Weddings.  To successfully pull off a grand, memorable day, getting the invitation list just so might be the toughest part of all.

Sometimes who makes the cut is driven by venue.  That was the case for Bill and Becky, who found themselves staring down a list of 600 people they hoped to invite, with a reception hall that could only fit a third of that number.

Other times invitation lists evolve for reasons no one could have possibly seen coming.  Of the three weddings I’ve been asked to officiate this year the invite list for each, out of pandemic necessity, was revised down.

One of those is Nicole and Emily’s celebration later this year in St. Augustine Florida; they initially invited 84.  When it became clear the pandemic wasn’t going away any time soon, plans naturally evolved, trimming the in-person gathering to 28.  When Nicole, a healthy 28-year-old nurse caught COVID herself, with effects like shortness of breath and dizziness lasting for weeks, they knew their shorter list was the right and safe thing to do.

There’s even been an upside; the two now plan to livestream the ceremony via Zoom, inviting even more friends to celebrate with them than they first planned.

Benjamins

Often decisions of who to invite for the big day come down to money, no surprise there.  The average US wedding in 2019 costs almost $34,000, yikes.

Dave and Kim had a wedding with over 600.  But still, they had to trim invites to keep costs down.  Dave came from a large Irish Catholic family, which means exactly what you think it means.  Kim was from a small, close-knit town, and wanted to invite them all.  Dave says deciding who to take off the list was the worst part of getting married.  They would have invited everyone if they could.

Becky and Clint had $3,000 to spend on their 1997 extravaganza and were on a strict budget.  The two crunched numbers and determined their number:  100.  The approach they used for who made the list was downright precise: 25 people each for the bride, groom, bride’s parents, and groom’s parents.  On paper that seems so clean.  Becky and Clint gave their parents one extra person each to make the count for everyone even.  To maximize the experience Clint asked his single fraternity brothers to bring each other as dates, so more friends could be there, a really nice touch.

Yet for all that precision, and a well-constructed plan, not everyone was pleased.  Some of their family were cheesed children weren’t invited, which created kid-sitting complexities.  Becky remembers crumbling under a family member’s harsh words about it.  And recalls she’s never seen Clint as upset about how his future bride was being treated either before or in the 23 years since.  Fortunately, strained relationships have since healed.  The wedding and reception went off without a hitch, thanks be to God.

These stories are a reminder of the implicit challenges that surround who exactly to invite to the celebration, of what for many of us, represents one of the most important days of our lives.

If you’ve been married at some point take a moment to remember.  Consider how you went about putting together your invitation list.  Who made the cut, who didn’t?  It’s an almost impossible challenge to pull off to keep everyone happy.

The Big Bash

Once upon a time, there was a king, with a son he very much loved.  The king’s son was to be married, with no expense spared.  This wedding may have looked a little different than most.  For when a king plans a wedding you know it’s going to be extravagant in ways most can normally only dream of.

The venue would be grand, the best in all the land.  With the resources of an entire kingdom, there was no limit on what this day could be.  And, while there is no mention of plague in this story, no pandemic on the loose, this particular king would ensure everyone was kept safe.  Because that is, after all, what leaders of lands are called to do.

But still, king or no king, weddings require invitations, lists must be made.  This wedding, initially at least, in this way, would be like any other.  Family were asked, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, grandkids aplenty.  And the friend’s list?  It was filled with VIPs, people to see and be seen with: kings and queens, princes and princesses, dukes and duchesses, diplomats, rabbis, priests, merchants of means.

With the list now complete, invitations were sent out.  The king hoped upon hope that all invited could attend.

The decorations, clothing, music, drink, and food were planned to perfection.  A favored son of the kingdom was to be married, and what a banquet it would be.  This celebration would be legendary, lore passed down from one generation to the next.

Preparations now complete, the king sent messengers out, to let the invited know the joyous celebration would soon begin.  Dinner was ready.  Oxen and calves and the finest of foods, all here for them to enjoy.  And if the wine happened to run out?  No worries, the king joked, my son could whip something up, speedy quick.

But then the strangest thing happened.  The invited did not come.  The friends and family, the dukes and diplomats, the merchants of means instead chose to stay home.  They went about their business like it was any other day.  They ignored the gathering entirely, as if it was of no importance at all.  And worse?  Some mocked the wedding, laughed at the king, mistreated his messengers.

Staring out an empty banquet hall, with invitation list in hand, the king pictured where each person would have sat.  Emotions rushed over him; sadness, disappointment, anger.  The day was nothing he had hoped that it would be.

The dining, drinking, and dancing, so precisely planned, would have to wait.

For without guests, a party simply isn’t.

The king’s soul was crushed.  Looking down at the invitation list, filled with no-shows, the king realized something.  The system he’d relied on, of who’s invited and who isn’t, had yielded disastrous results.

The New Plan

Oh, the celebration must go on, the king realized, but filling the empty seats would require a different approach.  Something must change.

For it was a new day.
Which called for a new way.
A John 3:16 moment through and through.

The king, a creator at heart, was determined to make something out of nothing.   He’d done it before.  He’d do it, again.

So he sent out his messengers, this time with a different assignment.  Invite everyone you meet to the banquet.  For this king so loved the whole world.  There would be no exceptions.  No lists made that exclude.

Not this time.

So the messengers went.
The messengers found.
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On their journeys, they encountered all kinds of people not on that first list.

Some were sick, too ill to celebrate much of anything.  Get them the finest doctors, the best treatments in the land.  Heal them, the king decreed.  Send the bill to me.  Make sure you invite them too, the king reminded.  And when they show up?  Let them in.

Some were hungry, living from meal to meal.  That’s easy, the king thought.  There’s plenty of food at the banquet.  Tell them their stomachs will be filled.  And they can take as much as they like home with them.  When they show up open the doors.  Let them in.

Looking at the first guest list with new eyes, the king realized entire swaths of people had been left off.  We didn’t invite the gays and the lesbians the first time around?  The king was embarrassed.  They’re fabulous, he thought, the life of any good party.  Go find them, invite them, and let them in!

A messenger then came back with some troubling news.  The king learned, at the border of his land, there were kids in cages, with no parents in sight.  What?  The king’s face became flush.  He was downright furious at this injustice.  How did this happen?  Let them out!  Reunite them with their parents!  Invite them to the banquet.  Let them in!

And all the others, with lives that definitely mattered, yet weren’t initially invited?  Find them, the king said.  Tell them of the grand celebration.  Make sure they know they are wanted.  That we hope and pray they attend.  And when they show up?  You know what to do, the king told the messengers.  Roll out the red carpet.  Open the palace doors wide.

Let them in.
Let them in.
Let them in.

The messengers did.
The people came.
The doors were opened wide.

And before long the wedding hall was filled with guests, each there to celebrate a favored son.  He was, after all, what drew them together.

For it was then, and only then, that the grand banquet, complete with dining, drinking, dancing, unending joy, unending laughter, could begin.

Hereafter

The kingdom of heaven is like that wedding, Jesus reminds.

Filled with people, filled with surprises.  Each person there filled with backstories our fallen human selves might initially judge.  Therein lies the beauty of God’s kingdom.  It is a judgment-free zone, designed for all.

No matter our age, race, ethnicity, orientation or national origin.  Or any other label we might seek to use that divides.

Our own wedding celebrations, by nature, have limits.  There are bills to pay, mouths to feed, halls that fit only so many.  We recognize the challenges these limits create.  And understand, on some level at least, that it’s better to celebrate the most special of days without restriction, without limit, without exception.

Yet to successfully marry the earthly and the divine, as has always been the plan, getting the invitation list just so might be the toughest part of all.

God knows.

Fortunately, we don’t have to wait until the heavenly hereafter to experience this grand banquet as originally designed.  In fact, we’re called to take part in bringing about this kingdom.  Right here.  On earth.  Right now.

Close

We are called to help unify a colorful, eclectic, diverse creation.  Called to live in perfect harmony with the Creator.  All made possible thanks to the life, death, and resurrection of the Son.  Guided daily by the winds of the Spirit, pointing us wherever the Creator leads.

So rip up your lists that separate, fellow messengers.
Head out, tell everyone you find.
Share the good news of a grand celebration.

One we so hope all attend.
And when God’s beloved show up at the palace door,
You know what to do.

Heed the words of the King.

Throw wide the doors. And –
Let them in.
Let them in.
Let them in.

Amen.

Growing up I always loved numbers. That’s the 0, 1, 2, 3 variety – not the book of the bible – which as a kid can be tough to get through in spots. Numbers lead to counting, and counting goes from one thing initially to multiples things soon after. And before you know it things become groups and groups get compared to all sorts of other things and off you go.

We’re taught to make comparisons at an early age. It’s been fun to watch my two children, ages 10 and 6, learn the same lessons I did as a child.

Sally has four apples. Bobby have five. Who has more?

Which leads to other comparisons down the road.

The US produces 19 trillion dollars of gross domestic product, or GDP, a year. Japan’s GDP is 5 trillion. Who has more wealth?

Early on it’s simple. Bobby has more apples. The US has more wealth.

Sally has six oranges. Bobby has four. Who has more?

Japan has an average life expectancy of 85 years. The US life expectancy is 79 years. Which people live longer?

When you combine comparisons, well, that’s when things get really interesting.

Bobby has more apples, and Sally has more oranges. Who has more fruit? Sally wins that one, 10 to 9.

The US has a higher GDP, tho Japan’s life expectancy is higher than ours. Which people have a higher quality of life? Good luck deciding that one ?

Simple Math
Today’s text from Matthew 21 draws on similar comparisons.

The religious leaders of the day loved their groups. Loved to create them. Loved to judge by them. Loved the social hierarchy implied by them.

The math they used was simple enough. Follow the laws of God and you’re good.

Honor your father and mother.
Keep the sabbath holy.
Don’t lie. Or cheat. Or steal.

Bobby follows religious laws. Sally doesn’t. We know because people have been keeping score, tallying up points as they go. Which is doing the will of God?

All this left a fairly clear who’s who grouping.

With the pious, the religious, the self-righteous on one side. And everyone else on the other. In the eyes of the religious leaders, this distinction was crystal clear.

Calculations were complete. Groups were made. That was that.

Next Level
When Jesus enters the scene things get, well, more complex. He too makes a basic comparison.

The comparison was so straight forward it may just have been a rhetorical question. Jesus starts by saying four little words: what do you think?

With it he invites response. With perhaps an obvious answer to come.

A man had two sons, Christ begins. He went to the first and asked him to work in the vineyard that day. The son initially said no. But later changed his mind, and went. The man then went to the second son with the same question. Sure thing, the son replied. But he did not go.

Which of the two did the will of the father? What do you think?

Said a certain way it almost sounds sarcastic.

What do you think?

Duh. Come on. Obviously.

The religious leaders he queried must have felt the same.

They didn’t huddle up.
Or split hairs.
Or respond they didn’t know.

Instead, they replied, without hesitation. “The first.” The son that said he wouldn’t go, but later did. They had answered correctly.

But there was more to Jesus’ simple question. It went beyond a duh, come on, or obviously. And those pious religious leaders had completely missed it.

For they were operating with just one variable.
What people do with all those laws.
And only two groups.

Bobby follows the law. Sally doesn’t.

In their eyes one was clearly righteous, the other clearly not.

Calculations were clean. Complete. Done clap.

Jesus’ parable went beyond that.
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With it he’d expanded their universe by adding one variable more.

What you say you’ll do. And what you actually do.

To geek out, just a bit, we could even put it on a two by two grid. With what you say you’ll do on one axis, and what you actually do on the other.

Grid
The four groups end up …
1) You say you’ll follow, and you do
2) You say you’ll follow, and you don’t
3) You say you won’t follow, and you do
4) You say you won’t follow, and you don’t

If your yes is always yes, group one.
And if your no is always no, group four it is.

Christ’s parable is about the other two groups.

Those that –
Say they won’t follow and do.
Say they will follow and don’t.

These categories have nuance. They infer change. Transformation. A difference between intent, and action. And movement, in this silly little grid, from one category to the next.

The religious leaders had all the right words, felt they had all the right actions. Clearly they felt they said they’d follow, and did.

And everyone else?

According to those that challenged Jesus that day –
They don’t have the right words.
They don’t have the right actions.

People like –
• Lepers, physically unclean, cast out of the city.
• Tax collectors, like Zacchaeus, that wee little man, that wee little man was he…who took more money from people than he should.
• Prostitutes, whose profession left them outside traditional societal norms.

And based on that, according to the pious things didn’t look that different.

Transformation
Yet Jesus healed lepers. Making them clean. Enabling them to rejoin their communities, once again. And they believed.

When Zacchaeus, a noted crook, gives half his possessions to the poor, and repaid those he defrauded, four-fold, Jesus announces salvation to his house.

When John the Baptist encountered prostitutes he baptized them, offering forgiveness of sins. And they too believed.

Of the four women mentioned in Matthew’s presentation of Jesus’ genealogy, two – Tamar and Rahab – are noted prostitutes in the Hebrew bible. The path to Christ, and of Christ, is sometimes messier than we first might assume.

And the pious religious leaders who said they followed the father? And thought they had been? Jesus had some surprising news. Some had not changed their minds. Some had not believed.

Their standing, and the standing of so many they’d judged, was not what it seemed.

Once again Jesus had turned the tables on the cultural elite.

The last had become first.
The lowly made high.
With salvation now offered not for some, but all.

The expansion of who could access God’s kingdom, through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, had begun.

Close
Numbers. They run our world, don’t they? From what’s in our bank account, to how long we live. They serve as the metric by which we compare so very much.
Yet when we use them to count past wrongs, and create groups, who follows the rules most, and who doesn’t, lifting some up, putting others down, we all lose.

Sometimes labels get applied to people like Bobby and Sally, at a very young age. And those labels can cause very real harm.

For we forget that each of us follow the ways of Christ sometimes, while other times we don’t. We all fall short on occasion. We are only human, after all.

Today’s text reminds us that transformation is possible, for anyone. Reminds us we’re all infinitely more complicated than a simple binary grouping or label contains. And reminds us that there aren’t two, or four, or eight or any other number of groups when it comes to our access to the divine.

For full and complete access, to the kingdom of God, which our Lord desires for each of us, follow Christ by doing this one thing, which erases all the rest of what we’ve ever done.  And then asks just this.

Amen.

Remember Karate Kid? The classic 1984 film starred Ralph Macchio, William Zabka and Pat Morita, who played the infamous Mr. Miyagi.

In it Macchio’s character, Daniel LaRusso, is the good guy, and definitely the underdog. He’s the new kid in school, has few friends, and keeps getting beat up. The karate teacher, or sensei that Daniel pairs up with, Mr. Miyagi, believes karate techniques should be for self-defense only.  And can lead, ultimately, he suggests, to a path of inner peace.

Zabka’s character, Johnny Lawrence, is the bully nemesis, the bad guy. He’s a member of the rough and tumble Cobra Kai dojo. A group that lives by a simple code.

Strike Hard.
Strike First.
No Mercy.

The two seemingly couldn’t be more different. Fights between the two groups pop up again, and again, and again.

The film centers on a narrative of who, or what, is the greatest.

Which student is the greatest, Daniel or Johnny?
Which sensei is the greatest, Miyagi or Kreese?
Which techniques are the greatest, strike first, or defense only?

Karate Kid ends with a final match between the rivals for the All Valley championship. With the score tied 2-2 Daniel, leg injured and barely able to stand, assumes the memorable “crane” stance. Hands up, hurt leg lifted, he executes a front kick to Johnny’s face, scoring the tournament-winning point.

It’s a classic good-vs-evil 80s flick, beautiful in its simplicity. Good triumphs over evil. The bad guys get their just desserts. Justice is served.

The Greatest
The backstory from today’s text also has some controversy. Earlier in chapter 18, the disciples find themselves asking Jesus a question: Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Perhaps they too were trying to figure out some sort of pecking order.

Who is the greatest –
Is it Peter or Philip?
James or John?
Judas or Jude?

Their spars likely didn’t involve too many kicks to the face. Tho I bet they debated this question mightily.

As a band of brothers, it shouldn’t have even been a topic. The disciples had the same sensei, after all. There would be no karate match to settle this dispute.

Instead of answering the question directly – hey Peter, you’re it – Jesus calls over a child as an example. Unless you change and become like a child, Christ says, you’ll never fully experience this thing called heaven. For whoever becomes humble, like this child, it is they who are greatest in my realm.

The disciples couldn’t have seen that coming. Looking to figure out who’s number one Jesus called over a little kid? And tells them to be humble, like a child?

Where’s the competition to settle this, once and for all?

Filled with pride and ego, the disciples, and their very human desire to dominate one another, had much to ponder.

Cobra Kai
Last week my wife and I stumbled on this phenomenal follow up to Karate Kid, a series called Cobra Kai. It continues the storyline of Daniel and Johnny, three decades later. It’s a machismo soap opera, set to a 1980s soundtrack with a healthy dose of nostalgia. Aka wonderful. Check it out on Netflix if you’re curious.

In it, Daniel, now in his early 50s, owns a successful car dealership; every customer gets a free bonzai tree. He lives in a big house, and is happily married with two well-adjusted kids. For him life is good.

Johnny’s path over this time yielded a different result. He’s a handyman who can’t keep a job. Lives in a small apartment. Is Divorced. A deadbeat dad. And he likes to drink a little too much.

Initially, it seems the good and evil binary for the two characters still holds true. One where the good guy prospers, the bad guy just can’t seem to pull it together.

Yet as the Cobra Kai storyline develops both characters become more nuanced.

First Johnny saves a high school kid from getting beat up, and later agrees to help him learn karate. He then starts his own dojo, which attracts local high school kids that are bullied. Johnny wants this dojo to be different than the one he trained in as a youth. Slowly you find yourself rooting for Johnny to change.

Daniel learns of the new Cobra Kai dojo and basically loses his mind. “Not them, I know what they stand for!” he says. “They’ll never change!” So Daniel starts his own karate team, complete with those great wax-on, wax off techniques of old. But in the process, he forgoes his day job and car dealership. As a result, his marriage begins to suffer.

We learn there is no completely good guy. There is no fully bad guy. Both have good qualities. Both have flaws. They are human, after all.

At the heart of this story is their rivalry, 34 years in the making. Often it doesn’t seem like the rivalry will ever end. But it almost does. Twice.

In one scene Daniel and Johnny go out for a drink, soon realizing how much they have in common. Both grew up without a good father. Both were bullied. They begin to bond. Forgiveness, over past wrongs, begins. But then a plot twist and boom, the seeds of forgiveness go dormant. The two become bitter rivals again.

In another scene, Daniel and Johnny end up on an impromptu double date, and bonding begins anew. They’re smiling, reminiscing, laughing, even shaking hands. Could they become friends? The possibility of forgiveness, and reconciliation in that moment is palpable. But then another plot twist, and there they go, back to the same old spats. Opportunity lost, once more.

The more you watch the more you wonder – will the two ever fully forgive? Will they finally be able to move on? Is a peaceful existence for them even possible? Stay tuned for the next season. But for now? The rivalry lives on.

Forgiveness
After all the disciple’s infighting over who was greatest, there couldn’t help but be some tension among the 12.

Hurt feelings.
Bitterness.
Anger.

For the competitive spirit, among them, about who was the greatest, never fully went away.

With this backdrop, Peter realizes something has to give. After enough of the same old same old arguments, he decides it’s time to move on. Forgiveness is in order. And he wants, ultimately, to do it right.

So Peter asks Jesus a question. If someone sins against me, how often should I forgive? Up to seven times?

At first blush that sounds like a good number. It’s a complete number. A perfect number. Peter knew Jewish teachings; extend forgiveness no more than three times, and you’re good. But Jesus spoke so much about forgiveness the number must be more now, he thought.

Surely adding four more to the three would be enough. Right?
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Jesus responds with a much higher metric, seventy-seven, or in some translations seventy times seven. Which is a heckuva lot more than Peter’s first guess.

When may we stop forgiving those who offend us repeatedly? For Christians, the answer is crystal clear: never.

For God is a God who forgives completely.
To model Christ, we are called to do the same.

All day, every day.
24/7/365.

When it comes to forgiveness try keeping those numbers top of mind.

Unforgiveness
To drive home the point Jesus tells a parable. And it’s downright absurd; an ancient soap opera, in it’s own way, if you will. A king looked to settle accounts with his people. One person owed an unimaginable amount. The amount was so much it would take them over 30,000 years of labor to pay it back. Which is impossible. Having pity on him, the king forgave the entire debt. That’s a lot of forgiveness.

The man who had just been forgiven such a large sum then came upon another debtor. One who owed him about 100 days of labor. The forgiven man took the debtor by the throat and demanded payment. The debtor begged for mercy, but was refused, and put in prison.

When the king heard this, he sent for the forgiven man. “I wrote off the debt because you pleaded with me. Why did you not have mercy on another that owed so little, as I had mercy on you?” The king then banished the man from the kingdom, until his debt had been fully repaid.

To be clear, it is never the king’s desire to punish the one he forgave. Nor is it God’s desire to punish us. Comparing 30,000 years of debt to 100 days, with the former forgiven, while the latter is not, is an absurd tale. A tale designed to drive home a point.

We are to forgive –
In all things;
Without exception;
Without limit.

Just as we have been forgiven so very much.

True Greatness
We love our rivalries, don’t we? Our culture is practically built around them. Daily we compare ourselves, and the groups we identify with, to others. Sometimes banter about who is the greatest is harmless, even fun.

The greatest burger in Ames? Café Baudelaire. Change my mind.

The greatest college football team in Iowa? Sorry Hawkeye fans, but I’ve got a bold prediction: the Cyclones will win more football games this year. I personally guarantee it ?

Today marks the first Sunday of NFL football. Again, sorry Vikings fans. Apologies Packers peeps. The Bears, unabashedly, are the best. For now tho, let’s leave the Chiefs out of that comparison.

Yet when we compare our –
Wealth,
Politics,
Religion,

with others, in an attempt to determine which is the greatest, we’re going to lose.

And inevitably it causes harm to someone, or some group.
Emotionally,
Financially,
Spiritually,
Physically.

As with the Karate Kid, it’s easy to fall into a good vs. bad binary. Where, on the surface, at least to us, the difference between the good side and the bad side is plain as day. In that oversimplified narrative, the side we’re on is always the greatest.

But that’s Hollywood. Or perhaps reality tv.  That’s not reality. At it definitely isn’t Christianity.

For we all have the image of God baked right into us. Both –
Daniel and Johnny,
Peter and Judas,
Democrat and Republican.

Each of us fully sinner, fully saint. With no one person or group purely in the right or the wrong. Our world is, after all, infinitely more complex than any simple binary can contain.

Letting Go
When we find ourselves playing that age-old game of who-is-the-greatest, remember the words of Christ.

Unless we change, and become like a child, we’ll never fully experience this thing called heaven. A child, fully reliant on the Father, full of humility, modest in their sense of importance.

When we take that first step, with humility, we’ll begin to see more clearly who we need to forgive, and who we need to seek forgiveness from. And, like Peter, we may find ourselves asking, how many times, oh Lord, must I forgive?

I mean really Lord, haven’t I already forgiven enough?

Scripture is clear –
Forgive completely,
Without ending,
Expect nothing in return.

From the moment we rise, to the time when our day is done.

24/7/365.

Close
Collectively, we’ve got our work cut out for us, in the coming months and years. The focus on what is great on this plain of existence – at the expense of the greatness we look to above has caused very real harm.

As Christ-followers we know better.

For when we embody Christ’s humility and unending forgiveness, true healing becomes possible. For then, and only then, will we live fully into the kingdom to which we have been called. Peacefully, alongside countless others. Today, tomorrow, forever.  Amen.

Death, death, death. It seems that’s all we talk about these days.

Our grand pandemic has claimed the lives of over 183,000 Americans as of this morning. While the US has 4% of the world’s population, we represent 22% of pandemic deaths globally. We’re #1, no other country has more COVID deaths. And we’re left to wonder why.

Issues with police brutality and white supremacy don’t seem to be going away any time soon. Months after George Floyd’s pleas of I can’t breathe went unheeded, another black man, 29-year old father of three Jacob Blake, was shot in Kenosha Wisconsin. Shot seven times, partially paralyzing him. All while his children watched from the family car.

Two days later protests in Kenosha over the shooting devolved when a self-described member of the white militia, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, shot thee protestors, killing two.

How long Lord? How long must this cycle of violence endure? Kyrie Eleison. Lord, have mercy.

And then a few days ago there was Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm with winds of 150 miles per hour, zipping through Louisiana and Texas. It cut power for hundreds of thousands, destroyed homes and businesses with flooding and felled trees, killing sixteen along the way.

After experiencing our own hurricane-like derecho earlier this month, we Iowans know well the impact of winds this speed can have over such a large swath of land. And it’s no fun.

Earlier this week, local resident Cristy Guitierres, her boyfriend, and son, age 11 died in a car crash. Christy is the beloved waitress at the Grove Café in downtown Ames, where she worked for the past twenty-two years. She was a beloved member of the community. And she was wonderful.

Death, death, death. Seemingly everywhere.

It’s enough to make you want to:
– look the other way
– deny the suffering of so many
– sit, safely in a self-defined bubble

Away from it all.

Here I must confess my own desire to, at times, look the other way when headlines get dark. Our family gave up watching the nightly news years ago; it’s just too depressing. My news sources of late tend to be newspapers – albeit in digital form – typically the New York Times and Washington Post for national news, the Ames Tribune for local scoop, with a side of BBC for some international flair.

Even so, our dreary news cycle of late, at times, seems too much to bear. Perhaps unplugging or isolating from the world around really is the way to go. Because protecting you and your loved ones matters, more than anything else. Right? Maybe?

God Forbid
The narrative from Matthew 16 contains similar challenges. In it we get a glimpse into human nature, and how we too sometimes respond to unwanted news.

In this text we get a good, concise glimpse of the passion story. “I must go to Jerusalem,” Jesus explains. “And undergo great suffering,” he continues. “And be killed. And on the third day be raised.”

Peter wishes to have nothing to do with this unwanted news. “God forbid, Lord! This must never happen to you!”

Perhaps hearing this dark prediction was enough to make Peter want to:
– look the other way
– deny the suffering of one so loved
– sit, safely in a self-defined bubble, where nothing much changed

Peter, of course, had plenty to protect. Sure the Pharisees kept running their crew out of towns, but oh the miracles! And the preaching! And the healing! And the crowd sizes that kept growing! Peter knew he walked alongside the Son of God.

And now Jesus suggested that the gig, soon, would be up. That Christ would be killed. That their travels, together, would be no more.

Death, death, death.

Can’t say I blame Peter for his reply.

Jesus had a rather, shall we say direct response to that for Peter. I mean really, who wants to be told, “Get behind me Satan,” by the savior of the world?

Yet Christ spoke not to Peter, but to:
– the fear,
– the uncertainty,
– the disruption to the status quo,
which dwelled within Peter.

None of which Peter wanted. Nor knew how to deal with.

Christ also knew that Peter didn’t fully understand what had been said.

Yes, Jesus predicted his own suffering and death. But there was *more* to this story. Because on the third day Jesus would be raised. And offer new life to all who desired it.

Peter wanted, of course, to protect his loved ones. That included Jesus, and the twelve. Jesus too wanted to protect his loved ones. But that circle is a bit wider.

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He’s got the whole wild world, in his hands,
He’s got the whole wild world in his hands,
He’s got the whole world in his hands

He’s got you and me brother, in his hands,
He’s got you and me sister, in his hands,
He’s got the whole world in his hands.

And yet, for Christ to do that, to care for us all, to keep us in his hands, it would take suffering. And a cross. And death. And resurrection. This revelation was a transitional moment for Jesus and the twelve.

Today
Death, death, death. It seems that’s all we talk about these days.

It’s enough to make you want to:
– put your head in the sand. To look away for a while, and wait for the year, or this season to be over already.
– ignore the suffering of those all around. Hoping it isn’t real. Or at least poof, just goes away.
– deny truth. Even when it stands before you, clear as day.

Yet that is not the way of Christ.

For if we are to be Christ-followers, we are to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and walk in his path. It’s a path where we too are called to heal, to care, to seek justice, to accompany.

To do that we have to get out of our bubble, of one, or two, or four. Or in the case of the disciples, the twelve. We’re called to care for those Christ cares for. And that’s a really, really wide net.

It’s a path that can lead us towards, and close to, suffering. And close to, at times, death.

The path of Christ leads us to respond during times of plague. Christians throughout history have been on the front lines in these moments, using the best medical practices available at the time to help others and keep their communities safe. Martin Luther, way back in 1527, during a time of plague almost 500 years ago, said this:

I shall ask God mercifully to protect us.

Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it.

I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed, in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others.

Today, we can do similar. We can mask up in public. In this way we love our neighbor as ourselves, protecting them during a time of pandemic as best we’re able. We can make calls, send cards, and pray for those infected, even from a distance.

The path of Christ leads us to respond when police brutality and white supremacy pop up. When lives are harmed or lost because of it, we can get involved. We can advocate for the least of these, giving voice to those often without. We can speak up. We can march. We can support. We can have tough, crucial conversations about making our society safer for all.

In the 60s it was marches, in response to loss of life, and police brutality, that led to the passage of civil rights legislation that transformed an era. Perhaps now is the time to join the response to this needless suffering and death, transforming this era for the next generation, once again.

The path of Christ leads us to respond to hurricanes and other natural disasters. In our own derecho cleanup you can help your neighbor clean up debris; I love seeing stories about all that helping. For the hurricanes of Louisiana and Texas, you can give through the ELCA’s Lutheran disaster response fund too.

The path of Christ leads us to care about the tragic loss of local waitress Cristy Guitierres and her family. We can help, by supporting a GoFundMe campaign to cover funeral expenses and provide medical care for her injured six-year-old daughter Isabella. She could certainly use our help.

Death, death, death. It’s no fun. We grieve, of course, we grieve. We may be tempted to look away, to simply protect our own. Yet we’re called to care in these moments, in so many ways, as we are able.

With a –

Card,
Sign,
Chainsaw,
Opened wallet,

Mask,
March,
Truck,
Prayer.

For we know that death is not the final story.

For when we reach out, to help our neighbor, no matter how far away they may be, no matter how unlike us they may be, we model Christ. And in that moment, we offer salve to wounds of the flesh, salve to wounds of the heart. For in that moment, with Christ’s help, we offer nothing less than life. Amen.

It was a dark and stormy night. Actually it’d been a series of dark and stormy nights. A decade ago I felt surrounded; challenging winds swirled all around.

It started, oddly enough, with a promotion at work.
Then a good friend died.
Not too long after my mother-in-law died too.

Long story short all this change messed me up pretty good. Week after week I averaged just a few hours of sleep each night. If you’ve ever struggled with sleep deprivation, for any amount of time you know: it can take a toll.

To get through these dark and stormy nights I tried all sorts of fixes, including pills for sleeping, anxiety, focus. None of it offered much reprieve. The storm raged on.

Early in the morning, some nights, as the first light of dawn began to poke through the window blinds, other possible antidotes would emerge.

Scripture,
Christian books,
meditation,
prayer.

Each grasp for insight culminated in the same plea. Dear God, take away these anxious, restless nights. Are you there, Jesus?

In the verses,
the pages,
the quiet,
the tears?

In the early morning light my eyes haven’t quite adjusted. You seem so far off, Jesus.

I fear, I doubt, I feel so alone.
I hope you’re there, Lord. But I really can’t tell.

Winds
Two millennia ago there was another dark and stormy night. Perhaps the disciples should have seen this one coming. Because life as a Christ-follower, at least for them so far, had been anything but smooth sailing.

Sure, there was Christs’ preaching and healing and performing of miracles. That was the good stuff. But there was more. Like getting run out of town by those pesky Pharisees, always trying to pin something on the crew. And let’s be honest – because of the provocative nature of the one they followed, their very lives were, on occasion, at risk. Knowing *that* couldn’t have been fun.

Right before today’s text Jesus was busy healing and feeding the five thousand. That mission now accomplished, Jesus then departs, going up the mountain to pray. Just get on the boat and go on ahead, he asks of the twelve.

Sans Jesus, surrounded by darkness, the sea winds whipped. The waves crashed. The boat began to toss.

The kingdom of heaven had come near.
The disciples knew that.
But did it have to be so hard?

If you’ve ever been on the water in a small vessel when the winds gust, for any amount of time you know: it can take a toll. Especially when you can’t see a thing.

The disciples presumably tried all sorts of hoped-for fixes to get them through. Perhaps they split up to better distribute their weight; six starboard side, six portside. When the water started coming in – the waves were battering the boat after all – maybe they formed a bucket brigade to get that water out.

No doubt they too said some prayers. LORD MAKE THIS STORM STOP!
JESUS, WHERE ARE YOU? Yet their prayers, for now it seemed, went unanswered.

For the winds, throughout that night, carried on.

And sleep? In the middle of all this? Good luck with that.

Then, early in the morning, after a rough night, the first light of dawn emerged. The disciples saw a figure in the distance. It walked toward them, step by step, as best they could tell, right on the water.

Some proclaimed, it’s a ghost!

They feared.
They cried.
They felt terror.

For in that faint light the disciple’s eyes hadn’t quite adjusted. They didn’t know who, or what, it was that approached.

Are you there, Jesus? They hoped. But they really couldn’t tell.

Light
My dark and stormy nights of a decade ago eventually came to an end. At the encouragement of my wife I finally went to a psychologist. And was diagnosed with a major depressive episode. Within days, and with the help of the right prescription, the darkness began to lift. Anxieties eased. Sleep full nights returned. Healing was happening. “I’m back!” I remember thinking. Thanks be to God!

Reflecting on this, with the benefit of time, I now see the experience with new eyes. While I didn’t sense it then, Christ had been fully present through it all.

Present through the love and patience of my wife, who stayed by my side when times were tough.

Present through calls and visits from friends, willing to accompany me through the pain.

Present through the wisdom of a skilled psychologist, who within 15 minutes spoke with clarity. “I know this problem,” she said confidently. “You are clinically depressed. We can do something about that.”

I hadn’t been alone after all. Daylight, in the midst of the storm, was seeping in everywhere.

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Frozen in fear, the twelve watched in horror as the figure approaching atop the water spoke. “It is I,” the voice said. “Jesus. Do not be afraid.”

But the disciples, well, they weren’t so sure. Their eyes still hadn’t adjusted to the early morning light.

“If it is you,” Peter replied, “Command that I also walk on water.”

Jesus responded with one simple word. Come.

So Peter did. And Peter recognized. Peter walked the waters toward his Lord.

But then Peter lost focus, turning his gaze from Christ to the winds that whipped all around.

Again he became frightened.
And he began to sink.

And Jesus reached out, caught Peter, keeping him safe.

“Oh you of little faith,” Jesus wondered, “why do you doubt?”

The two then returned to the safety of the boat, and the winds ceased.

And the twelve knew, in that moment, their eyes were fixed on nothing less than the Son of God.

Now
In AD2020, the year of our Lord, we’ve been riding out quite a storm, haven’t we? It’s been a series of dark and stormy nights. And has been, for months now.

Pandemic.
Recession.
Racial strife.

And that’s to say nothing of toilet paper shortages and murder hornets.

All set against the backdrop of a political season unlike any our country has ever known.

We’re riding out a 100-year storm of a lifetime.

So it’s natural for us to be worried.
To be anxious, afraid, even cry.

Recent research from the Kaiser Foundation finds that 37% of US adults right now are reporting symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder. That’s up from 11% just a year ago.

If this sounds like you, you’re not alone. Please reach out for help, or feel free to connect with me. With the right treatment that particular storm can pass.

Michelle Obama recently said she’s suffering from a low-grade depression of late, caused, in part by the pandemic. Perhaps we’re all experiencing a touch of that as well.

To calm our anxieties we may find ourselves praying it all goes away.
We may desire that these problems just poof, magically disappear.

Dear God, make it stop.

Give us our vaccine.
Revive our economy.
Restore peace in our streets.
Get kids in our schools.
Make it like it was, before.

For we’re looking out at the wind, and the waves, the darkness that envelops. And let’s be honest, it can be tough to imagine what it will take to see us through.

Yet while the storms still rage – and it seems they will for some time, despite our hopes for a quick fix – daylight approaches. If we faithfully turn our eyes just so, we just might see our Lord, present with us –

In the scientists, busily working on vaccine.
In our doctors and nurses, caring for numbers increasing still.
In our neighbors, donning their masks in public to keep us safe.
In protestors, naming racial injustices that go back over 400 years.
In friends and family, staying close by text, phone, Facetime, Zoom.

Is that you Lord? Present in the front-line workers, the masks, the protests? Keeping us safe in the storm?

Fred Rogers, he of Mr. Rogers neighborhood, says this:

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.

Helpers – sometimes we are them, other times we’re aided by them, serve as nothing less than little Christs. And those little Christs right now are everywhere.

For just as the disciples were never alone that dark and stormy night – they had each other, and the safety of the boat – neither are we. Christ was present with them, and through them, and made sure they knew it.

Dear Lord, thank you for being with us in these difficult, downright depressing times. While storms still linger, lead us through this dark night. Guide our thoughts, words, and deeds. Cast aside our doubts, fears, anxieties. Help us to see you, in and through each other. For when we look upon your light, and have faith, we are never, ever alone.  Amen.