Sunday, July 27, 2014

The Kingdom of Heaven is Like....

The Kingdom of Heaven is Like…

Sermon for Proper 12-RCL

July 27, 2014

Psalm 105:1-11, 45b

Jesus put before the crowds another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."
He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
"Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

Today's gospel lesson explores a question that I bet each and everyone of us has asked – at least one time – What is the kingdom of heaven like? It certainly is one that comes up in times of crises. I comes up when someone close to us dies. What is heaven like? What is the kingdom like? I frequently preach about the kingdom coming and dwelling amongst us now and not just at some future time. That certainly is the view of one of my favorite authors, Verna Dozier who expresses it quite wonderfully in her book “The Dream of God.” She contends that it is our love of the worldly possessions and of powers that prevents us from seeing the kingdom breaking into our lives and letting it spread.

For Paul – in our reading from his letter to the church in Rome – a church that has been persecuted and is living under a powerful Roman government – he asks “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” And the answer is none of these things has the power – in and of themselves to separate us from the love of God. What are the powers in our lives that separate us from the love of Christ and keep us from seeing God’s reign of love all around us? Is it reading about the wars in the Ukraine that leads us to doubt God’s love? Is it the killing of innocent lives in the conflict in Gaza that we hear about all to often these days that keeps us from seeing God? Is it our love of material things and the desire for order in all things that keeps us from seeing the love of God? These things certainly don’t stop God from loving us but if we focus entirely on the bad and fallen nature of the evil that is very real in this world it perhaps can stop us from feeling the love. And from being partners with God in the subversive act of living out what Verna Dozier calls “The Dream of God”. The dream that we – as partners with God – will show the world that Christ came not to prepare us for some eschatological – end of the world – time of love and peace but that Christ came to prepare us to help bring that reign of love and peace to our world now. To spread the kingdom of heaven in this evil world and watch as love overpowers evil. The parables help tell us how to be agents of God.

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. We like to make this parable into a wonderful children’s story about small things becoming big things. We like to take comfort – as a relatively small church – in the notion that great things come out of small beginnings. But there is also a subversive nature and a call to radical living even in the story of the mustard seed. One of the preachers that I listen to on a podcast called Sermon Brainwave[i] pointed out that Jesus in this case did not pick wheat or some other crop but a plant that acts as a weed and spreads into the countryside, like an invasive species, and grows large enough for the birds to nest in it. These small seeds can spread and take over and if we are one of those small seeds we better be careful because birds might come and nest – and perhaps not the birds that we expect! If we plant the small seeds of love and justice in St. Paul’s and in our lives we may get all kinds of people showing up that will nest and not leave. We just might get people who are hungry to hear and feel the love of God showing up. And they may take the seeds and plant them elsewhere. That is one of the things that birds are good at – eating the seeds and planting them all over the countryside in lovely packets of fertilizer!

The kingdom of heaven is like leaven hidden in a whole bunch of flour. A small amount of leaven in a ridiculous amount of flour. Three measures would be about 2 gallons of flour and would make about 11 loaves of bread according to one source I found.[ii] That is a lot of bread made out of a small about of leaven. The kingdom of heaven is like a substance that transforms ordinary flour into bread. That radically transforms flour into a staple of life. If we let this leaven into our lives we might be radically transformed and more we might spread that transformation out into the world. Are we leaven in our world? Are we given the power to transform powers and systems that oppress into systems that feed? Beware of letting the Holy Spirit into your lives! A small dose is enough to make us co-workers in transforming a seemingly large and unreceptive society into one that mirrors Christ’s love for all of creation. Letting God’s leaven into our lives might just bring God’s Dream of love into our world instead of us waiting for some future time in “heaven”.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure found in a field and we go sell everything and buy the field. Or it is like a pearl of great value that we find and sell everything to acquire it. On face value these two parables tell us that the kingdom of God is valuable and once we find it we will do everything in our power to get it. But wait a minute. Lets look at these again. There is a subversive angle here too. We are finding the treasure that belongs to someone else and we deceptively go and buy the underlying land or the pearl from someone who is unaware of their value.

It reminds me a little bit of the story of how Los Angeles acquired water from the Owens Valley. The Chandler Corporation bought the farmland not for its value in growing crops but for the accompanying water rights and then turned the Owens Valley into a dust bowl by shipping the water south.

Is that what Jesus is advocating here? Or is he saying that once we get a taste of the love of God we will be willing to do strange and wonderful things to spread the word? Are we willing to let go of the things that keep us from the love of God? Are we willing to share that treasure with the world? Again once we find the love of God and let the Holy Spirit into our lives we will do crazy things. We will find ourselves writing checks to support wonderful charities. We will find our selves welcoming all of our neighbors into our church and our hearts. We might even find ourselves going to seminary in our 50s!

The kingdom of Heaven in like a net thrown into the sea and catching fish of every kind! But perhaps we don’t want every kind of fish. We only want the good tasting fish. We don’t want the bony mud-eating suckers. But the kingdom accepts all kinds of fish. And it is not our jobs to decide which kinds of fish belong. We are called to throw out the net of God’s love and let whatever we find in the net into the kingdom. That is God’s dream. That we will spread a wide net and not be picky about what we catch. We will love whoever shows up, as God loves us. That is how we build the kingdom of heaven here. We throw open our doors and invite everyone who passes into our club. Because is really isn’t our church. This is not a club for like-minded individuals. It is supposed to be a place where we mirror Christ’s love for us when we interact with our neighbors – even – and perhaps especially those who are not like us – for those we find challenging.

And as for the sorting of the fish – the sorting of the good from the evil. Simply put that is not our job. That is God’s job at some future end of time. We are not to worry if the person we encounter is evil – we are to work on the assumption that the person is not. We are – however – called to point out institutions and powers that are contrary to the love of God. We are called to pull down the barricades of injustice that keep people from having food to eat and adequate shelter. We are called to find ways to eradicate the powers that would keep anyone oppressed. And to leave some future sorting to God.

What is the kingdom of heaven like for you? How would you describe the seemingly indescribable? Does this set of rapid fire parables do it for you? Are you like the disciples who answered the question of "Have you understood all this?" with a resounding yes? If you are – great!

But it is ok to answer with “No” I don’t completely understand all of this. It is ok to take the parables into our hearts and to let them take root. To let the radical love of God show us first hand what heaven is like. To see around us the modern expression of the kingdom. Perhaps the kingdom of God is like the invitation we make to everyone who comes through these doors to share with us in communion. To share with us in food and fellowship. To provide food to those who are hungry by offering sack lunches.

Where do you see the Kingdom of Heaven in your life? I invite you to take just one of these parables and live with it this week. To wrestle with it and see if it opens any insights into what God is calling each of us to do as individuals and what it is calling St. Paul’s to do to bring God’s Dream to fruition now. To bring the reign of love and justice into our lives and into the lives of everyone we touch.

Amen.

[i] http://www.workingpreacher.org/brainwave.aspx?podcast_id=527

[ii] http://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/3589/Three-Measures-of-Meal-.htm

AIDS Lifecyce Sermon 2014

AIDS Ride Sermon 2014

Proper 10A RCL – Track 1

Matthew 13:1-9,18-23

Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!"

"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

Today’s gospel lesson is a strange story about how to farm! Who throws good seed indiscriminately around the countryside when farming? This parable is certainly not a treatise on how to farm – or is it? It depends on the type of farming one is doing. One thing for sure this is a story about God’s economy of abundance rather than an economy of scarcity. This gospel lesson reminds us that as a church we are to operate out of a sense of abundance rather than scarcity. We are to throw open our doors and our hearts and plant the message of love that Jesus taught to everyone we meet and everyone that walks through these doors. We are not to worry about how “fertile” the soil might be. We may judge someone to have rocky soil that would not be receptive to God’s love only to find out that in God’s economy that person has deep soil where the message of love and care for all creation will sprout and bring forth an abundance that we cannot fathom.

I have been lucky enough to experience God’s abundance and see God’s hand at work in wildly diverse groups of people. And sometimes those people are wearing red-tutus – or some other wild, wacky creative red outfit – that is if it is Red Dress day on the AIDS Lifecycle!

Those of you who have been around may have already guessed that today is my nearly annual AIDS Ride sermon. This year was my 14^th year participating in the AIDS Lifecycle Event (although for 3 of those times it had a different name!) and therefore this is my 14^th AIDS Ride sermon. This is time when I reflect on a fundraiser that does more than raise money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center for AIDS prevention and the care of those with AIDS. An event where God’s abundance is in full display in the most unlikely places as we wind our way down California riding or supporting bicycle riders as they ride from San Francisco to Los Angles in seven days.

This year the Riders and Roadies (as the volunteer crew members are called) raised an astonishing amount of money. We raised over $15 million. This is the most every raised for AIDS services and prevention in a single fundraiser. We had 2340 riders – a motley group of people. We had very fit individuals who had no physical problems riding 545 miles and we had people who if you took them at face value should not have made it out of San Francisco on day one – but they all did. We also had about 600 Roadies who do everything from marking the route and running the rest stops to medical services and the ever popular message, sport medicine and chiropractic team that help get the knots out after a day of cycling or a day of lifting heavy supplies and equipment needed to create a mobile city.

This year our oldest participant was 84 and the youngest was 18. We had people from 46 states and 14 countries. We consumed more than 44,000 eggs and drank more than 18,000 gallons of water! The event is a wonder in organization and efficiency that is more than the sum product of all its many moving pieces.

While this fundraiser is for a fabulous cause and the statistics are amazing that is not what makes me sign up with my husband to do this year after year. It is the amazing community that forms every year. It is the human stories that draw me back every year.

With the advances in drug treatment AIDS has entered into a stage very different that when this event started 20 plus years ago. Today for many first world people AIDS is no longer the death sentence it was. But it still has a stigma attached to it that kills people – if not physically certainly emotionally.

One morning at breakfast I sat next to a gentleman who was way too perky at 4:30 in the morning – and especially before I had consumed any coffee! He wanted to share his story with everyone. He has been HIV positive for over 17 years. And he told almost no one. He was afraid that it would cost him his career in the entertainment business. He got so sick after loosing his insurance that he was near death and spent months in bed unable to even walk. He finally was able to get health services through the Jeffery Goodman clinic ant the LGBT Center – one of the beneficiaries of the ride – and relearned to walk and reenter society. But he still kept his HIV status a secret. It was not until a friend asked him to contribute to the ride that the dam burst and he decided not only to share his status with his friend but to sign up to ride. He was – for the first time in 17 years – able to share with people what he has been through and why. It was so liberating that he was, well… way too perky at 4:30 in the morning!

One of the roadies I met told me that she was there to remember her brother who died of AIDS. She was still very much grieving his death and the physical work and the accepting nature of the people around her let her process some of that grief. She is still in a tender place. It is so tender that she could not face the candle light vigil on the beach in Ventura. Instead she found a spot on the beach to remember her brother silently. To recall the memories that are all too raw for a larger group. She did find a community where she could share with others about her brother. She found a community that openly allows her to grieve the death of one close to her. She will be back next year.

The community that gathers is one that is openly appreciative of each other and what we do for each other. One community - the New Bear Republic – created buttons to give to roadies as physical tokens to thank roadies for doing things for them. I got two of them – they are here on my hat. When I got them I also got a huge hug and a smile that would light up a small city. Another group – the cycle twerks – gave out thank you tokens.

Oh and the amazing thing is the community of riders and roadies gives back to the communities through which we pass. The small community of Bradley is one example. We have been passing through that community for many years and stopping there for lunch. It is a small town with one school, a post office and one tree. They have been holding a fundraising barbecue every year that allows the cyclists to have another options – a hot hamburger – instead of the chicken-du-jour sandwich for lunch. This year the school raised over $29,000 in one day. That is money that pays for activities – like trips to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and for music in the school. Over the years the money raised has also upgraded the technology and computers in the classrooms. It is one of the stops that the riders look forward to every year.

After seven days on the road it all culminates on the last day as we gather one last morning in Ventura. That last morning as we gather there is magic in the air – and there is God. Every bike has a plastic egg on the seat – placed there by a fellow rider – Ken – also known as the Chicken Lady. Inside each egg is a lifesaver and a note. This year the note read “We began the journey without looking back. We rode because we believe in a world of love, compassion and mutual respect. A world free from fear, discontent, and prejudice. Love, Chicken Lady, ALC 2014”

On some bikes one of the teams also had handkerchiefs waiting for them with the H.E.R.O.E.S. Creed on them that reads: “I have risen before dawn in the fight against AIDS. I’ve rallied family, friends and strangers to support me in this fight. I’ve spent mornings, afternoons, and week-ends training for those who can’t. I have spent hundreds of dollars on equipment, clothing and energy bars. I have learned hand signals, how to clip in, and the importance of stopping at every stop sign. I have yelled “Car Up!” “Car Back!” and “On Your Left” approximately one million times. I’ve raises thousands of dollars to support the well being of someone else’s life. I have learned that if I don’t talk about HIV to prevent it from spreading who will? I will standing line with my closest friends for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and to use the bathroom. I will ride side by side with them for the same cause. I will spend a week sleeping in a tent, eating in a tent, and showering in a truck. I will make over two thousand new and interesting friends while raising public awareness of HIV/AIDS. I will laugh out loud and cry with them. I will dedicate a week of my live to improve someone else’s. I will do things with my body I did not think I could do. I will boldly show the world how strongly I believe in this cause. I will ride my bicycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles to rains awareness and money in the fight against HIV/AIDS. I am a California AIDS/Lifecyclist. I am a HERO.

This year also ended on a sad note. One of our riders – Edna – suffered a cardiac event on the Wednesday of the ride. Edna was a BIG presence in a small package on the ride for many years. She had a smile that was too big for her little body and a laugh that lit up the room – even at 4:00 in the morning. She rode in tutu’s that she made including an iconic white tutu with red aids ribbons sewn into it to remember friends lost to the disease. Everyone knew Edna.

Edna was riding with her husband Richard at the time of her cardiac event. In addition to the cardiac event she suffered brain damage and went into a coma. By the last day it was clear that she was not going to live and, per her instructions, she was going to be removed from life-support as soon as her organs could be donated. The crew printed out labels with her rider number and showed up in bike parking at 5:00 in the morning. They wanted to make sure that Edna could get across the finish line one more time. So most of the roadies and riders rode or worked that last day with Edna’s number on our hats and helmets. Edna did get across the finish line in Los Angeles and died later that day with her beloved husband Richard at her side. Many of the riders and readies gathered a week later in San Francisco for her funeral. The church was packed with those remembering a bundle of energy who gave more than most.

Edna was one of Gods own with deep soil. A woman of faith who shared God’s love with anyone she came on contact with. Edna is one of God’s servants who helped spread grain everywhere with reckless disregard as to the depth of the soil.

The AIDS ride is full of just such people. People who are willing to let down barriers. People willing to listen to stories and to show love in return. People willing to laugh and cry together. People who have deep roots that will bear great fruit. People who come together every year and show that God’s dream of love can come to fruition now.

We, here at St. Paul’s are the seeds that God has sown. Our soil is deep and rich! We will be able to nurture the seeds God plants and bring to harvest a bountiful harvest. A harvest that is none other that God’s dream of Love for all of Gods creation.

Amen.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

The Gift of the Spirit

Sermon for Easter 6A RCL May 25, 2014

Acts 17:22-31
Psalm 66:7-18
1 Peter 3:13-22
John 14:15-21

Jesus said to his disciples, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This 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.
"I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They 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."

When I read the Gospel lesson for this week I had to go back and make sure that I had the right Sunday. The reading from John certainly sounds like we have fast- forwarded to Pentecost Sunday. What is all this talk about the sending of an Advocate – the Spirit of truth doing in an Easter gospel? Remember Easter is a season and not a day in the church – while our secular world is heading headlong into the summer season of barbecues and vacations the church is still in Easter.
Another preacher who I follow started her commentary on today’s gospel reading with “Jesus did not stop talking!”[1] And I wanted to start todays gospel with “Jesus continued talking to his disciples… Instead of what was printed in our bulletins “Jesus sad to his disciples..” Today’s little snapshot of the Gospel of John is just part of what we call the “Farewell Discourse”.

We heard last Sunday Jesus promise that “, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” And that if we know and abide in Jesus we know and abide in God the Father. In this discourse Jesus is getting the disciples ready for his arrest and crucifixion as well as his resurrection and ascension. Jesus is trying to get that rag-tag group of thick-headed disciples (aka people just like us!) to understand that Jesus the advocate will not physically be with them forever. Jesus promises that another advocate – the Spirit of truth – will be sent to them after Jesus the advocate is gone.

So what are we to make of this little clip out of John’s Gospel. What does it say to us today? Well for me it is a powerful promise. Jesus promises us that as long as we obey his commandments that none of us will be alone. We will be part of God’s family. Period.

So what about this “condition” that we hear before we can get the gift of God’s Spirit? What are the Commandments that John’s Gospel is talking about? Do I need to read through page after page of fine print before I sign on the dotted line? Should I take this list of conditions to an attorney before I sign up? After all I have read Leviticus. I know what kind in lists of do’s and don’ts are in the bible – oh and my Alb already breaks one of those as it is a fabric blend! And I had bacon for breakfast yesterday before sitting down to work on this sermon. Both forbidden in the Bible.

Jesus commandments are simple. Love God and Love each other in community. Period. End of Story. If we love God we are promised that we will be treated as children of God.

If we love each other as God loves us we will be treated as children of God.

And as children we will never be left alone. Jesus promised his disciples – from that initial rag-tag group all the way to this rag-tag group that once he was gone that another advocate “The spirit of truth” will be with us. So why are we hearing this during Easter?

Carolyn Lewis from Luther Seminary says it this way “That this text is located in the Sundays after Easter promises that the presence and power of Jesus will extend beyond the empty tomb, beyond Easter, and well into this next season we call Pentecost. All too often, the resurrection is preached as a culmination rather than an inauguration, the ultimate believer’s reality rather than the penultimate promise, especially for the Gospel of John.”[2]

The promise is that the Spirit of truth will be with us at all times. The same spirit that hovered over the waters of creation will continue to guide us in our lives. The Spirit of love is there poking and prodding each of us into the way of truth. The spirit of God speaks to each and every one of us – if we are willing to listen for it and to hear it.

Sometimes we don’t hear the Spirit because we don’t want to act on the condition. We forget Jesus commandments. Especially that hard one. The commandment to Love God’s creation as we love God and as we love ourselves. To create a community of love and respect in the here and now. To call out and point out places in our communities where God’s love is missing.

We are called as children of God to see God in every other child of God. It is easy to see God in those who are close to us. But what about seeing God in the guy who cuts us off in traffic? Or seeing God in the person who doesn’t dress, look or speak like us? What about seeing God in those who – for whatever reason – are unable to work and have a roof over their heads? It is especially hard when we hear or read in the news about a shooting rampage like the one that happened in Santa Barbara yesterday. Are we to see God in them and to acknowledge God’s presence in them? Or are we too look only to our small community to see God in each other.

Well the answer is yes – Jesus really did mean it when he commanded us to Love. Love everyone. Not just our families or those we agree with. We are called to see everyone as children of God. And when we dare to do that we are promised the gift of the Spirit. That we will be able to hear and respond to God’s continuing presence in our lives.

But what are we to make of this promise? How are we to think or recognize what another preacher called the “Shy member of the Trinity?” Well I don’t know if I would call her a shy member of the trinity in the least. Perhaps the least understood or recognized facet of our triune God but diffidently not shy! You see when we open our lives to God’s spirit it is time to fasten our seat belts. The Holy Spirit is that aspect of God that will call us out of our comfort zones. The Spirit is the one who can grab us and show us God’s dream of a radical love for creation. A love that loves those we do not see as lovable. The Holy Spirit is anything but shy. Oh she may have a soft voice at times. But once we listen we will be hooked. She will show us ways to love and to bring God’s dream of a love to this earth.

God’s Spirit is the promise that we are never alone. God’s Spirit is one that always recognizes us as part of God’s family. Not just some small cog in a clockwork creation - but as family. The Spirit promises us an intimacy that is hard to comprehend. It is an intimacy born out of love and not out of command. We especially know and feel that intimacy when we are sharing it. When we go out of this church and greet everyone as if they were brothers or sisters, fathers or mothers and worthy of our love and respect then we too will know that intimacy that Jesus promised would be with us after his physical body left us.

We are called to love people even when we don’t want to. We are called to treat each and every other person as a child of God. We are called to let the Holy Spirit – the advocate of truth – into our lives.
And then we better hold on because the love of God and the intimacy of God can be a wild ride. It can make us see creation in new and wonderful ways. It can grab us and take us to places where others see nothing but hurt and despair but where we will be able to see the possibility of Love. It will take us to places where others see nameless people and where we see our brothers and sisters. Where we see children of God. The Holy Spirit will make us partners in bring God’s dream of love to fruition now – and not wait for some “future end time”. The gift of the Spirit is that presence that will be with us as we help bring God’s love to creation. I invite you when we leave this service to treat everyone as children of God and to bring God’s love into our hurting and hurt-filled world.
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

[1] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1995

[2] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1995

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Chirst is Risen!

Sermon for Easter Vigil 2014

Rev. Rik Rasmussen

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

It seems perhaps a bit odd to stand here and preach after hearing the drama unfold in the readings and the music. But these readings speak to me. Indeed the entire week of liturgy and readings starting with Palm Sunday – last Sunday up to this moment speaks to the church. It is a peculiar thing in our society to set aside over a week to let a drama unfold. Perhaps even more remarkable in our fast paced instant gratification world is that the church asks us to set aside forty days to remember events that took place over 2000 years ago. But perhaps what is more odd is the degree to which this drama still speaks to us.

St. Paul’s started this Lenten journey towards Easter with the reminder that we are mortal. We participated in a radical ministry of taking the Ashes – the mark of our mortality outside on Ash Wednesday where well over a 100 people stopped for prayer and meditation. But it was not just people in search of a quick bit of grace. It was all sorts and conditions that could not get to a full service and it was also the over 100 people who came into the church for the full liturgy that the church offers. It was clear that the world is hungry for the peculiar love that is offered by God through Christ.

Lent was bookended by St. Paul’s again taking church outside. This past Thursday - on Maundy Thursday – St. Paul’s was invited to participate in washing feet at St. Matthew’s. Loreen and I went to St. Matt’s and spent a couple of hours washing the feet of people who had gathered to get food from the food closet. The foot washing out at St. Matt’s was not the gentile Episcopal foot washing where we gather inside and ritually dribble a small amount of water onto clean feet. This was real foot washing complete with soap, a scrub brush and ample amounts of water. We followed the washing of feet by gently rubbing lotion into sore and tired feet and offering a pair of new socks to keep their feet clean. A wonderful and amazing thing happened. After commenting on how lovely it was to have their feet washed and for us to pray with them many people decided they wanted to return the favor and wash someone else’s feet. Even – and perhaps especially – the children also wanted to wash feet. And they did it with as much care and love as anything I have ever witnesses. One young gentleman – after having his feet washed by his aunt stood to the side and watched us wash feet for awhile and then, in a small voice asked if he could try it. He ended up spending the better part of an hour washing peoples feet. Through this offering it was clear that the world is hungry for the peculiar love that is offered by God through Christ.

On Good Friday we remembered man’s inhumanity as we recalled the passion of Christ – the nailing of the God of Love to a cross. We recalled how the authorities and even the people who had been gathering for healing turned and called for death. The death of the God of love. A death that came with the promise of forgiveness. A death that shocks us down through the generations. After all how could anyone nail the God of love to a cross?

This morning we remembered the in-between time. That time when the church remembers that Jesus – after he was laid in the tomb and before he rose again went to the dead. He entered into hell and offered love and forgiveness to the very people who had said no to god. We remembered that the God of Love will continue to pursue all of us and offer unconditional love. Even after death.

Which brings us to tonight. To the breaking of the Lenten fast. To a time of restoration. We started with the new fire and then came into the church to hear the old stories. Part of me would love to have that part of the liturgy sitting around the campfire. After all the series of Old Testament readings are like stories that would be told around a campfire. So imagine us sitting around the campfire listening to the lessons. You could imagine – thousands of years ago a small child asking how creation came into being and a tribal elder gently telling the creation story that we just heard.

Next we remembered how God heard the cries of the Jewish exiles in Egypt and sent an unlikely – and if you read his calling story – an initially unwilling Moses to lead the nation of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. The love that heard the cries of a people who had turned their backs on God time and time again – and these people would go on to aggravate God for forty years in the wilderness. A story told around the campfire for many years before becoming part of our written tradition.

Then we hear the prophet Isaiah singing a love song for creation. A song that promises that salvation is not earned but is indeed offered freely to all. A promise that has been repeated over and over again down through salvation history – a promise made continually by the God of Love.

Then we heard of Ezekiel’s conversation with God. How Ezekiel saw a valley of dry bones. And those bones turn out to be the whole house of Israel. A nation that had, once again, lost its way and turned away from the love of God. Ezekiel’s vision is a promise that our God of Love will put new flesh on theirs and our dry bones and breath a new spirit into us. Once again the God of love is reaching out to a people who had lost their ways.

After these readings we can come in from our campfire. We come into the church and declare “Alleluia Christ is Risen!” and sing the Gloria. We banish the darkness and glory in the Easter light.

Which brings us to the Gospel Reading. After the disciples “good Friday” they only knew that their teacher – the one who came to earth to heal and spread the good news was dead. It is the morning Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to the tomb. They are expecting to find a body that they will lovingly wash and prepare for a proper burial. It is, once again the women. The women who did not abandon Jesus during his crucifixion who come in the morning. It in not the male disciples. They are in the locked upper room. But what do the Mary’s find?

An empty tomb and an angel. An angel who tells them that Jesus is not there. To run and tell the rest of the disciples that Jesus has risen. That the death’s tomb could not hold the God of Love. An then they run into Jesus – Jesus tells them to go to the men and tell them to follow Jesus’ earlier directions to meet Jesus in Galilee. It is in this scene that perhaps they are starting to understand all the things that Jesus tried to tell them before humans tried to kill the God of Love. That Jesus over and over gain, just like the stories of God that we heard in the Old Testament readings, was not going to abandon us. Jesus came to prove that nothing could kill love. The God of Love refuses to die or give up on us.

That is the good news of Easter. God created us all – every single one of us – in God’s image. God’s dream for us and for creation is a creation of love. God’s dream is that we – yes all of us –will be agents to help spread that love into the dark corners. When we are in exile, like the Egyptians, we can be assured that God hears our cries. That if we are only able to open our eyes God will lead us out of exile. As the prophet Isaiah promises we do not have to earn salvation or love. That for some extraordinary and peculiar reason God loves all of us. Each and every one of us.

When we feel like a pile of dry bones God promises to put sinews back on our skeletons and to breath new life into us. God indeed loves his creation so much that he was willing to come dwell with us. To prove that nothing – nothing that we do or that anyone else can do will kill God’s love. Oh we try. Just like over 2000 years ago and even before we have a propensity to turn our back to that Love. But Jesus proved that we cannot kill that love. That if we go looking for Loves tomb we will find it empty. Not because love is gone but because is it all around us. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit – the one God of Love is alive. And we are called on this Easter to shout from the highest hills that Love will not die! We are called – as followers of the itinerate preacher Jesus– as followers of the God of Love to help spread God’s dream of love beyond these walls. That is the Easter Message.