All In

Easter 5A; John 14:1-14; St. Paul’s, Smithfield, NC 5/14/2017

Jim Melnyk: “All In”

I’m willing to bet that no matter how comforting the words we hear in today’s Gospel lesson from John might be, we hear them more often than we would like.  Along with it coming up every three years on the Fifth Sunday of Easter, we hear the same passage fairly regularly as part of the burial office, which reminds us that we have just lost someone who was dear to us.  In fact, some of us heard this morning’s passage read just a few weeks ago when we celebrated the life of Bill Smart.

Aside from the passage reminding us so often of those who have passed from this life to the next; we may have also seen how verse six, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” and verse 14, “If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it,” have been abused over the years.  Verse six being used by too many Christians to throw non-Christians under the bus – no one comes to the Father except through me – and verse 14 being used by too many to support some for or other of prosperity gospel – If in my name you ask me for anything.  In fact, I once worked at a Christian radio station with a guy who drove a big, red, Caddie with the bumper sticker: My God Goes First Class.  It made those of us with beat-up, old, cars scratch our heads and wonder if he thought we worshiped a different God.

But following Jesus is about more than giving assent to the claims of the Gospel or saying the right words.  Over the years a lot of folks have come to define “belief” as an intellectual nod toward acknowledging something to be true.  In other words, to believe in something is to give assent to its validity. But, as I’ve mentioned before, the ancient words we translate as “believe” in the scriptures and in our liturgies – We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ – actually means “to set one’s heart.”  Setting one’s heart is an act – an act of being and doing – which transcends simple acknowledgment.  Setting one’s heart is an act in which we join ourselves to God in Christ. 

Sister Joan Chittister writes, “The fact is that the only purpose of the spiritual life…is to begin to see the world as God sees the world.  It is about becoming the self that sees life through the eyes of Jesus and then, like Jesus, bends to become the miracle the world awaits” (Synthesis, 4/14/2017).

If we are indeed serious about coming to God through the way, and the truth, and the life, that is Jesus, it means opening ourselves to becoming Christ-like in how we live, and move, and have our being.  It means setting our hearts in sync with the heart of Jesus, who “shares bread and cup with the receptive, [and] the needy, [with those who are broken as well as those who are whole.  Who] risks standing up against injustice despite what is done to him. In Jesus’ words and deeds we see the truth that he is inviting us to live along with him day to day. Here is the way, he says, my blood, my body—my word, my love (Synthesis, 5/14/2017).

As one theologian puts it, “When we look at how Jesus lived, this is the way God acts.  Jesus is God deep in the flesh.  To know [Jesus] is to know not only the way, [but also] the One who draws us along this earthly path to our own ultimate experience of awe and reunion” with God (ibid).

Thomas asks Jesus, “How can we know the way?”  Philip says to Jesus, “Show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  Jesus’ answer to Philip is probably behind his response to Thomas as well.  “Have I been with you all this time, and still you don’t know me?”  The answers to Thomas and Philip are rather simple: Look to Jesus.  His life – his ministry – his relationship with God – not only shows us the way, but shows us the Father – shows us God – as well.  Now, living out those answers from Jesus?  Well, that’s the hard part.  “Here is the way, Jesus says, my blood, my body – my word, my love.”  The way of Jesus is found in the total, unbridled, unconditional, self-offering of Jesus on our behalf – on behalf of the whole world.  The way of Jesus is first and foremost the way of the cross – the way of giving oneself wholly on behalf of all.  It is a challenging way indeed.

I know this might sound a bit crazy, but thinking about the sacrificial love of God in Christ brought to mind for me the game of poker.  Bear with me a moment!  Now, I’m not much of a poker player, but there is a move you may have heard of – it’s called “going all in.”  The person making the bet puts every single chip into the pot – often with a resounding flourish.  “I’m all in,” the person proclaims.   “I’m betting it all.”  The subtext of the move is an unspoken, “That’s how sure I am of my hand.

There are a couple of possible ways of considering such a move.  One possibility is that the person betting has a poor hand and is bluffing – hoping that everyone else will fold, and so win the pot – even with a bad hand. The second possibility is that the person betting has a great hand – and hopes the other players will think the bettor is bluffing, thereby throwing in even more chips and calling the bet.  In reality the ploy is most risky when the bettor is bluffing – especially if that person is terrible at bluffing.

To use this as a metaphor, Jesus went all in.  He called the ruling powers of this world on their hand – he went all in – and in the end he took not only the hand, but the whole game. “My blood, my body – my word, my love.”  He wasn't bluffing. He gave up everything. This is the way, and the truth, and the life that is Jesus.  This is the promise and the love upon which we are called to set our hearts.

Jesus calls us to go all in with him.  And each Sunday, as we come to this Holy Table to receive body and blood, word and love, we are asked to “present unto God ourselves, our souls and bodies, as a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice unto God” (BCP, Rite I). 

Stephen, whom we heard about in this morning’s lesson from the Book of Acts, was someone who knew what it meant to go all in as a follower of Jesus.  He believed the whole of his faith tradition’s history pointed to the promise of God in Jesus.  He was willing to proclaim God’s redeeming love in Christ even when it put his life at risk.  As we just finished singing, “he bore no shield before his face, no weapon in his hand.”  And even as he died, Stephen boldly proclaimed the forgiving love made real for us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

In the end we must decide for ourselves what being “all in” for Jesus means for each of us.  How do we each choose to live out the way, the truth, and the life that is Jesus?  For many members of local Christian clergy and laity one expression of this commitment meant standing with our Muslim sisters and brothers in Smithfield yesterday for the opening of their Islamic Center and Mosque on Brightleaf Boulevard.  In today’s climate it probably felt quite risky for all of us.

But we must learn to recognize that as long as members of both religions claim sole possession of God’s truth, we will live at best in anxious tension; but that when we seek to see each other as children of God and bearers of a deeper truth of mercy and love, we can change our world – we can make it a place where the love of God flourishes.

Being “all in” will mean different things for different people. It might mean supporting and/or participating in the “Wheels of Hope” program in Selma, which brings food to those in need as well as books to help young people learn how to read – perhaps going into the neighborhoods we have spent lifetime trying to avoid.  It might mean giving up time or money to help meet emergency needs of teachers and students in our school system, driving nails home with Habitat for Humanity, speaking out on behalf of adequate, affordable health care for all people,

or standing side-by-side with folks like our migrant farmer neighbors who live hand-to-mouth – many in fear of ICE agents these days, or standing side-by-side with refugees seeking a safe home.

“My blood, my body – my word, my love,” is the way, the truth, and the life our Lord Jesus chose to live.  Jesus did not hold back – but gave of his whole self.  Being “all in” will always bring with it challenges – this is a truth we must be willing to acknowledge.  But being “all in” also has the power to call forth the best that is in each of us, and it has the power to bring us great joy as well, as we “become the miracle the world awaits.”

Not Meant to be Put Off

Easter 4A; Acts 2:42-47; John 10:1-10 St. Paul’s, Smithfield, 5/7/2017

Jim Melnyk: “Not Meant to be Put Off”

Many of you have heard me tell tales on myself as an undergraduate student at the University of South Carolina, and a card-carrying member of Campus Crusade for Christ.  That’s where we learned to ask unsuspecting classmates, “What’s your name?  What’s your major?  What’s your sign? // Are you saved?”  It was almost like a checklist we were expected to follow unwaveringly.  Seriously, though, we did spend a good deal of time studying the Scriptures, praying, and sharing our faith in Jesus.  One thing we tried to do a lot of was memorizing Scripture verses.  And one of the very first verses I memorized was the second half of John 10:10: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

“I came that they (that’s us – that’s you and me) may have life (that is, eternal life – here and now), and have it abundantly (fully, completely – to overflowing).  Abundant life.  It’s meant to be a powerful image.  The late Edwin Dahlberg, an American Baptist Leader, once preached, “Jesus wanted us to have an abundant life in the here and now.  The question which should occupy us most is not where we will be spending eternity, but where are we spending [eternity, now].”  He went on to say that “many people go through seventy or eighty years of life on earth without [ever] having lived at all.  They act as if God did not exist.  They never commit themselves to any great cause.  They never take a stand on any moral issue.  They never come face to face with the cross of Jesus Christ, nor plunge into any heroic effort for the kingdom of God.  They are merely existing – dead while they yet live.” 

I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.  William Connor Magee, the Archbishop of York during the late nineteenth century put it this way, “Christianity is a present, is an existing life, or it is nothing.”  Eternal life – the abundant life referred to by Jesus – is not something meant to be put off until the next life, or until the next year, or even until tomorrow.  It’s meant to be realized and lived today – as soon as we go out the doors of this worship space – whether we go to coffee hour or a restaurant for lunch, or on to work, or just home.  The time to embrace abundant life in Christ is now – this is our high calling as Jesus Followers.

One way we can do that – that is, one way we live life abundantly – is to do the “God-work” of bringing abundant life to others as well – especially to those for whom any form of abundance is only a distant hope, only a dream, or even just a fantasy.  As Jesus taught his follower, “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me” (Matthew 25:36-37).  It’s one of the core teachings of the Gospel – the more we are willing to give of ourselves in the name of Christ, the more we experience Christ in our own lives.

This morning’s gospel lesson drives that point home.  It seems to be a continuation of a story we encountered during Lent – a continuation of the discussion between Jesus and some religious leaders following the healing of the man who was born blind.  Do you recall how the particular Pharisees challenging Jesus at that moment had asked, “You’re not saying we’re blind, are you?” and Jesus had replied, “If you were blind you would have no sin; but now that you say, ‘We see’; your sin remains.”  We talked back then about our knack as human beings to have selective vision – the ability or the desire to not see the truth before us if it challenges our personal world views – in other words, a struggle to live faithfully in the here and now. 

Those particular Pharisees, if you recall, could not – or would not – see the hand of God reaching into their lives in the person of Jesus.  They refused to acknowledge what their eyes told them as they looked upon the actual results of the healing power of God in Christ.  They could not – or would not – see that the kingdom of heaven was breaking into their lives in that very moment – they could not sense its potential for abundance. 

For them – as often for many of us – the kingdom of heaven was something far off in the future, and the revelation of God was something that had taken place many generations ago in the distant past – in the lives of Moses and the prophets.  And so Jesus says to them – and to all who will listen – I came that you – that everyone – might have life – and have it abundantly!  God – present and active in the world around us – God, present and active in each of us – calls us to live as a part of the kingdom, and to live it today – proclaiming and living the Good News of God in Christ.

Jesus goes on to make another point with his antagonists.  “Where is the love and the care we are all called by our God to share?  You are their shepherds – they hear your voices and they follow – but where are you leading them?  What are you willing to give of yourselves to make their lives whole?”

Jesus calls us to the God-work of abundant life.  We enter into that work and into that life when we choose to follow the shepherd of our souls, Jesus.  And that can be a challenge.  It doesn’t take much to realize we live in a world beset by those whom Jesus would call false shepherds – “false religious leaders, greedy economists, phony politicians…” (Walter Brueggemann, Sojourners Online, Preaching the Word, 5/7/2017).

Perhaps an even bigger challenge for modern day Americans is the allure of a life with no shepherd – being the masters of our own domains – no one telling us what to do or when to do it – the great American myth of rugged – or even not so rugged – individualism. 

Me against the world.  But such a life with no shepherd can leave us stumbling and struggling to make sense of the world” (ibid). 

Theologian Walter Brueggemann writes, “Into this false shepherd/no shepherd world comes the gospel alternative.… Those who [hear the Good News proclaimed are] drawn into [a place of] awe…” (Brueggemann).  Indeed, we might say that those who hear the Good News long for a transformed world in their lifetimes, changing the very rhythm of their daily lives.  Indeed, the author of Acts tells us that the communities of early Jesus Followers were “filled with praise, [had enough] food for the day, and [was comprised of] lively brothers and sisters who [shared their lives] with anyone and everyone.  [For I was hungry…I was thirsty…I was a stranger…I was sick…and you cared]….  Our mandate is to move into a place of awe… that counters all of our false shepherds and our failed attempts at no shepherd” (ibid) and allows us to “live, and move, and have our being” in Christ. 

When we accept the idea that God desires for us to live out of our abundance rather than a fear of scarcity, or a need to be in control of everything that goes on around us, we can find ourselves open to the awe and wonder of a God who is the God of resurrection life; free to love not only ourselves, but those around us – our neighbors – those who in so many ways are just like us, even when we cannot seem to see the similarities.

“‘Join me in the Resurrection,’ Jesus calls out to us today. ‘Even now, even today—don’t wait ‘til you’re dead.’ Come out of the small, dark, confining places of life into the broad and bright places, stand up, rise up to your full height” (Br. Mark Brown, SSJE).  Eternal life – the abundant life referred to by Jesus – is not something meant to be put off until the next life, or until the next year, or even until tomorrow.  The abundant life proclaimed by Jesus is meant to be realized and lived today – whenever we go out the doors of this place – whether it’s to coffee hour, or a restaurant for lunch, on to work, or simply home. The God-work of abundant life begins now.