ROME IMPROVEMENT 03/28/2021

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SURVEYING THE SITE—Mark 11:1-11

With six days left in Lent, we begin to tell our story of shame, despair, and hope. It is Palm Sunday. Hosanna!

In recent years, we have begun to tell the full Passion story on Palm Sunday for many reasons. One of which is that we get to tell the story of the passion in the words of the Gospel for the year, reserving John’s account for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Whatever the reason for the texts chosen for this Sunday, the Church reserves this week to tell our story in a continuous manner. It starts today and proceeds to the events of Easter morning: “He has been raised. He is not here.”

Previously at the end of Chapter 10 in Mark’s Gospel, Bartimaeus has encountered Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. The disciples take Bartimaeus to Jesus where Bartimaeus asks to see again. Receiving his vision, he follows Jesus “on the way”. This joy-filled following concludes the evangelical message of Mark.

But what is the way? For those of you who have read some of my earlier postings, you know that I believe that Mark 11 is the rightful beginning of this Gospel. It tells that the way of faithful following is the way to the cross.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

Leaving Jericho and now approaching Jerusalem, at the house of Unripe Figs (Bethphage) and the House of Sorrows (Bethany), near the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples saying, “Go into the village over there, and, immediately, as you enter it, you will find there a colt that has never been ridden. Loose it and bring it. If any says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back immediately.’”

The disciples went and found a colt tied near a door at the crossroads. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” They told them what Jesus had said, and the bystanders allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus. They threw their outer robes on it, and Jesus sat on it. Many people spread their outer robes on the road, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields.

Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and arriving at the temple; he looked all around. Noting that the hour was late, he left to stay at the House of Sorrows.

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

There are those who prefer to also make this Passion Sunday, reading the entire text of Jesus’ time at the Last Supper, his time in Gethsemane, and his arrest, trial, and crucifixion. It is my hope that this story is important enough for you who listen to my sermon, you who read this, and others, that you will come on Thursday and Friday for more of the Passion narrative.

I invite you to hear me at 6:00 pm, Thursday and Friday, on our Conference Call number, (425) 436-6376 (not toll-free), pass code 143-7151#. You can also worship with us in person with masks on at those times or listen to the words of your own pastors as we try to make sense of Jesus’ willingness to die in order for us to be justified, made right, put in a relationship of mercy-filled grace with God. How does this narrative continue to have meaning in our lives today?

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

A while back, before COVID, flash mobbing was a big thing. One person would text everyone in their contact list saying, Let’s all meet at ____”. Those who received the message would forward it to their contacts and soon, people, sometimes thousands, would show up at the designated place. It was even done for worship services.

This is not what Jesus and the disciples did. It appears theirs is a carefully choreographed event. Jesus knows he is the one elected to be the king of the parade. He knows to send his disciples to a particular place where the colt is tied. People have had time to cut leafy branches in the fields. Others have brought robes with which they can carpet Jesus’ way from the Mount of Olives to the temple.

This parade into Jerusalem has the earmarks of what we now know as “carnival”. Some scholars believe that his entry into Jerusalem is, subversively, an anti-entry taking place while Pilate and his soldiers entered Jerusalem at another gate, a parade that would have been a Roman law-and-order power display amid the Jewish Passover celebration.

In this parade, the conquering king or king’s representative, often a military general, entered a town with an impressive show of force. The conquering lord might have been riding a horse or may have been riding in a chariot with armor. The army would have followed either riding horses or marching.

Along the way, the new subjects of the king would have been bowing before the conquering lord begging for their lives to be spared. They would have been crying out, “Hosanna, Lord save us!” They would have been praising the works of the conquering lord, “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the lord” while thinking, “May you die a painful death and rot in hell”.

They would have been speaking, “Blessed is the coming reign of the blessed one (David)” which could have been wishing for the good old days and restoration of self-rule. At the same time people would have run ahead of the commander to open the doors of the temple where the conquerors would have claimed the city’s patron god in the name of the victorious nation, perhaps renaming it in the process.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Jerusalem, a very different parade is going on. Not a warhorse or chariot, but an unridden donkey leads the parade. We might expect to see some bucking and more clownish posturing. Raucous laughter and cheering would be expected. Here the cries of hosanna might have less serious fervor. Even the blessing of the one who comes in the name of the Lord might rise to protest Caesar rather than in pious submission to God’s deliverance. 

Today, knowing the result of the parade, we see Jesus as the servant Son of Man, riding to the destiny of the cross.

• But did the people of the time see it that way?
• Might this parade of entry be a political rally in protest of Roman rule?
• Can we see today’s protest rallies in the actions of these people as part of our faith-life journey?

Whether you see the great entry into Jerusalem as political or sacred, it is the opening scene of the story that will change the world.

HANGING THE TRIM

Between the House of Unripe Figs and the House of Sorrows, we see a world that is not yet ready for God’s acts of love and the death of Jesus on the cross. We wait for the door of the tomb to be opened, when our sorrows lead to joy, and the unripe fruit may lead to a harvest of plenty. May you have a blessed Holy Week.

ROME IMPROVEMENT 03/21/2021

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SURVEYING THE SITE—John 12:20-33

This week we are challenged to consider time and what can be done in the time we are given. Are there some things that really cannot happen until the time is right?

Part of the suspense in the Gospel of John comes from Jesus’ first miracle story (changing the water into wine), when Jesus’ mother tells him to solve the problem of the wine shortage. Jesus’ reply to his mother is, “My hour has not yet come.” This prepares the reader/hearer of this gospel to hear that Jesus’ hour has come.

Despite the fact that his hour has not yet come, Jesus changes the water into wine. Throughout the gospel, we hear that Jesus continues to teach and to make miracles. Each time Jesus has an encounter with people in John’s Gospel, the underlying question is, “Is this the time when Jesus’ hour has come?”

Each time Jesus engages a person or crowd in need and in need of teaching, his words, “My hour has not yet come,” linger in the background. Might this occasion be when the time has come? Yet we do not hear it until now in the twelfth chapter.

In the Gospel of Matthew, we see the Wise Men (magi), who are standing in for the world, recognize who Jesus is even when the Jewish people do not know Jesus to be the Messiah. Now, when we least expect it in the Gospel of John, we hear Jesus say the time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified when some Greeks, people of the world, come to see him.

Really, have we been waiting for some Greeks this whole time? God makes things happen, when the world is ready, so that God’s grace can be known. It is time for Jesus to be glorified.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

As Jesus has come to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem, so also some Greeks have come to worship. While they are there, they approach Philip and ask to see Jesus. Philip goes to Andrew to talk about it; then Philip, Andrew, and the Greeks go to see Jesus.

When Philip and Andrew make known the Greek’s request for an audience, Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Unless a seed falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain. But, if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life, lose it. Those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me. Where I am, my slave will be there also. The Father will honor those who serve me.

“Now [the time is right], and my stomach is in an uproar; I feel great anxiety. [Knowing that the time is now], should I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour? No! It is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’”

A voice came from the heavens, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” When the crowd heard this, some thought it was thunder. Others said an angel had spoken to him.

But Jesus said, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now [and at this time as well] is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw ALL people to myself.” He said this to point to the kind of death he was to die.

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

Dr. Karoline Lewis, Luther Seminary, says, whenever we read “glory” or “glorification” in the Gospel of John, it refers to the cross and crucifixion. So, this text can read, “Now is the time for the Son of Man to be crucified.” These words prepare us for the events of Chapter 13 where Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, eats the meal where he dips the bread in the wine and gives it to Judas, foretells Peter’s denials, and then withdraws to Gethsemane where he is arrested.

If last week was proleptic (telling what has not yet happened narratively while already knowing the end of the story), this week’s text introduces the reality of the end times of Jesus’ life. But it is always important to remember that the cross is not the final statement concerning Jesus—resurrection, new-life-living makes the difference. The ultimate event of Jesus’ life is overcoming death and the grave. This ultimate time event is called the “eschaton”, and the consideration of this time is called “eschatology”.

Many people want to consider eschatology as something that only concerns us after we too have died separating our lives and what we do here on earth from the reward of God’s grace in heaven. This week’s text shifts that understanding. In this text we are told that the eschaton is concerned with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

We are the fruit of the seed that falls into the ground; we are not the seed, Jesus is. So, eschatology includes us in the story. Our lives are proleptically involved in Jesus’ death and resurrection. As the fruit, we are now part of the death and resurrection story. We are already living in that not fully known world of Jesus’ resurrection, what theologians call the realized eschaton.

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

Each time I read this passage I get to “If you hate your life,” and I try to soften the word of hate. But the word in Greek is definite. “If you love your life, you will lose it. If you hate your life in this world, you will keep it for eternal life.” Until this year, I have just quickly passed over these words and moved on. There is so much here to wrestle with that I could let hating my life in order to keep eternal life just slide without examination.

This year that all ended. When I sat with the text this week considering what realized eschatology had to say about our participation in Christ’s resurrection world, I wondered whether I loved my life or whether I hated it?  

Personally, my life is pretty good. But, my life, beyond myself, is awful. Hate crimes abound. Politics divide our nation. Personally, I have really started to understand how entrenched racism is in our government and society. Public figures are allowed to make statements concerning entire groups of people that dehumanize them without anybody holding the speakers accountable for their language. We continue to create laws that intentionally deprive the poorest part of our society from voting. I hate it. Does this mean I am assured of eternal life?

The next part of the text informs my love and hate, “Whoever serves me must follow me [walk where I walk]. Where I am, my slave [follower] will be there also.” Our love and our hatred of life is known and shaped by Jesus’ love and hate. We live in that eschatological and proleptic knowledge of what it means to live in the resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

As Jesus was not able to be silent about the inequities of his time, we are not to be silent about the inequities of our time. Indeed, in the name of the One who is glorified and whose name will always be glorified, we are given our marching orders.

One of our Eucharistic prayers includes that God’s mercy is endless and God’s rule of the world is eternal. It continues, “We praise you for the grace shown to your people in every age: the promise to Israel, the rescue from Egypt, the gift of the Promised Land, the words of the prophets; and, at this end of all the ages, the gift of your son, who proclaimed the good news in word and deed and was obedient to your will, even to giving his life.” We are living in the midst of Christ’s eschaton.

Living in the resurrection world turmoil of today, we are challenged to consider the conditions of our lives. Do we love it? Or do we hate it? Lukewarm toleration is not allowed. If you love it, say so. If you hate it, say so. The world cannot change if we give our silent affirmation to our status quo.

In a world of Black Lives Matter;

In a world of violent aggression against women, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, immigrants;

In a world of poverty;

In a world where people are dying because they cannot afford medical treatment,

where do we see Jesus?

Where do we see Jesus lifted up before us and how are we being drawn to him?

How are we following him in these proleptic and eschatological times?

HANGING THE TRIM

When our two older nieces were five and three, my sister learned about the time that had not yet come. The two girls did everything together. Because the younger one was tall for her age, we had come to think of them as being the same age. One day, this three-year-old did not do something the five-year-old did regularly. When my sister disciplined the three-year-old for this failure, this child looked up at her mom and said, “Mom, I’m only three. I can’t know that yet.”

There is much about the fullness of Christ’s end times that we cannot know yet, but there is much that we can know. In faith, let us walk together in word and deed, following the one who goes before us. Now is the hour when the Son of Man will be glorified.

ROME IMPROVEMENT 03/14/2021

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SURVEYING THE SITE—John 3:13-21

Following last week’s confrontation in the temple, Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. We hear the conversation concerning whether anyone can enter the womb a second time and be born again. We learn that we are to be born of water and the spirit. We are told, “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So, it is with everyone who is born of the spirit.”

Nicodemus is rebuffed because he is a teacher of the Jewish people and yet he does not understand. Jesus says, “We speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen. Yet you do not receive our testimony.” There is discussion about knowing earthly things and heavenly things. This encounter of Nicodemus and Jesus sets the stage for Jesus’ concluding words of the need for Jesus’ presence in the world.

Throughout this exchange, verb tense is important. This passage is told understanding that narratively Jesus has not been crucified, has not been raised up from the dead, has not ascended into heaven, but the hearers of the story already know these things have occurred. The theological word is “proleptic” which means that, at the same time, something has already, but not yet, happened.

It is like telling the story of an accident. As you tell the events that lead up to the accident, everyone knows that the accident has already occurred. Yet, as the hearers of the story already know of the accident, they do not know what caused the accident. So, proleptically you get to tell the already, but not yet, event of the accidental encounter that led to being married to the love of your life.

READING THE BLUEPRINT

No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. And, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. Whoever believes in him will have eternal life.

As a result, God loved the world in this way.  He gave his only begotten son in order that those who believe in him will not be destroyed but will have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send his son into the world to judge the world, but in order that the world, through him, might be saved/made whole.

Those who believe in him are not judged, but those who do not believe are judged already because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God. This is the judgment. The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. All who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light in order that their deeds might not be exposed/seen. But those who do what is true come to the light so it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done IN God.

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

A couple weeks ago, we heard these words from Proverbs 30:4. “Who has ascended into heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of the hand? Who has wrapped the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is the person’s name? What is the name of the person’s child? Surely you know.” I cannot help but think that the writer of John had these words echoing in his head as he recorded these words of Jesus, “No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.”

John’s audience, steeped in the story of the serpent raised up on the pole, found in Numbers, is reminded that those who looked upon it were healed. So now, the proleptic image of Jesus on the cross is bound/connected to that healing in the wilderness and projects that healing onto the healing of our broken world.

This lifting up of Jesus on the cross is not an act of divine infanticide, God the Father killing off God the Son, but an act of sacrificial love, freely given for the salvation of the world. This is not personal salvation. The statement of “those who believe”, does not indicate individual salvations and not even nations as in Matthew 25. Here, John uses “kosmos”, translated “world”, but really even something bigger, “cosmos”.

As there was a judgment of the world during Noah’s time and during the time of the prophets, so now we hear that there is going to be judgment again. Those who believe IN him are not judged. Those who do not believe IN him are judged already. The oftentimes overlooked word here is IN. As one lives IN a house, sleeps IN a tent, or lives IN the world, so now, we believe IN Christ, IN God, IN the Holy Spirit. Those who do not believe IN Christ, are outside the Body of Christ, therefore they cannot believe IN “The Name”, revealed to us as the only begotten son.

What is the person’s name? What is the name of the person’s child? Surely you know—It is with this knowledge that we state creedally, “I/We believe IN God; IN God’s only son, Jesus Christ; IN the Holy Spirit.” This place of being IN is not only the location of our faith but also our world perspective.

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

The story of the serpent reminds us of that wilderness time when the people of God complained against God, claiming that their lives were better off when they were in Egypt. As a punishment, God sends venomous snakes that bring death and sickness to the people. Moses then raises a bronze serpent on a pole, and all who gaze upon the serpent are healed. (Numbers 21:4-9)

Centuries after Moses raised the serpent on the pole, King Hezekiah brought reform to Israel. He removed the sites of pagan worship and destroyed the idols. Among the idols he destroyed is the bronze serpent Moses made. The people had forgotten that the bronze serpent was a sign from God for healing and had begun offering sacrifices to it. (2 Kings 18)

Yet, as the serpent was lifted up, so Jesus is lifted up, and sometimes our response to Christ’s lifting up is the same as the people’s response to the bronze serpent. We forget to honor, to worship and praise, what Christ has done for us and instead make sacrifices to the crucifix or cross itself. We are tempted to use the cross as a talisman or good luck charm rather than the metaphor of God’s love for us.

In this passage, we are reminded of our own unfaithfulness. As an ELCA bishop once said, “Every congregation has a “Back-to-Egypt committee.” We tend to want the past rather than live into what is and what will be. We want to be protected from an uncertain future with the comforts of a well-known but unfulfilling past. God recognizes these short comings and continues to love us.

Indeed, God loves us in this way. God gives of Godself. God gives God’s only begotten son who chooses to die for the sake of the world that we might be saved through the works of Christ. We are made right with God through the relationship of God’s love.

HANGING THE TRIM

This proleptic raising of Jesus on the cross is not the end of the story—"was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended to the dead.” The end of the story is not even the raising up from the tomb on Easter morning—“On the third day, he rose again from the dead, and he is seated at the right hand of God.”

The ultimate raising up of the Son of Man is the raising of Christ into heaven. And, the craziest thing is, “He will come again to judge the living and the dead.” The one who has ascended into heaven will come down again.

“Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is the person’s name? What is the name of the person’s child? Surely you know.” Let us believe and live IN that one.

ROME IMPROVEMENT 03/07/21

MORE POWER!  MORE GLORY!!  MORE SPIRIT!!!

SURVEYING THE SITE—John 2:13-22

Just when we were getting used to the yo-yo movement in Mark, oops, the string of the yo-yo broke. The yo-yo hit the ground rolling, and we have ended up in John. What’s happening? We have heard that the Word has become flesh and tented among us. John has come baptizing and has pointed out the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”.

Andrew and another disciple have followed Jesus to his tenting place, and Andrew has gone to find his brother Peter. Philip has found Nathaniel, who, after being told that he is without deceit, declares Jesus to be God’s son. Jesus and his disciples have responded to an invitation to a wedding in Cana, where they run out of wine, and Jesus makes the first of his signs/miracles changing water into very good wine.

Then Jesus, his mother, brothers, disciples, and other tag-alongs stop off at Capernaum for a few days before hitting the road for Jerusalem and the first of three Passover celebrations recorded in John. When Jesus enters the temple courtyard, he sees that it is not a place of welcome for the nations but an emporium that profits the temple and chooses to do something about it. He casts out the cattle, the sheep, and the pigeons, along with the money changers.

Wait! We’ve just started the Book of John. Isn’t Jesus supposed to cleanse the temple near the end of the story?

READING THE BLUEPRINT

Now after the blowout at the wedding, Jesus, his mother, brothers, disciples, and maybe others not mentioned, have gone to Capernaum to rest for a few days. But when the time comes for the Passover celebration, Jesus goes up to the city of peace (Jerusalem), to the great temple, to join in the festivities surrounding God’s intervening activity that freed God’s people and shaped them.

Entering the outer courtyard, the place of welcome for all the nations, Jesus finds cattle, sheep, and pigeons being sold for those who wish to make sacrifices. The money changers are sitting by their tables, ready to exchange the filthy lucre, roman and other worldly coins, for pure religious coins used in the temple.

Jesus makes a whip of bullrushes and casts out the moneychangers, cattle, and sheep. Then he pours out the coins of the moneychangers, overturns the tables, and tells the people with the pigeons to take them out of the temple.

Three Greek words are used in this passage to describe the “temple”.  At this point, “hieron” is used which refers to the entire temple complex not just the worship space itself. It includes the various courtyards of the temple complex as well as any auxiliary buildings and proscenia. So far, everybody is on the same page as to what is being talked about.

Now, when the disciples remember a portion of Psalm 69, “Zeal for your house shall consume me”, things begin to get a little sticky.  Here the word is not temple, but house, “oikos”, which is not simply a building or even a collection of buildings, it is the living construct of household.

The people were expected to recall more of the Psalm, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. When I humbled my soul with fasting, they insulted me for doing so. When I made sack cloth my clothing, I became a by-word to them. I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate. The drunkards make songs about me.”

When this part of the psalm is included, the afront Jesus feels is more understandable. This courtyard of the gentiles is supposed to be a place of welcome or hospitality for the world. But, the marketplace, this early one-stop shopping mall, has made the place of welcome a barnyard and a place of commercial profiteering.

It is not that these service businesses aren’t needed, just not in the holy place of welcome. Sabbath time and holy ritual are to help people remember that God makes this time and observance possible. It is not the work of people that makes the difference. God created the world and everything in it. God’s angel of death passed over the homes of the Hebrew people. God would lead them into the wilderness to the Promised Land.

The leaders of the temple ask Jesus to show them a sign that would justify his actions. In other words, they might say, “Explain yourself, young man.”

Jesus responds, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

This is where you might say, “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” The temple authorities are shocked because they expect Jesus to be speaking of the temple complex and/or the construction of God’s house or household. Instead, John uses neither “heiron” nor “oikos” but a third word, “naon”, for temple which is specifically the inner sanctuary, including the Holy of Holies.  Beyond speaking of the incarnate sanctuary worship space itself, Jesus translocates the worship space from building to himself.

In this way, Jesus refers back to chapter one: Jesus, as incarnate word, has come to tent with us. This tenting is a mobile operation that moves wherever God’s people are. It is not concretely anchored in the city of peace. It is nothing less than Jesus’ incarnate self who moves among us. “If you destroy the locus of God’s presence in the world, in three days it will be raised again.”

In these words, we recognize the cross and resurrection. When the disciples remember this statement after the great Easter event, they believe.

ROUGHING IN THE HOUSE

A tenet of Judaism is hospitality. In Genesis, God creates the Sabbath for humanity to know rest, but God also invites humanity into Sabbath time to be in a relationship of equity. We see Abraham give hospitality to three strangers who, in return for the gift of hospitality, tell Abraham and Sarah that they will have a child in a year. It is for lack of hospitality that Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed. Throughout Torah, we hear that we are to care for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger. Indeed, the stranger is to be held with regard and invited to participate in the life of the Jewish people.

This imperative of hospitality is so strong that many Eastern European Jewish communities during the 13^th through the 16^th centuries maintained a home in their community that was ready for travelers at all times. They built the house with the understanding that no one in the village would ever live in that house, but that they would keep the house stocked and fully appointed as a welcome to strangers/foreigners that might pass through their town on the way from somewhere to somewhere else.

PUTTING UP THE WALLS

As I read this text this week, I am struck by the difference between this account of the Temple cleansing and the accounts in the other Gospels. Certainly, the placement of the disruption narrative of the temple courtyard suggests that something different is going on, but the charges against the vendors and the moneychangers is also different. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we hear some version of the charges, “My house shall be a house of prayer for all the nations, but you have made it a den of robbers.” (Mark 11).

In John, we hear, “Take these things out of here. Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace.” And even though Jesus says this with a whip in his hand, it appears that the whip was for moving the animals not for punishing the people.

In Matthew, Mark and Luke, the indictment seems more directed to the entire temple practice while this scene in John appears directed to the merchants themselves. It seems more like a reforming corrective than a damning statement against the temple institution.

Considering the rest of Psalm 67, this cleansing is about making space for hospitality. It is about removing the insults against God. It is about restoring humility before God with fasting, repenting without becoming an object of derision. Hospitality should not be the subject of gossip debated by the old men in the café or the subject of drinking songs. Hospitality is at the heart of God’s caring presence even when humanity chooses to shun that hospitality: “He was in the world and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own and his own people did not accept him—they were not hospitable.” Left in charge of our salvation, we would throw it away.

It is God’s continuous hospitality of welcome, mercy, and forgiveness, that makes our relationship with God possible. So, we hear, “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born not of blood nor the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.” 

When the leaders of the temple come and ask Jesus for a sign, they need only look around them. Jesus has raised the issue of hospitality and left the evidence of inhospitality in the courtyard. One can only imagine the detritus from cattle, sheep, pigeons, together with the coinage and the paperwork that documented what they were doing. For those who have read it, it might look like the opening scenes of “The Magic Christian”.

HANGING THE TRIM

In these days of Corona Virus fatigue, we are challenged to consider whether our sanctuaries are standing for our own use and gratification or are they places of hospitality for the world to enter?

“Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love, show us how to serve, the neighbors we have in you.”