Spirituality is...A Partnership of Miracles

    God: People ask me to do things - big things, little things - billions of times, every day.

    Joan: What do you expect? You're God!

    God: I put a lot of thought into the Universe; came up with the rules. It sets a bad example if I break them - not to mention, shows favoritism. Why should one person get a miracle, and not everybody else? Can you imagine the confusion? It's better when we all abide by the rules.

    Joan: No miracles?

    God: Miracles happen within the rules.

Joan of Arcadia "The Fire and The Wood"

Like most people in our world, I have been touched by  horror, sadness and fear as I watched Japan struggle with earthquake, tsunami, and a nuclear power crisis. I have also been touched by horror, sadness and fear as I listen to media commentators, television preachers and political pulpit-teers suggest this suffering was the punishment, and/or will of God.  It simply boggles my mind that churches will spend thousands of dollars and hours on programs to "bring people to God" - only to turn around and suggest that God created this terrible loss of life as some sort of "lesson" or "punishment" never realizing they just drove countless  people in opposite direction from God's love.

I have told more than one person when they’ve spouted off, “it is God’s will” to be careful when saying that around me. After a quizzical look comes my way I’ll add, “That statement gives me an allergic reaction.” Why? Two reasons:

First - It’s a write off, not a theological truth. We throw around God’s unknowable, indefinable will and we don’t have to think anymore.

“I don’t know why I didn’t get that job, it must have been God’s will that I do something else,” we say. Without ever bothering to admit we were entirely unprepared for the interview or lacked the necessary experience, we hang our coat on the “God’s will” rack and fail several more times. God’s will is that we learn, seek and change. What does God say through the prophet Jeremiah?

“You will seek me and you will find me, when you seek me with your whole heart.” (Jeremiah 29.13.)

God’s will is that we LOOK for an answer, not just fill in the blank check of mystical, deterministic desire and go about our business without investigation. Did you ever notice something about the car keys and wedding rings we credit God in helping us find? We were looking for them when they showed up! God’s will is not separate from us; God’s will involves us.

Second – taken at face value, the idea that “everything that happens is God’s will” is a very disturbing idea.

In the book A Good Friend for Bad Times: Helping Others Through Grief, author Deborah Bowen explicitly says, “Do not say to a child who has lost someone, “It was God’s will.” Regardless of what you as an adult believe about spirituality and death, such a statement will negatively shape a child’s view of God and spirituality.”

It isn’t just children who can get a negative understanding of God through the idea that everything that happens in our world is what God wants. A deity who wants families to lose their homes, planes to crash, or disease to devastate a loved one is not someone I want to worship, serve, or even spend much time hanging around. From the violence of child abuse to the hypocrisy of church leaders damaging faith to promote profit, it’s clear not everything that happens is the will of God.

I do believe that while not everything that happens is God’s will it is also true that God has a will – a desire - for everything that happens. God desires abused children to be rescued, and restored. God desires hungry people to be fed, hurting people to healed, lonely people to be held, and all manner of good to come to our world. God’s will for us is all around us. But in order to see it, we must seek it and we must pursue it. Just as Jesus spoke of kneeding a little yeast into the bread - we must work God's will into fabric of this world.

 We’ve looked at all the unsatisfying answers to our questions and disappointment. Now let’s ask the question again. If God is all-powerful, and has this overriding desire for life abundantly to come to us, then why doesn’t it? Is there an answer that will satisfy our hearts? I can’t say I have found “the” answer, but I have found a peace – a place to rest and ponder this question. That resting spot is the understanding of our divinely designed partnership with God.

Want to understand the design? Then study the designer. Want to understand the designer? Study the design.

God made a system, not a “stand alone” world. God created a universe with things like gravity (as one of my favorite bumper stickers says, “Obey gravity, it’s the law!”), systems and structures. God made life - all life - into a system and gave that system some mechanisms to secure it. Earthquakes happen because tectonic plates shift and the pressure must release or the earth will explode. Hurricanes happen because of hot water, wind and the earth’s rotation. It’s the natural consequence to a set of parameters. It’s not because someone is bad or good. It’s not because God loves or hates. It’s the way the design works.

 A good parent obeys the rules he/she sets forth for the child. So I don't think God messes with the design a whole lot. I am not suggesting that God is forced to obey gravity, but I do think God chooses to let the system work as it was designed, even when the outcome is sometimes great loss. When that happens, God's tears fall, and God's inspiration is seen in all who aid, help, sacrifice and struggle.

Death and loss in Japan, or Libya, or at your neighbor's house may not be God's desire. But bringing light, life, hope and healing to those places is definitely encapsulated within the heart of God. Instead of legitimatizing those phony baloney media hounds who are slinging blame and condemnation in the name of the God who made us, let us show God's true "will." Let us show charity, compassion, giving, hope, interaction, selflessness, and love. Most of all, love. That would be downright miraculous.

"The Architect" by Jared Cullum

Anointing and the Power of Touch

Scripture: James 5:13-16

Every day many a well-meaning Christian mom will pack her kids off to school with their Veggie Tales lunch boxes, singing one of Psalty’s choruses as they go out the door, then she’ll sit down with her Women’s Study Bible to complete a devotional where she writes in her Purpose Driven journal with her Purpose Driven Pen after sipping coffee out of her Purpose Driven mug. She reminded her husband about the Dynamic Marriage class – week 8 - at church but she’ll forget to say the Prayer of Jabez which is magnetically attached her fridge, because that’s old now and few folks really remember it. How does it start? “Oh God that you would bless me indeed…” In all our Christian fad-ism and marketing, there’s one thing that mom should get but wont, because it hasn’t quite risen to the top of faith consciousness – a massage. Not only would a massage ease her stress or heal her heart, it would connect her to the history of our faith in a powerful, beautiful way.

Now, I know there are some quizzical looks on the faces of my friends, slightly shocked that Rev. Kellie “I hate to be touched” Rupard-Schorr is advocating massage. But just as the Bible assures us that “iron sharpens iron” – it is also true that massage can soften even the crankiest heart. (But don’t be too worried about the world turning upside down – strangers touching and hugging me is completely out of the question, and I still hate to get my hair cut). Anyway…back to the topic of massage, or more appropriately, healing touch.

Healing Touch and the History of Faith

While massage and Christianity seem to go together like a Jumbo Meal with a Diet Pepsi, healing touch has been a part of faith from its earliest times. Although a couple instances of touch are recorded in the Old Testament, primarily as a means of transferring spiritual authority or power to a person, common day-to-day touch was not the norm. In fact the 613 commandments of the Old Testament spend much more time talking about who you can’t touch, than who you can. Touch becomes such a “touchy” issue (sorry, I couldn’t resist that) that the Gospel writers make a point to stress how much Jesus touched other people – for healing, comfort and spiritual freedom. Jesus touched just about everyone on the No Touch List – women, Samaritans, sinners, sick people and dead folks. It’s hard for American Christians to grasp – but the hymn “He Touched Me” would be more appropriate as a testament to his rebellious and change-making behavior, as opposed to just an affirmation of Christ’s ability to affect our lives.

However, while Jesus was touching people and making waves all over Jerusalem, another force of touch had been sent on a collaborative course. Asclepiades of Bithynia was a Roman orator from Asia Minor who had learned many techniques of touch and massage while still in East. He plied his trade approximately 125 years before Christ. He failed as a rhetorician but became renown as a healer by using hydroptherapy, massage (what was then called “anointed rubbing”), and dietary changes. Pliny the Elder[i] describes his influence on Roman culture to be so pervasive that he is now considered a “Father” of psychotherapy, hydrotherapy, physical therapy and therapeutic touch. Schools sprung up all over territories controlled by Rome of people teaching his method of anointed touch. His methods found their way into the Roman religious circle – including assigning the task of water carrying to Vestal Virgins, water rites and rituals in many temples, and the temple of Athena (Roman name: Minerva) had an entire group of healers who practiced something called “tactus juxta medica” – touch like medicine.

During the 1st century as the early church began to bring Gentiles into the faith and spread across cultures, the place of touch was firmly rooted in ritual and daily practice. Stories in Acts show the Apostles touching and healing, and Paul’s letters to churches – many in Asia Minor – feature a staple of touching and “anointed touch” as an appropriate form of healing for the community.

It should be noted the word “anointing” in the ancient world did not mean putting a drop of oil on someone’s head as a symbol of God’s power to heal. It meant rubbing oil (or milk, water, mud or balm) onto a person or into a wound (In fact, the word “anoint” comes to English from French from Latin – “inunguere” – meaning “to smear into”. In the first century, oil was one of the most common healing tools there was, and the rubbing of it into the skin was an act of medicinal healing, good hospitality, and care.

James 5:13-16
13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

So what does all this mean to us now?

The Physical is Spiritual

In the centuries since the early church readily embraced anointing touch as a medicinal, spiritual practice our relationship with both touch and faith have changed. (For a view of that history see the very awesome “Church History in 4 Minutes”). Instead of generously pouring from a jar or flask, “anointing oil” now comes in tiny little vials you can buy at the Christian bookstore – and use a drop or two on someone’s forehead.

American Christians have a much less touch-centered community (in fact, with the current H1N1 flu pandemic some churches are asking people not to shake hands or touch at all!). Some communities have become so separated from touch (and each other) that they simply say “stay in your seat and stretch out your hands”. That is unfortunate when we realize the whole point of Jesus – as an incarnation – is to be the “word made flesh”. He was the word of God in a body, and meant to be among us, touching us, healing us, teaching us and hearing us. Jesus, Emmanuel, God With Us, is a confirmation that the spiritual IS physical and conversely the physical IS spiritual. A faith without healing touch is disincarnated and unanointed.

How do we recapture touch?

We can move beyond the concept of the “laying on of hands” as something to only be done by the ordained for sacred rites and re-discover the power of generous and anointed touch in our day to day lives. People with families usually experience far more touch – hugs from kids, kisses from spouses – however, we need to encourage those tactile affections to have a priority in relationships and never become lost in the shuffle. We can become aware of the touch hungry among us – widows and widowers, single folks, and people with chronic illnesses (because of unfounded fears, people with HIV/AIDS frequently go without touch). Maybe, when flu season is over, giving someone at church an extra hand-shake, pat on the back or hug would be a blessing you can offer. Finally, for those with broken bodies or damaged spirits, therapeutic massage from a trained and certified massage therapist can be encouraged and explored as an option.

From the standpoint of biblical authority we see in James 5 not simply an admonishment to a dry and formal ceremony performed by clergy, but a directive to all Christian people to understand and participate in healing as a communal act. It is the essence of that thing called church to join the sick with the well, and the hurting with the healers. Remember those schools of Ascepliades I mentioned earlier? Roman history (particularly from Galen) records some of the places they were found as Ephesus, Rome, Colossae, Phillipi, Corinth, and Thessaly. Do those names seem familiar? Look across the tabs on your bible listing the epistles and you might see them again. Touch as healing existed in all those places, including the churches Paul encouraged through his letters to lay hands on one another, anoint one another, and give the occasional greeting of a “holy kiss” (I won’t be tackling that issue any time soon).

So what would I tell that Christian mom as she finishes up her devotional reading and gets ready to carry her stress through her Purpose Driven day? I would tell her to be “called” not “driven”, to laugh – because laughter is a sacred sound, to be hopeful, and to be healed through her faith community, through prayer and through touch. In John 9, Jesus made some mud and rubbed it on a blind man’s eyes (anointing him). He sent the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam and the man’s vision was restored. I could tell you from the authority of personal experience that I learned what he learned when I allowed healing touch into my life – “I was blind, but now I see.”

_____


[i] Pliny the Elder – yes yes yes – I know he made up much of what he wrote as history – however Ascepliades and his practices and schools are also confirmed by Galen and other more reputable historians.

Locking Jesus Out

Lectionary Reading: John 20:19-31

One of the things I’ve liked most in ministry is it allows you to encounter people in the full cycle of life. Each person is at a different place in the circle but its amazing to see the cylinders of life go round and round

You are there to bless, praise and celebrate on their very best days:
The day they born
The day they a baptized
The day they graduate from high school, college, grad school…
The day they marry
The day they tell you they are having a baby
The day they retire and tell you their grandchildren are born
The day you hold their hand as they pass from this life into God’s heaven

You are there to hold, pray and comfort on their very worst days:
The day a miscarriage occurs
The day a disappointment happens
The day a crash occurs or an Emergency Room visit is needed
The day a job is lost or a dream goes up in flames
The day a divorce splits a couple in two
The day a family becomes estranged
The day a loved one makes that journey into God’s heaven

The thing I like about counseling is that it puts me in the lives of people in all the other days:
Days after a great event is forgotten and hope needs to come back
Days after a sorrow has occurred
The long never-ending days of bickering that threaten a relationship
Sheets of dark, depressing days of grief
The years of days after a trauma – where resolutions and solutions are finally found
Days of light and inspiration where guidance is a pathway
Days of laughter breaking through rain
Days of being whole again

Pretty much between ministry and counseling – you’re busy every day! What’s even more amazing than that? The presence and power of God. God is present every second of every day of every life span – including the seconds before and the eternity after. There is not a second God is not a part of. There is no way to shield yourself from that presence. As Carl Jung said so well “Bidden or not bidden, God is present”. In other words – there is simply no way to lock God out. Jesus is the same way.

Locking Jesus Out in Fear

Our scripture takes place after the resurrection when Mary of Magdala and the others return to tell the disciples Jesus is alive. News and whispers are everywhere. Of course – no one quite has a handle on that truth yet. Some say his body was simply stolen. Others think the women are mad with grief. Romans don’t like all this disorder in their neatly ordered world. Pharisees don’t like the scrutiny this affair has shined onto their laws and behavior – including some backdoor deal that ended in the arrest of a rabbi and the suicide of his disciple. In all the rumor and ideas floating around – the group closest to Jesus knew one thing: as disciples of the Christ - it is not safe for them to be anywhere.

So they do what any sane person would do when they are being pursued by forces known and unknown, they hide away behind a locked door. For whatever reason, Thomas is not with them. Perhaps they sent him out to learn what’s going on or maybe he was just doing a run for some daily bread. Either way, they send him on a dangerous mission carefully locking the door behind them. When suddenly, they will see not just the news – but the truth standing before them. Jesus is there.

You know as they looked to their messiah it was like walking into bright afternoon sun after being in a small dark room. They squinted and blinked, their eyes now unaccustomed to the sight of him – but there he stood. What’s the next thing they do? Look over at the door. It was LOCKED. But here stands Jesus. And they learn the most wonderful way – no matter how afraid you are, you can’t lock Jesus out.

We build walls in our fears too. We keep people at arm’s length or simply don’t tell them how we feel. We decide not to reach out for a dream because we are afraid of failure. We don’t seek out folks who could help us because we are afraid to appear vulnerable. We pray about what we want, not who we are – because deep down we aren’t so sure we want to be that honest with God. Yet through all the walls from our all fears, Jesus walks right into the room of our lives. Never let yourself be fooled. You can keep people at bay for a while, but Jesus Christ who saves you and loves you is going to walk right in. Count on it.

Locking Jesus Out in Anger

So Thomas comes back with the latest edict or a couple of loaves of bread and finds everyone stirring with light and joy. You know he is going through an energy rush of his own. He just risked everything to run this errand and now he’s back but instead of being thankful or listening to him – they are all blathering about seeing Jesus who came through a locked door. Thomas figures 1 of three things has happened:

1. They have gone as mad with grief as the women and the people on the street saying Jesus is alive. He is now the only sane one left.

2. They are playing some kind of mean joke on him. They have all made up this wild story to make him look like a sucker.

3. Jesus really is alive and did see them. Everyone got to be with their beloved Lord but Thomas. Even his twin brother got to see Jesus. Imagine how that could come between two so close in everything else. Thomas feels left out in the cold.

If its door number one: He’s all alone
If its door number two: He’s a laughing stock
If its door number three: He has been purposefully left out. He is “less than”

No matter which it is, he feels angry – and lets face it, we would too. No one wants to be left outside the circle, or laughed out, or alone. So in anger Thomas does what we do – he closes all the doors. Not just to the room – but the door to his heart, the door to his mind and the door to his faith also. “I don’t care what you say – unless I see his hands and I see touch his side with my own two little hands – I will not believe this.” In other words – Thomas is CLOSED.

A week later, Jesus appears again. This time Thomas is there. Jesus repeats the words Thomas uses and allows him to see his hands and touch his side. Most people think Jesus did that to chide Thomas for his hasty words, but I don’t. I think Jesus did it for one reason alone. To show Thomas that even though he couldn’t see Jesus in the room when he spoke his angry monologue, Jesus was there and heard every word. Jesus words and actions were saying:

“I’m not just around when you see my wounds or speak to me. I’m around even when you can't see me at all. I’m always here. Blessed are you when you realize you don’t have to see me, but you know I’m there anyway.”

In our anger, hurt and distress we sometimes lock Jesus out too. We get caught up in a situation, sorrow or feeling of helplessness that we decide that we just can’t see God in this. We react instead of act. We strike out instead of let in. We suffer alone at night because we won’t risk reaching to anyone anymore. We might even say we know Jesus is with us – but the truth is – we aren’t always so sure what good that does.

Yet Jesus is not kept out by our locked minds, strong wills or stone hearts. Jesus is in, and Jesus will keep speaking, appearing, helping (and sending helpers), until you touch his hands and touch his side and KNOW that the fact he is alive makes all the difference in your world.

This Eastertide, make a commitment to unlock the doors of your heart (since you aren’t keeping Jesus out anyway) and be open to seeing Christ in working, walking, healing ways all around you. Hear for yourself the words Jesus says when he comes through every locked door - Peace be with you.

Three phrases I hate in the Christian Community

I got a question today that I answered with too many words to fit in the side-bar. (Me give a wordy answer to a short question? Impossible! :-) So I thought I'd put in here. For the Easter sermon go down to next post. Your Shepnerd.

Question: I've always heard the old saying "God does not give usmore than we can handle" and sometimes I want to think its true, but it got me to thinking. If He doesn't give us more than we can handle how are things like terminal illnesses and violent crimes that result in murder figured into this? Seems like if God didn't give us more than wecould handle then these things wouldn't happen.

Long Answer: I have three pet peeves that people say in Christian Communities all the time.

1. "The church is God's House" - No. God doesn't need a house. God doesn't need shelter. God IS shelter.

2. "God helps those who help themselves" - No. Ben Franklin said this (not the bible), and if God just wanted us to help ourselves then we wouldn't need God, Prayer or Jesus. Throw this phrase out with last year's almanac.

3. "God doesn't give us more than we can handle." No. That's not in the bible; its a greeting card phrase people say to each other when we don't know what to say to help them in their grief and want to brush off the issue. It's not helpful, and damaging to people who encounter life issues they are having trouble with. Suddenly, not only do you feel victimized, you feel like you lack faith too.

First, God doesn't GIVE us these things. Imagine you have been sent to teach someone about God. You say, "Knowing the God who made you and loves you will change your life. The relationship can provide you with insight, support, salvation, balance and joy. God will also give you cancer, make you the victim of a crime, cause a hurricane to wipe out your house, take away your job, give your son a drug habit, put your daughter in an abusive marriage, and just when you are ready for your golden years take away your spouse's mind so they no longer remember who you are. Now, don't you want to know God better?" Ludicrous! Yes, and so is the phrase that supports it.

Cancer happens because God designed us to be in a sustained natural world. Some genes, some bodies reacting that create great things like musical talent and pretty blue eyes. Some genes, some bodies react in ways that create cancer, or contract or spread viruses. God doesn't give us illness, illness happens to natural bodies in a natural world.

Hurricanes happen because the water in the ocean gets too hot and the natural balance of the system is to correct it through having the heat rise, which works with the natural turning of the earth to become circular energy (short and easy explanation for a complex phenominon). Crime happens because empty and hurt people tend to hurt other people. Drugs happen because there is pain. War happens because there is evil.

It's always been funny to me that we can accept Jesus teaching "If you ask for bread will God give you a stone? No, God will give good gifts..." but then turn around and suggest God gives you abusive lovers, arthritis and Alzheimer's disease.

Second, not all things can be "handled". Some things must be accepted. Some things must be endured. Some things should be challenged. Some events can be healed by a scalpel. Some events can require a healing process several years long. Some houses are lost. Some lives need rebuilt. "Handling" implies we have some kind of control. Usually, in the situation where people say this terrible phrase - we don't.

God is not powerless but all powerful. And when God designed this natural system of life, death, rebirth - for the earth and for us -God promised to go through these things with us. God carries us. God cries with us. God heals us.

A better alternative to this phrase is Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love God and who have been called according to God's purpose." That doesn't mean that all things that happen are good. God doesn't want drunk drivers to kill children, God doesn't want divorce, drugs or homelessness. God doesn't think those things are good. What it does mean is that out of the situations we encounter - those we make, and those made for us by the other people on the planet and the planet itself -- God can work with us to bring good things into our life and our world.

People with diseases raise awareness, research money and hope. Susan G Komen died of cancer (not good), her family created her foundation that has saved the lives of millions of women through mammograms, drugs, and research (a great good). Women who have been victimized become survivors and learn how to stand up with and heal other women. Tornados that wreck someone's life create a whole community of effort to repair and rebuild. Does God need a tornado to create community? No. But since one is going to happen - God wants to be there too and use it for what good can come.

So my best thought is ditch the easy phrases and hold on to God's truth.

The Pride of Lions

Lectionary Reading: Luke 17:11-19

During the U.S.-led Invasion of Baghdad in 2003 a pride of lions escaped the bomb damaged Baghdad Zoo and roamed the deserted streets of the city for three days. The keepers of the zoo had fled a few days before troops arrived, leaving the captive animals without food or water. Residents looted the zoo – taking many of the animals for food or to sell on the black market. After American soldiers took over the city, they assigned a unit to repair and take control of the zoo and somehow capture the lions.

Using large armored vehicles and the temptation of food, all but 3 of the lions were guided back into the repaired habitat. The remaining three, terrorized during the previous bombing, confused by the noisy tanks and hungry, would not be led and were killed by soldiers. With three days of freedom the lions could have gone anywhere, but instead the pride wandered no farther than 2 miles from the zoo – cruising the streets of Baghdad looking for some thing to eat. Years of captivity dulled their instinct, and extinguished their ability to comprehend the natural, wild world. Even though the escape had given them liberty – they were not truly free.

Our lectionary reading today is a popular story from the healing life of Christ. Ministers who don’t use the lectionary usually tell it when church attendance gets low or at Thanksgiving. But this story isn’t just about our need to come to Jesus and say, “thank you”. It’s about us and it reminds us that unless our relationship with Christ liberates our minds and restores our instincts as God’s children we will wander aimlessly even though we have been liberated.

Held In Captivity

The men of this story were on the outskirts of the city in an area known as the “valley of the lepers”. It’s interesting to note that the Greek word used here does not really mean leprosy. It is a word that means more like “unspecified skin disorder”. The people of that age could not always tell the difference between leprosy and other diseases and so anyone with a severe skin disease was thrown into the leprosy category and banished from the temple and the city. Because some folks just had a rash, eczema or severe acne – there was a set of laws that allowed priests to proclaim them healed if it cleared up and re-admit them into society.

Yet these men were captive to their disease. As long as physical evidence showed them to have a skin disorder (possibly leprosy) they were left in the valley to starve or eat what ever someone was willing to throw to them (or at them) and warn people to stay away. Their family, their jobs and their ability to worship were gone. Think of it -- every day they woke up, looked over their bodies and hoped:
Today was the day their skin cleared.
Today was the day they could have everything back.
Today was the day they could be with God.
Today was the day they would be free.

Then as the sun broke the horizon they saw the white patches on their arms, legs and reflected on each other’s downcast faces – the next 23 hours and fifty-seven minutes would just be the same old captivity to loneliness and hunger.

We are captive too, only our captivity is somewhat more sinister because we can’t see it on our skin. It lives in our hearts. We are captive to a world where success means material comfort which chains us to work addiction and starves our loved ones for our attention and wisdom. We are captive to a media obsessed manipulative culture where concepts like “fact”, “truth” and “dignity” don’t sell, aren’t used and we are starved for justice and peace. We are captive to fear that keeps us from honestly relating to others, learning from mentors, asking the hard questions or sharing God’s answers. We stare through the bars of our own inability and pray to God to feed us where we are.

Sometimes, we can even be captive in church. Like a spiritual zoo, we sit in our pew, go to our groups, wait to be fed, and hope the world can learn the Gospel from us as they encounter us in our cage Sunday morning. We create programs to bring people in to where we are -- instead of understanding ourselves as God’s children who were called to be sent out. There is a call to repentance in this passage of the Word. We all need to stand by the roadside as Christ passes by and pray with these lepers, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

Delivered to Destiny

Please don’t misunderstand – church is a good thing. It is the gathering of saints – the body of Christ where we learn and worship in community. Notice Jesus sent the lepers to the temple so the priest could proclaim them healed. But the temple didn’t heal them. Jesus did. Church is where we learn of how we can be healed and proclaim our healing and redemption – but church doesn’t heal us. Jesus does. We need to relate to Jesus. Sometimes in our captivity we forget the feeder while we enjoy the food.

That certainly is what happened to 9 of the 10 lepers. They were so excited to be liberated from their disease and so hungry for their loved ones and a good meal that they forgot the one who healed them. They got their religion back, but they had no real relationship. Like the lions of the Baghdad zoo who were led right back to their benevolent captivity – they were back to “normal”. But one wasn’t. One healed leper – a Samaritan (the Pharisees version of “less than”) – knew he was liberated but wasn’t’ free until he related with the one who healed him personally.

“Where are the other 9?” Jesus asked, although he knew the answer and so do we. The other 9 were at home, hugging their families and stuffing bread in their mouths. They would tell the story of their healing later – if they remembered it, after all it had been quite a dramatic day and there was so much of life to catch up on. They were busy. The other 9 are content to sit in their temple and be seen as healed -- after all it was just a skin disease. Maybe later the 9 would get together and sue the priest for wrongful diagnosis.

And the 1 who returned? He thanked Jesus. He fell at his feet and praised God. He remembers who healed him. He will go and tell the story of the one he praised to anyone who will listen. He wasn’t just liberated from possible leprosy. He was truly set free.

Live your faith then share your life

What about us? No matter what chained us we need to go to the temple and show ourselves healed as we rejoice with our brothers and sisters who were liberated too. Then we need to go back – to go out – and to thank Jesus every day in our lives. We need to live as God’s children who are truly free to show the story of grace in every place we go. Don't wander around the war-torn city seeking something else to eat- go in your freedom as one sent by God and thrive. In other words: Live your faith then share your life.

The Baghdad Zoo, with the help of international animal aid organizations, has been rebuilt. Out of 700 animals, only 40 survived the 8 day invasion of Baghdad, but animals taken from private “zoos” at the homes of Saddam Hussein and his family were brought to the city zoo. There are currently 86 animals at the zoo, and it serves as a center of peace and escape from the war for the residents of Baghdad.

Finding the Balm in Gilead

Lectionary Reading: Jeremiah 8:18-9:1

Laugh, and the world laughs with you. Cry, and you are probably reading the book of Jeremiah. This gloomy prophecy about the conquering and exile of Israel is enough to send anyone searching for some spiritual Prozac. Jeremiah is torn between two great loves. He loves God and serves God as a prophet with great passion. He loves the people of Israel and he is terribly sorry to see what they will have to go through. Questioning God, Jeremiah asks, “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician there?” – In other words: “God, aren’t you here anymore?”

It seems a good question for Jeremiah and for us as well when we look at a world at war, countries in crisis from disease, drought and oppression, religion that chooses legalism over compassion and dogma over discernment, and humanity lost in materialism and chronic self-absorption. It is not hard for us to see Iraq, AIDS, Darfur, church crisis and the latest celebrity obsession and say, “God, aren’t you here anymore?”

The Poet T.S. Eliot looked at the state of culture and society when he wrote “The Rock” in 1934 which said:

All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

T. S. Eliot seems to re-order Jeremiah’s question. The problem is not that God isn’t with us anymore – but that we are no longer near God. We have changed the life transforming power of Christianity to a set of rules and rituals. We have given up the wisdom of diplomacy and listening for a culture of war and force. We have traded having a knowing relationship with God and others for memorizing scripture, and relying on demographics.

Now, now – I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, - “wow – Kellie’s sure in a gloomy mood – she’s been reading that Jeremiah book a little too long! Maybe a nice psalm or some proverbs would cheer her up…” but have no fear. I have a great joy and hope today and so can you – because the New Testament reminds us we are blessed when we weep – for we shall be comforted. We need only look at history to see our future.

There is a Balm in Gilead

A balm is a healing ointment. Jeremiah is asking about the famous healing lotion made from the commiphora tree of Palestine, the resinous gum we know as Myrrh. (you know the Christmas story – Gold, Frankenstein and Myrrh…er…..Frankincense and myrrh…). Jeremiah is a making a spiritual reference to the healing power of God. In the New Testament, baby Jesus will be given this balm to show healing does exist with him. That’s the good news.

Before 1865, African-American spirituals and slave-songs were sung throughout the south. These songs told the gospel and conveyed scripture to people who couldn’t read, and were used for everything from teaching English and counting to new arrivals, to keeping time in a threshing house, to communicating news about the underground railroad (“The Train is Bound for Glory”, and “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” were both underground railroad songs). One of the great old hymns to come out of that era was “There is a Balm in Gilead”. An oppressed people who, like Israel, had been captured, enslaved, and ill-used were answering Jeremiah’s question with the New Testament assurance that healing was here to stay. How can we find that assurance today? Let’s look at the song:

Sometimes I feel discouraged and think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.

First – look to the Holy Spirit for revitalization and renewal. When we feel like the plans for peace we have offered bounced right off the clouds of heaven, or the life work we have given our talent toward has produced mediocre results at best – we need to pray for ourselves and the revival of our mission and our call. Every Christian is called of God. Whether you are called to be a mechanic, a teacher, or a listening friend working on an assembly line – you are called to be there (or to move). Don’t let the joy be leeched from you by those around you with bad attitudes or the determination to be self-absorbed pessimists. Allow God’s Holy Spirit to work in you and make the life you are living a worthy pursuit of hope and healing.

If you cannot preach like Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus and say, "He died for all."
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.

Second – People of faith need to stop relying on the messengers and start living the message. I know that sounds strange coming from a member of the clergy, but I find it a key issue for our times. Clergy have specific roles we fulfill, but it s not our call to be the community. That’s your job. We need to stop letting other people (leaders, theologians, popular authors) read for us, think for us, determine our beliefs and be the witness for us. We need to take responsibility in our relationship with God and learn to use resources as guides, not crutches. I heard at a ministry conference two years ago that the M.Div. will soon be the “minimum standard” for all clergy, but a doctorate is required for “adequate Christian leadership”. Why do you need a doctorate to live as Christ taught a bunch of fishermen, peasants and tax collectors? Christ didn’t come to make us a collection of sheep led by the educated elite. Christ came to make us a community, lead by a vibrant, personal relationship with our Creator. You don’t have to be Peter, M.Div or Dr. Paul (or even Dr. Phil – thank goodness!) – Be you, use your brain and the resources God places around you, and share the gospel where you are.

Don’t ever feel discouraged, for Jesus is your friend;
And if you lack for knowledge, He’ll never refuse to lend.
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul.

Third – seek God’s wisdom and will. Don’t interpret point number two as meaning Christian leaders should not be college educated. There’s nothing wrong with education – it’s a worthy pursuit. However, our trust should not be in our own intelligence, experiences or credentials. Our trust should be in God’s wisdom, and God has placed that wisdom all over creation. Many Christians have cut off a plethora of God’s knowledge because it isn’t in the Bible or sold at the Christian Bookstore. There is a whole world of God out there – in the knowledge of farmers, through the power of indigenous cultures, in the arena of mathematics and physics (how better to understand how God made the world to turn?), in the mystical algorithm of language and music, and in the instinctual habits of nature. Stop discounting the steady stream of God in the world around you and start listening and learning all that God can have you know.

We need not to succumb to the gloom and doom of Jeremiah, because we know that healing of God is here. We need not reflect the cultural despair of T.S. Eliot because we know how to be near God. We can be people of Gilead with a life witness worth shining for the entire world to see. Then, the healing can begin.