious figures, one from cartoons and the other from bible stories. I don't remember much of what I saw that night, but I do remember seeing lapis lazuli for the first time. The blue was so stunning and I loved the sounds of the words together. So luxurious. So kingly. 
This passage's mention of lapis lazuli transported me back to that night for a moment, and some of the emotions from that experience seem apropos - the awe and wonder in the presence of a king, the timelessness, the inability to describe what I saw. 
Whatever Moses and his family and the elders saw that day, I am sure it was full of these same emotions. Sometimes the telling of it doesn't measure up, so it seems better to treasure it instead. 
Lately I find myself doing this. Instead of taking pictures of gatherings with friends, I find that the times I don't post on social media or document it in any way are more precious to me. A time to treasure and not to broadcast. A private moment. A hidden event. Just a sentence in my journal or a ticket stub. 
Whatever happened that day on the mountain was just such a moment. A time to bolster these leaders as they prepared for their wilderness journey. A reminder that God was with them and would feed and provide. A seal on the covenant that they were making together. 
Throughout the wilderness wanderings and the making and keeping of the tabernacle, the color blue will be a major theme. Blue threads, blue cloths to cover the most holy instruments of worship.
The surface was also described as "clear as the sky" - did they look up on a clear day and reminisce about that time at God's table? Built into creation and commandments, there are these reminders of God's presence and provision.
This story is an example of God breaking through in a tangible way. The blue surface seems to be the most vibrant memory from that day. In my life, the times that I have felt closest to God sometimes have these types of touchstones: a smell, a touch, a sound, a feeling. Then when I see that color or touch that ticket stub in my pocket, or whatever it is, I am reminded of God's faithfulness. And just for a moment, I am transported to my hidden life with God and I feast on God's presence. 

Good News for All People

This week in our scripture readings, the people of Israel made it into Egypt. It is a story of redemption and reconnection. A resurrection story - this son that Jacob thought was dead is alive, the son that was lost is found. The family moves to the land of Goshen and settles separately from the Egyptians because of their agrarian way of life.

Fast forward hundreds of years and the Israelites have become numerous and the new rulers in the land fear them and enslave them. God’s desire is to fulfill God’s promise to the people of Israel that they would live in the land of Canaan - the land promised to Abraham.

God calls to Moses from the burning bush to get his attention. The beginning of many strange wonders, but Moses has a hard time trusting God. In order to show Moses that God desires a collaboration, God gives Moses a partner - his brother Aaron - to accompany him. Through a series of devastating plagues, God demonstrates sovereignty over the gods of Egypt and provision for the people of Israel. Before each one, God gives Pharaoh a chance to avoid the oncoming plague.

This has always been presented to me as a story of good guys and bad guys. God’s chosen people and those destined for destruction. It’s easier that way. Clear winners and losers. But I am trying to listen better to the good news for all, so I tried to see how this story could possibly be good news for Pharaoh and the Egyptians. 

In the specific context of Egypt, they worshiped many gods - even Pharaoh was considered a god in human form - often as Horus, the son of Ra. Each of the plagues dismantled the power of the Egyptian gods in increasing measure of importance and power. The last two plagues, darkness and death of the first born, attack Ra, the Sun god, and Pharaoh as the son of Ra.

That’s part of the good news for the oppressors.. A chance to see that the gods that they depend on for their safety and dominance are nothing compared to the God of the universe. God dismantles the systems little by little, giving Pharaoh a chance to change - to repent.

The redemption for the enslaved people was physical freedom, but the redemption for the oppressors was breaking down the systems that made enslavement possible. Israel will be on the receiving end of this type of redemption several hundreds of years later when they find themselves conquered and in exile. It can’t be good news for Judah and Israel later if it is not also good news for Pharaoh and Egypt now.

As I was praying about how this story could possibly be good for all parties in the story, the picture of the end scene of The Lord of the Flies flashed into my mind.

If you haven’t read it or seen any of the film adaptations, the basic story is of a group of boys who find themselves without adult supervision on a deserted island after their plane is shot down and the pilot (the only adult!) is killed in the crash. They start to develop some rules of order and leadership, but things start to disintegrate quickly as one of the boys, Jack, sets himself against Ralph. He leads most of the others to accidentally kill a boy named Simon during a frenzied violent “dance” and mistreat and eventually kill another boy whom they nicknamed Piggy.

At the end of the book, Jack is leading all of the other boys to hunt down and kill Ralph. They can’t find him in the thick jungle of the island and so they decide to smoke him out. This large fire attracts the attention of a nearby ship who comes to the island to see what is happening.

As Ralph emerges from the cover of the jungle onto the beach where he is vulnerable and exposed to his attackers, he finds himself at the feet of a soldier. As the other boys emerge from the jungle, screaming and covered with war paint and wielding homemade weapons, they too see the soldier and they are stopped in their tracks.

In the 90s film version, the soldier says to the boys, “What are you guys doing?” In the book, it is even more profound and deeply layered: “What have you been doing? Having a war or something?” This interruption provides salvation for not just Ralph but also for the boys who were about to do something unthinkable and destructive. This type of violent behavior affects the perpetrators as trauma.

In this article on the Inclusion Solution’s website, this type of trauma is described:

• Mark Charles, a Native American (Navajo) pastor and activist, contends that white people who have perpetrated injustices against people of color over generations also experience trauma, not as victims but as perpetrators. Perpetration Induced Traumatic Stress (PITS), a term coined by peace psychologist Rachel MacNair, describes incidents of PTSD resulting from the trauma of having committed violence, as contrasted with trauma caused by witnessing or being the recipient of a violent act. Charles says that a nation built on 500 years of perpetuating injustices must also be experiencing historical trauma. He quotes Socrates: “The doer of injustice is more miserable than the sufferer. “ 

This act of the Egyptians giving up their wealth to the formerly enslaved people, this example of reparations, is part of their redemption story. The good news for the oppressors (and we’ll see this later when Nehemiah goes back to rebuild) is that they can participate in the restoration of the oppressed. 

This concept is part of the messianic song which we see in Isaiah and then again in Luke:

Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The good news for the oppressors is different from the good news for the oppressed. For those of us experiencing relative privilege in the world, the words of John the Baptist provide a simple path to this type of redemption: “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”

And of course, Jesus Himself gives us instructions along these same lines when He describes the sheep and goats: “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me,” (more on this here).

At Uptown Church yesterday, Pastor Jeremy gave a similar message. In our sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer, the focus was on the first words, “Our Father.” This inclusive, plural pronoun packs a punch. It shows that God is the God of all! In the practice of faith in this country, this has not been the case. He reminded us of the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “the most segregated hour of Christian America is 11 o'clock on Sunday morning.” He then outlined racial injustices in the history of the church, in particular around the Great Awakening and the Asuza Street Revival.

I am thankful to be part of a church that is actively seeking to give voice to the disenfranchised and marginalized among us in Uptown. Our corporate benediction reflects our values: “Lord, help us to disrupt suffering and mend what is broken with the hope of Jesus.”

As I read the Old Testament this winter, I am asking God for the grace to read from the perspective of an oppressor. I am asking God to show me the good news for all people so that I, together with every nation, tribe, language and people, can look into the face of my Savior and be made whole in His presence.

Look at Things in New Ways

Many years ago, I was driving in rural Illinois when all of the sudden the car filled with a familiar but unpleasant odor. "Ugh, a skunk!" I lamented. My friend, who had grown up on a farm, commented, "I actually kinda like it. It's just a strong musky smell." I was shocked. I had never heard anyone say anything positive about skunk smell! After she said this, I breathed in a little of the odor with this in mind, and it really didn't smell as bad as I thought. In fact, as it dissipated, I started to see what she meant. 
This moment has become a memorial to me of sorts. I have often thought back to this when I hear or read things radically different than what I have heard most of my life - especially when I realize I am just parroting some idea or thought that is widely held but rarely challenged. 
Recently, I have been thinking a lot about what I learned about women in the Bible and women's roles in church and home. Most of what I heard and thought was what might be considered traditional or conservative. Women supporting men in roles of leadership but not leading themselves. No women pastors or elders.  
I am thankful to have landed in a denomination that recognizes women in leadership and I am now a pastor myself, but that didn't keep the old thoughts and rationales from rising up again as I started to read through the Bible at the beginning of the month. There are still so many places in the church where women leaders aren't affirmed. The recent comments from John MacArthur about Beth Moore and the subsequent responses doubling down in his defense started making me feel discouraged. So many voices saying that they are seeing things "biblically" and that the issue was "clear."
As I started the bible reading plan, I asked God to show me as I read through the Old Testament what God thinks about women. Not that I hadn't thought of this before, but I really wanted to hear God for Godself on the issue and not any other voices. 
The first story in the bible where anyone has any dialogue has a woman main character. Have you ever thought of that? I don't know about you, but all during my school years, most books we read had male protagonists. If a movie or a book has a female lead, it's usually considered a "chick flick" or "empowering" and the expected audience is female. But here we see a strong female character. She has agency, leadership, influence - she makes a decision to be independent of God and to have the ability to decide good and evil for herself. This is usually considered to be the fall of humanity, but in many senses, it is actually the rise of humanity - this act sets in motion the complicated and intricate plan of redemption and salvation of a people with the freedom to choose.
Several chapters later, the main character of one of the stories is Hagar, a slave woman who has been mistreated and runs away from her masters. In this story, a disenfranchised woman is sought out by God - God appears to her, talks to her, addresses her plight and redirects her path. She gives God a name - "the God who sees." God talks to her again after she is sent away a second time.
Sarah is also a main character in this story with a lot of agency (for good and bad) who is also addressed by God through angelic messengers.  
Rebekah is also a strong female character - God talks to her directly concerning her unborn children. In the story of her family, we know about her preferential treatment of her younger son and the role she plays in the trickery that he undertakes to steal the blessing from his brother. 
Already in the story that God is telling about God's people, there are enough indications that who the women are and what they do is significant to God. Women are named, have agency, are talked to directly. In most history books that I read in school, I do not remember hearing any stories of women. If there were an occasional story about a woman, she was usually someone's wife or mother (which is also sometimes the case in the biblical narratives) but definitely not disenfranchised or powerless. 
I am definitely hearing God loud and clear that women are valued and their voices matter. 
Going back to the skunk story, maybe you think it's a stinky example (ha!) since it's so widely acknowledged as being a "bad" smell. I think that is precisely why it is such a great analogy. According to Rachel S. Herz, Ph.D, odor preference is learned and not hardwired. I think that some of the ways that people arrive at their beliefs are influenced by their environment and/or "inherited." I find it refreshing to read and reread God's word with the Holy Spirit guiding my thoughts and pointing out things I hadn't seen before. As Jesus said to His disciples, "every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.” I am looking forward to polishing some old treasures that I cherish and also to discovering new ones in the vast storeroom of God's word.

So Many Threads

Inspired by the weekly liturgical writings of Debi Thomas, I made a New Year's resolution of sorts to write each week reflecting on the readings in the Read Scripture app that we are doing together as Uptown Church. I love the Bible Project and was so excited to hear that we are doing this together. Reading the Bible as a people has always been God's intent - one of the many threads we see throughout the Word, but I am getting ahead of myself. 

At the end of last year, my friend Angela posted a picture of her loom and a piece of cloth that she had woven. I have vague memories of my mom having a loom when I was very young and I definitely remember passing the shuttle back and forth and pressing the threads together. I didn't realize that this image was in the back of my mind while I was reading this week until I got to the story of Melchizedek. This verse stood out to me: "Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High" Genesis 14:18. When I saw the bread and wine reference, I wrote down in my journal, "so many threads to follow." Immediately, the picture of Angela's loom was in my mind and her comment of having to rethread the 300+ threads several times to get it right. 

Is the world God's great loom? or is time the great framework? This made me stop and think of all the threads that are already started in the first 18 chapters of Genesis: 

• covenant
• belief/trust in God
• good and evil
• barren women/birth/seed
• trees
• offering/altars/sacrifice
• stories with women main characters

I am excited to watch these threads be woven again and again into the story of God and God's people partnering together to make a world where God is welcome and the people of God are a blessing to those around them. 

I watched a lot of weaving videos and they were all so beautiful and breathtaking. The attention to detail. The breadth of the set up and preparation. Mostly replaced by machines these days, but still so many made by hand - all over the world! The one machine that especially caught my attention was the Jacquard loom - probably because of my love of mathematics and order but also because of the nature of the process.  Watch here for a short explanation.

 

I am hoping to write a poem each week as well, but I am not going to force it. This is one that I wrote in the wee hours of the morning today as I prayed and reflected on the many threads we are invited to follow.

The Master Weaver

a reflection on Genesis 1 - 18  

In the beginning
the framework was bare
the Master Weaver assembled the loom
tying countless strings
blocking the pattern
preparing the cards
then, when all was in it's proper place,
the machinery lurched into action
strings going every which way
the slap of the beater
the motion of the treadles 
the shuttle passes through
back and forth
each pass creating a new measure of fabric
threads combining
being forced together
this seemingly chaotic concomitance of chords
making order out of the tangled webs
the weft. the warp.
passing through the proper threads
at the proper time
this intelligent design
counterweights from above
working in concert with the countless threads
to make a single cloth
the fabric lengthens
until the time when
the pattern is complete
the final card is read
the final row is secured
the fabric is ready to be cut loose
all the loose ends tied
the rough edges made plain
ready to be placed
on the banquet table

When The Party’s Over

For the last few weeks, a line from a song has been on repeat in my head. And though sometimes there are just ear worms that invade my brain because a song is catchy, this felt different. The song itself has a haunting melody and the line that keeps playing is “when the party’s over, will you take me home?” The music and the words are full of such longing and sadness and speak to the part of my soul that is world-weary and discouraged. I see a girl standing in the midst of the wreckage of a wild party. There is garbage and dirty dishes and vomit and destruction all around her. In the midst of the party, I sense her making eye contact with her friend, her lover, her parent - someone who she senses will be there at the end. Someone who she senses will get her out of the mess and take her away from there. 

I like this metaphor of a party because I love to throw parties. I have often set up parties from start to finish. Moving every chair into place. Decorating each table’s center. Setting each fork and knife and spoon just so. Making sure everyone has what they need. Filling water glasses, answering questions, serving food. And then at the end of the night, restoring the room to the clean slate. Everything back in its proper place. I am always exhausted and ready to go home.

I was recently behind the scenes at a gala for a non-profit. Auction items were going for over $10,000 a piece. Everyone sitting at their beautiful tables talking and laughing with one another hardly noticed how many people it took to make the evening seem so flawless. But I noticed. When it was time for dinner, 3-4 servers descended on each of the 41 tables with precision so that everyone at the table got their food at the same time. And similarly, as people finished, their plates were whisked away. Out of sight, out of mind.

Jesus talked a lot about parties. He also attended parties. Many gospel stories happen at a dinner or a party. Jesus talks about throwing parties over lost sheep, coins and sons. He talks about inviting people off the street, about how not to take the best seat, about accepting an invitation to a party without making excuses. He eats dinner with all sorts of people, many of them shocking or surprising to the religious people of his day.

I have been participating in an Ignatian Bible Study for the past year and a half in which we do a lot of imaginative prayer. One way to engage in this practice is to put yourself in the story - imagine yourself as one of the people in the scene - and write a first-person present account of what is happening. It’s interesting where I see myself in these scenes. Sometimes I do imagine that I am a servant in the home where the dinner is happening. I’m overhearing the conversation as an outsider. In those imaginings, Jesus’ words are especially comforting. Hopeful. Restorative. But if I put myself in the place of the Pharisees, I find Jesus’ words combative, threatening and challenging. “Who does He think He is?”

Recently at Uptown Church, there was a Bible Study for doubters. Anyone who felt like they had questions or doubts was invited to be a part of this group. My friend Linda, who lives in our neighborhood, decided to join. Linda has had a rough life and as a single, older African-American woman she had a particular perspective to share. One Sunday, as two younger white guys were discussing their doubts and questions about the thief on the cross and his promise of paradise, Linda interrupted. “There had better be something after this life! This can’t be all there is.”

Romans 8:18 - 23 says it this way, “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal his children. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.”

As believing people, we are called to groan alongside those who groan - recognizing the signs of decay and being a part of the restoration of God’s kingdom here and now. Maybe the sheep and the goats parable is more about position than anything else. You saw someone hungry or naked or sick and you knew it was your job to feed or clothe or visit them. Not your job, but a sign that you are part of the movement of God to make things right in the world. The need, the lack, the sickness is a direct and outward sign that things are not ok. That our world needs saving. That God’s ways are not in place.

Luke reiterates the words of Isaiah as he tells of John’s mission: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth” In this gospel account, it goes on to describe John instructing people to share if they have coats or food to spare and not to extort or cheat their fellow humans.

As people of God, we are foreigners and strangers in this world. We are looking forward to our new home, as the writer of Hebrews says, we are “longing for a better country—a heavenly one.” While the great human party is divided between the haves and the have-nots, the heavenly party awaits where all are welcome and all are equal. As we participate in making this human party more equal, we declare that God’s kingdom is arriving. We prepare the way. Every place that Christians come to should be affected in this way. Relationships restored. Inequities evened out. Barriers broken down.

But for every barrier knocked down, the enemy puts up a new one. For every relationship restored, others are broken apart. The work is constant and the signs of destruction are rampant. We will not see the promises fulfilled - only at a distance, in a dim glass.

After putting on a big party or wedding, after the last dish is washed and dried and put away, I want nothing more than to soak in a bath or lay in my bed. It reminds me of C.S. Lewis’s description of heaven: “the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes in the airing cupboard.” So I will not grow weary, for He who calls me is faithful. And in a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.

When the party’s over, God will take me home.

listen to the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXYtwL4DXRU

The Meaning of Sacrifice

This past winter, I was reading a book for pleasure entitled “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness” by Arundhati Roy. It was a strange but beautiful novel; as one reviewer described it “attentive to the dispossessed, the marginalised, and the oppressed; fractured, broken, and sprawling.” I was enjoying it and it was, as all good stories do, speaking to me on a heart level, but I wasn’t prepared for the way it stopped me in my tracks. The main character in the book was a poor Muslim woman and unable to afford an animal to sacrifice on Eid. A friend gives her a goat and she treats the goat as a member of the family. She lets it sleep in the house and takes special care of it. She explains her care for the goat with this sentence that made me put the book down: “Love, after all, is the ingredient that separates a sacrifice from ordinary, everyday butchery.”

Since then, I have been thinking a lot about the word sacrifice and the act of sacrifice. I have been asking people what they think the word means in a modern and a biblical sense and I have been reading over scriptures in both old and new testaments that talk about sacrifice.

It’s a word we see all the time and it is used to describe heroic acts or giving up something good for something better. There is usually some sense of bargaining or leverage inherent in the word. At its best it sounds noble, but at its worst it sounds manipulative. He sacrificed his life for his country. Your father and I have sacrificed a lot for you to be able to go to university.

The English word comes from Latin sacra meaning sacred, dedicated, holy + combining form of facere "to make, to do". So it could be translated as make holy or perform a sacred act. The Hebrew word for “sacrifice” is korban קרבן which means “coming closer”. Looking at the roots of this word and digging into the verses about sacrifice gave me a richer picture of this word. I don’t do this for purely academic reasons. I want to understand what God is trying to say to me. As I was doing this, I realized that pouring over scripture with the intent to draw near to God is a sacrifice of time worth giving.


During this process, I was reminded of a film I saw a couple years ago called Arrival. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. In the film, Dr. Louise Banks, a linguist played by Amy Adams, is hired by the government to decipher a message from aliens. Their written language is a nonlinear orthography - which means that there is no beginning or end in the structure of a written thought - which is why the phrases are written in a circle.

As the movie progresses, Dr. Banks and her team learn more and more words from the aliens and begin to communicate with them. There are 12 total alien ships that have landed around the world and the different country’s experts are working together to determine why they have come.
The same message comes through at several locations and different countries interpret in different ways. Because Dr. Banks believes that the intent of the creatures is benevolent and also because she is beginning to have a relationship with them through their regular encounters, she interprets the message as friendly and wants to continue to keep the communication lines open.

That same message was being interpreted as a threat by some of the other country’s experts, but Dr. Banks poured over all of the other messages with similar words and attempted to understand not just the message but the heart of the messenger. And, this is key, she isn’t able to fully understand the message until she has an encounter with the creature itself.





Most of us haven’t encountered aliens, but most of us have experienced this with email or text messages. When we get a message that seems rude or short, it is best to stop and take a deep breath before answering. What is my relationship with this person? Are they stressed or in the middle of something? Do they have a history of sending me similar messages? And also a little self-examination is in order. Am I hungry, angry, lonely or tired? This can also contribute to misinterpreting the message.

Often we can get to the root of why we feel so wronged or frustrated with the message and it usually boils down to some resentment or distrust in our relationship with the sender.

In Jeremiah 2:5, God asks His people, “What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me?” When we find ourselves far from God, we probably can trace it back to some break in trust, some misunderstanding of His intent.

Just like the linguist who poured over the alien’s messages to find the context of their words, we have to study scripture in light of God’s character. And also like her, we cannot totally understand without an encounter with God, the Holy Spirit.

So as I read and reread passages about sacrifice and looked at the Hebrew roots and talked to God and others about it, I kept in mind my relationship with God and His intent for communicating with me. Which brings me back to that quote from the book and why it struck me: “Love, after all, is the ingredient that separates a sacrifice from ordinary, everyday butchery.” - I do believe that love is the governing ingredient of the universe and that everything God does is motivated by love.

That sounds so cliche and so elementary but let me tell you I haven’t always thought this way. For many years, I believed that Jesus’ death, His sacrifice, on the cross was to take on the wrath of God so that I could be spared. This theory of atonement is widely accepted but is deeply problematic. This idea of sacrifice as some sort of appeasement can be damaging to the way we see God and the way we interact with one another - it can unconsciously give credence to punitive solutions such as vengeance and retribution.

It is the Covenant heritage in the pietist movement that I have to thank for helping me to see differently. The understanding of atonement in that tradition is as a display of God’s love and restorative nature. God so loved the world that He sent His Son. It is important to know what we believe about the nature and intent of God as we study His Word. This way of approaching scripture is a core belief of our denomination with the question, “where is it written?” as our cornerstone. We as a church body are encouraged not only to find the scriptural basis for our questions, but also to work together as a community of believers to come to a fuller understanding of what we are reading.

When I read the Old Testament I often want to ignore or skim over the parts I don’t understand or don’t seem to resonate with the God I know. All of the wars and the earth opening up and well, basically anytime God seems angry makes me feel uncomfortable. But pouring over these scriptures in the context of relationship and intent and asking God the Holy Spirit to come alongside me as I read, the scriptures come alive to me. I wrestle with God until I receive a blessing and sometimes walk away limping.

One of the reasons I often misread God’s intent in the Old Testament is because I misunderstood the Law. I always saw it as some ideal that we couldn’t measure up to no matter how hard we tried to remind us how separate we are from God. But as I have shifted the way I think about God and His intentions towards me, I have begun to see the Law as a way that God was entering into every part of His people’s lives. From the clothes they wore to the way they prepared their food, God wanted to be present to His people. His instructions about how to care for the poor, the widow, the foreigner and the 7 year cycles of economic restoration show God’s heart for justice. And in the sacrifices and offerings, God gives them a way to come near to Him and also to be a people.

It struck me as I read that the Levites were provided for by the sacrifices, tithes and offerings of the people. A whole group of people were dependent on the others drawing near to God in these prescribed ways.

So imagine you feel the need to bring a sin offering. A lamb is hard to hide. Can you imagine? You are walking your sin offering to the tabernacle and there are people seeing you on your way: “Didn’t she just go last week with a goat?” You wave sheepishly - ha! Pun intended. This model of community where people are dependent on each other’s honesty, confession and celebration is a model for the modern church.

My friend told me this story of being a student in Paris many years ago. This was way before cell phones and even (if you can imagine it!) before the internet. She was alone and it was winter and she had a bit of a cold. As she was blowing her nose, she noticed that her snot was black! She was a little nervous about it and didn’t know exactly what to do. She arrived at class and there were other students there too. The professor was running a little late and one of her classmates started up a conversation. “I’ve been blowing my nose a lot lately.” Several people’s ears’ perked up. “There’s this black stuff coming out of my head - I’m a little worried.” The classroom exploded in discussion and relief with several other students saying, “me too!” “I thought it was just me” “I thought I was dying!” Come to find out, there were a lot of chimneys in the area and the soot they were breathing in was coloring their mucous.

When people are open and vulnerable about their struggles it is nourishing for others. We are able to breathe a sigh of relief that we aren’t the only one who fails or feels inadequate and that gives us courage and confidence to keep moving toward God and others.

 

Another thing that struck me was the laying hands on the head of the sacrifice. I don’t hunt or raise animals for food, so my experience with the process is very limited.I have some friends who own a small farm and they raise goats there.


Here are some pictures of Cirrus when he was a baby. I have visited them, and I got to hold some baby goats and it was really great. When someone brought an animal to the priest to be offered to God, they were supposed to bring their best one. For sin offerings, they were to put their hands on the animal’s head, and make a confession before the animal was killed.

I tried to imagine doing that to little Cirrus here. Can you imagine? Maybe some of you do hunt or prepare animals for food, so it might be easier for you to be detached, but seriously, look at this cutie! Now imagine that you raised him from birth and he is the strongest, best looking animal that you have. You have walked with him to the altar and there he is bound by the priest and you put your hand on his head and speak your confession. The priest then slits his throat so that he dies quickly and so that the blood pours out on the altar. Then the priest would prepare the fat and organs to be consumed by the fire and prepare the meat to be eaten by himself and his family.

It is no accident that John the Baptist calls Jesus the Lamb of God. This would have been a vivid picture for the Jewish hearers. What about us today? What do we think of when we hear these words?

Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. God’s word says in Hebrews 10, “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.”

I invite you this morning to think of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

He is nailed to a cross.

Imagine putting your hand on His head and speaking your confession. Speak it out loud. Name the things that are keeping you far from God.

He is lifted up.

Look at Him on the cross. He is there to show His love. His provision.

This is His body, broken for you. Take and eat.

This is His blood, shed for you. Take and drink.

Let us pray.

Reflections on the Good Samaritan - Lakeview Church of Christ

Today’s text is from Luke 10:25-37 and is known as the story of the Good Samaritan. But the context is (as always) very important to understanding this story, so as I read it to you this morning, listen to the bigger story surrounding this well known story.

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

On one level, this is a story, a familiar story, of what it means to love our neighbor. All my life growing up I thought of it as just that. I have heard many sermons reinforcing this idea - and it is true that God wants us to love our neighbor. As Martin Luther King Jr. says in his sermon the day before he was assassinated:

Now, you know, we use our imagination a great deal to try to determine why the priest and the Levite didn’t stop. [and] I’m going to tell you what my imagination tells me. It’s possible that those men were afraid. You see, the Jericho Road is a dangerous road.In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the ‘Bloody Pass.’ And you know, it’s possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. And so the first question that the priest asked, the first question that the Levite asked was, ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’

But then the Good Samaritan came by, and he reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?'”

That is a beautiful reflection on this story and I don’t want to miss that. We see in this discussion with the law expert that loving your neighbor is an essential ingredient to eternal life with God.

And so I could preach a sermon on reaching out, on not being afraid of the cost or if they are the “right sort of people” and be neighbors to those around you, but I think it would fall short of the big picture story that is happening here in this passage.

Let’s look at the scene a little closer. Jesus is usually described as being surrounded by His disciples who seemed to travel together in a group from place to place. Maybe you’ve seen a film portrayal of Jesus that has a scene like that. He is walking through a town or sitting among some followers teaching and talking to them. And the religious leaders of the day were not at all happy with Him. They were suspicious and maligning and taking opportunities to test him in public with questions about the Sabbath and the resurrection and who He was hanging out with.

And this is one of those occasions. An expert in the law stands up in the midst of this gathering of Jesus and his followers and wants to see how He will answer this fundamental question. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

And being the great Teacher that He is, Jesus turns the question back on the asker. How do you interpret what God says on the subject? What does the Law have to say about it? And surprisingly (or maybe he heard Jesus give this answer on another occasion) he says that the Law says to love God and love your neighbor. Great! Jesus affirms him - do this! You got it!

But, the text tells us, he wants to justify himself - wants to prove himself right, wants to show off his goodness - so he asks a second question. “Who is my neighbor?” he was pretty sure of himself and of what Jesus would say.

But Jesus cannot be contained or contrived or cajoled to fit into a human way of thinking. This is a showdown where Jesus asserts His kingdom values. Instead of a quick answer, a checklist, or an easy definition, Jesus tells a story.

Thomas G. Long, of Emory’s School of Theology, describes the scene this way, 
Jesus did not respond as expected. He did not congratulate the lawyer as a man of good standing. To the contrary, he buckled the lawyer’s knees and threw him into a ditch. He did so by telling a story, a parable. “A certain man was going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho…,” he begins. Because this “certain man,”... is generic and everybody had traveled that Jericho road from time to time, Jesus was, in effect, saying to the lawyer, ‘Imagine that you were heading down the old road from Jerusalem to Jericho and then a terrible thing happened to you. You fell into the hands of robbers who stripped you, beat you, and left you for half dead.’ In short, the lawyer, who Luke says ‘stood up to test Jesus’ and wanted ‘to justify himself,’ now finds himself face down beside the road. No longer in the stance of righteousness, he is now in the posture of dire need.

Jesus was not in the business of giving out a moral code or a formula - He was describing a Kingdom and an upside-down one at that.

Putting the story in the context of Jesus’ purpose and message, I realized that it wasn’t just a story with a moral. The words that Jesus uses are important and definitely not accidental.

First of all, the priest and the Levite are significant choices for the ones leaving the guy in the ditch. What is Jesus trying to say about that? The priest is a representative of the Law. The Law was what this lawyer was banking on to guarantee him eternal life. The Levite was one who carried out the duties in the Temple which represents service to God. So, neither adherence to the Law nor service to God saved this man from his helpless condition.

“Then a certain Samaritan came by.” Using a Samaritan as the hero of the story is no accident. Another well known story involving a Samaritan is the woman at the well. While talking to Jesus, she asks Him about the proper place to worship God stating that the Jews say it is Jerusalem and the Samaritans say it is Mount Gerizim.

The hearers of the Good Samaritan story would have known this controversy. The Jewish lawyer, like any other Jew of that time, would have considered himself as worshipping correctly.

But how does Jesus answer the Samaritan woman? He says “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem...a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth.”

In using a Samaritan for the hero of His story, Jesus is reinforcing this idea. There is not a right way, a right place, a right rule to follow.

Is it possible that Jesus is saying that true worship is happening here? That somehow when we take care of one another, when we love our neighbor that God is present? As Jesus says a little later in the book of Luke, “the Kingdom of God is already among you.”

Looking even deeper, we see that the Samaritan is someone who was "despised and rejected" by the Jews. In the story Jesus says "when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him" which is almost word for word what the Bible says about Jesus in Matthew 9:36 "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless"

This “certain Samaritan” is a picture of Jesus. The rescuer. The unexpected Messiah who doesn’t fit into the picture that everyone at the time had in their minds of what a Messiah should be. The one who binds up our wounds. The one who takes care of our needs. The one that we would be dead without.

Ultimately, He is trying to tell this lawyer a deep truth - that he is in need. That he is not going to be able to have eternal life with God in his own rightness. He is, like everyone else, desperately in need of a savior. It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

As Thomas G. Long goes on to say, “the real answer to the lawyer’s question ‘who is my neighbor?’ is that you have no idea who your neighbor is until you, yourself, know how needy you are, and in that need receive the unexpected grace of being neighbored by God.”

Jesus finishes telling the story and now it's His turn for questions: "Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” The expert in the law can't even bring himself to say the word Samaritan. He answers: “The one who showed him mercy.”

Then Jesus says, "go and do likewise" Show mercy. Find those lying in ditches and bring them hope and healing in His name. But he also has to recognize that he was once in that ditch himself. Jesus is asking him to do kingdom work. Because it is only when we see our own need for God’s grace and mercy that we can reach out to others from a place of mutuality and compassion instead of advantage or privilege.

I think we are not all that different from the lawyer in this story. At least I know I am. I like to ask Jesus questions that I already know the answer to. I like to look good in front of the crowd. I like to have my way of doing things rubber-stamped by God and be on my merry way. But it doesn’t work like that.

When I really take time to listen to Jesus, He turns my world upside down. Doreena, a woman in our community, had a great word for us at our prayer meeting on Wednesday - she said something to the effect of “Jesus turns our world upside down but because the world’s way of doing things is so upside down - when Jesus turns it upside down He is really turning things right side up!”

This Good Samaritan story is so beautiful because of the many layers of truth. We are absolutely called to love our neighbors. But as we do it, we must acknowledge that we are enacting the Kingdom of God. Bringing God’s order and the gospel of reconciliation to life. And we do this not to earn God’s favor or eternal life, but to worship and revere God as our true King. To say no to the world’s upside down way of competing and comparing and categorizing.
 
Jesus came to set the oppressed free, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and to preach the good news to the poor. Jesus absolutely made Himself poor and powerless and let Himself be nothing - considering equality with God not worth holding onto in comparison to the restoration of His relationship with us and each other.

Jesus says, “where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” We know it when we see it. We feel it deep within our hearts when God is present. When forgiveness is extended. When prisoners are set free. When the impossible becomes possible through the power of reconciliation. This means that we shouldn’t merely be good neighbors, but we should also let ourselves be neighbored.

We sometimes have groups come visit our community from the suburbs or from small towns and they want to come see what God is doing here in the city. Many of these groups end up serving at Cornerstone Community Outreach, a homeless shelter just a few blocks from here.

Before we go, we talk together about the people we are going to meet and spend time with at CCO and I always have them imagine what it must be like to be on the receiving end of being served. And then we talk about how it feels to give. To serve. And then I challenge them and we brainstorm together some ways that we can receive from the people we will interact with. We remind each other that we don’t give anyone dignity because dignity is God-given - we simply recognize the dignity of the people we encounter. Children of God. Made in God’s image. We let ourselves be neighbored.

Lilla Watson, an Australian Aboriginal elder, educator, and activist says “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

We must die to our own privilege, our own selfish ambition, our own interests - we must take up our cross daily to follow Jesus. It is in our mutuality - in our shared life together that people will come to know this God we serve.

Richard Rohr says it this way, “Until and unless Christ is experienced as a living relationship between people, the Gospel remains largely an abstraction. Until Christ is passed on personally through faithfulness and forgiveness, through concrete bonds of union, I doubt whether he is passed on by words, sermons, institutions, or ideas.”

The God who loves us and knows us is the first community. The three persons of God exist in a continuous giving and receiving relationship with Godself. When we reach out to our neighbors and let ourselves be neighbored we are reflecting God’s glory.

There is an old Hasidic Jewish tale that goes like this:

A Rabbi gathered together his students and asked them:
‘How do we know the exact moment when night ends and day begins?’
‘It’s when, standing some way away, you can tell a sheep from a dog,’ said one boy.
The Rabbi was not content with the answer. Another student said:
‘No, it’s when, standing some way away, you can tell an olive tree from a fig tree.’
‘No, that’s not a good definition either.’
‘Well, what’s the right answer?’ asked the boys.
And the Rabbi said:
‘When a stranger approaches, and we think he is our brother, that is the moment when night ends and day begins.’

36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Yes, let us go and do likewise. Amen.