Standing Firm

Ephesians 6:10-20
August 23, 2009


I have never preached on this passage before
because it’s so warrior-like
and we have enough images of warriors and aggression
every day
Actually, when I read this passage,
I picture a full suit of armor
where the person inside can’t even move
much less defend him or herself
Christian bookstores have little plastic sets
of armor for children to play with
in reference to this passage
They have swords, breastplates
and big, sturdy belts that come down like an apron
They have plastic helmets
like the kind you’d see in Ben Hur
or some ancient warrior movie
And of course, they have a shield, also
like you might see in a movie about gallant knights
and inevitably the shield has a cross on it
I’ve often thought that the little kid wearing those things
should get into a macho stance
and say in their best Clint Eastwood voice,
“Go ahead, make my day.”

And that’s why I never preached on this passage before
because by the time I’m done reading it,
I’m kind of giggling
and it’s hard for me to relate
But I thought I’d work with it this week
because sometimes I like to try impossible things

As many of you have learned by now,
on Friday at school,
Sarah thought she’d channel the spirit of Michael Jackson
and suddenly be able to dance like him
If you’ve ever seen Michael Jackson dance
you know that he did things that are physically impossible
One of his signature moves
is called a toe jump
where he literally goes up on his toes
on both feet
seemingly with no effort at all
Well, when Sarah spontaneously tried it,
it didn’t work out so well
and after a long afternoon in the doctor’s office
she’s wearing one of those lovely post-op shoes on her foot
and her big toe is taped to her second toe
to keep it from moving
As you see, she’s using crutches to walk
I can’t help but think that if anyone wanted to try the infamous toe jump
it is recommended to be wearing steel-toed boots

In my braver moments when I’ve tried roller-blading,
I’ve worn all the protection that is available,
the helmet, the elbow pads, the knee pads
the wrist braces
just because there is a greater chance than not
that I will fall
We have air bags and seat belts in our cars
not because we’re PLANNING on crashing
but because crashes happen
and it’s best to have a little insurance
to lessen the pain in the event of a crash
And to try to protect our lives as best we can
It’s just common sense

When I was a kid, there was that age-old saying
“Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words will never hurt me…”
I said it, my friends said it,
we all said it
because other kids are cruel
and they say mean things
but as much as we said it
I’ve come to learn it just isn’t true
In fact, it is pure bovine excrement
Sticks and stones may break our bones
but words do in fact hurt
and sometimes they hurt worse than a broken bone
I don’t like this passage
because it feels so violent to me
It conjures up a warrior image
a violent image to me
We have to be ready to fight
to stick out our sword
to do battle, draw blood if we have to
and challenge our enemies to go ahead,
make our day
It reeks of the images of my God is bigger than your God
my God will wipe you out
if you are a sinner, or if you don’t believe
Christians have absorbed all the violent imagery of the world around us
and utilized it in our language, our attitudes and actions
We tend to assume that God blesses our anger, our hate
and our thirst for violence
But the more I read this passage,
it’s not a violent passage
The things that we are given to put on
are not things to fight and kill with
but things to defend ourselves with
To protect ourselves
They are defensive, not offensive
They are things intended to protect us in the fight
that is inevitable in living in this violent world
It’s not an ad to condone the freedom to have a concealed weapon
or a weapon that can kill
it is a passage of strength
of putting on the strength of God
to live and love in a world that is allergic to everything
Jesus stands for
Jesus didn’t wear armor
Jesus never carried a weapon
even though his life was in danger all the time
even though some crazy lunatic
could have jumped out of the crowd
at any moment
and killed him in anger
in righteous anger
because there were people, religious people
who believed that he was the son of the Devil himself
and they would have justified the killing
as a righteous act
“Finally,” Paul says, “ be strong in the Lord and in the strength
of his power….”
We have a funny view of power in our world
We think of power
as power OVER something
as something dominant, even violent
We are always striving for power in our lives
and a lot of what we do is an effort to not lose that power
We try to control other people
we try to control our children
and our spouses
We try to control our world
If things don’t go our way
we get mean
We don’t like the feeling of not having power
Of feeling powerless
We live in a democracy and we say we value that
but we don’t seem to value it very much
when we don’t get what we wanted
what we voted for
We like democracy as long as we are on the winning side
We don’t like to lose
So a person who feels powerless
feels like the whole world is against him
doesn’t properly value him
and then he loses his job at the post office
or the factory
or he fails a course in the college
So he gets a gun and he goes in there and blows everybody away
because that gives him a sense of power
for just that one tragic moment
Someone didn’t agree with Abraham Lincoln
trying to free all those slaves
they didn’t like his policies
his vision
and they didn’t vote for him
So they blew him away
Someone didn’t agree with Martin Luther King, Jr.
and they hated “his kind”
and they didn’t want his kind
to get too full of themselves
to have any power
and so they blew him away
But every day ordinary people
who are otherwise peace-loving people
use words as their weapons
and do incredible damage day after day
because they feel powerless
and they use words to feel power
Sticks and stones break our bones
but words kill spirits,
words kill souls
and cause life-long guilt and shame
that can do enormous damage
I know I talk about this kind of stuff a lot
because I feel very strongly about it
I am tired of the Church and Christianity
having the reputation of being mean and judgmental
Religious people can be some of the meanest people out there
We tend to think that we live day to day
without a moral checklist
Without examining ourselves and who we are
what we’ve done
But I think all of us need to take a look at ourselves
every person who professes to represent Jesus Christ
should take a moral inventory daily
Have I said something today to hurt another?
Have I done anything to foster an attitude of violence?
Have I tried to be controlling of another human being?
Have I said something hurtful
even in an attempt to be funny
that could have taken out a piece of someone’s heart today?
If so, I need to repent
and even ask that person’s forgiveness before I ask God
Have I been a gracious loser in an argument
or in a decision making process?

I say all this, because we are told to put on the armor of God
to hold a shield to protect us from flaming arrows
We need protection according to this
but what is it that we need protection from?
From the ways of the Devil, it says
well, the ways of the Devil, I think we can all agree
is evil
But what is evil?
What is coming at us that we need protection from?
It is a tough world out there for anyone
but it’s even tougher for people of peace
for people who strive for peace in all things
who want to see a world governed by peace
because the rest of the world
is very violent
We want to kill our opponents
we want to kill people who live differently than ourselves
we want to kill people we don’t even know
And to stand up against that attitude is dangerous as well
When you stand out as different in this world
you get called names
We have a variety of names
slut, communist, red, Satanist, you name it
we come up with the worst names we can
to convince ourselves that our enemies are not human
Who wants to be called those kind of names?
No one
So we keep quiet
But God calls us to stand firm
against the ways of evil
with the very real risk that we will get labeled a terrible name
that will break our hearts
and threaten to wound our very souls
But God calls us to be a people of peace
in a world bent on violence
God calls us to strengthen ourselves
to wear protection
which doesn’t mean our hearts won’t get broken
or that we won’t bleed
because if we are human at all, we will
We are not called to participate in the violence all around us
we are to wear defensive armor
only to defend, and not to hurt others
We are to hold shields to ward off the stinging, burning arrows
that others point at us
that may momentarily knock us to our knees
but we are also to wear the shoes
that will give us the foundation to proclaim TRUTH
give us the foundation to walk forward
amidst this world of sharp and deadly arrows coming our way
and to still be a people of peace, grace,
mercy, and a love that cannot be shaken
cannot be stopped even
if the one bearing that good news
is shot down like Lincoln or King
the message still goes on
because the message is eternal
and the message cannot be shut up
or destroyed
How do we protect ourselves?
We pray, Paul says
we pray on our feet, we pray in our car
we pray even in the midst of one of those deadly arguments
we walk away from the argument if we have to
before we decided to do or say anything deadly
We fill our minds with good things,
good words, good images, good songs
We associate with peaceful people
who build us up, who nurture our spirits,
who make us laugh, and who will listen to our deepest pains
without judging us
We shut off the commentators
who spew violence
we shut off the loud, obnoxious fights
we get up from the table and walk away
when the conversations turn violent
We stand firm as believers in the God of peace and justice
We stand firm in the footsteps of Jesus
who was and is the Prince of Peace
who never carried a weapon
who only spoke violence against those
who used religion to bless their own evil ways
who faced his enemies without a sword
because he knew that no power on earth
is greater than the power of love
that comes from heaven
It is hard to be a good person
it is easy to say, I’m just doing what everyone else does
and I’m just trying to save my own skin
but we’re called to look out for each other’s skin too
and I don’t believe there is anything more offensive to God
than to use God’s name
to condone violence, cruelty, meanness
and killing
So be strong, it’s a tough world
Stand firm in your values and convictions
stand firm in the power of God’s kingdom
God’s mercy, love and grace
Clothe yourselves, cover yourselves in God’s peace
cleanse yourselves with God’s unwavering love
Pray, pray, pray
for the strength to keep a tender heart
in a vicious world
Pray for the power to resist evil
to resist getting caught up in the crossfires
pray for the strength to walk away from the fight
before you are tempted to pull the trigger
Pray to be fully clothed
in the power and light and glory
of the Living Christ
who absolutely refuses to give up on this world
who refuses to give up on you and me
and who will not stop
resisting the powers of evil
until this whole world is governed by peace
and life is free to endure…

Say What?

John 6:51-58
August 16, 2009


I’m so glad the 24 hour news coverage
wasn’t around when Jesus was around
Better yet, I’m glad the internet wasn’t around
Can you imagine?
Jesus got enough flack as it was,
and was certainly misunderstood, misquoted,
and mis-represented
I can just see it now:
“New Religious Leader Insists on Cannibalism”
“Jesus,” they’d say, “the son of Mary and Joseph of Nazareth
who many are claiming could be the long – awaited Messiah,
was heard saying recently
that in order to follow him
One must eat his flesh and drink his blood….
Parents are outraged
religious leaders are denouncing him,
Could he actually be the Son of Satan?
More at 11….”
I can see the disciples being mobbed outside
the synagogues, microphones pressed into their faces
as they just try to get home
“No comment,” they kept saying,
pushing their way through the arms and cameras
Talk show hosts going on TV and radio
shouting, shaking their fists
denouncing this new leader, this idealist
who claims some special authority
“He’s the son of Satan!” They say
“Keep your children away from him!
He must be a communist!”
Others say…

In the 2nd century, when the Early Christians were persecuted
by the Roman authorities,
they were accused of just that
of eating flesh and drinking blood
The news got around that this new young sect,
this religious movement started by that radical teacher
who was killed on a cross around 30 A.D.,
this group of followers were engaging in cannibalism
It was horrifying
denounced as evil, of the devil
Eating the flesh of a human being was an Old Testament metaphor
for very hostile acts against your enemy
Drinking the blood of any living thing
was abhorrent to any good Jew
it was in God’s Old Testament law
You do not drink the blood of an animal --
the though of drinking the blood of any human
was too horrifying to even talk about….
The rumors just grew from there
the speculations about what those Christians did
when they went inside their places of worship
to eat flesh and drink blood
People started saying that they were having orgies in there as well
that they were sacrificing human beings
and eating their flesh, drinking their blood
all in the name of this Jesus
And you know how it is,
nobody bothered to find out the truth
nobody bothered to actually go in there to worship
where all were welcome
in order to find out if those ugly rumors
People just got worked up,
spreading the lies and the rumors
and increasing the violent hostilities against Christians
deepening the convictions
that many people had
that that Jesus person
was the son of the devil
and was leading all his followers deeper
into the darkness of evil and death
even from the grave

Jesus never explained himself when he was alive
He never laid it all out
explained that this was a metaphor
he didn’t try to justify himself
He simply spoke the words
and let those words fall where they may
The religious leaders hounded him daily
in the book of John
they were always picking apart everything he said
misconstruing every word
to paint the evil picture of him that they had
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty….”
‘But this is the son of Mary and Joseph, they said,
How does he DARE to say that he is bread from heaven??’
Remember the manna? Jesus said
remember the manna in the wilderness that God rained down
for your ancestors and mine?
They were hungry out there, day in and day out
and God rained down manna from heaven
But it was only given one day at a time
Just enough for that day’s need
“I am the living bread,” he told them
“I come from God,
and so anyone who eats of this bread
will live forever…
And the bread that I give for the life of the world
Is my flesh…”
And they raged on..
‘How can he give his flesh?
This is blasphemy! This is heresy!’
They didn’t think, they didn’t listen,
They just yelled
and shook their fists
They never did listen,
They never did try to understand
because they thought they already knew everything
they needed to know
And so they missed out
on the living bread in their midst….

Jesus taught us to pray,
“Give us today our daily bread,…”
In other words, give us today what we need for today
to have life,
to have sustenance and to live
But do we know what it means to live?
I see so many people
that go through life not truly living
they eat their food, they drink their drink
but they don’t TASTE any of it
they take it in just to get going again
But they don’t stop and savor the deliciousness of life
life is just getting through the day,
eating, sleeping
and doing it all over again
They don’t learn any new thing
they don’t think, discover and learn
they don’t know the beauty of deep, intense relationships
with other people
They just breathe in and out
The poet Henry David Thoreau once said
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately,
to front only the essential facts of life,
and see if I could not learn what it had to teach,
and not, when I came to die,
discover that I had not lived."
How horrible it would be to come to die
only to discover that you never lived
I think that’s the kind of living that Jesus wanted
for his followers
one might say that he didn’t live much,
as he died in his early 30s,
and of course,
one has to wonder what more he would have done
and said
if only he’d gotten to live to be an old man
And yet, I suspect, that Jesus lived more in those 30-some years
than many of us live in a whole lifetime
we don’t know anything about his life
from the age of 12 to about age 30
Many have speculated that he traveled a lot
during those years
met many different people in different cultures
talked with other religious leaders
and learned what they taught
as he formulated his own teaching
We have no idea
but those speculations make sense
as when he shows up on the public scene
he has a lot of wisdom to share
He thought differently,
spoke differently than others
and so of course he was often misunderstood
The words, I think, came from deep inside of him
deep from his own learning, soaking up of wisdom
and making it his own
“You must be born from above,” he told Nicodemus,
and Nicodemus was horrified
trying to imagine the messy, embarrassing
details of being born
and certainly not wanting to deal with that again!
“I and God are one,” he told others
and they shouted blasphemy
and tried to kill him on the spot
“I am the bread of life
unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood,
you have no life in you…”
and people started making phone calls,
writing notes,
and getting on T.V. to denounce this monster
Jesus spoke a different language
because he had experienced the Divine
more profoundly than any other human being
he had an unnatural gift and wisdom
And when that happens,
the world tends to crucify that person
bit by bit
and then we pick at his bones
We have a hard time seeing the beauty before our eyes
the Divine right in our very midst

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus said,
Every day we pray for our daily bread
we want bread that will nourish us
that will fill that hungry ache in our stomachs
we want something to slake that terrible
thirst in our souls that never seems to be filled
Some of us drink a lot
to get rid of that thirst
and yet it’s never enough
Some of us eat a lot to try to suffocate that terrible hunger
and yet it’s never enough
Some people use sex or drugs or spending
to quiet that desperate longing
and it never goes away
Some people decide to find out what’s wrong with everybody else
to kill them with words
bit by bit,
to exchange volatile words and hate
to keep the focus off of their own emptiness
so they can feel better than SOMEBODY at least
But Jesus said, “I am the bread of Life,
whoever comes to me will never be hungry again..”

We all know that Bread is a basic staple food
It’s one of the oldest prepared foods we have
it can be traced back to as far as the 9000’s B.C.
Prehistoric peoples learned how to make a kind of bread
We usually have bread with our meals
we think of the most basic foods as bread and water
Eating is necessary, we know
but what we haven’t quite figured out
is that we have to choose carefully what we take in
what we chew on, and what we swallow
because there is so much out there that makes us so sick
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us
the Word, the Word of God
the Wisdom of God that existed before creation
became a flesh and blood human being
that knew hunger, that knew thirst
that knew all the physical needs of every human being
He had seen it all
he saw creation as it was being begun
he was also born in the same messy way we all are
he learned, he grew up,
he traveled, he was hungry
he was dependent on human beings for nourishment
he saw deeply into people’s hearts and lives
and saw the hunger, the need
that unsalted thirst
and he grew up to say
“I am the living bread, eat of me, drink of me,
and know richness of life and beauty that never ends..”
It’s the language of intimacy
Feed on me, Jesus says
Take in what I have to offer you
internalize the Wisdom of God, the life and breath of Jesus
Blood is the life force in every human being
take my life into yourself
let me into your system, your head, your heart
your very soul, your thoughts, your emotions
Let me live in you
let me be the force inside of you
that gives you life and sustenance
in a world that drains so much life out of you
So many people miss it altogether
they speak the words
they believe the right things
but they haven’t taken it IN
they haven’t let it be a part of their hearts and souls
and they are so, so hungry and thirsty
Jesus can be embarrassing
he talks of intimate things in intimate language
because he wants to get the point across
we need each other, we need him
we need the daily bread of his life in us
We need to search, to learn, to discover, to travel with him
to sometimes uncomfortable places
talk about things that might be uncomfortable
love people who are outcast
see beauty where the world sees ugliness
Savor, chew, taste and see that God is good
and all of God’s creation is good
and meant for us to share in the feast of abundant life and living
Most people don’t get it
they didn’t get it then, either,
they just thought he was crazy, even dangerous
they didn’t see how beautiful he was
and they killed him
because they couldn’t stand the brightness of his light
but they couldn’t put out the light
they couldn’t shut it down
nd now we’re invited to shine that light
to see the beauty, to savor it, to chew on it
and to share it with the world
We’re invited to live…
to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life,
and see if we can learn what God has to teach,
and not, when we come to die,
discover that we had not lived….