Sunday, May 25, 2014
Sixth Sunday of Easter
13Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good?
14But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.
18For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you — not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. – 1 Peter 3:13-22
15If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
18I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” – John 14:15-21
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia!
A few weeks ago, I went with the confirmation class to see the movie Noah. All of us were anticipating a very Hollywood-ized version of the beloved Bible story, and we certainly got that. They added some serious violence, romance, and suspense for dramatic effect, of course. An obscure verse from the Biblical narrative became an integral part of the movie version, interpreted as giant rock creatures, though it was a convenient explanation for how such a large ship was built by one man and his three sons, if you were looking for that. And one particularly disturbing message from the movie was that Noah and all the other people in the movie were light-skinned – a not-so-subtle message, perhaps, that racism is alive and well not only in Hollywood but in the storytelling of the church.
However, there is something that I think the movie highlights well – maybe, dare I say, better than the biblical story. That’s the issue of what kind of man Noah was. Yes, the movie depicts him as a faithful man, a man who cares about the earth and its creatures. Yes, the movie depicts him as a dedicated to following the best he can the word he has received from God. But the movie also points us over and over again to Noah’s dark side. Adding, of course, much to the story, the movie shows scenes of his unbending nature, his use of force and violence. It weaves in a story about his desire for vengeance for a past atrocity done to his family. And it includes the part at the end of the story, which is in the Biblical narrative, about his getting drunk once he’s able to plant himself a vineyard. And the movie wrestles with what it means that the flood is in fact unsuccessful at solving the world’s problems.
Here’s why I think that depiction of Noah is important: If this story is in fact a story about God’s saving us through water, a prefiguring of our baptism as our second reading today says, then it’s important to remember that there isn’t something special about Noah. Noah maybe have been a man who believed in God, who tried to do the right thing. But God doesn’t choose him because he’s perfect. He just happens to be chosen.
I think the Noah story is a way for us to think about what salvation is all about. It’s a story about how to fix, or rather how not to fix, the problems of the world. In the story of the flood God gets angry with the way things are happening in the world and decides to wipe everything away. To destroy it and start over with a faithful family. But as it turns out, that doesn’t work. Because even the faithful family can’t get it all together. So God’s promise at the end is never to try that again, maybe out of compassion or maybe just because it doesn’t work. And shortly thereafter a new storyline emerges with Abraham of God walking with God’s chosen and messed up people over and over again.
For us as baptized people of God, it’s a good reminder. A reminder that baptism is an incredible and life-changing gift, but not one that fixes everything. In fact, in Noah’s case it made things rather more difficult. But it is a promise of God’s presence with us not just in the difficult moments the ups and downs of life, but in the long in-between days, too. God’s presence transforming also all those days floating from one day to the next, storms raging around us, the same old thing happening day after day.
That’s what Jesus is trying to tell his disciples in the gospel reading: I will not leave you orphaned. When I am gone there will be another advocate, one to come alongside you. It will not be any easier than being a follower of Jesus, in fact it might be harder for not being able to see this new advocate. There will be ups and downs and long periods of waiting for what comes next.
When John writes the gospel, the community for which he writes it is feeling lost. Few, if any, are still alive who lived in the presence of Jesus. They have long since expected Jesus’ return. They are aware of Jesus-following communities under persecution if they themselves are not. Perhaps they are feeling a bit like Noah and his family, trapped on the ark, floating in between. Aware of what God has done for them, yet waiting for the fulfillment of the promise. So John reminds them of the promise, that no matter what happens, God has promised not to abandon them.
We, too, especially in this Easter season are living in an in-between time. Assured of the promise of new life, but still unsure what that will mean for us. That’s what the church is – a community adrift between God’s already and not yet promise. One of the churchy words we use to describe the sanctuary, specifically the part of the sanctuary where people sit, is the nave. It comes from that Latin navis, meaning ship. That is you, we, the church sitting here in our pews, are adrift on the ark. Brought to new life through baptism and floating on those saving waters, yet still waiting the fulfillment of the promise. Dry ground still waiting for us. Still stuck in a dark and smelly ship, with a constant awareness of the destructive powers that rage around us, yet confident of God’s coming alongside us, confident of God’s promise to us.
I confess that I read these Easter season readings, including these at the end that are actually from Jesus’ last words to his disciples, and I’m not quite sure what to do with them. I see so much of what Jesus comes to proclaim not yet accomplished, and sometimes carrying the celebration of Easter all the way through the fifty days seems like it takes a lot of work against the power of what I hear going on in the world and the day-to-day tasks that have to be done. But I take comfort that God can take any of us broken people and not only give us fresh starts, but like Noah and his family, by the power of God at work, can usher in new life for the whole world through us. That the promise of God to be with us is true whether we can see the way out or not. No matter how long it seems to take or how many times we mess up along the way.
And I think that is the core of the Easter message. The power of an impossible hope breaking us open to new possibilities. The power of a God who works in us and with us. The power of a God who can come alongside us and walk the in-between times with us. And I pray that each of us might know that power revealed in our lives.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Stewarding the Word 