As a child growing up, I loved watching reruns of Columbo. These days the 1970s and 80s made-for-TV murder mystery starring Peter Falk is considered a cult classic. It is arguably Falk’s most loved role. And why not?

Columbo sports disheveled hair that is chronically out of place.
He constantly misplaces his pencil, asking suspects, “could I borrow yours?”
He drives a comically small 1959 Peugeot, that was outdated from the start.
He always wears an oversized, crumpled raincoat. Even tho it rarely rains.

Columbo defines what it is to be an anti-hero.

He never appeared to be the right person for the job.

My childhood self couldn’t get enough.

On the surface Columbo appears aloof, disorganized, clueless. Suspects consistently underestimate him. But given the task at hand: solving crimes, no one is better. Columbo always catches his mark.

When my daughter Hannah saw me watching an episode several years ago and plopped down on the couch to check it out I was thrilled. Before you knew it our family of four was watching one episode a week, in order, every Sunday nite.

A new tradition, for us, had been borne.

We have now seen all 69 episodes of Columbo. And have since moved on to watching other murder mystery shows with quirky detectives including Monk and Father Brown.

As a family we relish trying to find clues to the case, seeing if we can name them before the great detective does. A good clue, we’ve learned, hides in plain sight, waiting to be discovered. Then, once you find it, and understand what it means, everything suddenly makes sense. Over the years Columbo had some truly great reveals.

That discarded piece of gum? The bite marks in it could be matched to the killer, making a positive ID.

Or the security footage that, at first blush, clearly showed what happened? Turns out the recording had a clock that was broken. Someone must have altered the footage to spin a tale.

And that typewritten ransom note? It originated from an obscure make and model of typewriter. A typewriter that, by chance, was behind a locked door. Only one person had the keys.

A good clue, it seems, can make all the difference in the world.

Brevity
Our reading this Easter is the shortest of the gospel resurrection narratives. The resurrection stories in Matthew, Luke and John contain all sorts of extra details. A journey on the road to Emmaus, the Great Commission, a miraculous fireside fish breakfast with the disciples, followed by Christ’s ascension into heaven.

But Mark? The book simply ends here, with three women running away, afraid.

So unsatisfying was this original ending that scribes later appended the longer, happier ending to Mark, hoping to tie up loose ends.

Like a good episode of Columbo, what we make of this brief, unexpected turn of events is a mystery. To solve this case we’ll need to keep an eye out for clues.

Clues
Our first discovery? An open tomb. The three women there that morning expected to encounter death. Not being able to complete the one task at hand, of anointing the body, a tomb with a missing corpse would be jarring. No wonder they were alarmed, amazed, afraid.

But the tomb wasn’t empty. There’s a young man sitting in it, dressed in white. How did he get in there? Even more curious, he shares some vital pieces of information. He knew who they were looking for. And knew where he could be found. Who was this man? His face and voice seemed familiar. Could it be?

What this man tells them offers us more hints. He said Jesus had been raised. The women knew Christ had brought others back to life. Each time it meant their story here on earth wasn’t yet done. Could he have been brought back too? Was it possible? That would change everything, right? What might this mean?

Tell the disciples, the man told the three. Just like the Blue Brothers, it seems Jesus was looking to get the band back together. Why? Because we’re on a mission from God. Clearly Jesus and the crew had more work here to do.

Tell Peter, the man continued. Jesus wanted to reunite with the disciple that denied knowing him *three* times, when it mattered most? What’s most interesting about this particular clue is what isn’t said. There are no mentions of past wrongs, no demands to explain. To those who abandoned him Jesus only offers grace, forgiveness, connection, community, care.

Have them meet me in Galilee, the man told the women. What might this clue reveal? Galilee is Jesus’ hometown, the location of much of his ministry. It is here where Jesus multiplied the fishes and loaves, feeding thousands. It is here where he calmed the storms on the sea, giving peace to all. Galilee was the land of marginalized people, different people, people treated as less than. Might Jesus be calling the disciples to get back to caring for these people too?

So many clues.
What do to?

Not knowing what to make of it all the women fled the tomb. Initially they said nothing to anyone. For they were afraid.

Here ends the book of Mark.

Next
Unlike Columbo, not everything gets wrapped up by the end of the tale. There is no grand reveal that explains, in plain language who done it, when, where, and why.

The women were left to ponder, pontificate, pray.

What shall they do?

How the women interpreted the clues before them, and decided to act on them, in some ways, will always be a mystery.

Did they huddle up and discuss, comparing notes?
How long was it before they went to share the good news?

Minutes?
Hours?
More?

Eventually they did reach the disciples, proclaiming:

Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

And because of –

their witness,
their testimony,
their action,

The world will never be the same.

Now
The beauty of Mark’s resurrection story is this: it is an open-ended narrative. We, the hearers of this word, get to finish the story from our point of view.

Like the women at the tomb, we too get to write our own endings.

We live in an era where the civil rights of many marginalized groups are in jeopardy. The groups are many, including –

women,
children,
LGBTQ,
immigrants,

the unhoused,
the poor,
the hungry,
the physically and mentally unwell.

Attacks on these groups are being done with a toxic mix of religion and politics.

It is a version of Christianity that values privilege and power over care of neighbor.
It is a version of Christianity that frankly I can’t even recognize.

In many ways –
We have become Rome.
We are the empire.

And that, my friends, is simply not of God.

The promise of Easter, what with its exclamations of:

Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Is proclamation, yes.
But it is also a challenge to act.

Facing the civil rights crisis of his era Dr. Martin Luther King famously said this:

“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”

People of God, on this Easter Day, a question for you. Faced with injustice all around…

What shall we do?
Christ offers clues.

 

A Good Friday message.

Before all this we had hope.  Not too long ago there was something to look forward to. Finally, it seemed, a savior of the people had come.

Glory to God the angels proclaimed!
This is my Son, the heavenly voice named.
We know who you are, the unclean spirits blamed.

The divine had spoken.
We had begun to believe.

Look at the disciples.

They –
Followed,
Questioned,
Argued,
Tested,
Walked,
Wondered,
Learned.

Slowly, ever so slowly,
Their faith grew.

And the miracles!
We watched –

Wine made,
Thousands fed,
Storms calmed,
Vision restored,
Hearing returned,
Lepers cleansed.
Dead raised.

With those grand displays,
slowly, ever so slowly,
Our faith grew too.

And the stories!
We heard tales of –

Rich fools,
Lost sheep,
Wedding feasts,
Mustard seeds,
Crooked managers,
Persistent widows,
Good Samaritans.

In them –
the other was always lifted up.
the great always brought down.

His parables challenged us.
They made us yearn for more.

We celebrated with him at –

Grand gatherings,
breaking bread,
sharing wine, amid
joy,
laughter,
sorrow.

It was community.
And it was good.

And the parade!
Complete with –
donkey ridden,
joyous crowds,
cloaks offered,
palms waved,
Hosannah! shouts,
triumphant entries,
all of it fit for a King.

We were sure this man could wear the title well.
We were certain more change would soon come.

Signs, signs everywhere there’s signs.

Then,
a kiss,
a betrayal,
an arrest.

What was going on?

Next,
one denial,
then two,
and three.

From a disciple?

Soon,
a trial,
a flogging,
an angry mob.

Where were his followers?
Had they abandoned him too?

With –
a purple robe,
a crown of thorns,
taunts of Hail, King of the Jews!

He was mocked.

Where were those who loved him?

Finally,
a cross,
torn flesh,
three last words.

It is finished.

And that, seemingly, was that.

Had we read the signs wrong?

The disciples, the crowds, the healings?
The sermons, the parables, the great escapes?
The promise of a new kingdom, here on earth?

Had it all been for naught?
Hope has left us.

We can’t help but grieve.
We carry the trauma.
We carry unexpected loss.
We don’t want this to be the end.

We mourn someone who once said, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.

Some of us laughed at him for this. Many believed there was no way a massive building could be rebuilt in such short time.

Could those words mean more?

We have little to go on.
Our search for clues begins. Amen.

The gospel reading for today contains a passage so common, so popular in Americana you could probably name it in a lineup. Which verse from John 3:14-21 would you say, is the big one? John 3:16, of course. John 3:16 pops up seemingly everywhere.

If you went to Sunday School as a kid, you probably learned it there. If you attended Bible camp growing up – you probably memorized it. The verse is on billboards along highways. It appears on social media as a meme, complete with a cross on a hill during sunset. In our culture, whether we are Christian or not, John 3:16 simply cannot be ignored.

According to biblegateway.com it is the most searched for and read piece of scripture on their website. It ranks #1 in biblical search history for every year they’ve kept track, save one.

I bet many of you could say John 3:16 right along with me. Let’s try…”For God So loved the world…He gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.”

For God So Loved
The downside for language so well-known is we might conclude we’ve got it down. That there is nothing new here, time to move along. Perhaps a preacher’s biggest challenge, with a text like this, is to keep the congregation awake. With that goal, good people of St. John’s, I shall try 😊.

There are multiple ways to approach this passage. We could walk through all eight verses, line by line. We could pair John 3:16 and its lesser-known sibling, verse 17, dissecting how the two inform each other. We could highlight the verse itself. Martin Luther calls the two dozen words John 3:16 contains “the gospel in miniature.” Why? Because it summarizes the good news so well.

To take it one step further, today I’d like to drill down to just six of those words:

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD.

Arguably it is God’s love for the world that ties all of scripture together. Love led God to walk alongside Adam and Eve in the garden, desiring relationship with them, and us, in the beginning. Love stirred God’s heart to release the Israelites from captivity, giving them hope of a promised land. God’s love breathed into Ezekiel’s valley of dry bones, turning death and destruction into new life. Love led our Creator to take human form, through Jesus the Christ, showing us what divine love looks like in the flesh. Love led Jesus to the cross, to cover our human brokenness once and for all. Love rose from the grave, proclaiming once and for all that God’s story lives on.

Let’s consider the implications of those six words, For God So Loved the World. Where might this phrase lead?

Love Doesn’t Pick Teams
First, For God so loved the world, God doesn’t pick teams, or tribes or favorites. God loves the whole earthy ball of wax. The original Greek for world is kosmos. Think of how broad our cosmos is. It spans everything. And God loves it all.

If you’re a fan of the –
– Iowa State Cyclones
– Iowa Hawkeyes
– Northern Iowa Panthers
– Went to another college,
– Even the Luther College Norse
– Or no college at all, this God so loved starting point covers you.

Pastor Stephanie tells me she’s a fan of the Houston Cougars. The Cougars happen to be the #1 team in men’s basketball right now, over our fellow Big 12 conference darlings the Iowa State Cyclones, who are #6. Though we pastors disagree the verdict is in: Pastor Stephanie, God’s love is for you.

If you’re –
– Christian,
– Jewish,
– Muslim,
– Buddhist,
– Hindu,
– or have not religion at all, yep,
God deeply loves you.

If you’re –
– black,
– brown,
– white,
– or some hue between,

I hope it’s clear.
God so loves you.

Love Is For All
It doesn’t end there. God’s love for you goes far beyond mere demographics. God’s love covers the innermost being of who you are, and what you have done.

If you –
– can’t hold down a job,
– are addicted to drugs, carbs or booze,
– find yourself unhoused, living on the streets,
– broke, hungry, without,
– even if you stole a car from the church parking lot,

the same is always true.

God loves you.
God loves you.
God loves you.

Love Gets Involved
As amazing as that is, there is more good news to share. For God so loved the world, God did something. God didn’t just sit back and say hey, I love you and send you on your way. Instead, when the story of humanity went awry God got those hands dirty, got involved in our day to day. John 3:16 says so: God sent his only Son here, so that we may have life. Jesus busied himself here with teaching, showing, and doing, in human form, modeling what it is to be in right relationship with God. Modeling what it is to be in right relationship with each other.

And because of that, we have been called to join in God’s work, loving all of God’s children, without exception. Just as God so loves us.

Love is Now
Last month, at our February annual meeting, St. John’s voted to become a Reconciling In Christ congregation through an organization called Reconciling Works. At the heart of this new-to-us identity is a now ratified welcome statement. Our new welcome is inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community and so many more oft marginalized groups. The core of this statement says that:

We affirm, love, embrace, and invite all people in celebration of race, color, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, mental and physical abilities, cultural background, immigration status, education, and varied faith journeys. We respect and are committed to racial equality, anti-racism, and the promotion of social and economic justice.

The vote passed with a 98% approval rate.
The margin is clear. It is a mandate for us all.
To quote a favorite tv series title, This Is Us.

As Lutherans, In The City For Good, Here We Stand.

Earlier this week, at a gathering of our Reconciling in Christ Ministry Team, Pastor Stephanie and I listened as our members shared a veritable cornucopia of ideas about how we might now more fully live into this new welcome statement.

Should we focus more on advocacy? Our state continues to attack the freedoms of women, children, the LGBTQ+ community. Our state continues to under-resource mental health and affordable housing.

That is not up for debate.
These, unfortunately, are facts.

Or, should we focus more on service? One idea that came out of this gathering: we could serve unmet needs of the unhoused LGBTQ+ community. Or perhaps we could partner with Lutheran Services of Iowa and their efforts to resettle refugees?

With a big downtown building that goes largely unused most of the week, solutions to these issues and more can begin right here.

Our missional path likely includes a bit of both. Advocacy and service to neighbor go hand in hand. What that looks like in specific in the coming years? I invite you to get involved; the Reconciling In Christ team would love to have you join. We’ll find out, together, how God is calling us to reimagine our little corner of Des Moines, and beyond.

Close
Because if we believe the premise, that God so loved the world, it has some implications. And if we believe that God is still active in our world, working for the good of us all, it begs us to look around and get involved.

As Christ-followers it leads us to not build walls, but bridges.
As Christ-followers it calls us to not look out for us, but for them.
As Christ-followers it pleads for us to not protect the most of these, but the least.

Does God so love the world?
Do you truly believe that?

For if so, we have work to do.  Amen.