Vigil of Easter 2015

Christ is risen (he has risen indeed, Alleluia!)

        

         Christ we tempted by the Devil.

         Christ was crucified that Sin might die.

         Christ triumphs over death.

         Let us Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously!

         Let us sing to the Lord

         Let us Sing to the Lord, seven stanzas of Salvation

1. Sing of the works God has fashioned.

         Light, sky, sea, and vegetation.

         All ordered for the good of fish and bird,

         All made that the creatures of earth may prosper.

         We people put here,

         Together the image of God!

         All of this ordered, and then given blessed rest.

         All of us given a day, good, for nothing—a Sabbath

         Sing of the God who creates!

2. Sing of God’s continuous liberating acts.

         Sing a freedom song.

        

         Sing to reassure us when we are confronted by that reality

         When freedom is frightening/

         When an open world astounds us!

        

         Sing to the clapping of a multitude of feet against dry land

         Sing by the fire at night and through the smoke in the day

         Sing of God’s leading us on, to his promises.

        

         Take up Miriam’s melody

         “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;

         Horse and rider he has thrown into the sea.”

3. Sing to the prophetic rhythm of Ezekiel

         To the maraca-like rattle of bone on bone

         Sinew sproing-ing like guitar string

         Flesh wrapped tight like a drum

         The breath bellowing out baritone

         The life returned, worthy of many a song

        

         Prophecy is a solo,

         that is actually a duet with God.

         The multitude who were sleeping are awake,

         A massive choir

         They join you and we all sing together

         Sing: “God’s people are never without hope.”

        

4. Sing the raucous counter-tune

         Make melody against the clangor of

         Horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp,

         drum, and entire musical ensemble.

        

         Sing so high the idols shatter

         Charm the fire with your song

         Join in harmony with the three men

         Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

         Three men in the fire,

         No

         Four men singing praise to God

         The God with them in the fire.

5. Sing that brief refrain

         Beloved disciple—running faster

         Upping the tempo

         Hitting a rest, not entering in

         Ending in a crescendo

         Belief.

6. Sing like Peter

         His pace petering out

         Failing in the race

         A brave climax mid melody

         Entering in the tomb to see

         A confused fluttering note

         “What has happened?”

         Peter fades away, returning home.

7. Finally, Mary’s song

         A startled start—stone rolled away

         She too joins in the percussion foot race

         Like Peter and the Beloved Disciple.

         Then, she gets her sad solo,

         An Aria of anguish there at the Tomb

        

         No she doesn’t! She’s alone! Then surrounded!

         Two Angels there, and wisped away

         A Gardner for her to accuse

         Then the single finest note in all of God’s great song

         Jesus Christ calls her by name.

         If you listen quietly you can hear it too.

         He knows you and calls you by name. Singing it aloud.

        

         When you go from here

         Sing this song to the others too

         Sing that “I have seen the Lord!”

A+A

Christ is risen (he has risen indeed, Alleluia)

Grandma Ollie Mae’s Molasses Raisin Bread

Dear one’s, consider Grandma Ollie-Mae’s Raisin Bread.

          Ollie-Mae was only eight months old—just starting to change from Newborn to Infant—when her parents left the Appalachian Mountains for the western slopes of Washington’s Cascade Range. She grew up in the foothills of Mount Rainier, close to the Cowlitz River and Winston Creek.

          There she learned to bake from her mom

—especially, she learned how to bake Molasses Raisin Bread, learned how to bake it like they did back in West Virginia.

          Later, she moved away to Minnesota. She had children and the one thing she made sure to pass on to each of them was how to make Ollie-Mae’s Molasses Raisin Bread.

Her children in turn passed it on to their children, her grandchildren.

          They all know how to make her Molasses Raisin Bread.

Prayer

          Consider Ollie Mae’s Raisin Bread, and as you consider it, consider too what we do here, this Maundy Thursday

—consider what it has to say to our small but fearless first communion cohort.

         

          The recipe for this Raisin Bread was passed on and remembered.

          The bread was made from Molasses—the sweetener used by poor folk in Appalachia—so it tastes of the memory of impoverishment among coal miners and their struggles to be free from a life of being in debt to the owners of the mines.

          It holds within it a memory of a journey out of West Virginia and to the Promised Land of the North West.

          It always makes too much, so friends, neighbors, and strangers are welcomes to the table… it is too large, so it must be shared.

          Often times they baked this bread for birthdays, because there is joy in eating this bread, it makes the family thankful.

          Memory is deeply ingrained in Holy Communion. Here, we do this strange and beautiful act of memory

—I restate before the congregation those words of the Apostle Paul that begin, “the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread…”

          Paul remembers the Last Supper, which was an act of memory as well

—it was a Passover meal.

Jesus and his followers remembering,

re-membering,

putting it all together again

—remembering the flight from Egypt,

remembering the Angel of Death passing over the first born of the Hebrew Children,

remembering the flat bread that was easier to move,

the bread of affliction and slavery

transformed into salvation and freedom…

Yes, we remember and cherish in our hearts these things, this night.

          We are also eating the food of poor folk—the food of slaves. Celebrating their liberation…

 I pray this keeps us humble, even as we celebrate.

          We also eat the food of a journeying,

wandering,

people.

Food that tastes of travel,

tastes of flight,

tastes of a people on the move

—a people baking their bread flat, because then it’s packable.

We eat the food of exiles and travelers this night.

          We eat from a bountiful table

—there should always be too much here

… not because we are greedy hoarders,

certainly not,

but instead because God provides more than we’ll ever know

—at Christ’s table there is always more bread to be shared,

always a widening community,

always more than enough Jesus to go around.

          We celebrate the Eucharistic Meal—(Greek for Thanksgiving Meal)… this is truly a joy,

to consider all that God has done for us,

all God has provided

—joy in the wonderful command of this evening—Maundy Thursday, Command Thursday, the command being: “Love one another,”

Joy in being fed by the bread of life…

Joy in God’s lavish gift for us,

Joy as we join all of God’s people on this journey to freedom,

Joy in joining and being the least of these

—who are the greatest in the Kingdom of God,

And also a Joy in remembering.

           Joy, like that of an old family recipe,

so filled with meaning, that we can’t say it all.

We can only say: “Taste and see.”

Amen.

Five Links 3: Trans-Pacific Partnership edition

Compromise:

Jamelle Bouie of Slate suggests the Senate Minority Leader spot that Harry Reid is vacating is a spot for a moderate, because this position represents all Democrats, not just the liberal wing… therefore Elizabeth Warren isn’t the right person for the job. If she became Senate Minority Leader she’d be pulled to the right and no longer be a firebrand for the left.

Ted Cruz, and increasing my vocabulary:

Douthat games out a scenario in which Ted Cruz, currentlythe only Republican who has announced his candidacy for President, becomes theRepublican nominee. Essentially, Cruz should hope for a crowd of centrists whacking one another and Rand Paul to be off in left field doing his own thing. Cruz then would need to find a few issues that separates him from the field and prove that he’s the only “true believer”… for example his position on Immigration (and potentially Common Core and the ACA). Essentially, Cruz could use a few dog whistle issues to paint the rest of the field as Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) in Reagan clothing.

Douthat believes Cruz’s main liability is his lack of likability… more specifically he noted multiple people have described Cruz as “Oleaginous.” A quick definition for those of you who aren’t familiar with the term (myself included), “1. Covered with oil 2. Distastefully complimentary.”

The Trans-Pacific Partnership:

This is an issue I’ve felt a little in the dark about, so I asked around and these were the places friends pointed me to: the Whitehouse, Krugman, Summers, and Wikileaks.

What is TPP? A trade deal being negotiated between the US and 14 or so Pacific nations, perhaps a little more NAFTA-ish than most people would like. It appears to be the economic portion of Obama’s “pivot to Asia.”

So, what are people saying?

The Good:

It’ll hold trading partners accountable regarding labor and environmental standards in a way NAFTA didn’t, thus TPP is “the mostprogressive trade deal in history.”

Asian countries are creating all kinds of trade pacts that are economically integrating the Pacific, if we don’t get on board, we get left behind.

It may add 0.5% to the national income of the nations involved.

It will revive the American manufacturing sector by opening up new markets for our goods.

The Bad:

A 0.5% increase in national income may be optimistic.

Most of the protections that benefit the USA will mainly help Hollywood and big Phrama—it’s about patents and copyrights, not labor, jobs, and the environment.

I’ve heard from friends over in Europe that the EU is crying foul on this agreement—though I do not know the specifics.

The Ugly:

The deal is being hammered out in a sort of secretive way.

So, a few thoughts:

If this is a race to the bottom, that’s no good, I hope the “most progressive trade deal in history,” statements are more than just rhetoric.

The idea that America can be cut out of regional markets is a relatively new one for a whole generation of Americans, who assume globalization is the norm and that the USA (or at least American Corporations) is its main driver. We’re living in a more multi-polar world economically and we will act as such.

My knee-jerk inclination is to separate “American Manufacturing” from Big Phrama and Hollywood, but truth be told entertainment and drugs are staple American exports.

Adverts for my new book, Silicon Soul!

Spot 1

The Extended Spot

The other 3 spots

Sermon: I Want To See Jesus

       
  Here we are, close enough to Easter, or at least close enough to Holy Week, that we can see, in the distance, the resurrection Dawn… and we are deep enough into Lent, that we can see the story of this season in full.

         Covenant after covenant has come before us, so that the one promised by Jeremiah, the one placed within us and written on our hearts, 

this covenant is a relief to us.

         We know of the condemnation that is to come, we’ve heard of Christ’s upcoming death, we’ve been commanded to bear his cross, we’ve been driven out into the wilderness with him these 40 days… so Christ’s promise to draw us to him… Christ’s promise, more literally, to drag us to himself, comes as a great comfort.

         Drawn to our Lord, who is the life giving Seed, 

         promise placed in our hearts, so that we may know the LORD

The graciousness of this strikes us dumb

—or if we can speak, the best we can come up with is the pleading, yet wonderful, words of the Greeks in today’s Gospel, “We want to see Jesus.”… I want to see Jesus.

Pray

         I want to see Jesus

         I want to see Jesus, but

         But I look in the mirror.

         I look and see, that I am not right.

         I look at those heavy stones, etched 10 times.

         I look at the commands of God, and know I do not measure up… I know I’ve committed so many acts of idolatry, in so many ways

—I seek cover in those things, which are convenient, to be saved by them, instead of being covered by the Covenant God made with me. 

I look to my neighbors, and do not love them

—I injure them in many ways, by things I do and by things I don’t do. Even moral neutrality is active rebellion.

         I want to see Jesus but I am a sinner from way back

—every covenant, every agreement with God glints with my guilt

         Paradise Garden, gutted

         All of God’s promises to Abraham, undermined at every turn

         Freedom from slavery in Egypt, “let’s make a U-turn back to bondage.”

         God provides at every turn, let’s complain about it.

         Time and time again, I want to see Jesus, but

         But I am separated from God by my own sin.

         I want to see Jesus

         I want to see Jesus, but

         But this sinful world keeps me away.

         Measures me as not only failing, but by my very nature not welcome

         I’m a Samaritan

—as close as a shadow to being God’s people

—yet as unwanted as a pagan priestess, or any other pest.

         I’m Cain, Esau, Ishmael, Hagar, Edom… Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, Roman… Pagan, Jewish, Heretic, Muslim, Catholic… Indian, Slave, Woman, Immigrant… Gay, Illegal, Single, Addict, Disabled, Elderly, Convict…

         I want to see Jesus—but I’m outside the gate, I’m one step too far, I’m not allowed at the feet of the Lord.

         I want to see Jesus

         I want to see Jesus, but I’m immoral, and I’m unwelcome.

         I want to see Jesus

         I want to see Jesus, because

         Because all those laws which convict me,

all those times I’ve harmed other people instead of helping them, 

all those idols I’ve made… 

all those covenants… 

all those promises I’ve made… 

all those promises I’ve broken, 

all those contracts I’ve cut with God and then cut up in the wrongness of my soul… 

         They have been picked up, 

put together, 

made whole, 

put into me.

         Yes, I broke it all, yet God refuses to be through with me. God makes my soul right,

writes a new contract signed by him alone, 

promises me promises that are true, 

takes those laws meant to convict and makes them into teachings that are inside of me.

         I want to see Jesus, because the LORD has forgiven our iniquity and remembers our Sin no more!

         I want to see Jesus

         I want to see Jesus, because

         Because he draws me in.

         I want to see Jesus, because he drags me to himself.

         He, this seed once sown, who grows into many

         His roots grow deep, and destroy the fence that keeps me out

         His many arms and branches billow out and blow by any barrier.

         His goodness brings me in, 

his leaves are for the healing of all the nations

—for all of us, 

healing us all

—healing Cain and Egypt, 

salve for Pagan and Slave, 

food for Immigrant and Addict.

         I want to see Jesus, because as he is lifted up the very gravity of the universe is changed

—we are pulled to that pole and brought in from the cold.

         The gatekeepers flee, 

the rulers of this world are driven out, 

for they drove out the true ruler, they kicked to the curb the Christ.

          And with that we see everything in a new light

—we, like plants ourselves, are drawn to that light, birthed again in him.

         I want to see Jesus, because he upholds both halves of the bargain, for I cannot.

         I want to see Jesus, because his calling upon my life is irresistible.

         The fruitful life he bears will feed us forever.

         

         Eat of this feast of bread and wine

—the grain of God, the fruit of salvation, poured out for us.

Ingested, put within us.

Drawing us in, toward our Lord and our God.

Amen.

Writing and Such: Two New Books

So, as you might remember, when the power went out after Sandy I created Read, Reflect, Pray.
Well... it's been a long winter.
;)
This winter I took it upon myself to collect and edit a series of sermons from my classmates, Nine Sermons from the Lutheran Theological Seminary Class of 2011.
Additionally, I participated in National Novel Writing Month... though I confess my version of a "month" ran into the New Year.
Well, after leaving the novel I produced fallow for 6 weeks, and then editing it, I intend to release Silicon Soul on March 27th.

So, watch my author's page.