Easter 4B-Baptismal Letter to Rawls Ochsner

4th Sunday of Easter Year B April 22, 2018 A letter to Eleanor Rawls Ochsner upon the occasion of her baptism. Dear Rawls, Today is the 4th Sunday of Easter, which is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday. It is a beautiful day to be baptized, because we are still so close to the Day of Resurrection; our alleluias are still so fresh and joyful; our hearts are light and full. Today in your baptism, we are recognizing and celebrating the truth of who you already are—God’s beloved child. This day we celebrate that you belong to Christ and that you will be marked as his own, belonging to him, forever. This process that begins for you today will go beyond even your own death, for you will always be a sheep of Jesus’s own fold, a lamb of his own flock, a sinner of his own redeeming. You will always be someone loved so much by Jesus that he willingly lays down his life for you and for all of creation. (Something important to remember on this Sunday that also happens to be Earth Day.) If you hear nothing else today, I hope that you will hear and know this: God knows you altogether and God loves you altogether. Nothing you can ever do can change God’s love for you or can change your place of belonging in the heart of God. You may do things that grieve God, that hurt yourself and others, but you will always have a place in the heart of God who loves you so much more than you can ever ask or imagine! The deeper you live into God’s love for you, the more you will love others and give of yourself to God and to others, and it is in this knowledge and through this practice that you will encounter the abundant life which Jesus promises and offers you. Since today is Good Shepherd Sunday, and in many of our readings we are told that we are like sheep and Jesus is the Good Shepherd, I’d like to tell you a couple of things about sheep and their relationship with their shepherd that may help you on this journey of faith which you begin today. Sheep have gotten a really bad rap. People say that sheep are stupid, silly creatures, but scientists have actually proven that sheep are much smarter than we thought. Sheep are actually intelligent animals who can recognize faces and respond to rewards. But, there are two important things that we need to know about sheep that have led to their being labeled as stupid, because these two things ring true for us as well. First, sheep are not willing to be driven along from behind like cattle. If someone tries to drive sheep, they scatter. But sheep are more than willing to follow along behind a trusted shepherd. They follow willingly wherever the trusted shepherd leads because they know the way is safe. Second, sheep, like most people, run when they are afraid, and in their fear and in their running, they become incredibly lost. We know something of this fear, this running, and this lostness. The late psychologist Rollo May has written, “Humans are the strangest of all God’s creatures because they run fastest when they have lost their way.” We know something of this. We become afraid when our lives take a turn from what we expect or hope. We become afraid when we feel trapped, and we run. We become afraid when circumstances seem to be spiraling out of our control. We become afraid when we are forced to change in ways that we do not want to change. We become afraid, and we run, and we get lost. At some point in your life, sweet Rawls, you will probably be truly frightened—whether it is by the threat of sickness or injury, afraid for someone you love, broken hearted and lost, believing your own false heart or the false lips of those who tell you you’re not good or good enough, you’re not smart or smart enough, you’re not pretty enough, you’re not doing enough…You may believe at some point that you are truly lacking and that you are unlovable. At some point in your life, I fear, you will be afraid, you will feel lost, and you will want to run and run and run. When those times happen remember this day. Remember that you are cherished by God; remember that you will always belong to Jesus, even when you do run away. Remember that he is not only with you, but that he has gone before you, into and through death and into the fullness of his resurrection. Remember that he is your shepherd and that he leads you and all of us through death and into the abundant life of the resurrection where he invites us to dwell. Always remember that God has created you good. You are good, no matter what you do, no matter what others say. You are good; God loves you and will always love you, and God really wants to you flourish and to grow toward God. Remember that we walk this way with you, following Jesus our Good Shepherd all together, so that none of us is ever alone. You have nothing to fear and everything to gain. May you not be afraid. And may you have life and have it abundantly. Your sister in Christ, Melanie+

Easter 3B

Easter 3B April 15, 2018 I have to confess that I am feeling a certain amount of lectionary whiplash today. On this third Sunday of Easter, we are seeing the third different gospel depicting the events and the after-events of Jesus’ resurrection. (We started with Mark on Easter Sunday; then we saw John last week. And this week, they’ve given us a passage from Luke.) And they are all just different enough to make it confusing as to what’s going on. So, let me bring you up to speed on how Luke tells the story of Jesus’ resurrection and after. On Easter morning, a group of women go to Jesus’s tomb in order to anoint his body. When they get there, they find the tomb wide open with stone rolled back from the entrance. They go in, and there they discover two mysterious men in dazzling white who tell them that Jesus is not dead but has risen. And then the mystery men say to the women—“Remember what he told you” and they do. So they race back and tell all this to the 11 remaining disciples, “But [Luke says] these words seemed to [the disciples] an idle tale (which is a polite translation of a much more crass term that would be like rubbish). “These words seemed to the disciples an idle tale and they did not believe [the women].” But Peter goes to check it out himself, discovers the empty tomb, and goes home “amazed at what had happened.” In the meantime, two men start out traveling on the road to Emmaus, and one their journey they encounter the Risen Christ. They turn around and race back to Jerusalem, where they find the 11 already gathered together saying, it’s true! “The Lord has risen indeed and he has appeared to Simon (which we don’t ever get to read about in any of the 4 gospel accounts). And then the two travelers share with the 11 what they have experienced on the road to Emmaus. And then our gospel reading for today picks up. While the two men are still talking about all of this, Jesus shows up. And he says to them, “Peace be with you.” Which isn’t quite as formal as the translation makes it sound. He says, “Shalom” which is somewhere between “Peace be with you” and “Hey, y’all.” And Jesus is like, ‘What’s the big deal?’ when they all start freaking out. So he shows them his wounds; he asks for something to eat; he explains to them what has happened in light of the scriptures; and then he commissions them: “You are my witnesses.” In that moment, those who are gathered become transformed from disciples or followers into witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. And we see the fruits of this transformation all though out the book of Acts, even though they initially don’t believe or are at least filled with a confusing mixture of joy and fear and doubt. The same holds true for us as well. It is heartening to see how difficult the resurrection is for Jesus’s first followers to believe; I’m not sure it has gotten any easier with the passage of time. However, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we too become transformed into witnesses of Jesus’s resurrection, and that becomes our new call and identity as well. Now, I know that we, Episcopalians are somewhat uncomfortable with the notion of witnessing. But hear me out for a minute. We bear witness to things that are important to us all the time. Just this past week, I posted on Facebook looking for recommendations from local folks for a new doctor, and I got all kinds of responses from people who really liked their doctor and were happy to recommend them. That was witnessing, and through it, I garnered lots of useful information. (My post also earned me a text from my mom asking me if I was sick!) Listen to this about witnessing from Lutheran pastor David Lose. “We bear witness to the great movies or television programs we've seen and want others to enjoy. We bear witness to the accomplishments (or failures) of our sports teams. We bear witness to the important events in our family or work lives. We bear witness -- that is, tell someone about -- the things that matter to us all the time.” He continues, “It's not really all that different when it comes to the faith. Witnessing does not mean shoving our faith down someone's throat or threatening them with eternal hellfire if they don't believe like we do. It's simply telling others where we sensed God at work -- at home or work, at church or school, through a stranger or a friend, a doctor or teacher or neighbor, even through ourselves. Bearing witness is nothing more than saying where you think God is at work in your life and the world. We bear witness all the time; we're just not used to thinking about doing it in terms of our faith.”i Instead of having homework this week, you’re going to get the chance to witness here and now. First, I want you to take about a minute and talk to your neighbor about something that you liked this past week. It can be the victory of your sport team, a good movie, book or show that you encountered. Maybe something cute your kid or grandkid did that made you proud. You’re going to take turns, so be prepared to both speak and listen. Go! Now, think about what made the sharing of story or information good for you. Good witnesses share candidly, simply, conversationally about something good that happened to them. Does it have to be perfect? No, your love and your passion and your joy comes through with or without perfection, and that is what is most compelling. Maybe, just maybe, witnessing is easier than you first thought? Now, let’s take another minute and talk about your faith. Turn to your neighbor and share where you have seen God at work in the world this week. It can be in your personal lives, through the work of the government or school or the church or through someone else's life, even. If that seems overwhelming to you and you get stuck, then do what my kids and I do at the end of the day everyday and name three things for which you have been grateful this week. It is an easy place to start talking about how God is at work in your life. Go! You are my witnesses, Jesus says to his disciples and to us. May God give you the grace to live into that call this week, despite our imperfections, our doubts, and our fears. i. David Lose. Blog post titled Witnesses from April 15, 2012 http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=1530

Easter 2B

The 2nd Sunday of Easter Year B April 8, 2018 This past week, I read a blog post by one of my favorite spiritual writers, Parker Palmer. In this older post that Palmer re-shared this week, he talked about how he and his wife had visited the Grand Canyon a few years ago and had noticed a number of kids there who were messing around at the edge of the canyon. When they met a park ranger on the trail, Palmer told him he was baffled by the parental neglect he had witnessed, with the parents he saw turning a blind-eye to their children’s dangerous behavior. The park ranger shook his head and replied: “I’m not sure it’s outright neglect. A surprising number of folks think of the Canyon as a theme park, a fantasy land that may look dangerous but isn’t, where hidden nets will save you from injury or death. Every day I have to remind some people that the Canyon is real, and so are the consequences of a fall of hundreds of feet. I guess some people prefer illusions to reality-even though illusions can kill you.” Palmer continues, “The ranger named a problem larger and more pervasive than the fantasy that the Grand Canyon is Arizona’s Disneyland. We Americans prefer illusions to reality at every level of our common life, even though illusions can kill us. Why? Because indulging our illusions comforts us — especially when they’re supported by a culture that loves to play ‘let’s pretend.’”i The article then goes through the different areas in our common life that Palmer identifies where our preferring illusions to reality has become dangerous for us Americans: education, organized religion, and politics. I share this with you today because I think it is an interesting juxtaposition with our gospel reading for today. Today we have the passage from John’s gospel which picks up on the evening of the first Easter. The disciples, minus Thomas, are huddled together, with the doors of the house locked because they are all afraid. The disciples have heard from Mary Magdalene her mysterious news: “I have seen the Lord.” And she has shared her story with them of how she met the risen Christ near his tomb, how she mistook him for the gardener, and how, when he called her by name, she recognized him. As they are huddled together in fear, Jesus appears to them, shows them his wounds, offers them his peace, and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit. And then Thomas, comes back from wherever he had been, and they tell him the story, and he says, “Well, I won’t believe it until I see it for myself.” So a week later, they are all gathered in the same place together with the doors once again locked, and Jesus appears to them, offers Thomas the opportunity to touch his wounds and the invitation to believe. Thomas then makes his confession: “My Lord and my God!” And all throughout the centuries, our patron saint has been known as “Doubting Thomas,” which I think is a huge misnomer. Thomas is the only disciple who is not huddled behind the doors of the locked house on the evening of Easter. Where was he? What was he doing? He also has a history in John’s gospel of being tenacious, a pragmatist, and also being dogged in his determination to follow Jesus. In John 11, when Jesus is planning to go back to Bethany where they had just threatened to stone him in order to raise his friend Lazarus from the dead, it is Thomas who identifies the possible repercussions and then says boldly, well, let’s all go, too, so that we may die with him. And in John 14, when Jesus tells the disciples he is going before them to prepare a place for them, Thomas asks, practically, “Lord, how can we follow you when we do not know the way?” Thomas has the gift of seeing through the illusions that we create to make ourselves feel better, which is why it is so important to him to see and touch the wounds of the risen Christ. Only when Thomas sees where Jesus has been wounded in and through his death, will he believe the good news of the resurrection, and Thomas is not afraid to ask for, even demand what he needs in order to continue to follow Jesus. And the amazing thing is that Jesus offers it to him freely, again and again, with forgiveness and the gift of his peace. On this Second Sunday of Easter, your invitation for this week is to be like Thomas and to seek to see through the illusions that you create to make yourself feel better. It can be an area of your own life or an area of our common life together, in the church, in this country, or in the world. Ask the Risen Christ for what you need to do this, and trust that he will provide it for you along with the gift of his Peace. i.Losing our Illusions by Parker Palmer for onbeing. https://onbeing.org/blog/losing-our-illusions/

The Day of Resurrection: Easter Sunday 2018

The Day of Resurrection: Easter Sunday April 1, 2018 The other day, I was driving my 13 year old daughter and her two church friends after they had spent the night together, and my daughter said to one of her friends, “Tell my mom your joke!” The friend eagerly responded, “Since Easter is on April Fool’s Day this year, what if Jesus was like “Psyche! I’m not coming out this year!?” Not too long after that, I ran across an article by a Presbyterian minister named Miles Townes titled “When Easter Sunday Falls on April Fools’ Day.” (Apparently this is a very rare phenomenon; the last time this happened was in 1956.) The writer of the article talks about how often we miss the good jokes of the bible and how we misinterpret some of what Jesus is saying as witty come-backs or clever sayings, when really, he is making a good joke. Jesus’ jokes are not frivolous or false; the best jokes aren’t. Instead, he is offering truth in a humorous way, showing the gap between what is and what could be. Townes writes, “Explaining jokes ruins them, but let me point out that jokes have structure, usually a premise and a conclusion held in tension. A good joke in the functional sense depends on our ability to see the difference between the world as it is and as it could be. A good joke in the moral sense, then, depends on our ability to see the difference between is and should. A good joke can light up the dark between the two, can help us see one from the other. Not everything that is funny is a joke, and not every funny joke is a good joke, but a good joke helps us see the distance between who we are and who we should be. Who but Jesus ever saw so clearly the distance between is and should? Who else had the imagination to grasp fully the gulf between heaven and earth?” i. The resurrection is the ultimate joke, and if there is any one of the four gospels that highlights this for us, it is Mark’s gospel that we read today. I mean, just listen to it. The three women are headed to Jesus’s tomb to anoint his body, and they are really worried about how they are going to roll back the heavy stone. You can just imagine them spending all this time on the walk there fretting about it, and trying to come up with solutions for the problem. But when they get there, the stone has already been rolled back. And so they go into the tomb where they see this random “young man” dressed in a white robe and sitting on the right side, and this alarms them. But he says to them, “Do not be alarmed!” And he proceeds to tell them the good news of Jesus’s resurrection: “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” And then the gospel reading for Easter Sunday concludes triumphantly: “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (cue the disappointing noise.) The women are told by the random, mysterious man that Jesus is alive, and he tells them exactly what to do—go tell the disciples and then y’all all go on to Galilee where you’ll see him, but they are so afraid, they all go home and don’t say anything to anyone. And it’s funny because we do the exact same thing ALL THE TIME! We have a revelation of what we are supposed to do, how we are supposed to live, a clear message about how to be Jesus’s disciples after his resurrection, and we go and do the exact opposite. And if you take this story at face value, then they never figure it out, but thankfully, we have the other three gospel accounts of the resurrection, and we have the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Because somewhere between the end of Mark and Pentecost, these fearful, ridiculous followers of Jesus of Nazareth are forgiven and restored by the Risen Christ, and they are transformed by the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, so that they become the impetus of the greatest, most profound movement in human history. Now, that is a really good joke! Our family are big Harry Potter fans. And I am reminded how, in the third book, The Prisoner of Azkaban, the students at Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are taught how to fight the magical creature the boggart. Nobody knows what the boggart’s true form is; what makes them so difficult to fight is that a boggart will take the form of each individual’s deepest, darkest fears. The students learn that to vanquish the boggart, they have to use their imaginations as a part of the magic spell, transform their worst fear into something ridiculous, and then they laugh at it, and the boggart will disappear. This is exactly what Jesus has done today, on this Easter Sunday April Fools’ Day. He has taken the thing that we all fear and dread the most—death. And he has shown that death is nothing in the face of God’s love; that’s God’s love is stronger than all the worst things that humanity can throw at it. That God’s love conquers death. So we have absolutely nothing to fear. Your invitation for today, Easter Sunday April Fool’s Day, for this week, and really, your whole life in living into the revelation of Easter, the joy of the resurrection is found in a poem. It is titled Easter Exultet by James Broughton Shake out your qualms. Shake up your dreams. Deepen your roots. Extend your branches. Trust deep water and head for the open, even if your vision shipwrecks you. Quit your addiction to sneer and complain. Open a lookout. Dance on a brink. Run with your wildfire. You are closer to glory leaping an abyss than upholstering a rut. Not dawdling. Not doubting. Intrepid all the way Walk toward clarity. At every crossroad Be prepared to bump into wonder. Only love prevails. En route to disaster insist on canticles. Lift your ineffable out of the mundane. Nothing perishes; nothing survives; everything transforms! Honeymoon with Big Joy! ii When Easter Sunday falls on April Fools' Day by Miles Townes. The Christian Century. February 21, 2018 https://w ww.christiancentury.org/article/critical-essay/when-easter-sunday-falls-april-fools-day "Easter Exultet" by James Broughton, from Little Sermons of the Big Joy : Insight to Riot Press, 1994. Text as posted on Fresh Day (Volume 18).