You'll Never Walk Alone, John 14:15-21

Early in my ministry, I was asked to do some marital counseling. Each person had a number of complaints about the other person. After a couple of sessions, it was very clear that these people really loved one another, but they had lost or forgotten how to communicate that love to the other person.

Not knowing how to say it to the other person, only knowing what they wanted as a sign of the other person’s love, one of the two said, “If you really love me, then you would …”

What each of them wanted was to know that they were valued by the other person. Somehow, after many years of marriage, they had just gotten out of the habit of saying the word that we all long to hear. They had forgotten to say each other’s name at home and in public.

At home, they didn’t use names at all. In public, the man referred to his wife as, “the wife”, and the wife referred to her husband as, “my old man.”

Beyond that they had gotten out of the habit of saying that they loved one another. The wife said, “I cook his meals. I bake his favorite cookies. I do his wash. I clean the house. How many ways do I have to say, ‘I love you’?”

The husband said, “If I have to tell her that I love her, then what have we been doing all these years? Isn’t what we have gone through enough to let her know that I love her? If I didn’t love her, I’d have left years ago.”

It took some practice, but eventually they learned to call each other by name again, and they even learned to say those other three words, “I love you.” And as far as I know, they are still working out what it means to be married and in a relationship with one another.

Today, we hear something like this couple’s words, “If you love me, then you …”. But these words are not the same. I want to be very clear here. These words are not the same.

Jesus words might even be translated here as, “Since you love me, you will follow my commandments.” But whether you read it as if or since, Jesus speaks of being in relationship with him and the world by loving one another. This loving relationship that Jesus calls us to is not only about saying, “I love you” nor is it only about doing things in the world for one another and our neighbors. It is a relationship that communicates in thought, word, and deed, our care and concern. It involves calling each other by name and letting that person know their value to us.

Jesus says that he will not be in the world forever, but that for those who are in this loving relationship with him that he will send another (hear this clearly), another, advocate. That is, Jesus will continue to be our advocate in our relationship with God, AND we will get another advocate: the spirit of truth.

Last week we learned that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life; and today we find that we will be given the spirit of truth, the breath of truth, the thing that makes life possible, in a life-giving relationship of breath itself.

In this new relationship, we learn that we will not be orphaned, lost in grief without direction, when Jesus is crucified and buried. We will be given the words of hope, of resurrection, and all of this is going to be IN the relationship of God’s mysterious being.

Jesus says, “As I am in the Father, and you are in me, and I am in you, so now this relationship of God’s presence is augmented, that is made even greater through the promise of this advocate who is coming to us.”

So how do we claim this relationship, and how are we claimed in this relationship?

First, we are claimed by name in baptism. In Baptism, we are called by name to be in relationship with Christ in, with, and under the water joined with God’s word for us. Through these waters, we are called to be in ministry with one another for the sake of the Gospel. In this relationship of love and caring, we are given the knowledge of the promise of salvation.

Second, in our baptismal lives, we hear the story of what Christ has done for us, Christ’s life given for us, and Christ’s words of forgiveness and presence. Hearing these words, we gather to know Christ’s presence in our lives at the altar receiving Christ’s true presence in, with, and under the bread and the wine together with Christ’s loving command to eat and drink. In Baptism and Communion, we are assured that we will not be alone in the challenges of this world.

That is what Christ does for us. But what about our half of the relationship? How is it that we call out God’s name? How do we say those words of love to God? How do we recognize that mystery of us being in God and God being in us?

Our recognition of that relationship of love we have with God is expressed each week in worship when we say the creed. This amazing statement of faith allows us to publicly name God and declare our trust in God. This simple statement claims our place in our sacred relationship with God.

We do not say, “I believe that God created the heavens and the earth.” Instead, we claim our place in God acknowledging that without God and our relationship with God, we cannot know the beautiful gift. As our awareness of this room comes to us because we are in the room and our awareness of this building comes to us through being in this room also, so now we claim our place of faith, that is, our ultimate trust, in God. We state that our awareness of the world and the needs of the world are encountered through our place IN God of life and all of creation.

We say, “I believe IN God, the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.” In our older Nicene Creed, we add that creation is more than heaven and earth; it includes all that we see and all that we cannot see. We acknowledge that there is more to this world than we can know. There is more to the universe than what we know. As a matter of fact, there is a cosmological multiverse that far exceeds our imagination.

But that is not all. We publicly state that our relationship in God is more than a loving parent, we name God’s word made flesh, revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. We name his birth, his ministry, his death and resurrection. Yes, we name him before the world with pride.

Even more than that, we acknowledge and give thanks for the gift of the advocate, the one who speaks for us, the one who always walks with us. We publicly declare that we know and love God in the presence of the Holy Spirit whose work continues in and through the Church. We recognize that work in the communion, that is, in the relationship we have with all of God’s people in the world depending on the faithful witness of those who have gone before us. In this amazing community we receive forgiveness and come to know the assurance of life everlasting.

In this amazing statement of faith, we name God as being Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, claiming and naming those things that God continues to do for us. Continuing in that relationship of love that has called us by name, we go out to share that love with the world around us. We do not go out sharing God’s love in order to be saved; we go out and share God’s love because we are saved.

It is not something that we do alone, we do it in the company of one another and in the company of the great advocate who has come to us—in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

In the words of the old song, “When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high and don’t be afraid of the dark.” Indeed, walk through the winds, walk through the storm. You’ll never be alone. God is with you.

One of the things that Martin Luther said that continues to dazzle me concerning God’s presence with us is, “God is closer to us than our skin is to our bodies.” With a loving, embracing relationship like that, how can we help but respond by hugging those whom God has sent us?

I Can't Know That Yet, John 14:1-14

Dana was three years old. Her sister Kelly was five. Dana was tall for her age, and people used to think that Dana and Kelly were the same age. This meant that people often had expectations of Dana that she was not able to meet. After all, she was only three. Still Dana and Kelly were inseparable for most of the day. Sometimes we could hear the two girls playing, and Kelly would say something like, “Dana, you can’t do that yet. You’re only three. I can do that because I am five.”

One day Dana was doing something that she wasn’t supposed to. Her mom said, “Dana, you know better than that!”

In response, Dana looked up at her mom and said, “Uh-uh, I can’t know that yet, Mom.” Her mom stood there for a moment and thought, “You know, she’s only three. She’s right. She can’t know that yet.

After that day, we would laugh and say with her, “I can’t know that yet.” But, the very fact that she knew that she wasn’t supposed to be able to know that meant that she was able to know what it was that she wasn’t supposed to be doing. Have I confused you yet?

Today we hear one of those texts that is challenging in all kinds of ways. But, at the same time, we come with the knowledge of how this story ends. This knowing how the story ends helps us know something about this text that the disciples didn’t.

Sue and I belong to a mystery book club. I am shocked by the number of people that can’t read a mystery straight through. They need to read the end before they read the middle of the book. They want to know the end of the story so that they can see all of the pieces of the mystery fall into place along the way.

So it is today. We come to this text already knowing the ending. We hear the troubles of Thomas and Philip, and we can laugh because we know what it is that they are not able to know.

When Jesus says these things about where he is going, we say to ourselves, “Yup, yup, yup, I know what he is talking about.”, but Thomas and Philip are saying, “Hey, wait a minute here. We can’t know that yet.”

There are all kinds of things in our lives that happen that way. We say with Thomas and Philip, “We can’t know that yet,” and “Show us; we want to believe.” We just don’t have all of the information that we want and need.

And so, we go about our lives sometimes doing the right thing, sometimes doing the wrong thing. It is not until we have gotten all the way through the situations of our lives that we can look back and say, “If I had only known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have done what I did.” Or, perhaps we are able to say, “I am glad I did what I did. If I had it to do all over again, I’d do the same thing.

Today we witness this tension that comes from not having all of the information that the disciples might want. There is a tension surrounding what it might mean to follow Jesus. And although we might be tempted to laugh at them, we experience the same tension in our lives. Just what does it mean to follow Jesus?

This chapter in John is oftentimes known as the beginning of Jesus’ farewell address. It immediately follows the events of the Last Supper where Jesus has given his disciples the command to love one another. Now, leaving the Upper Room, Jesus begins to prepare his disciples for what is to come, and so he begins with an image of a dynamic house with many dwelling places. It is so comforting to think that Jesus is going ahead of us to prepare a place for us when we think that that place is in heaven, but the truth of the matter is that the place that Jesus is preparing for us is not a permanent home as our English translation suggests. The word in Greek is more like a resting place, a park-side bench, a place to stop and catch one’s breath along the way; more like the watering stations along the route of a marathon. That is what Jesus is preparing for us.

Yet, more than this preparation of a place, come the words, “Don’t be afraid! Don’t be anxious! Do not let your hearts be troubled.” This theme has been repeated throughout this and all the other Gospels.

And of course, we feel very familiar with these words because we have heard them in our own lives. Most oftentimes we have heard these words during funerals. Because of that, we hear these words as comforting.

But I would like to propose to you and have you entertain this other understanding of the dwelling place today; not the permanent residence, but the resting station, that place of pause along the way, sort of like this building is our resting place in the midst of our faith lives. This worship place that is the resting place in the midst of our crazy and hectic lives, in the midst of all of the work that we are doing, in the midst of chasing cows down the road and getting them back into their pasture, in the midst of grocery shopping and taking care of our duties at our jobs, in the midst of preparing for the end of the school year, taking tests and planning for our futures, in the midst of all of that, this place is our resting place.

It is not a place to come and stay, but a place to rest and catch one’s breath; a place to find our center, our ultimate focus, that trust that empowers us and leads us back into the world from which we have just come—that place which calls to us with a demanding voice, that place that needs to hear of the good news of the risen Christ, that place that needs to have us show God’s work in the world through our witness and actions, that place that desperately needs to know what it means to follow Jesus..

In this context, Thomas’ question is incredibly poignant. “Where are you going? We don’t know the way.” In part this question and statement are based on fear. In part the question and statement want to pretend that he doesn’t know. In part the question and statement are made because Thomas doesn’t want to know. But we know because we have already read the end of the story. We know that the place where Jesus is going is the cross.

Jesus says, “Yes you know the way. I am the way. I am the truth. I am life itself.”

Jesus’ words are about living, not in the afterlife, but living in the world with one another right now, speaking truth, revealing truth, showing the way to fuller lives.

As I prepared this week, I kept thinking of one of my favorite songs. It is “The Boxer”, by Paul Simon. The last verse says, “Now I’m laying out my winter clothes and wishing I was gone, going home to where the New York City winters aren’t bleeding me, leading me, going home. In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade, and he carries the reminder of every glove that laid him down or cut him ‘til he cried out in his anger and his shame, ‘I am leaving! I am leaving! But the fighter still remains.’”

For some of us, this image of our Father’s house with many dwelling places is that going home place of eternal rest. Some of us are in that time of life-review, getting things laid out, getting things ready because we know that our time is not long, and that is good.

But, if the Church is going to be an active part of the world, pointing the direction of Jesus’ leading, then the places Jesus prepares for us need to be less permanent, more energizing, more like the boxer’s corner stool in between rounds—that place where the manager and coach give you water to rinse your mouth, wipe your face, attend to any cuts or bruises.

In this sense, our worship space is like that corner stool, where we rest from the world in prayer, praise and thanksgiving; that place of hoping for good outcomes, celebrating life itself, and giving thanks for those who are standing with us in our corner, cheering us on, giving encouragement and reassurance; that place where we can evaluate how the battle is going and develop winning strategies for the rest of the fight.

Like the boxer’s stool, this is a temporary place. It is not a place to sit forever because the fight is going to continue. The next round is coming. Although there are times when we might not want to go back into the fight, our identity of fighter means that we are called to go: the fighter remains. We may remember all of the failures in our lives, but there have been successes too. And so, from this place that Jesus has prepared for us, from this resting place along the way, from the place where our sorrows and our joys are remembered, we wait for the bell announcing the next round to go out into the world to address the injustices of the world, not for ourselves alone, but, in the name of Christ, to announce the raising up of the dead, reaching out into the poorer quarters of our world, and telling the story of God’s love and caring.  

Last week, we heard the words from the 23^rd Psalm, “You prepare a banquet for me in the presence of my enemies.” In this Eastertide, this Easter time, this Easter season, we find that God’s dwelling place, this world we live in, is not a place to hold us back, it is not a place of comfort that keeps us away from the ravages of the world, rather, this dwelling place, this resting place is a place for healing and discernment that leads us back in to life’s journey addressing the problems of the world head on.

We know the way that Jesus is going. It is the way of the cross. We have seen the Father, for we have seen the works of Christ. We know Christ’s presence in our lives, received in the drowning waters of death and resurrection Baptism, in the bread and the wine of Christ’s true presence among us, and in the works and the care of one another in this place of resting and then in the world around us. It is a time of caring struggle that lasts a lifetime, an eternal lifetime.

From Isaiah we hear these words, “I have dandled you upon my knee and suckled you at my breast.” God has held us and will hold us. For all of you who wrestle with God, know that Christ’s love in, with, and through, God, is the one who gives us peace, that is wholeness in the midst of a broken world.

We have come to this place today in the midst of a world that is in chaos. And our world needs our attention and our energy. In this place, we can find our focus and catch our breath so that we can go out into the world being Christ’s signs of resurrection in this resurrection world of hope and promise.

Go in peace. Serve the Lord!

New Management for In My Father’s House

THE ANGELUS TRUMPET
The Unexpurgated Source for Alternative Bible Facts

New Management for In My Father’s House

by Jack D. Sypal

Dateline Michigan, May 21,14:15:21

Shock waves ran through the financial world today when Josh Kristy announced that he will be leaving his Kingdom of Dodd enterprises soon. This unexpected news follows on the heels of his announcement last week of the ambitious Nu Life Community Housing project, In My Father’s House.

In a brief news conference today, Kristy revealed that he is not long for this world. Rumors of an acute terminal condition presage this sudden change in direction.

When potential investors in Kristy’s latest project began to waver, Kristy announced, “Do not be worried. Although I am going, I have a new management team in place that will be able to see the project through. They will be there with you throughout the building program and to guide the development of the communities into the next phase of ecofriendly, low-carbon-footprint living. As a matter of fact, this new management team could very well lead our world into the next age of international identity with a true global economy that benefits all people.”

Kristy’s history of challenging traditional power structures and policies has always depended on a radical reverence of interpersonal relationships with a capital investment in an optimistic future for next generation living. He has always claimed that, “One has to trust in the goodness of the world and the goodness of humanity.”

To offer further explanation, Kristy went on to say, “We all know that the most solid structure is a triangle, and I have tried to keep these three points before me in all that I do. The dictates I have lived by, I pass on to those who will follow: trust in the goodness of the world, aspire to optimistic outcomes with sound investments, and seriously value the talents of the people around you.”

Kristy had these points in mind when he put together a management team to oversee Kingdom properties and direct the future work of In my Father’s House communities. He has pulled together highly committed leaders to form PARACLETE—People Addressing Real Advantages of Community Living in Ecofriendly Transformational Environments.

Passionately, Kristy expressed his confidence that "PARACLETE, a team committed to the value of all people, will guide the achievement of my dreams for the world and will engage in even greater projects in the future. The dream that I have is a sustainable dream, and, because others have invested themselves in the dream, I know that my dream will continue. Those who understand the primary concepts of my Kingdom strategy will continue to build on what I have started. I know that people can’t see it now, but what we do today has hu-uge ramifications for our time and for the world to come. It’s going to be great! Really great! Wait and see.”

In My Father’s House High Rise to Get Off the Ground

THE ANGELUS TRUMPET
The Unexpurgated Source for Alternative Bible Facts

In My Father’s House High Rise to Get Off the Ground

by Jack D. Sypal

Dateline Jerusalem, May 14, 14:01:14

From the newly completed, climate-controlled Tulip Garden at the Kingdom of Dodd LLC corporate offices in Michigan, Joshua Kristy announced a huge real estate project Wednesday. In My Father’s House, where there will be many dwelling places, will accommodate people from all walks of life. Basic units will be doable for those of low income. He is also offering moderately priced units for the middle class as well as the Eye of the Needle penthouse suites.

Building on the eco-friendly principles Kristy espoused on the last day of 2016 when he divided the world’s countries into SHEEP and GOATS (See our article, BAA, BAA, BLACK SHEEP.), the planned community high rises includes several innovations.

Kristy’s plumbing system, which he calls a double helix, will distribute, treat and filter all water. This newly unveiled network begins with fresh water for drinking and cooking. The resulting gray water has various uses throughout the complex.

The system then directs all solid waste to breeder tanks where methane gas is collected and burned for cooking and heating. The resulting compost is intended to fertilize various plantings throughout the complex including the one-of-a-kind, bio-engineered NU Life Garden of Eden.

Lastly a network grid, laid under the Garden, collects water that has not been used by the plants and filters it one last time before returning it to the potable drinking water for the community’s use. Kristy acknowledges this plan is controversial but calls it a critical piece of the ecofriendly, low carbon footprint lifestyle the NU Life Garden of Eden creates.

In this way, Kristy claims, 60% of every gallon of water drawn from the water tower Is returned to the tower for use again. Approximately 40% is lost through evaporation, respiration, and transpiration. There is also a fractional percentage of loss due to mechanical inefficiency, but Kristy promises to work on that.

“You don’t have to be troubled about it,” Kristy stated, “Believe me. It’s going to be spectacular, really spectacular. People are going to love it. It will be hu-uge.”

Other green-technology energy sources, including wind turbines over the low-income units as well as solar arrays over the Eye of the Needle suites, are artfully incorporated.

The plan also provides space for both retail and dining opportunities. Markets will carry Kingdom of Dodd clothing and Kingdom of Dodd NU Food groceries such as fruits, vegetables, and Kingdom of Dodd hydroponically raised greens and fish from NU Life Garden of Eden. NU Food Cuisine brasseries anticipate an extensive selection of Kingdom of Dodd Nu Food Wines. Kristy describes their bouquet and taste to the palate as, “Really good, just heavenly.”

Earlier manifestations of In My Father’s House envisioned an international component that would allow participants to trade units to avoid boredom and to increase social energy, but the new America First thrust in recent Kingdom business has limited the project to the United States alone. Expecting to build in all fifty states, Kristy is leaving soon to locate and procure all sites.

Although HUD has granted approval, the exact timetable remains allusive. Kristy assures people they should not worry, because, even though he is going ahead to plan the sites, he will be back in time for the ground-breaking ceremonies. He is definitely going ahead with his plans to prepare places for the elect of the world.

Each community is designed for 2,880 people enabling 144,000 to be accepted into In My Father’s House communities throughout the country. One of Kristy’s potential resident investors expressed his concerns thus, “We don’t know the way to make application. How can we know the way to enroll in the lottery for In My Father’s House?”

Kristy assured the prospect, “Come see me. In truth, I am the way to Nu Life. If you know me, you will also know the way to In My Father’s House.”

Another was more skeptical and said, “I’m from Missouri. You’ll have to show me a completed In My Father’s House community before I will put any trust in it.”

Kristy responded, “Haven’t I done business with you before? Don’t you know my reputation yet? If you know me and my reputation, then you know that In My Father’s House will be a reality.  I am the project, and the project is me. I am opening up early opportunities for all of you so that you can participate in this project and greater projects yet to come.”  

THIS GATE SWINGS BOTH WAYS

THE ANGELUS TRUMPET
The Unexpurgated Source for Alternative Bible Facts

THIS GATE SWINGS BOTH WAYS

by Jack D. Sypal

Dateline Jerusalem, May 7, 10:01:10

In court Sunday, Jesus of Nazareth (J.o.N.) responded to charges brought by Mr. I. Seituwel of stealing that man’s identity and life. Representing himself, J.o.N. pled innocent to all counts. In his defense, he offered an alternative scenario, confronting our city’s citizens and visionaries as the perpetrators of the theft. Claiming privilege for sheep and shepherds, J.o.N. protested his innocence while charging the greater part of society as thieves and bandits, raising the issue of, “What is a thief and a bandit?” 


In revealing testimony, the Pharisee, Rabbi Dick Highosooner responded, “Thievery is both active and passive. The active thief compels one to give up their possessions by force. The more clever, passive thief obtains wealth and power by withholding what rightfully belongs to the poorer person or to those who are not able to defend their property and rights from more powerful neighbors. This form of thieving and banditry is usually more profitable because it can be done within the law.”


J.o.N. continued to speak out against the people who made the gift of sight he gave to Seituwel a nightmarish, misanthropic reaction of alienating isolation. Claiming himself to be a gate that swings in to allow entrance of sheep and shepherds, then out to allow shepherds and sheep egress to pasture, J.o.N.  challenged Roman citizens and people of Judea, along with the Pharisees, to examine their place and role among those who have a vision of the Kingdom and their participation in it.


As a gate, J.o.N. stated that it was not his intent “to restrict the movement of those whom he protected, but to provide shelter from the storm, safety from the predators of life, to create a safe place for rest so that the flock under his protection could be equipped to go out into the world for pasture community.”


In reply to Seituwel’s charges, J.o.N. pointed to the crowds, accusing them with, “It is this community of gatekeepers that has put the fly in the ointment, the worm in the apple, the stick in the spokes of the wheel. The gift of sight was to make Mr. Seituwel more accepted, but their actions have eventuated further alienation, causing him unintended and unnecessary loss of communal identity. By their suspicious, doubting, abandoning, and faithless, exclusionary behavior, these people stole his community from him and cast him out with less than he had in the first place.” 


“As gatekeepers, they performed their duties flawlessly. They kept everybody out, even those who should be let in. But the other duty of the gatekeeper is to open the gate for those who would enter. In this duty they failed miserably.
“And, it is in their failed duty that they take greatest pride. In their pride, they demonstrate a kind of latch envy—envy of the power of the bolt to imprison the unsuspecting and secure the status quo thus preventing participation in the fullness of life’s opportunities. There is much more to life than Plato’s dismal cave of shadow verisimilitudes. There may be safety inside the walls, but the fullness of life is known in coming out. A gate is the ultimate trans-state between the when of the past, the now of the moment, and the then of the future.”


Then, almost singing, J.o.N. exclaimed, “I am the gate! I swing both ways! I swing back and forth. In comes the Southern breeze or cold wind from the North. The Holy Spirit blows where it wills, and the gate must always be ready to swing in the most advantageous direction for the sake of the sheep and their shepherd. I let the shepherd and the new members of the flock in, and I let the shepherd and the sheep out to feed. I am not a wall that stands fast against the world on the outside while imprisoning those within. I am active in the way to life and growth as well as care and protection.”


In his closing remarks, J.o.N. said, “A gate always leads the way to life. Those who dream of walls only are thieves and bandits seeking personal good at the expense of those contained by walls. They seek to steal, to kill, and to destroy life even crushing the spirit of hope. 


“I am a gate that offers hope always with the promise of abundant life beyond. Don’t you know? The grass is always greener on the other side, and the gate gets you there.”