HE HE HE HE IS RISEN!

A Sermon for Holy Hilarity Sunday
March 30, 2008
by Pastor Laura Gentry

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (NRSV)


Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Here we are on our second annual Holy Hilarity Sunday! I thank you for indulging me and assume you enjoy these silly celebrations as much as I do.



Easter, as we’ve said, is God’s great joke on death. Now the thing that makes a joke funny is that there is something unexpected that catches us off-guard. By this definition, resurrection is comic. The people who originally witnessed it were not expecting Jesus to be risen. Oh, he’d told them that he would be rising but they thought it was a more of a spiritual metaphor than something this outrageously real! Here he is, alive again! He beat sin and death, isn’t that funny?

You could go so far as to claim that the empty tomb is the "banana peel" of the Christian faith. Easter is the cosmic pratfall as God pulled the rug out from under the powers of darkness and death by the resurrection.

So this celebration of Eater with humor isn’t so strange after all. In fact, there is evidence that post-Easter lightheartedness is part of our Christian heritage. Even Martin Luther was a fabulous laugher. He once said, “If you’re not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.”



So for this laughing celebration, I have some new Easter jokes and funnies for you.

This was sent to be by Bob Grover. It is entitled: “Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from the Easter Bunny” and I will give you a few of the highlights.



• Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
• Walk softly and carry a big carrot.
• Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.
• Keep your paws off other people's jellybeans.
• Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
• Some body parts should be floppy.
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Here are some other fun jokes:

Good Idea: Finding Easter eggs on Easter.
Bad Idea: Finding Easter eggs on Xmas.
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The problem: How to get two pounds of chocolate Easter candy home from the store in a hot car.
The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.
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This one is a picture and if you haven’t seen it, you can imagine it. One chocolate Easter bunny has a bite taken right out of his back side. He complains to his fellow chocolate bunny, “My butt hurts.” But the other one’s ears have been bitten off so he says, “What?”
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Secret Service
A man was heading out of church on Easter morning. The pastor greeted him at the door, then pulled him aside and said to the man: "You need to join the Army of the Lord!"

“But Pastor, I'm already in the Army of the Lord!” he said emphatically.

Pastor questioned, "How come I don't see you except at Christmas and Easter?"

He leaned in and whispered, "I'm in the secret service!"


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Post-Resurrection Visit
It cannot be found in the scriptures, but one story has it that upon his resurrection, the Lord appeared to a certain fisherman.

"I am Jesus - My death has saved all who do or will believe, and I am returned to show the Father's love and power.

"No, you're not Jesus, so bug off, you're scaring all the fish," answered the old fisherman.

"I see thou are full of doubt. What would thee have me do to show who I am?"

"Walk across the river," he tells Jesus.
So Jesus starts walking across the river. Next thing, he sinks and disappears under the water. After he swims back to shore, the old man says to him,

"There you are, see, you're not Jesus, you can't walk across water"

Jesus responds, "Well, I used to be able to do it until I got these darned holes in my feet!"


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Top Ten Reasons to Celebrate Easter
10. You absolutely love the movie, "The Ten Commandments".
9. You look really, really good in yellow.
8. You just went on a low cholesterol diet and didn't want to waste all those eggs in the fridge.
7. You figure any Holiday that starts with a "Good Friday" can't be all bad.
6. You love to bite the heads off chocolate bunnies.
5. It's a good time to check out your neighborhood church and not be noticed.
4. You have this bunny suit you love to wear, but are too insecure to wear it without a reason.
3. Even though you don't know what it is, you really like the sound of going to a "Passion Play."
2. You figured since Jesus went to all THAT trouble to make it to the first Easter, you'd give it a shot.
1. As a Christian you celebrate the resurrection every Sunday, why not Easter too?
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This morning, we heard the story of doubting Thomas. Poor Thomas, though he went on to do such good work, we always think of him as Mr. Doubtful. The other disciples have seen the risen Christ and so they believe. But they tell Thomas and since he wasn’t there, he just won’t believe that Christ is risen. He tells them: "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

Perhaps Thomas' real problem was that he was so devastated by what had happened that he could not see the wonderful reversal that God has accomplished in the resurrection. He was blind to the miraculous power of God. Even his friends shiny, happy faces could not convince him. Thomas could not connect to their joy.

No doubt there are some of you here today in the same boat. Life has dealt some crushing blows — financial struggles, loss of loved ones, insurmountable problems, diseases, depression, the list goes on and on. We so desperately want to be Easter people but at times, our lives look a lot more like Good Friday. Hope seems to have dried up and our joy is no where to be found.

The message of the story of Thomas is: open your eyes! You might not see it at first, you might doubt it, but the resurrection is real! The resurrection if for you! Celebrate! Go ahead and laugh!

We need this reminder so much. Life can be so hard and we can get so down that we forget which way is up. And then along comes Holy Hilarity Sunday and we are given the chance to have laughter and light-heartedness, for comedy and silliness. We can throw our hearts into celebrating the victory of the resurrection. The psalmist says that God "sits in the heavens and laughs," and I believe God invites us to do join in the heavenly laughter. God wants us to live in the joy of the Lord.



So here’s one last joke for you.

A man was blissfully driving along the highway, when he saw the Easter  Bunny hopping across the middle of the road. He swerved to avoid hitting the bunny, but unfortunately the rabbit jumped in front of his car
and was hit. The basket of eggs went flying all over the place. Candy,  too.
 
The driver, being a sensitive man as well as an animal lover, pulled over to the side of the road, and got out to see what had become of the bunny carrying the basket. Much to his dismay, the Easter Bunny was dead!



The driver felt guilty and began to cry.  A woman driving down the same highway saw the man crying on the side of the road and pulled over. She stepped out of her car and asked the man what was wrong.
 
 "I feel terrible," he explained, "I accidentally hit the Easter Bunny and killed it. What should I do?"
 
The woman told the man not to worry. She knew exactly what to do. She went to her car trunk, and pulled out a spray can. She walked over to the limp, dead bunny, and sprayed the entire contents of the can onto the little furry animal.
 
Miraculously the Easter Bunny came to back life, jumped up, picked up the spilled eggs and candy, waved its paw at the two humans and hopped on down the road. 50 yards away the Easter Bunny stopped, turned around, waved and hopped on down the road another 50 yards, turned,  waved, hopped  another 50 yards and waved again!!!!



 
The man was astonished. He said to the woman, "What in heaven's name is in your spray can?" The woman turned the can around so that the man
could read the label.  It said:
 
"Hair spray. Restores life to dead hair. Adds permanent wave."

Happy Holy Humor Sunday! Be joyful. Let us never live another day as if Jesus were dead. Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed, so let’s laugh! Amen.

 
 
© 2008 Laura Gentry

DO YOU WANT YOUR STONE TO BE ROLLED AWAY?

A Sermon for Easter Sunday
March 23, 2008
by Pastor Laura Gentry


Above are the "Alleluia" flags the children distributed to begin our worship service. Every time we said or sang "Alleluia" we waved our flags to show the celebratory nature of our worship.

John 20:1-18
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (NRSV)


Here we are on Easter Sunday, gathered for our celebratory worship: the sanctuary is decked out in fragrant lilies, we’re in our Easter finery and we’ve got yellow “Alleluia!” flags to wave about excitedly. What could be better? The stone of the grave has been rolled away and Christ is risen, he is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Ah, but what does it mean for us that Christ is risen? What sort of demands does it make upon us? That’s right: demands. Have you ever thought of the resurrection of Christ as demanding? Yes, it is fun to worship on Easter morning with all the great hymns and scriptures and to down bags full of pastel colored candies and dye eggs but there is more to this message than that. We have to face the reality that Christ is risen, really risen!

Because he is no longer in the tomb, he won’t be quiet. He is not just a fond memory. He is a living presence with whom we can have a relationship. As a resurrected Savior, he’s entitled to his opinions about the way we choose to live our lives. Frankly, he’s concerned about our disinterest in living the resurrected life.

The question he asks us is: do you want your stone to be rolled away? Do you want to be alive with me or would you rather stay in your old, dull, dead-end lifestyle? You see, we tend to like to stay in our graves. It is safer there. There is no challenge, just go through the daily routines and everything will be fine. Do you want your stone to be rolled away? He demands an answer.

Certainly Jesus’ disciples had a difficult time answering that question. They find the tomb empty and struggle to figure out what this unexpected ending means for them. To be honest, it would have been a lot more convenient for them if he had stayed dead. Oh yes, they would miss him and all those great parables he used to tell, the exciting healings he would perform and so on. But in the grave, he couldn’t challenge them to take up their crosses anymore. I mean, they’d already dropped their nets to follow him, what more did he want? In the grave, he couldn’t give them a mission to spread the good news. In the grave, he couldn’t ask them to give up their very lives for this cause. What simple, uneventful lives they could have led if only he’d stayed in the grave.

Now the stone has been rolled away! Now his body is gone and an angel announces that he is risen. What do they do? They should be leaping for joy and holding laughter club meetings to giggle at the devil’s foiled plot. Instead, they respond with fear. “Oh no! What’s going to happen to us now?” they think. “How are we going to take up the challenges, which the risen Jesus lays before us? We had so wanted to be able to retire in comfort and, you know, perhaps write the Gospels with all our newfound free time.” They don’t seem eager to embrace the adventure that is set before them. They kind of liked it before the stone had been rolled away.

As human beings, it is our nature to want stable and predictable lives. We want life to be easygoing and God to always have comfortable messages for us. But that is the life of the grave. That is not what we were designed for. The resurrected Christ has a more exciting plan. He barges into our neatly ordered lives and demands that we drop our nets and follow him. He demands we put down our tv sets and our easy chairs and our notebook computers and anything else that stands in the way of our discipleship. He demands that we follow him, and follow him all the way to the cross. Then he rolls away our stones whether or not we wanted him to. And then he calls us to live the resurrected life with him!

To live the resurrected life means that we come out of our self-inflicted tombs. It demands that we allow the stone to be rolled away. It demands that leave behind our fears. If we truly believe that our Lord has risen from the dead and that in doing so, he has secured our salvation, then there is no room for fear. There is no room for small-minded, go-with-the-flow, be-like-everyone-else, live-a-boring-life thinking! There is NO room for it! We cannot proclaim that Christ is risen and then turn around and shrink in fear that we can’t handle our lives.

Yet so many people live in this perpetual state of fear and anxiety. It’s easy to see why they do it. The news stations broadcast a smorgasbord of tragedy every single day. You can’t even bring a full-size bottle of shampoo on the airplane with you because of the terrorist-fighting restrictions. And who can you trust to love these days? So many broken relationships and broken hearts may cause us to be cautious. Looking around at the state of our world, it is logical to want to sequester ourselves, to hunker down for a safe but boring life in the grave and ask Christ to kindly leave our stones alone. It may not be great, but this is the life we know and we don’t want it disturbed by any risen Saviors.

The ending of the Gospel of Mark is the subject of much scholarly debate. How did the original writer end it? There are actually three possibilities. Each one of the endings is possible and is supported by ancient manuscripts. Yet, the most likely ending is odd. After telling the story of the resurrection, it simply ends with the sentence: “and they were afraid.” And they were afraid? That’s not a very triumphal ending to such an amazing story! Yet it is truthful. That’s how the disciples felt when they first heard the news. Like us, they were afraid of the stone being rolled away.

So Christ asks us on this Easter morning: do you want your stone to be rolled away? Do you want me to infuse you with my resurrection power? Do you want to believe that I am alive and working in you to live the life God plans for you? Do you want to leave the sofa behind and step out into the adventure of resurrected living? Do you want to be overwhelmed with the joy of the Lord, with the peace that passes all understand, with the courage to face life’s fears head-on in faith? You, yes you, are being called forth from your graves. You are being asked to live with Christ, to really live! Let us summon the courage to say YES to these questions, my friends. Let us sing and dance and shout “Alleluia!” not just today but every day, for our stones have been rolled away! Amen.

© 2008 Laura Gentry

SHOES & SERVICE

A Sermon for Maundy Thursday
March 20, 2008
by Pastor Laura Gentry

John 13:1-13, 33-35
Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.” After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”


Shoes! Don’t you just love shoes? I do. I confess I have a particular weakness for shoes. I especially love the bold and bright, the interesting, whimsical as well as the comfortable. In fact, I’ve brought a few of these tonight—just my favorite ones, the ones that really demanded to make an appearance.

First, my newest: fuchsia Crocs. They just arrived yesterday and I’ve already got them mostly broken in. I’ve resisted getting Crocs because, frankly they’ve been a bit too popular and on most people they look rather silly. But after reading a review that says even podiatrists are now recommending them because of their extreme comfort, I broke down and got a pair. Of course, the fact that they were available in fuchsia was also another plus.

I’ve also got these fuchsia shoes, which I painted myself nearly 15 years ago. I had a dress this color and couldn’t find any other shoes to match so I painted these. As you can imagine, they went splendidly with my dress!

There are also my orange Keen shoes, which helped me walk comfortably all over Bulgaria and slip off easily while in the car or airplane. I’ve got these patent leather red Danskos, also known for their great comfort. Professionals who are on their feet a lot, like nurses and chefs tend to wear them. They helped me stand in museums all over Scandinavia without any back pain.

Now even though comfort is important to me, so is style. That’s why I have these patterned boots (and I’ve got a matching suit and handbag for them). I’m also a sucker for polka dots and so I’ve got the red polka dotted gardening clogs and the retro polka dotted sandals. And while these are perhaps my most uncomfortable shoes, they also get the most compliments and look fabulous with my polka dotted apparel.

As I look at this portion of my shoe collection, I am reminded of all the places my shoes have taken me. I think of that old saying about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes. And as we have come to Maundy Thursday, we take upon ourselves the task of walking the way of the cross in Jesus’ shoes. We hear again the passion narrative with all the painful steps and we remember how much his journey means to each one of us.

And tonight, we hear how this journey to the cross continues from where we left off on Sunday. We heard of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The cheering crowds, waving palms and shouting “Hosanna” was certainly an exciting part of Jesus’ walk. But now, he dines with his disciples for what he knows will be the last time before his death. It is likely the Passover meal they are celebrating. They would have retold the great story of how God delivered their ancestors from slavery in Egypt.

But suddenly, Jesus does something unexpected: he strips off his robe and kneels down to wash each one’s feet. Feet? Why does it have to be feet? This is such an important night—their last supper—and he has to drag feet into it.

Feet are perhaps the most unglamorous thing about us. They are kind of funny looking, they can give us pain, they are hard to reach because they are way down at the bottom of our bodies and worse of all, they stink! Well, at least after a day of use, they tend to stink. One year for Christmas, someone gave me a bottle of “Albert Einstein’s ‘No More Smelly Shoes!’” spray. A hint? Perhaps. There are many such products because, well, foot smell is a reality. Even my new Crocs advertise that they are built with an antibacterial material as well as ventilation air holes to keep your feet smelling nice all day.

Now in the time of Jesus, feet were even more problematic. They didn’t have any great products like this Einstein spray or stinkless rubber shoes and people wore open-toed sandals and walked through dusty deserts and messy downtowns where people drove donkeys instead of SUVs, so you can imagine the mess that their feet would have been through in any given day. Yet, here is Jesus grabbing up those day-old feet and lovingly washing them.

It’s a bit difficult for us to understand how outrageous this was for his disciples to witness. On top of the hygiene issue, feet were symbolically unclean according to their religious traditions. Yes, feet needed to be washed, but religious people didn’t wash their own. They had slaves do it for them, and not just any slave, but the lowest slave in the household. It was an embarrassing chore that nobody but nobody would have volunteered to do. So there is, no doubt, shock when Jesus decides to do this task himself.

Why would he do such a thing? Jesus explains a few verses later when he tells them: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Not only is his foot-washing stunt an example of humility and love for us, but it foreshadows his final act of love: his self-sacrificial death on the cross. Jesus does not beat around the bush. He commands his disciples to love in the same way that he has loved. And why wouldn’t he? His whole life centered around this message. The love of Christians for all people should be the distinguishing mark by which the world recognizes them as followers of Jesus.

So if Jesus’ commandment is so clear: that we are to love one another, why aren’t we Christians more focused on that task? Why is it that this priority sometimes take a back seat to less important issues—even within the church? How is the world going to know that we are Christians if we do not love? This annual service of Maundy Thursday is always an important reminder that love—showing itself in humble service—is our highest calling.

How that service plays out in our daily lives is up to us, but the commandment is clear: serve. And so we ritualize this annually at our Maundy Thursday worship service. Last year, I decided that instead of just talking about foot-washing, I should give you the opportunity to come forward and have your feet washed. There were a couple of “plants” in the congregation that I had arranged with ahead of time. They promised me that even if nobody else came forward, they would do so. Even just a couple of foot-washings would be a sufficient object lesson. To my surprise, however, most people came forward and let me wash their feet! It was a powerful experience for all of us and so we’re doing it again tonight.

Many of us feel rather self-conscious about our feet, even if we are wearing nice shoes on them. To come forward and take off a sock and let it be washed, demands that you let go of those inhibitions and come as you are. This is not about how your feet look, though. This is about experiencing what the disciples got to experience. It is about being served in a symbolic, humble gesture so that it will empower you to go out and do likewise.

Our feet carry us so many places in the course of our lives. Jesus wants to have control of those feet. He wants to wash them in his love and self-sacrificial death on the cross and he wants to empower them to continue his work so that we walk in “his shoes” in the light of God.

I urge you to think about your feet in this Holy Week journey. As they are washed tonight, may you listen carefully to what the Spirit is saying to you. Where exactly are your feet supposed to take you? Perhaps it is to that family member of friend with whom you have a conflict. Your feet need to go make peace. Perhaps it is to that person in physical pain. Your feet need to take you to their bedside. Perhaps it is to that outsider whom everyone else has forgotten. Your feet need to include them, to take you to them so they can feel included. Perhaps it is to those people across the globe in need. Your feet need to serve them through the funding of missionaries or perhaps even becoming one yourself. There are endless possibilities for your little feet. They have great journeys to make. To walk in Jesus’ shoes means that we must always be eager to help, to uplift, to comfort, to support and to serve. That’s what being a disciple is all about.

On this Holy Thursday, our feet are compelled to take action. Jesus calls us to love one another, generously, recklessly, without counting the cost. That’s why Jesus spent his very last evening on earth washing his disciples feet and emphatically issuing this new commandment—a commandment which speaks to us as loudly today as it did then. May we walk in the light of Christ, polka dotted shoes and all. Amen.

© 2008 Laura Gentry

SAVE NOW!

A Sermon for Palm Sunday
March 16, 2008
Pastor Laura Gentry

Matthew 21:1-11
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, 'The Lord needs them.' And he will send them immediately." This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, "Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!" When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, "Who is this?" The crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee." (NRSV)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

“Hosanna!” they shout at Jesus as he enters the great city of Jerusalem. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” They welcome Jesus into the city with open arms. They show great enthusiasm, waving branches as he comes. It must have been a marvelous parade! How exciting to see Jesus riding in upon a colt and being heralded as the prophet from Nazareth.

But wait a minute! Aren’t these the same people who make up the crowd who will turn on him by the end of the week and throw their angry fists in the air? Aren’t they the same ones that will soon beg Pilate to “Crucify Him!” Aren’t they the bloodthirsty crowd who would rather see a convicted felon, Barabas, released than allow Jesus to live? From “Hosanna” to “Crucify him!” Quite a change in public opinion in one week’s time. What’s going on here?

This story begins with the explanation of how Jesus' disciples obtain the colt upon which Jesus will ride into Jerusalem. Matthew makes it clear that Jesus’ entrance into the Holy City upon this young donkey is another fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophesy about him: “Tell the daughter of Zion, look , your king is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, and on a cold, the foal of a donkey.”(Zech. 9:9) So the disciples go and do as Jesus commands them and they retrieve the colt for him without incident. Jesus is intentional about his use of a colt—even though he has to borrow one for this purpose—because in fulfilling the prophesy, he is claiming to be Messiah.

Not only that, but Jesus' use of a donkey shows that he is coming in peace. In biblical times, if a king was going to war, he would ride into the city on a horse as a sign that he intended to wage war. But when a king came in peace, he would ride in on a donkey. We can see that Jesus chooses the animal of peace. He comes as the king not of war, but of peace.

But the crowd doesn’t seem to want peace! They want a military leader to reign over Israel. They want a king who ride in triumphantly on a horse—who will wage war and win the victory for them. A leader who will overthrow their Roman oppressors, that’s what they prefer. Jesus' desire for peace truly the hopes of the energetic crowd. They don't even seem to notice that he’s not on a horse. They still think he’s going to lead them to war so they give him a conqueror's welcome, a military hero's welcome.

They shout: “Hosanna!” This cry is used today as a praise word. We sing it in our communion liturgy, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest.” Yet, in Hebrew, it literally means “Save now!” It is an expression ancient Israelites used to beg for help and protection from their king. When the people cry “Hosanna!” it is not a shout of praise, it is a cry for help. They want God to intervene in their human affairs through the gift of this Messiah. They want so badly to be saved.

They toss their garments on the ground—another expression of respect for a king. For many, this cloak is all they own, yet they willingly cast it before Jesus, their king. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” they say. The phrase “He who comes,” was a common expression for Messiah. They had always spoken of the coming Messiah as “the one who is coming.” So they do recognize that Jesus is the Savior, but they don't know what kind of savior he intends to be.

And this expression the people use, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” is from Psalm 118 (verse 32), which we heard at the start of today’s service. In 167 B.C. there was an extraordinary king in Syria called Antiocheius. He was a zealot of Greek religion who, for a time, conquered Palestine. He made it against the law to possess a copy of the Jewish law or to circumcise a child. These were crimes punishable by death. He desecrated the Temple courts and made it a worship place for Zeus instead of God. With deliberate insult, he offered swine's flesh at the great altar of the temple. You must understand this was most blasphemous act imaginable. He did everything he could to wipe out the Jewish faith. It was then that the hero Judas Maccabaeus arose. He drove Antiocheius out and repurified and reconsecrated the temple, an event which is now celebrated as the feast of Hanukkah. Scholars believe Psalm 118 was written to commemorate that great day of purification and the battle, which Maccabaeus won. Therefore, is a conqueror's psalm.

And it is the same phrase used in this Palm Sunday scene. Jesus does not claim to be a military leader—instead he comes in peace. He is riding on a colt. Later in the week, when they see he is not the man of war they thought he was, when they see that he is no Judas Maccabaeus, they turn on him.

Intentionally, Jesus begins his journey—humbly marching headlong into suffering and death. God has a bigger plan to save all of humanity through this Messiah, not just Israel. God has a plan to answer those “Hosanna” cries for salvation, even though the crowd can’t understand that now.

I remember reading about an actress who spent a summer of her college years doing a low-budget, outdoor Easter pageant. The quality of theatrical resources was dismal. It was poorly organized and the cast ended up playing all sorts of practical jokes on each other just to keep up their moral. In the rain and the mud, the actor portraying Jesus tried to get the donkey to cooperate in the Palm Sunday scene. The donkey (named Jack) always refused to cooperate. So Jesus, who was supposed to be riding the donkey, many times ended up trying to lead him and often slipped in the mud and fell on his behind (so you can imagine the jokes it sparked about Jesus arriving into Jerusalem on his you-know-what). The whole miserable thing suddenly took on a new meaning for this actress who was struck by the extremely vulnerable position of Jesus in front of the crowd. She wrote: “I realized God sent a savior not as a powerful conqueror but as one with an extremely vulnerable heart of compassion. Suddenly, I can see that I don't want a powerful conqueror. No, I want this vulnerable one. He's the one I can give my own vulnerable heart to. He's the only one who can save me.”

Jesus is not the military leader come to vanquish our earthly enemies and instantly make life easy for us according to earthly standards. He is the vulnerable king who has come to wage war, not on enemy people, but on sin and death. We may not understand him. We may wish he'd come to save us some other way. But we do know that he has come to answer our “Hosanna!” cries. “Save now!” we cry, “Save now!” From our troubled breasts, our cry goes up to God and because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross, we know that that cry will not go unheard.

As we enter into Holy Week, may we have the courage to follow this vulnerable one to the cross that we may rise victoriously with him on Easter morning.

Now, may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© 2008 Laura E. Gentry

DRY BONES, NO MORE

A Sermon for the 5th Sunday of Lent
March 9, 2008
Pastor Laura Gentry

Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude. Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord. (NRSV)


Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The prophet Ezekiel is famous for his poetic flare and graphic visions and today’s lesson from the Hebrew Scripture, we heard his grand vision of the valley of the dry bones. It is a bizarre and shocking passage and yet it brings an amazing message of resurrection, a message we desperately need to hear. So let’s give it a closer look.

In this vision, the Spirit of the Lord comes upon Ezekiel. It leads him out into a valley that is carpeted with dry bones—long-forgotten bones who’s flesh has disintegrated in the hot desert sun, bones that have been scattered from flash flooding and wind or erosion, bones that are crumbling, worthless bones. It is an eerie landscape to be sure. And yet, this is where the Lord has brought Ezekiel. According to the Law, anyone who touched a bone was considered unclean and priests like Ezekiel were not allowed to come in contact with the dead. And here stands Ezekiel who doesn’t just view it from a distance, he gets the grand tour of the valley: back and forth God leads him through the awful debris—perhaps he can hear the cracking of bones with each step.

And then comes the big question: God asks, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

It kind of seems like Ezekiel is avoiding the question in the way that he answers. He sighs: “O Lord God, you know.” Knowing what we do about Ezekiel’s circumstance, it must have taken all the faith in the world for him to respond this way. God’s people are living in exile in Babylon, far from where they believe God to be. They are lost, forlorn and afraid. Their tears flow into the river until their hope is dried up like these dry, dry bones. They have absolutely no idea how they can go forward or even if they can keep believing in God. Ezekiel knows that God alone knows if these dry bones can live.

We, too, know what it is to be in the valley of the dry bones. Sometimes, I look down at my desk and I see bills and credit card slips and notes to myself and papers to file and junk mail and unread magazines and shoes (sometimes it gets out of hand) and I can’t even see the surface of my desk anymore. And it becomes a metaphor for my life—so full of the clutter of daily life, that I can no longer see the presence of God. I used to have a hamster named Eunice, and she would sit in the corner and chew on the bars of her cage so vigorously that when I’d open the door, she wouldn’t even notice. Sometimes we have hamster vision and can’t find the open door even though it’s right before us. Oh, we can put on a front and make it look like we’re so together that no troubles could ever stick to us. But sometimes at night, those things we can’t reconcile or accept or forgive or overcome—they snuggle up with us and all we can do is cry “Help me, help me, help me, help me.” Usually, it’s not even that dramatic. Sometimes, we can’t feel the stuff that’s going on in our inner lives because we’re just too busy or too numb to process it. Life can be such an effort! Oh, we have our good days and our bad days and we trudge along for the most part—but in those times of immense struggle and heartache, we realize how helpless and how spiritually bankrupt we really are—and deep inside, we know that we know what is is to be in the valley of the dry bones.

“How Long, Oh God, the exiles cry, a cry we make our own
For we are lost, alone, afraid and far away from home.”

But that’s not where the vision ends. “O Lord God, you know,” says Ezekiel. God’s knows, yes God knows. And the Lord says to Ezekiel: “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. 6I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

And Ezekiel prophesies as he was commanded. What is that noise? The rattling, the rattling grows louder and louder—tired bones suddenly assemble, coming together from all realms of the valley, bones everywhere, moving, swirling, dancing whisking past his face and coming together, end to end in perfect order and tendons grow upon them and muscles and blood vessels and internal viscera and vital organs form and flesh covers them. Can you imagine it?

The Lord speaks again, ““Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” And when Ezekiel does as he as been commanded, the wind arises and with a loud roar, it blows the mighty breath of God into every single dead body and they not only come to life, but they stand up on their feet!

The Hebrew word “Ru’ach” is translated here as “breath” but it also means wind and spirit. The Spirit of God brings new life. The Spirit resurrect us, not just when we die but now when we need revitalization. That’s the miracle of this vision.

We are not forgotten by God. Not even our driest valley of hopelessness can prevent the Spirit’s revitalizing touch, with all its richness. In those nights when we cry, “Help me, help me!” we may not feel the drama of rattling bones but we will find a shoulder upon which we can lean. For God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. God knows that our dry bones will rise again. Even if it makes no sense to believe that revival will come to us, we can believe it.

Then the Lord says to the exiles in Babylonia, those chosen ones who have been cut off, whose hope is gone: “I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act,” says the Lord.

No stronger word of encouragement could have been spoken to these sorrowful people. And God delivers on this promise. Just 50 years later the great Babylonian empire falls and they are allowed to return home from exile. They are given a new temple in which to worship God.

Where is it that you want the Spirit God to lead you? What do you need to know the resurrection power of God in your life? This vision reminds us that God does not want us dwelling in the valley of the dry bones. God wants to deliver us, to breathe life back into our weary souls, to open the door and lead us back into the heart of God where there is peace—peace that passes all understanding for you in me in the here and now. We do not need to wait until we die to taste of resurrection. It is now for those of us who live in God’s Spirit. It is now. Saint Paul declares: “...If the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through the Spirit who lives in You.”

“How Long, oh God, the exiles cry, a cry we make our own
Though we are lost, alone, afraid, our God will lead us home.”

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

© 2008 Laura Gentry

NOW I SEE!

A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 3, 2008
Pastor Laura Gentry

John 4:5-42
So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.” (NRSV)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Many times, when someone faces tragedy or loss, the first thing they ask is: “What have I done to deserve this? Why is God punishing me?” Perhaps you’ve asked this question a time or two yourself. Whether it is financial crisis, personal health problems, a death in the family, or some other tragedy, it is easy to assume that we’ve offended God in some way, and now we are receiving retribution.

Well this theory that we get what we deserve is exactly what the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were teaching. In our Gospel reading for this morning, Jesus and his disciples are passing a blind man on their way into the temple, and it reminds them of this very theological issue about the cause of suffering. They wonder about this particular beggar, whom everyone knows has been blind since birth—could he have somehow sinned in utero to bring this blindness upon himself, or was it the sin of his parents that caused him to suffer in this way? This may sound like a peculiar question to us, but it was really a pressing issue in Jesus’ time.

You see, the religious teachers had actually developed a whole theory of prenatal sin. They believed a person could begin to sin even before leaving the womb. There were lengthy conversations about whether sin first embraced a person before or after the child was born. Some theologians believed in the preexistence of the soul. They held that all souls existed from the beginning of the world and were holy, but the minute those souls were placed in bodies, they became corrupt and sinful. So certainly a person born blind could have caused his own affliction, or so they thought.

But of course, his troubles could well be the fruit of his parents’ sin. The idea that children inherit the consequences of their parents’ sin is woven into the thought of the Old Testament. In Exodus, we hear from God: “I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 20:5, 34:7) The theory behind this is that people do not live to themselves or die to themselves. Sin is infectious. When a person sins, a whole train of consequences is set into action which has no end.
So, back to our story—how does Jesus respond to this question? Surprisingly, he does not validate any of these popular streams of thought about the connection between sin and suffering. He tells them plainly: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” (John 9:3) Suffering, Jesus demonstrates, is not a punishment for sin, but an opportunity for God’s glory to be revealed. It is a chance for God’s endless compassion to shine through and transform the sufferer as well as the whole community. Oh, if we could only believe and embrace these words—rather than blame ourselves every time we face trouble. If only we could truly say: “This tragedy has happened so that the work of God might be displayed in my life!”

Jesus is eager to display God’s work in the blind man’s life. He says to his disciples, “I am the light of the world!” (John 9:5) Then, he goes to work.. He spits on the ground, makes it into a clay paste, and smears it on the eyes of the blind man, then tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. Now the use of saliva to effect a cure seems strange and repulsive to us—and most unhygienic. But in the ancient world, believe it or not, it was quite common. Saliva, especially if it came from a famous person, was believed to posses great curative powers. I’m not sure if Medicare covered saliva or not, but I’m sure you would have needed a prescription for it. So, by doing this, Jesus is using the methods and customs of his time. He is a wise physician—first gaining the confidence of his patient.

Then, as the blind man rinses the clay from his eyes at the Pool of Siloam, his sight is miraculously given to him. And immediately, there is trouble. When he returns, the neighbors—who had always seem him begging—begin to gossip about whether or not it is really him. They cannot believe it is the same man. “How could he possibly have been healed?” They wonder.

But that is not even the whole of the dilemma. The religious people get wind of this and the questions begin to fly. Isn’t this the Sabbath day, after all, and isn’t healing someone considered work and isn’t working on the Sabbath day dreadfully sinful and how could such a sinful action produce a pretty convincing miracle like giving a blind man sight for the very first time? You see, this opens a whole can of worms and baffles everyone.

Understandably, it is hard for us to see all of this complexity, because we do not understand the religious laws of Jesus’ day. Sabbath day laws were very strict. You could not do any work on the Sabbath, according to the law. You couldn’t even fill up a dish with oil to light your lamp—you just had to leave the Friday night lamp burning all night long, so you wouldn’t have to “work” to light it on the Sabbath. And you couldn’t wear sandals that had nails in them because walking with the weight of those shoes would be considered “carrying a burden,” which would also be considered work. And in this story, Jesus spits on the ground, stoops down to mix it up, and then stands back up and spreads it on the eyes of the man. This was unquestionably doing “work on the Sabbath,” and by any measure, this is a most unholy thing to do! Jesus is breaking God’s holy law!

And as the on-lookers work to unravel the questions that this scenario brings up for them, they become more and more blind to the things of the Spirit. Ironically, as one man gains his sight, the others lose theirs. The healed man’s neighbors make him prove his identity, the Pharisee’s subject him to formal interrogations, and his own parents waffle under all the pressure, fearing that they will be thrown out of the temple for affirming the healing that Jesus has performed on their son. As for the healed man himself, he has little interest in all these theoretical musings: “Whether Jesus is a sinner or not, I don’t know,” he simply tells them, “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see.” He has experienced the reality of God’s work in his life and he simply can’t deny it!

The Pharisees are livid about his response. This “prophet” Jesus has been already been censured in Jerusalem for being a heretic, but now he’s stirring up more trouble than they can take. And the worst part for the Pharisees is that, try as they might, they cannot disprove the miracle that Jesus has performed. It has been verified that the man been born blind is now seeing clearly! In fact, during their investigation, he looks them squarely in the eyes and taunts them in open court: “Why do you want to hear my story again?” he asks, “Do you also want to become his disciple?” And then, he says that Jesus must be from God or he would not have been able to perform such a marvelous miracle.

At this, the Pharisees snap right back to their old time-worn theory of punishment that the disciples had discussed with Jesus when the story began. “You were born entirely in sin, and you are trying to teach us?” They are so full of their own pride that they have become blind men! They simply cannot see God’s glory being revealed in this miracle. One Pharisee, sensing this asks, “Surely, we are not blind, are we?” And Jesus verifies that they are, indeed, blind.

Like the Pharisees in this story, many people today are walking around with deep spiritual blindness. We meet them all the time. They can be the super-religious, who feel they are so righteous by their good works that they really don’t need God’s grace to save them. They can be the people who have had a bad experience with a church and so they’ve dismissed God entirely. “I’m spiritual but not religious,” they claim and can never be persuaded into coming back to worship. They can be the self-declared atheists who cannot prove God and therefore, are blind to God’s actions all around them. And they can even be you and me.

This Sunday, our Lenten journey reaches a place where we are called to acknowledge our own spiritual blindness and seek Jesus' healing touch. But this kind of seeking is risky, because it has the possibility of turning our neatly-ordered lives upside-down. The man born blind in today's Gospel finds himself in unusual and unexpected places. Before, he was a beggar that nobody really noticed—his life was simple. After encountering Christ, he becomes unrecognizable to his neighbors and finds himself witnessing about the power of God in the court of the religious authorities. I’m sure he’d have never dreamed he would have the courage to do such a thing. But the power of Jesus has changed him and he will never be the same again.

How might the world look if we were healed of our blindness? We might see leadership emerging in strange and unexpected places. We might hear God speaking through the voices of people we’ve never listened to before, people we might not consider important by worldly standards. We might find new ways of relating to God and each other—ways that we had not even imagined before, ways that could bring healing to our life together. We might be given the grace to truly forgive those people who wronged us back in ‘73, you know, the ones we’ve successfully avoided these many decades? We might even dare to look beyond our conventional ways of thinking, to think "outside the box" and realize that God is greater than our ways of thinking allow. We might discover that the Holy Spirit can give us the courage to witness to the power of the Christ's light, even to people we thought we could never reach. We might realize that the problems we face as individuals and as a church truly are opportunities for God’s glory to be revealed. We might be able to cry out with the healed man, “All I know is that I was blind and now I see!”

So this Lenten Gospel reading indeed confronts us with a great challenge today. Do we dare risk the journey of the man born blind? Do we dare venture out like Samuel did in our first reading, to find something new in the unlikeliest of places? Christ is inviting us to put aside our old ways of seeing and to see, instead, through the eyes of God. And what we will see and how we will see remains a mystery until we actually dare to try—until we put our own blindness completely into the healing hands of the one who says, “I am the light of the world,” and are then, at last declare, “Now I see!”

Now, may the peace of God which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.


© Laura Gentry 2008