All Who Call on the Name of the LORD

   I started early that day, the first day of the week. It was harvest time, and I was going to town—well, to the farmers’ market. I knew that many people from all around would be coming and they would be looking for something to eat. So, I was bringing some of the best fruit I had.
   It was one of those beautiful harvest days when the sun is bright but not too hot. The air was clear with a light, refreshing breeze, and the dew lay heavy on the fields. In fact, the dew was so heavy when I started that the cobbles were a little slippery, and it made it tricky pulling my cart of figs and olives up the hill.
   Suddenly, the sound of a mighty wind roared through town. It sounded like the roaring of a thousand lions and five hundred stampeding elephants at the same time. The trees didn’t move; the grass never wavered; but there was this sound. I tell you, it was scary weird, and then it stopped. There wasn’t even a breeze anymore. It was spooky.
   “So, it’s going to be a hot one,” I thought. “I’ll have to wet down my cloak and lay it over the cart to keep the fruit from over-ripening.”
   Then I saw them, this crowd of people up ahead. “I’ll have to go another way to get to the market,” I thought. Then I saw people pouring out of every street. Apparently, they had heard it too.
   When I got closer, I asked someone what was happening. “Oh, it’s just a bunch of drunks babbling about something. They’re some of those Jesus followers. You know, that guy who was crucified almost two months ago.” 
   “Not that again!” I said. “I thought that we were done with that.” 
   “These are his disciples. The authorities are looking for them you know. The police will be here soon, and they’ll take care of it.” 
   “Good. I need to get to the market.” 
   “What for?”
   “I’m a little short this month. I could use a little walking around money so I want to sell my fruit at the festival.” 
   “Whatcha got?” 
   “Figs and olives, the best I have.” 
   “Was the crop good this year?” 
   “Well, it wasn’t bad. It would have been a lot better if that Jesus-guy hadn’t cursed the fig trees. We didn’t have the rain we needed, and there was blight on the figs. People say its because of the curse. Though I do have some really good figs here.” 
   “Well, I heard the noise, and I came out so quickly that I didn’t have anything for breakfast. Sell me a couple figs and a handful of olives.” 
   “Take your pick.” 
   Someone in the milling crowd must have seen us talking because we were challenged. “What are you doing over there?” 
   “Just getting some breakfast from this farmer. What’s it to you?” 
   Then I heard someone shout, “Hey, you want something to eat while we wait to see what happens?”
   That’s when the drunks got up and started to speak to the crowd. There was one guy, drunker than the rest, who seemed to be the leader. “People of Jerusalem”, he started. And people turned back to listen to what he had to say.
   A few people kept heckling. “Shut the drunk up. He’s going to be sorry when they arrest him for drunk and disorderly.”
   Not since the destruction of Babel had there been such confusion. People shouted for the police. Others tried to get closer so they could see who was speaking. Some wondered aloud how long it would be before these traitors would be crucified. There were many comments on the behavior of people during the festival. Many of the people came from other countries so they were speaking in different languages. As I said, like Babel all over again.
   But the man kept on talking, and we could hear him clearly. The more he talked the more excited he became. And when he got going, he was on fire!
   Then others started to speak, and the people looked in amazement because they could hear them clearly too. You would have thought, with so many speaking at once, that it would be impossible to hear anything, but it was like they were talking in unison. They got louder and clearer.
   People gathered around me wanting figs and olives while they listened, and, before I knew it, my cart was empty. 
   Since I no longer had to go to the market and I had nothing better to do, I stood around listening to what these crazies had to say. The day was young, and this could get interesting when the police would finally show up—cheap entertainment. 
   I suppose I should tell you that the police never did show up—you never can find one when you need one. The men just kept talking, and, pretty soon, the crowd settled down. The followers of Jesus kept telling us about this Jesus-guy. I was still mad about the curse on the figs, so I listened with some skepticism, but they talked about some interesting things like how we should love our enemies, treat them with kindness, and help them in any way we could. It was better to treat our enemies with kindness and have them respect us than it was to kill them and suffer retaliation and revenge. 
   They said that we should take care of the poor and let them know that God loves them too. After all, we couldn’t live without their help in our houses and estates. God had given us the gift of community so that we would all have enough and more. We should eat with them at our sides and not have them serving us the best while they got the left overs or nothing at all. 
   They said that we should make sure that the widows, and orphans, and strangers were cared for and treated respectfully because God speaks to us through the health of our society not just in the temple. So, we should listen to their concerns and needs. 
   They said that, if we were truly concerned about God’s creation, we would want to follow Jesus because he was God’s son and he had shown us how to live in peace—but peace might have a high price. Jesus died for that peace but not to fear because he rose from the dead on the third day. That was the sign of his Godliness.
   And, if people hated us for what we did and said in his name, then we should remember that people weren’t really overjoyed with Jeremiah or Elijah or Habakkuk or Moses or anyone else who listened to God. But God wants us to live together in the midst of our differences helping one another. This is what the prophets have always tried to get us to understand. “Well,” I said to the person standing next to me, “the only profits I’m interested in is this silver jingling in my pocket,” and we laughed. 
   The disciples kept on talking. They said that the rich landowners should be ashamed of themselves because they have resources to raise the standard of living for their workers but they choose not to—they keep their people in such great debt that they are forced to live as perpetual slaves. And God intended that no one be a slave for more than seven years—not even the gentiles.
   “Now we’re getting somewhere,” I said. “I like that. I’ve been working for the same landowner for fifteen years so far, and I’m guessing I will die working for him.”
   “I thought you said that you were selling your fruit,” my companion said.
   “Well, actually, it’s just a little I set aside. You know, just little extra somethin’ somethin’ for the working man.”
   By this time, the Jesus-guy was saying that Jesus had died so that everyone might be free. 
   Right about then the slaves started shouting, “What must we do to be saved?” Then others joined in, “What must we do to be saved?” The chant got louder and louder. 
   I saw that it was my time to leave. Things were going to get ugly soon, and, after my little confession, I thought, “better safe than sorry”—so I skipped. 
   They say that three thousand people joined the Jesus boys that day. I’m still not sure, but I did have Zeke, my neighbor, over for supper the other night; he’s been poorly lately and hasn’t been able to do much. And my brother’s widow, God be praised, has come to live with us.
   Of course, I want to be saved, but I’m still a little ticked about the figs even though they aren’t my trees—just a little somethin’ somethin’ for the working man; hear me God?

Sources for this story:
Genesis 11:1-10
Mark 11:12-24
Luke 16
Acts 2:1-21
© Peter Heide, May 22, 2007, rev. June 7, 2017. All rights reserved.

Benevolent Bloviating Bluster

THE ANGELUS TRUMPET
The Unexpurgated Source for Alternative Bible Facts

Benevolent Bloviating Bluster

by Luke A. Possil

Dateline: Jerusalem, June 4, 02:01:21


Thousands of pilgrims who came for the Pentecost holiday poured out into the streets of Jerusalem this morning after the forces of nature converged over our great city creating a meteorological phenomenon. Authorities are unable at the time of this report to explain these odd occurrences.

Some scientists and philosophers are proposing a particularly virulent, anomalous, climate change-induced, straight-line wind microburst while our national leaders are hypothesizing a fluke of cosmic energy released from warfare on Mt. Olympus. Whatever the cause, it seemed to localize where the followers of the treasonous leader, Joshua bar Joseph, were staying.

For the past forty-nine days, hoping to round up the traitor’s followers and other radical cell leaders all at one time, the Roman and Temple guards have been surveilling an undisclosed house where they believed bar Josephs’ followers were gathering. When this sudden meteorological phenomenon occurred, his followers exited the building like refugees from a Ringling Brothers clown car. There seemed to be a strange aura about them like some fiery, plasmic manifestation or St. Elmo’s fire.

Those affected didn’t so much walk as stagger from the domicile muttering to themselves, iterating what sounded like nonsense. As they continued to speak, people started to gather around one or the other of the bar Joseph followers recognizing their utterances. Lo their mumbling was actually foreign languages!

No one knows how these country bumpkins came to know these languages. Some suspect undocumented immersion-study linguist tutors; others claim a type of idiot savant classification. One observer was heard to say, “Now we can study pneumatology.” Another added, “And spontaneous polyglottal utterances."

Others, less curious, less impressed, are bringing charges of public drunkenness and substance abuse. The primary spokesperson for the bar Joseph followers, one Simon, aka Cephas, aka Peter, denies charges of inebriation, claiming drunkenness and substance abuse were not possible because it was still morning.

Simon explained, rather, that God was speaking through them via the Holy Spirit. He further asserted that the witness they were making was perfectly understandable and should have been anticipated if only one recalled the words from the ancient prophet Joel (who is suspected of mushroom eating).

After charging Rome and the people gathered here at the time of the Passover with killing the Son of God, Joshua bar Joseph, Simon continued by promising forgiveness if they would only join the little band gathered. He said, “The answer my friends, is blowing in the wind. The answer is blowing in the Holy Wind.”

With these and other hyperbolic statements, mob rule took over. Chants of “We call on the name of the Lord!” and “Jesus is Lord!” that arose from their midst eventually echoed throughout our city challenging the very foundations of Roman rule. We all know that the name of our lord is Tiberius Caesar. This gathering and its treasonous declarations are bound to bring Roman recriminations and retributions to our city. When it is all over, this reporter wonders, who will be saved?

Just for the Record, John 17:1-11

Just for the record, I hate it when the text for the day begins with, “When Jesus finished saying these things…”. I find it distracting and a little irritating because I immediately wonder, “What did Jesus just say?”

Well for the record, between last week’s text and this week’s text, Jesus has been instructing his disciples. We do not know for sure where they are, but we do know that this is Jesus’ farewell address that builds on verse 13:34 and has continued through this chapter—chapter 17. So, we have heard about the great vine; you know, “I am the vine and you are the branches.” We have heard that Jesus is in the world, but not of it. We have heard that the world hates Jesus and his witness and that, if we follow Jesus’ commandment, that is to love one another as Christ has first loved us, and if we bear witness to who Jesus is and continue in his teachings, then we can be hated too. If that weren’t enough, then Jesus said, “The time…has come when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone, yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you so that in me you will have peace. In the world you face persecution, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

Okay, now we have the context for understanding “After Jesus had spoken these words…”. What follows is an amazing prayer: a prayer for oneness and that we might come to know eternal life, more literally, life that will go on through the ages. And then Jesus tells us what this everlasting life, this life in the ages is: it is knowing the Father and his son Jesus Christ.

Now, I don’t know about you, but, when I first think of eternal life, even life into the ages, I’m thinking heaven. Yeah, heaven’s a nice place to go, so let’s go with that. But Jesus upsets this idea of place with an understanding of relationship. Life that goes on into the ages, what we translate as eternal life, is not a where but a what and a who. It is not a place but a relationship with Godself. And this is eternal life: that you know the Father and his son, Jesus Christ. Why? Because, without Christ, we have no life with any kind of future, not even life in the present.

With these words, Jesus reminds us of what we heard in John at Christmas: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was Life, and the Life was the light of all people. The light, in the darkness shines, and the darkness has not overcome it.…To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.”

As John understands it there is no life without God, but John is not proposing some abstract philosophy. He is referring us all the way back to Genesis, to the sixth day of creation when God creates humanity in God’s own image, male and female. Without God, there is no life, and, without Christ, there is no new creation. This new life we know in the resurrected Christ, God has revealed to us in the person of Jesus who preaches to us and teaches us and prays for us to know the primary, primal relationship with the Father and his son, Jesus the Christ.

In this amazing prayer, Jesus prays that we know the Father and the son. This is not just a “be aware of”, “casual acquaintance with”, but an “intimate relationship” knowing. In fact, the intimacy of this knowing is likened to the relationship of sexual intimacy in most of Scripture. I do not use these words lightly. Jesus wants us to have such an intimate relationship with God that we will not question it, a relationship that understands God well enough to be able to finish the sentences of life and creation that God begins. Jesus wants us to have a relationship that fully embraces the understanding that we are created in God’s image—not just the beautiful people, but all of us. All of us are created in God’s image—those of us who walk with walkers, who sit in wheel chairs; the blind, the deaf, the broken; black, white, and all of the shades and hues that come from God’s vibrant color palette; gay, straight and other sexual identities. All of us are created in the image of God, and, in God, we find the many gifts of life being continually given.

This is the life that Jesus prays for us. And, if we know that we are created in God’s image and we are one with Christ and in Christ, then all we need to do to know what God looks like is to look around us, to reach out and greet those whom Christ has given us to walk through life WITH. If you want to get a little freaked, then think about God’s image the next time you look in a mirror. Do not be confused. You are not God, but you are made in the image of God.

When we know this, then God will give us his name, the name first given to Jesus. Jesus is given the name or title, Son of God. So, what is that name for us? It is Children of God. Individually we are claimed as sons and daughters just as Jesus is claimed. We hear those words echoing down from the beginning of John, “To those who believe in God’s name he gives the power to become the Children of God.”

In the waters of Baptism, we claim that intimate relationship of being child of God through the dying and rising into new life IN the Father, and IN the son, and IN the Holy Spirit. From the waters of baptism, we live; we walk as the children of God in this named identity that God has given us in God’s life. That is the relationship that Jesus is praying for us.

We are God’s children. We are called to be one with one another and with Christ. In this amazing oneness, this wholeness that Jesus is talking about, we are called to be one with one another in the world, not for the sake of the world, but for our sake. This holy oneness is not some hypothetical circumstance of the future. It is something that Jesus prays for at that very moment, that his disciples might know unity in who they are, in whose they are, and what they are going to do about it.

So often, we think that the disciples and Jesus’ other followers had it all together. We think that they had this wonderful relationship with Jesus and one another so that there must have been at least that small period of time when people were at peace with one another. Seriously, Jesus was there. Why wouldn’t there be peace at that time?

What we discover in Scripture though is that everybody was arguing with everybody else. Even the disciples continued to have arguments among themselves over who was the greatest, how should the money they collected be spent, who was able to speak God’s words of promise and healing, where was Jesus going, should they follow or should they go home and call it a day?

Even when they had agreed to go out and tell the story of Jesus—his life, his ministry, his death, and, yes, his resurrection, they couldn’t agree on how that story should be told. As a witness to this conflict, we have this Gospel book of John to help us understand it.

The book of John is not just a story about Jesus. It is an historic merging of at least two faith communities coming together probably in the area in and around Ephesus. We know this because the Gospel of John was presented to the church by the Bishop of Ephesus whose name was Polycarp. Thus, this prayer for unity, for oneness, is even more important for the people of John’s community in the early years after the crucifixion and resurrection. In this single Gospel, we have one group of followers who think that Jesus’ teaching and philosophy on life needs to be the central focus of who Jesus is. The other group thinks that telling the stories of the miracles Jesus performed should be the center of who this Jesus is.

Neither group seems to have been strong enough to make it on its own, so at least these two faith communities got together to tell a unified story. The result is the Gospel of John that tells one complete story including the philosophy of Jesus with his teaching and six miracles or sign stories. They agreed on almost everything except how to end their telling of who this Jesus is and what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

At the end of the telling of who Jesus is, they had two separate endings, one in Chapter 20 and the second ending in Chapter 21. What to do? Not knowing which of the endings to use, they included both. After all, Genesis has two creation stories. Why shouldn’t the end of Jesus’ story have two endings? So, in part, this Gospel of John is an answer to Jesus’ prayer. “Father, I pray that they may be one, as you, O Father, and I are one.”

And in this year of the 500^th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, we hear these words in our background, “That they become one.” We note that the Pope is attending many of the Reformation celebrations. We are closer to being reunited with our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters than we have been in…well, 500 years. This is an amazing time. May we someday know the oneness that Jesus prayed for those many years ago.

Later in this prayer we will hear that Jesus wants us to be one with him in faith and to know the oneness he shares with the father, but, at this point of the prayer, he is praying for us to know oneness with one another and the world around us. Think about this. Jesus wants us to be one with all of God’s people and yet we continue to find new ways to build walls that separate us. We find ways to push others out of our way in order to say, “Wait a minute! It’s all about me! It’s all about what I believe! It’s about my way of doing things!”

For the record, I believe that Jesus is still praying that we learn to be one and that through sharing our stories, through sharing our lives, through sharing our commitment to build up one another and to defend our neighbors, through sharing our sufferings and our joys, we might come to know the wholeness, the oneness of Christ, and to experience the life that comes from Christ which is God’s mercy, grace, truth, and forgiveness.

Again, for the record, as we live into the days ahead, let us look for those places where we are one with our neighbors, to be aware of being an answer to Christ’s prayer, and may we be instruments of God’s plan, creating unity in our divided world—that oneness that comes in knowing the Father and his son Jesus Christ.

A WHIM AND A PRAYER

THE ANGELUS TRUMPET
The Unexpurgated Source for Alternative Bible Facts

A WHIM AND A PRAYER

The fifth in a series of interviews with first shapers in The Way, or as we know them today, Christians. Previous conversations were with Peter, James and John, Thomas, and Mary Magdalene.

by Jack D. Sypal

Dateline: Jerusalem, May 28,17:01:11

The other day, while wondering what I would write this week, a very quiet-mannered man appeared at my desk. I paid little attention as I was busy completing my expense voucher to get reimbursed for the VII drachmas I had spent for wine at the inn the other night where I had been angling for a soldier’s perspective on Nero’s use of the military in Syria and Afghanistan. While it had turned out the night was well-hydrated, the story was dry.

The man next to me modestly cleared his throat. Tentatively he inquired, “I’m Drew; you may know me better as Andrew. I know you did the series on the early leaders of the Christian movement. I was wondering if you might be interested in that time between our last meal together and when the Jam Man got arrested?”

Frustrated by my lack of story, feeling a little guilty over my expenses, brusquely, I sneered, “What makes you arrive now, Drew, ‘a day late and a drachma or seven short’, figuratively speaking?”

“I was traveling around the Black Sea talking with the Scythians, then I was up in Georgia, and then I spent some time in Kiev. I’ve just returned. Just like my brother [Peter], James and John, Thomas, and Mary, who’ve all gone their ways, I’ve gone mine. It is what he said we would do, but I hadn’t realized how far away we might go.”

“Who said?” I asked for clarification. “And just what happened between supper and the arrest?”

“The Jam Man, Jesus, The Son of God, The Messiah, Christ, take your pick—they’re all the same person. He sat down with us and told us what to expect, and then he prayed for us,” Andrew added.

Knowing I needed a story, any story, I sought an opening. “I’m not sure my readers really care. Maybe you should tell me about the things you have been doing. My readers might be interested in that, but a parent-like lecture and then a prayer? I’m not feeling it.”

My tone must have shown I was still in my “mood” because I could tell I had touched a nerve. This mild-mannered, deferential, tentative man started to get a little red in his face and seemed to grow in stature right before my eyes. When he started speaking, he was no longer tentative, he asked no quarter, and mild mannered never crossed my mind during the ensuing minutes. What follows is Andrew’s statement.

 “This story is not about me. If the story were about me, I wouldn’t be here. It’s about the one man whose life and teachings will change the world, the one who overcame death and the grave, the one who showed all of us hope in an otherwise hopeless world. It is about the one who demonstrated that power is something that comes from within and is best used by sharing that power with others rather than using that power to oppress. It is about the one who raises up the worthless, forgotten, disposable people into a relationship that claims all people as valued, recognized, and needed in order to know the fullness of God’s person and likeness.

“I have wandered in a part of the world peripheralized; they are considered too violent, too plebian, too ill-bred, too far away from anyone. Yet I learned they are fully aware of the power of Rome, of a taxation system that favors the very rich and punishes the very poor, of how little value life has unless you have some sort of power over someone else, of slavish indebtedness, and of the lack of care for those who are injured or get ill while in the service of Rome. They are aware of the dead bodies floating down the Tiber amid the sewage and the flotsam, and the starving children who risk infection themselves as they swim out to steal the coins from the eyes of the dead so that they can buy food. They know of the violence of our great cities and how the wealthy find it entertaining to watch the suffering of some and the violent death of others in the Coliseum. They know that their lives are brutally harsh, but they prefer their lives to the culture of Rome.

“What is important is that these people come to know the wholeness, the oneness, the great joy of celebrating life without worrying about dying the next day; that the next group of people that comes over the horizon will not try to take the little they have from them, but help them to build up what they have and to speak well of them; that God’s word, revealed to us in the person of Jesus the Christ has come to let us know of God’s love and care for us; and that the glory of God is known in God’s mercy.

“In the midst of this cultural mistrust, I have lived with these people. I have been their neighbor until they could listen to me. Then I would talk with them about the teachings of the Messiah. I have told them about that time between our last supper and the trial that was to come. Jesus didn’t just prepare us for what was to come, he laid out the dangers of his message and gave us all the opportunity to go home and do nothing.

“And it almost happened. We were unprepared. We were innocents. We were naive. But that didn’t last long. Mary may think that she was the one who got us moving, but the fact of the matter is that we were ready to go. We sat in that room and talked about what we thought was important—about what Jesus had taught us and what we needed to tell the world. That time in that locked room significantly shaped the message we can bring to the many people who need to know that God loves them.

“Well one of the things that we all agreed was important was the last time he talked with us. He wanted us to know that he could do what he did because he always knew that he was not alone. He told us that he had always been secure in his relationship with the Father and that we should know that he [Jesus] would always be with us; that not only were we not going to be alone, but that he would send another advocate, another one to walk and talk alongside us. He called it the Spirit of Truth. I usually refer to it as the Holy Spirit because the people I talk with are superstitious, and they are afraid of spirits in general, so “Holy” Spirit helps them.

“He told us that, as his disciples, we had grown in our relationship with him and one another and he considered us students and friends; that we should love one another and, by our expressions of love, the world would know us. He told us that Rome was not going to be happy about people showing love for one another but that God had never stopped loving us and that we should continue to love one another just as he would always love us and, because of that, God would always love us despite what Rome thought and did.

“He said that we were forever grafted into his life and ministry by our relationship of trust and that this relationship was like a vine that might look like it withered from time to time but it would come back with strength and vitality because he was the vine and he would not fail us; that we would always know of our relationship with him and one another whenever we saw vines growing or whenever we shared the fruit of the vine with one another.

“And then, when he had finished with his assurances, he prayed for us.” At this point, Andrew paused his tale to ask me, “Have you ever been prayed for? …. Well?”

I flippantly told him that I thought I might have been prayed for a time or two. To which Andrew heatedly responded, “Well, this was a prayer that left no doubt. It was both consoling and empowering.  I’m talking about being prayed for in a way that changes your life. Jesus began to pray for us, making sure that we understood that this was not a general prayer for the world, but a prayer for us. It was a prayer, an asking, a begging, that we might come to know a oneness with one another as he had always known the oneness he had with the Father. Later he even prayed that we might know the oneness he had with the Father and that we might come to know the wholeness, the oneness, the peace, the love and assurance, that can only come from the one who had created us, who died for us, who broke through the limitations of life, i.e. death, for us.

“Of course, the later stuff we didn’t know at the time, but it was because of this last conversation and prayer that we were able to understand these teachings in light of the events that happened. I know that the reporting of these words is a little confusing at times, but that is partly because this last conversation and prayer were so important that we may have overdone it a little.

“Still, it is this message of preparation, of knowing that we will not be alone when we tell the world about who Jesus is, yes, is, that continues to support us and helps us remember that what we do is not about us, but the one who sends us. Believe me. I’d have been happy working on my dad’s fishing boat. I even think about it today, but then I think about those people who don’t know about this relationship I have; this relationship that has called me to share the gift of love I’ve been given with people who barely know a relationship of respect, let alone love, and then I have to go again.

“There is a long way to go, but the message of love is beginning to make a difference. Just think about the possibilities for the world 1,000 or even 2,000 years from now. It could mean that all people are treated with respect and love; that our rulers might not lie about their motives and not make false promises to the poor; that all people would receive the care they need when they need it; that starvation and brutality might be ended; that oppressive taxes and laws would be a thing of the past; and that the world might come to know the oneness, the wholeness that comes from building each other up instead of tearing lives apart; then all people might be raised up into ways of fulfilling life instead of razed into the pits of death and the grave.

“Jesus taught us this world of possibility and hope and demonstrated it. It is this life of resurrection living in the new world of mercy and forgiveness we came to understand in the wake of the empty tomb and in Jesus’ appearances among us, and it is this awareness of God’s presence that walks with us and embraces us in the midst of our fears and our joys; this presence that seems closer at times than my skin is to my own body.

“In his prayer, Jesus said, ‘This is the life of the ages, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.’ and ‘Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me so that they may be one, as we are one.’ Contained in that kind of love, how can anyone help but share it? That’s the difference Jesus’ parent-like lecture and prayer had for us.”

As Andrew left he smiled shyly, almost like he hadn’t just made this impassioned speech. “Thanks,” he concluded,” I’m planning to go to Peloponnesia; Patras is sounding good, if you need to be in touch. Love you, man.”

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.”