Someone with a little skin on

John 14:1-14

One night, a little girl, Lisa, we’ll call her - lay in her bed as storm clouds gathered outside. Soon, there was a full-blown thunderstorm going on right outside the windows of her bedroom. Thunder crashed and blinding flashes of lightening lit up her bedroom over, and over again.  Little Lisa was frightened. She cried out to her dad, who was in the next room, "Help me."

Immediately, she heard his voice respond, "Honey, God loves you and will take care of you."

Another bolt of lightning and clap of thunder caused Lisa to cry out again, "Daddy!" Again, she heard her father’s voice, "Honey, God loves you and will take care of you."

The storm continued to rage and Lisa, now frightened nearly out of her wits, called out yet again; her father's response was the same. But the little girl replied, "Daddy, I know that God loves me, but right now, I need someone with skin on."

Don’t we know that feeling?

Isn’t that sometimes our experience? I know God loves me, but right now, I need someone with skin on.  When we go through the struggles of life, when we have questions about why losses and difficulties and troubling things come our way, we need someone with skin on.

When we are frightened because the storm has gotten way out of hand and we are facing illness or joblessness or changes in our relationships, even betrayals; when the well-planned future we had counted on shifts and changes and when circumstances out of our control threaten the security we worked so hard to build, we want someone with skin on.

When Jesus came to be born in Bethlehem, he came as God with skin on. As he lived his life as one who was at the same time both fully human and fully divine; as he gathered disciples, ministered, healed, preached and taught his followers, he was, in fact, God-with-us – with skin on.

That is what we call the Incarnation; that in Jesus Christ, God became flesh. Jesus was that “someone with skin on.”

The conversation depicted in today’s gospel lesson took place on the night in which Jesus was to be handed over to the Roman officials. It is his last opportunity, the last word that he can give to his disciples before he leave this mortal plane, and he wants to make clear to his disciples that he is indeed, God with skin on.

In the days and weeks and years to come, Jesus knows that it is essential for them to continue believing that in him, God has come into the world and that God’s physical presence with them, while about to change in substance, will not change in reality.

Believing in Jesus we come to know that one true God – the one who is at once creating and redeeming; the one who transforms us in love; the one who promises never to leave us, but to abide with us forever. And that is a promise that stands – forever.

Jesus is not just “like” God; Jesus is the embodiment of the one true God. Through his life and his teachings he has shown his followers the full-bodied character of God – forgiving, healing, subversive, despising evil, loving good, inclusive, transforming, peace-loving, and possessing power over life; he is God with skin on, and even after his death he showed his disciples that he lives.

In his post-resurrection appearances, Jesus continues to be God-with-us – our God with skin on. As the fully human incarnation, Jesus died on the cross. This was not a theoretical death or an imaginary death. It was a real death, preceded by unimaginable pain and suffering, feelings of abandonment, fear and despair depicted in our scriptures.  Jesus knows well our suffering, for he endured the same.

Just as we will one day die, Jesus truly died on that cross for us. But Jesus changes the reality of what death means for all of us. Because the thing is, Jesus’ resurrection changes more than just our death. It changes our life. And in that night when the still-living friend and master, Jesus, sat down for the last time with his disciples, knowing what was coming that very night, he shared these final words with them.

They are words of hope, and promise, and expectation. “I am the way and the truth and the life,” he tells them, and then he goes on. Believe in me, because in so doing you will know the Father. You will know his love, his forgiveness, his promise.

God has sent his love and presence to you in me, Jesus is telling them, and you will know them simply by the works you have seen in me, the signs you have witnessed, and, in the deeds you do as you follow in my footsteps. Other people will come to know God through you. These, my friends, are the promises of God for abundant life.

The word that we read today as “if” – “if you know me” – could also be translated as since – the same Greek word means both things, and I think translating it this alternative way gives us a better understanding of Jesus’ words. Since you know me you know the Father. Disciples of Jesus know him through his revealing love in action.

And, just as in this gospel of John love is an action word – something you do rather than simply something you feel, knowing God through Jesus and believing in him inspires and even commands a different kind of life, because the truth is, this kind of belief has power over our lives.

Now, it may be that even before today you were familiar with the words of this morning’s gospel because of a funeral that you have attended. Perhaps, even the funeral of a loved one, someone very dear to you. If so, you might be tempted to associate these words only with death; with sadness tinged with hope, with a day you would rather forget. But Jesus gave these words as both comfort and command, as both hope and promise.

So far during this 50-day period of Easter, our gospel texts have reflected Jesus’ post resurrection visits to his disciples and his continued teaching and preparation of them to carry on the mission and ministry to which he devoted and for which he gave his life.

Then, in last week’s gospel, Jesus called himself the gate through which the sheep of God’s own redeeming must pass. Today, Jesus he tells his disciples, on this pivotal night, the night in which he would be handed over to Roman officials to be tried, condemned, and crucified, that he is the Way, calling us out of darkness, into light.

Our identity as God’s children offers us hope and gives us momentum to live as God intends, following the Way of our Savior. Jesus gives us a model and framework within which to understand that this way, which is not always easy and will sometimes lead to struggle, hostility, and an unknown future, but is shaped by the promise offered here in this gospel.

Jesus is the tangible evidence of God in the world – God with skin on. That is the truth and core of Jesus’ very identity. He is God’s attempt to establish meaningful relationship with us. Every religion in the world reflects the human attempt to reach God. Through Christianity, we come to know Jesus as God’s plan to reach humanity. That makes all the difference.

Through the Incarnation, the infinite God took on the form of a tiny baby boy. The Son did not cease to be God when he became a man. He added humanity but he did not subtract deity. He was fully God and fully man. He was, in short, “God with skin on.”

Ponder that for a moment. The Almightiness of God moved in a human arm. The love of God beat in a human heart. The wisdom of God spoke from human lips. The mercy of God reached forth from human hands.

In Jesus, God was wrapped in human flesh, promising for all of eternity a bond with humanity that cannot be broken by suffering or death, by trial or disappointment, by failure and doubt, by fear and despair.

In a few moments, we will confess our faith using the words of the Apostle’s Creed, in the second article of which, we will state who we believe – by the preponderance of our religious identity - Jesus to be. If we could fully believe and embrace those words; if we could fully grasp the meaning of what we say, the troubles of our hearts would be silenced and our faith would be a real power over the whole of our lives. Because we could then experience God with skin on, Jesus Christ, as the real power and fullness of life not only for ourselves but for the world.

My friends, the real power of this gospel is that it contains the uncompromising promise of Jesus that, while still unseen, God abides in us forever, loves us forever, and empowers us to be Christ in the world, revealing the loving nature of God who refuses to let us go, and has gone through such extraordinary lengths to not only prepare a place for us when we die, but to secure our faith, our love, and our commitment to live the life of abundance which we receive in his name, that others may come to know and believe in the one who came to reveal God’s love for the world. By the power of Jesus Christ, God with skin in, may it be so. Amen.

The Demands of a Broken-Hearted God

Galatians 3:23-29 & Luke 8:26-39

For many of us, thinking back on the parent-child relationship calls to mind complicated feelings and memories, especially as they apply to the demands of our parents. Who here does not remember a time, when their parents seemed overly demanding, with high expectations and what you deemed as low tolerance for goof-ups? Even in the best parent-child relationships, although the intent of the parent is good, reasonable and responsible, the demands of a parent may seem harsh and unwelcomed. Especially during those rebellious, teenage years. Sometimes those feelings persist into adulthood.

Well, my friends, the truth is, ours is a demanding, unsettling God, a God who also makes demands of us, demands we are often unprepared to hear and unwilling to follow.

We much prefer the God who is full of grace, (which he is) who forgives us all our sins, (which, through Christ, he does), who promises us great things, who blesses us abundantly, who is ever for us and ever before us, and never asks us for a thing.

So, while it is true that God is the giver of all good things, there is also the other aspect of God, the God who, in relationship with us says, “yes, I love you and you are mine, and there is nothing in this world or the next that can change that. I have given you unending life through Jesus. But it is not for you alone. It is for the goodness of the kingdom of God in which you have a stake. Therefore, there are things I need you to do.” And then come the demands.

The demands of God begin with things like,

believe in me,

trust in me,

            love me, and

be still, and know that I am God.  

            Frankly, those seem like okay demands, inviting us into a relationship where God is our rock.

But then, there are these others: Look out and stand up for those who are ignored, preyed upon, or oppressed. Show mercy to all, love the stranger, forgive as you wish to be forgiven. Turn away from the things that have come before, and follow me by following Jesus.  

Of course there are these demands we Lutherans especially love to hate – “go!” Jesus says, “Go out into the world; spread the good news; tell my story; tell others about the good things you have seen and heard. And remember, to follow me, you will love like me, live like me, and die like me.”

Whoa! These demands are a little more tricky, and we are as resistant to those as we were to those of our earthly parents.

Then we realize the truth: This loving, demanding God has expectations. And it is our nature to push back against them. They are demands we often ignore. They call us out of our comfort zone. They make this relationship with God not about me anymore, but about God, and about the things and the people God values and cares for.

When it comes right down to it, these demands have one thing at the core – love. They all hinge on what Jesus called the great commandment, that we love the Lord our God above everything else and that love be at the core of all we do, of our relationships with all people.

Obeying God then becomes about sharing this love that Jesus modeled so perfectly and allowing it to shape our lives so clearly that others will see and know that we are disciples of Christ.

Events in our world today call us to be ever more faithful stewards of this family that God has created but which has become so fractured and torn apart by sin.  These events testify just how much the world needs to know the healing, saving, inclusive love of God. It is this love, created by faith through Christ, of which Paul writes when he argues that in Christ, we are made children of God and we are clothed with Christ.

Because of Jesus, within the human family created by God, there is to be no  distinction – no difference - among us. In Paul’s words, There is no longer Jew or Greek, no longer slave or free, no longer male or female. There is to be among us no distinction by age, class, color, language, nationality, sexuality or religion.

In the human family of God’s creation we are all one, while at the same time expressing the individuality with which we are blessed in myriad ways. We are all members of one family, where love and acceptance, mutual respect and equality are presumed. In this family of God, we are not all the same, but we are all cherished the same, with no distinction in the economy of God’s care – black, white, Christian, Jew, Muslim, agnostic, Taoist; rich, and poor, straight or queer, God has created and loves us all.

In the past year, as we have watched, horrified at events unfolding in the world all around us, we have become more aware than ever of our own failures and at the systemic failure to make God’s way known. It was one year ago this week that the massacre of black Christians during a bible study in a church in Charleston, South Carolina took place; a massacre committed by one of our own, deeply entrenched in racist ideology.

A week ago, as we gathered for worship here in our sanctuary, news outlets were broadcasting the horrific details, yet unfolding, of another, larger, hate-inspired massacre, a mass killing that has earned the distinction of “largest-ever,” mass shooting in our country. The divide in our culture and in our country is so wide, and the bigotry and hatred of groups so pervasive, that this kind of violence has become routine, except by its scope. Who is possessed by demons now?

It has to stop. This, has. To. Stop. The God we experience and know abhors the killing, abhors the hatred, and is deeply saddened by the divisions and in-fighting that follows every one of these atrocities. We live in a society that is so divided by our differences that rather than come together in solidarity following each of these tragedies, we become further polarized.

The God who gave his own son over to death for the salvation of the world is a demanding God, a God who demands our love not only for Godself but for one another. The God who demands our compassion be poured out on the “least of these” will not stop sending us out to heal the sick and tend to the broken-hearted, and commands our love for all people.

The texts we have before us today invite and demand our participation in the mission of reaching out to those who are disenfranchised, those who are hated, those who are persecuted. The texts we have before us today testify to just how much the world needs to know the healing, saving, inclusive love of God.

In our Gospel story, Jesus and the disciples have just crossed the sea on their way to Gerasa, which is in Gentile territory. On the way the disciples’ boat was beset by a storm, which Jesus miraculously stilled – the discipes are amazed and frightened – how is it that Jesus has the power to still a stormy sea, calm the winds, and transform their terror?

When they arrive on the distant shore, they encounter a Gentile man whom Jesus heals, from whom demons, who obey Jesus’ command, are driven. Not only does the natural world of wind and rain and catapulting waves obey Jesus, but the supernatural world of demons knows and obeys him as well.

Jesus heals and transforms a man who has been so encumbered by demons that his whole identity has been swallowed up by their possession of him. So overcome by demons has the life of this man become that when Jesus asks him his name, he tragically replies not with a name as you and I have, but with a label that underscores the horrible possession he has endured – one that has rendered him inhuman. But Jesus knows better. Jesus connects him to his humanity.

My friends, there is nowhere that God will not go to reach, love and free those who are broken and despairing. Not only is the demoniac a Gentile, living in the wrong zip code, without a name of his own or an identity, but because of the demons possessing him, he has been hanging out in the tombs – you know – where dead people are lain.

On so many accounts, it would be understandable for Jesus to pass him by. He is perilously unclean – he is possessed by an unclean spirit, living in an unclean place, among the dead. By any measure, one to be avoided and despised. This is the very last place Jesus should be, and the very last person Jesus should have anything to do with. And yet – that is exactly where God usually shows up.

After his healing, he sits at the feet of Jesus – this is the place disciples sit. He wants to go where Jesus will go when he returns to Galilee. But Jesus tells him, no, stay and go – go tell the story of what I have done for you.

They will see your transformation and understand my power and authority.

Tell them that there is nowhere that God will not go to breathe life into those who are dead. Jesus does not leave this man unforsaken, but transformed. David Lose writes:

“…there is no place on earth that is God-forsaken. Moreover, and more importantly, there is no person that is God-forsaken. Unclean. Outcast. Abandoned. Unpopular. Incarcerated. Unbeliever. No one is left out. Consider, there is no indication that this Gentile man later became Jewish or, for that matter, Christian. He wants to follow Jesus, but Jesus sends him back home with the instructions, “Go and tell what God has done for you.”

To put all this another way: There are no conditions to be met to receive God’s love. You don’t have to be wealthy…or poor. You don’t have to be from one ethnic group…or another. You don’t have to have believed your whole life, or come to faith only recently, or have any faith at all. Jesus seeks out everyone, even this unclean man possessed by an unclean spirit living in an unclean place. And just so God loves all: male and female; young and old; gay or straight; white, black, Asian, Latino; believers and non-believers; Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, atheist; the list goes on.

“Which might make us ask, where are we willing to go? Whom are we willing to love? In the wake of one more violent crime of hate and terror, we need, I think, first to be reminded that God is always among those in greatest pain and need and, second, that we are sent to go and do likewise. This week, that means God was particularly present in Orlando, and so should we, whether physically present, via vigil other means of support, or in our own corporate and personal prayer.

“This is not often easy work, of course, but we take it up and go out knowing that as God is sending us, God is with us, working through us to seek out those in need, to share a word of mercy and grace, and to witness to the hope we have in Jesus, the one who continues to seek us out when we feel down and out, caught in the shadow lands, eager for a new name, identity and future. 

Thanks be to God!