John 18: 33-37 Two Kingdoms and the importance of Location.

            Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ: Amen!

            What is the most important part of buying a house? It is the same word three times. The most important consideration that I have heard is “Location, Location, Location!” That makes sense, we want to be in just the right place when it comes to where we live. We want to be in that place that suits our needs. Some people like to live in the city…feel the hustle and bustle, attend events, and be able to get around fairly easy. Some of us like living in the suburbs where it is quiet. There are some stores but not too many. It might take a little while to drive to get somewhere. There are many factors that go into finding that one perfect…or near perfect place to live.

            Today’s reading of John speaks of a particular place…a kingdom, in fact. Jesus has been arrested, really the term is handed over, and he is take to Pontius Pilate. The chief priests take Jesus to Pilate, the Roman Authority thinking that if they tell them that Jesus says he is King, then Pilate will step in for Rome because Rome is in control of the region and any threats to the Roman Empire will be dealt with. So, Jesus is taken here in the hopes that the Romans will deal with him.

            Pilate asks Jesus that all important question, “Are you the King of the Jews?” It is an important question with many implications, depending on how Jesus will answer. What really got me thinking this past week is Jesus’ statement “my kingdom is not of this world…” His Kingdom is not of this world! Some of you might be asking why this would astound me! It seems like a “no brainer,” doesn’t it? Some of you might be thinking that, of course, it is a no brainer because Jesus is the Son of God, right! That is so simple that even our young people could get that one!

            But sit and really think about what that means. Jesus, a King, has a kingdom somewhere else…not of this world. What other world is there. And I am sure you might be saying, duh, pastor, ITS HEAVEN!!!! If we are to look at it in the black and white terms, it would be an easy answer. There are two kingdoms, the one on earth and the one in heaven. Pretty cut and dry; you have this one kingdom here and the other one up there.

            But like all things, it is not as simple as it sounds. It is not simple because we recognize Jesus as God’s Son, right? Our Gospel of John tells us who Jesus is: “in the beginning was the Word…and the Word became flesh.” We have a Trinitarian faith; meaning, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are one…Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, right? This whole thing becomes complicated because Jesus, God’s Son, is in this Kingdom. Jesus is not in some far off Kingdom. Jesus is here, in the flesh, right?

            The mere presence of Jesus in this world brings that, what seemed to be far off kingdom, into this world full of earthly kingdoms. Jesus is in the world. That line or whatever the border was between the two kingdoms is no more. There is no border because Jesus is in the world. This is where the two kingdoms intersect; that kingdom that seemed so far off is now in the world.

            But what does it mean? For the people of Jesus’ time, there were these two kingdoms. God was in this far off place and basically said, “Hey, I am giving this to you to take care of. Here ya go!” And almost from the very beginning it went downhill from there. The humans…the people that God put on the planet began doing things for themselves. God talked to them and gave them laws to follow, told them what to do, and gave them food to eat when it seemed like they would starve. Some people became powerful rulers and started abusing their power. They believed that God gave them the power and in the Roman’s case the leaders thought they were elevated to the status of God.

            The people living under this power were not treated very well. We know the story of Cane and Abel. One exerted power over the other. Stories keep going like that of rulers keeping the people in line and the people crying out to this far off God. It seems fair that they would think that God is far off and they might wonder if God is even hearing them at all!

            That is where this other Kingdom intersects the earthly kingdom. Jesus is now in the world. He brings this Kingdom into the world of earthly. This kingdom that he brings is something very different than what people are used to. Because, in this kingdom that Jesus is from is the heavenly kingdom. It is a kingdom that brings healing. Healing for those who have cried out to the Lord for their prayers to be heard. Healing for those who are suffering from starvation. He brings healing for those who are considered unworthy of God’s love (by human definition), and he brings the gifts of mercy and forgiveness. It is the mercy…God’s mercy for everyone who seeks to know God and want to be a part of God’s kingdom.

            And, of course, there is forgiveness…God’s forgiveness that is offered. Jesus is pointing out that God’s forgiveness is offered to all who seek it; whether it be the oppressed or the oppressor, This Kingdom that Jesus is the king of is one that allows and invites all to God’s table of forgiveness. We know that to be true because of the communion table which we are all invited to receive that forgiveness. This Kingdom of Jesus is offered to the people of Jesus time and place who are crying out to the Lord and who seek God to be with them.

            This Kingdom of Jesus intersects with us as well. We know all the things going on in the world. We are reminded, every day, of people wielding power, abusing their positions, hurting each other…neighbors, family members, friends. I am sure we have all experienced that hurt and pain in our lives, at one point or another. And it is not easy living in this earthly kingdom. Sometimes we have to make tough choices! Sometimes, we are the ones doing the hurting.

Today, this other kingdom that Jesus speaks of is with us just as it was with the people of Jesus’ time. We are witness to this dialogue between Jesus and Pilate, we cry out to the Lord for God’s intervention in our own lives in some way shape or form. We listen to God’s word through the words and actions of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. That same mercy and forgiveness is offered to us and for us. It is offered to others just as it is offered to us. We spend time in this world that Jesus talks about in our worship and fellowship times, our ministries, Sunday school, bible study, choir…you know those places where we lift one another up in support and prayer, fun and laughter and tears and hugs.

            The kingdom that Jesus talks about is in the here and now. They intersect through our baptism, and through the sacrament of Holy Communion. It is the Kingdom of God’s love and protection, God’s Kingdom of grace, mercy, and healing. AND, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ it is the kingdom of eternal life. The question can then become, “which kingdom do you want to spend most of your time?” Location, Location, Location: Amen!

Mark 12:38-44: Giving your whole life to God! It can be scary, but oh, so rewarding!

            This past week we had an incident in our home that to some may be considered devastating and for one of us it was. I told you in a sermon a few weeks ago that my wife has certain areas of expertise in our marriage; specifically, that she was the keeper of the calendar for the family (in addition to her church calendar, all appointments, and meetings); and I was…key word…was the technology person in the house. Ever since she got her new phone which is the same phone (Android) operating system that she had before, our calendars would not sync. We used to be able to look at our phones and see each other’s calendar and life was good.

            This past week, I decided to take a look at why it was not working. I went into my phone and I would look at things and then go to her phone and look at the same things. I got to this one step of deleting what is called cache memory. I deleted it on my phone first and nothing happened, so I did the same with hers. Then I got to this one other part of memory. I got a warning on her phone and mine, so I decided I would try it on my phone. Deleted the memory and my calendar was still there with all the stuff still on it…sounds okay right? Do you know what is coming next…That’s right! I deleted it on her phone and her entire calendar disappeared! Every appointment was gone! Gone! Usually it saves it all to our Google account calendar, but her phone didn’t. Everything was gone! Needless to say things were a little tense around the Litton household for a few days trying to figure out how to get all this back…if we could get any of it back.

            I believe that this story in our lives relates directly to our Gospel reading this morning. In particular, this story of the widow in the temple. Jesus is watching people put money in the Temple treasury. It was a part of what they did and who they were. He watched as rich people put their money into the treasury and everything was going along smoothly; until he saw this “poor widow.” When she comes up, Jesus takes notice! So much so, that he calls the disciples to come over because there is a lesson here, there is something to teach them something. Jesus sees it as more than a teaching moment. To Jesus it is an incredible witness to something much bigger.

            To get to that something bigger, we have to look back at the beginning of this Gospel reading. Jesus tells the disciples to “beware of scribes in Long robes…” and to be honest this passage can make some of us who wear white robes in worship a little nervous. These scribes and people who wore the robes were in a position of authority. They were born into their positions as priests and scribes. As we talked in our bible study this past week, these were not people called to their vocation, they were born into it. They obeyed set the rules and dictated who was in and who was out. There was an expectation that they were given high places of honor. It opened up the door to some abuses by the very people born into those positions. It opened the door to some being treated less like valued human beings and God's children.

            With all that in the background, here is this woman coming up to the treasury to put in these two coins! It might sound like we would want to prevent her from doing that, doesn’t it. We know the back story on these priests and scribes and we might want to tell her to keep it because she will need it more than the temple. We might think we are being compassionate to her to say, “Stop! They are just going to waste it!” We might even want to think that she is not smart for putting these coins in! After all, it is her life savings! It is all she has! After she does this, there is no more! “All she had to live on,” Jesus says. If we believe that is exactly what we would say to her and try to prevent her from giving, then we are missing the bigger picture as well.

            The bigger picture is not that she gave two coins into the treasury. The bigger picture is that she gave her entire life, not to the treasury, but to God. She was a faithful woman who, regardless of her wealth or poverty, gave her entire life over to God! Those two coins were only the symbol of who she was. She had more than two coins to give in her worship of God. She was more than money. She was a living, breathing child of God. She was a person who had a heart, who had blessings, who made mistakes, who had some down times as well as good and she gave it all over to God.

            This bigger picture is realizing what exactly it was that she put into that treasury. It was her body and soul, it was her heart…her life, death, and everything in between depended and rested on God because it was given to God. It did not matter what some in the temple would do with what she put in because that wasn’t the point. The point was that her entire life was given over to God and relied upon God’s promises to her. She would now have to rely on God for everything.

            I don’t know about you but it sounds like she has put herself in a pretty vulnerable position! It is a pretty vulnerable position when you have to rely on others for everything. My wife felt extremely vulnerable when all those calendar dates disappeared! It is a helpless feeling to have that important aspect of your life…those things that you are so responsible for and feel that responsibility suddenly gone is not a good feeling. I don’t know if you have ever experienced vulnerability, but it can affect your trust in others, decision making processes can be called into question, and can cause us to do things we normally would not do.

            While a calendar does not compare to one’s entire life, it is an example of the vulnerability that we may have experienced in our lives. In contrast, imagine doing that with your entire life. Imagine taking everything you are…I am not even talking about money…just who you are; every breath you breathe, every word you say, food you eat, decisions you make…all of who you are and say “I am giving all this over to you, God. It yours and I will do with it what you ask. I rely on you to guide me in everything I do.”

            That is not an easy thing to do. There are parts of our lives that we want to control. We want to have control over some aspects of our lives. Sure there are some easy things we can give over to God. But it is not easy to give everything over to God. It is not easy because it means that we have to give up control. It means we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to what God wants us to do and to spend time with God, getting to know ourselves (warts and all) to acknowledge our gifts and acknowledge where we fall short. It means allowing ourselves to be vulnerable to call ourselves sinners AND knowing that God’s Son, Jesus died for our sin. It means allowing ourselves to acknowledge that amid Christ’s death on the cross is the promise of God’s forgiveness and that we are to live out that forgiveness with one another.

            This “poor woman” shows us how blessed we really are. Despite her poverty, she teaches us all the promises of God that God works through all of us to teach us of the love of God, the uneasiness of vulnerability, the power of forgiveness, and God’s promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. AMEN!

All Saints Day: John 11:32-44 Anger amid promise

            This past week while my wife and I were at the Gym, a gentleman who knows we are pastors and who talks to us quite a bit asked a question. Up to this point, he has never engaged us in religious questions, but as we are exercising, it happened! He said “Can I ask you all a bible question?” I have to be honest that these are some of the times that pastor’s live for. We get all excited about the question that is to come. I am about to pass out because the amount of exercise we do on Mondays but I perked right up, waiting for this question.

            I was not disappointed by the question. He said, “Is it in the bible that God does not give you anything you can’t handle?” Now, if you are in a room full of pastors, you would see people wanting to chime in immediately. It can look pretty amusing but there were the two of us and I must say that I was quiet for a moment. This question called for a time to think, first before speaking.

            This question has a lot to do with today’s Gospel reading and this particular day that we celebrate; All Saints Day. Our Gospel reading begins with Mary confronting Jesus. Mary is not happy; she is grieving, obviously! She wants Jesus to know that in her grief there is anger. The statement that she makes is that she knows that if Jesus would have been around, Jesus could have prevented this death! To be clear, Mary is a woman of faith. This is the same Mary who washed Jesus feet with perfume and dried his feet with her hair. She knew what Jesus has done in the past; and her faith tells her what Jesus could have done…had he been there.

            I think what is important in this passage is Jesus’ reaction. Jesus saw her weeping. He saw her grief and he saw the grief of everyone else that was with her. Jesus reaction was not to punish her, or say words to her that would put her in her place. JESUS was “greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.” That is putting it a little politely. Our English translation does not do Jesus reaction Justice. The Greek words are the same words used to describe anger. He wasn’t deeply moved, Jesus was angry! Imagine, the Son of God angry!

            So why would Jesus be angry? Was Jesus angry because of Death? What was death to Jesus and the people of his time? Death was the end. There was nothing after death; all the people knew was that when there was death that was it…nothing more or less. Death seemed to be more of a punishment because it was the end. It was almost like Satan had control over death because of its finality! Look at what death did to Lazarus’ family. This death tore the family and friends apart. Look at their faces! They are weeping and wailing. They feel the sense of loss, this hole in their heart where Lazarus once occupied space is now gone.

            So, Jesus is angry about all this. He is angry because of the finality that Mary and Martha see. He is angry at the appearance of Satan having control of death; AND, he is angry at how death tears apart the family. He is angry at seeing the pain on their faces, the tears that are being shed for their loving friend and brother. He is angry because Jesus is not only fully Divine…fully the Son of God, but he is also fully human; sharing the emotions of God’s children for the loss of a friend.

            He is so moved that we read a little further that “Jesus weeps.” Jesus’ emotions well up in him and he experiences the same loss that Mary, Martha, and all his friends experience. HE feels the hole in his heart, the memories that he shared with Lazarus, for now, are only that…memories.

            But Jesus does not get consumed with his grief and the grief of others. Jesus goes to the tomb. He wants to go in and Martha says that Lazarus has been dead for four days. It is important to know that Jewish customs believed the soul left the body after three days and he has been gone four days; so, there is no way he is coming back. And she tells him that the stench is there because he has been dead for four days. Jesus does not let that stop him. Jesus enters the tomb and is going to show Martha the Glory of God that was promised because of her faith. He prays and lets out his cry for Lazarus to “come out!”

            By God’s glory and the love of God Lazarus emerges from the tomb. “Unbind him and let him go,” Jesus says. This death of Lazarus that seemed so final, is no longer final. Death that seemed to be controlled by Satan has lost that sting, and that hole that was once in the heart is no longer. Those tears wept for a dead man are now tears of Joy in his raising.

            I think we can relate in some ways to this Gospel. We know what it is like to lose a loved one. We have lost people special to us. We have felt that hole in our hearts, we have experienced the physical and emotional pain of loss. We have been through all these emotions that come with the loss of a loved one. We feel it when we lose members of our congregation as well.

            So I go back to the question asked by the Gentleman this past week. “Is it in the bible that God only gives us what we can handle?” The question implies that if we lose a loved one that God, somehow, thinks we can handle it. It even implies that God would allow this to happen because we “can handle it.” That is not the God that I know! We have here in our Gospel reading a display of Jesus being angry because of death, because of the pain that it causes in those that are left behind. We see Jesus, the Son of God weeping just as we weep for our loved ones, weeping for the memories left behind when we would much rather have the person. This also means that getting angry is normal.

            While we do experience the emotions and physical pain of loss; we witness God’s promise displayed that death is not the end. Jesus went into that tomb where death was present and smelly. He went face-to-face with death and refused to allow the sting of death to be the last word. Through Jesus, God promised to remove the stench and darkness of death and bring new life. God’s promise of life is first witnessed here in this tomb of Lazarus; but it will be promised to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the promise of being released into new life…unbound by the sting and stench of death to experience all of God’s glory, love, and light.

            Today, we celebrate all the saints who have gone before us. Especially those who have joined the heavenly choir within the past year. We do not presume to take away the pain and sadness of their loss. We celebrate their life of ministry, their life of love and light in our lives and in God’s Kingdom here on earth. It is the day where we mourn the loss, but fondly remember their impact on our lives, the funny stories, quirks, sayings; but most importantly we remember how much they are loved by God and by us. And, we do look to the day when we will be at the great banquet together that has no end…AND there won’t be any need for gyms or diets: Amen!