Hallelujah Anyhow

February 26, 2012 1 Peter 3:18-22 Mark 1:9-15 “Hallelujah Anyhow” First Sunday of Lent Year B Hiding the Hallelujah Many of the white churches have a tradition, that for lent, you are supposed to hide the alleluia for lent. Alleluia is just the Greek version of hallelujah, since they don’t pronounce an H at the beginning of a word, and there is no y, so Jah is spelled with an I. Alleluia is a victory cry- when we cry alleluia or hallelujah – we are saying that Jesus Christ is our victory over sin and death. The thought is, that in lent, there is no victory, and there is no triumphant Christ. So we are supposed to hide the alleluias until Easter, and then fervently bring them back again on Easter morning. Lenten music is naturally slow and sad, and liturgical music – music that is intentionally written for the season – has no alleluia’s in it, and churches go through this elaborate rituals on the first Sunday of lent in order to put the alleluia in a box and bury them so that they won’t be said in church. Interestingly, I have never been in a church that formally hid their alleluias. In my last church, my church musician and I used to fight constantly every lent, being that she was raised in the Catholic Church she would insist that I had to hide the alleluia’s. And I would tell her that during a recession, we can’t take hallelujah from people. What is the use of asking people who are already suffering, to suffer more by suppressing their alleluias? The Difference between a lent hallelujah and a easter hallelujah Besides, there is a big difference between a lent hallelujah and a Easter hallelujah. There is a big difference between a Jewish hallelujah and an Easter alleluia. (I ended up firing my musician, but that was because she was the church accountant- not because of our differences, we fought about everything). Hallelujah – I just think that is a wonderful song, all by itself. What a beautiful word. But why did the Israelites say that word – hallelu jah – praise God? The Jehovah names of God Lately, we have been talking about the names of God. Your English bible will intentionally make it easy for you, and anywhere God’s name is mentioned – they will refer to God as God. But in the original Hebrew bible, God had many names, coming from many traditions. The name I have focused on is Jehovah. Jehovah is a Christian pronunciation of the sacred 4 letters of God’s name. A Jewish person would never say Jehovah, because they believe that it is not man’s place to call God by name. But I am using Jehovah because there is a tradition of using the names of Jehovah. I counted about 50 different Jehovah names for God in the Old Testament. Examples of some: in Gen. 22 – Jehovah Jireh – God my provider – psalm 3:3 Jehovah kabodhi – The Lord is my glory, in 1 Chronicles 29 – Jehovah Nissi – the lord is my banner; in psalm 19 – Jehovah Tsori – the lord is my strength. Isaiah 5:3 Jehovah Rophe – God is a healer, Isaiah 9:6 – Jehovah shalom – the lord is my peace. God is all of those things to us. But here is the thing, the reality is that in a world of sin there are no provisions, people are hungry. There is no glory- people are struggle, there is no strength, no healing, and no peace. So you can’t use those names. All that you have is jah – just plain God. No attributes, no names. Just God in his most basic plain form. And yet still worthy to be praised. When life has stripped you of everything, when you have lost your peace, your strength, your shield, your armor – the one thing that no one can take away from you, not even the devil – is your praise God, your hallelujah. Hallelujah is your battle cry in times of despair. A Muslim would say – allahu Akbar – God is greater! They say it for many reasons, but we hear it when they are protesting – or killing someone on behalf of God. It is as if they have given up all hope of peace in a sinful world – and they praise God as they give up the ghost. Except our god says that thou salt not kill, and that there is never a reason to kill yourself if indeed God is greater. Hallelujah is your cry – which I may be defeated, that in a sinful world I may pass away – but God will never fail. And as a child of God – my life, my victory, my well being is centered around God – and not me. If you look at the Methodist hymnal – there is a song Jaya Ho – from India. Even the Hindus use praise God as a victory cry. Even the rocks will cry out You see, my thing is, even if the Catholics, and the Lutherans, the Methodist and the Presbyterians refuse to say hallelujah, it really doesn’t matter – because my Pentecostal cousins are always going to say praise the Lord. They may not say it to me, but every time they great one another they say praise the lord – so that is every day – even in lent. And it really doesn’t matter, because if the Pentecostal forget one day to day praise the lord – the bible says that God doesn’t need man to say hallelujah, because if we forget, that even the rocks will cry out – and say hallelujah. God is the creator of all things – and worthy to be praised. Even in a sinful world. But for Christians – our great victory cry comes on Easter morning – When Christ rose from the dead – he conquered all of our enemies – the devil, sin, death, sickness, disease, hunger, hatred. On Easter morning, we won’t have to cry hallelujah in a time of despair – but in a time of joy and celebration. When Jesus wins, if my life, my hope, my faith is centered in God – I win. We win. 1 Peter – Christ died for our sins once and for all But in the meantime – it is lent; we still live in a world of sin. Our lives are still affected by our sin and by the sin of others. This is the time to reflect on our sin, and how it drove Jesus to go to the cross – because he realized that somebody had to do something to change the system, to change the situation. I want us to look at the words of 1 Peter. “For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” And then we read one of the most difficult verses in the bible – it says he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison. – Who are the spirits in prison? Some say that they are the spirits who live in Hades – the place of the dead. Those who had died before they knew Christ. But I would say to you that in a world of sin, our lives can be a living hell. Living in a world with racism, with hatred, with hunger, with lack of respect can be hell. Living with sickness, and worrying about others in our life can be hell. Living with drugs, with addictions can be hell. Living in fear of your life, of your belongings, can be hell. Worrying about how to take care of children, how to make ends meet can be hell. All a part of living in a world, with people who lives are not centered around God. An example of a living hell In thinking about this sermon, I came across the story of James Byrd. A young black man coming home in the middle of the night in 1998. He was picked up by three white men – we heard this story on the news. They beat him, and then attached him to the back of the truck and dragged him alive, until he died. That is a story which angers me, disgust me – I looked hoping to find another example – but indeed his ordeal is an example of a living hell. Something so horrendous, so inhumane, and so inexcusable, something much worse than any suffering that we have experienced. But the point is, Jesus came into the world, took on our flesh, experienced our suffering, and went through a similar torture on the cross – in order to free us all from the effects of a sinful world. Whatever it is that you are going through, whatever it is that you are suffering over – God understands, Christ knows what it feels like. And by dying on the cross – he made a way out of no way. Christ entered into this world – so that he could understand what it means to be in a living hell. Whatever it is, his death made a doorway. His resurrection gave you permission to go through. Don’t let your suffering be in vain Living in a sinful world – Jesus chose to endure unjust suffering rather than be unfaithful to God. The message of 1 Peter to us – is that life in a sinful world can be tough – but don’t give up. Don’t let your suffering be in vain. Stay committed to Christ in the tough times and Christ will stay committed to you. Lent is your time to stay committed. To look at your relationship with God – does your suffering bring you closer to God or further away? Are you working to clear sin out of the world? Or do you accept it as just the way things are? In the resurrection, will you claim the victory or continue you life as it is? Will hallelujah be a cry of despair? Or a celebration? Let your defeat be your victory I want to end this sermon on sin, on suffering, on claiming the victory, on why we this lent we are on a hallelujah journey to healing and wholeness with this lighthearted story of an old dog who fell into a farmer’s well. Looking into the well, the farmer decided that it was too much trouble, and the dog was too old for him to waste his time in getting the dog out. So he decided to just bury the dog alive. Of course once the dirt started to fall on his back, he realized what was happening. But every time the dirt fell, he would just shake it off and let if fall under its feet. Until all of the dirt intended to go on top of him, ended up up under him. Until the ground was high enough for him to get out of the well himself. Living life in a world of sin –can get the best of us. Living life in a world of sin can sometimes bury us alive and make our world a living hell. But the good news is that we worship a God that is worthy to be praised. In good times and bad. In lent and in Easter. The time to claim God’s victory – is now in the midst of the pain, so that we can feel it that much more in the resurrection. Hallelujah! Invitation to christ I want to pass out these nails for us to keep with us during lent. The nail is a reminder that we still live in a world of sin. But it is also a reminder that the Jesus went to the cross for us once and for all – so that sin, our sin and others does not have to bury us alive. God is always with us, and whatever stands in the way can be nailed to the cross. The rest of scripture reminds us that in baptism we die with Christ, in baptism we rise with Christ. In our commitment to Christ- we share in Christ victory. This is your chance to claim the victory.

Illuminated

Introduction – looking for something shiny (Look at everyone) I am looking at all of you, in order to see if I can see that glow. Valentine’s Day was last week- so maybe you all received something special that will give you that special glow. Valentines day is a day of chocolate, hearts and diamonds. So maybe you got some diamonds. I have noticed that this year especially shiny things are in style. For two years now, I have been looking for the perfect shiny silver sweater, have not found it quite yet. I saw it on a newscaster one night. You know we always wear shiny things for the holidays- but she had it on in January, as a work sweater, and every since then I have been looking. Havent found quite the right sweater yet. As a matter of fact, I agonized this week, whether to wear something afrocentric, or to wear a silver sweater. But we seem to a attracted to shiny things – because they light up. Diamonds are so valuable, because they reflect light better than anything else. Transfiguration Sunday This Sunday is what is called transfiguration Sunday. It is always the last Sunday before lent, and every year we hear the same story. It is in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Jesus is on the mountain top praying and , scripture says that Jesus clothes light up. Brighter than any white (Apparently, Jesus found that perfect sweater). The points of Mark There are lots of important points in these 7 verses. As he is glowing, Moses and Elijah appear and talk with Jesus, and then the disciples hear a voice from heaven saying this is my beloved Son, listen to him. This story shows that Jesus is well on his way to becoming the messiah, but he is not there yet. As we are talking about shiny things, I want to ask – what is it that makes a thing shiny? Is the shininess a part of the thing? Is it a part of our eyes? Or is it in the way that we see things? A dead star with a diamond core They say that there is a star, long dead in the universe, but whose inner core is made totally of diamonds. Can you imagine a diamond as big as a planet. Diamonds are valuable because they are shiny, but also because on earth you can only find this in tiny pieces. You can find whole caverns of crystal, but not diamonds. The largest diamond in the world is about the size of two gold balls, not even a tennis ball. That diamond is so large that it is priceless. Yet all of the diamond core in this dead planet is totally worthless. Why because there is no light to reflect its beauty. It is totally in the dark, you cant touch it, you cant see it. It looks just like any other rock. Without the light to reflect it, it is totally useless. That is the whole point of my sermon today, the value of God is all in our perspective of how we see God and how we see god in Jesus Christ. God knows that is value is in the peoples perspective God is always God- Just like a planet full of diamonds is a planet full of diamonds. Even God understands that his true value is in how he is seen by his people. Why else would he spend so much time revealing himself to us? Last week I talked about how God changed his name from Elohim to Jehovah. We all know that God does not change, but the way the people understood god did change. The perspective or lense of God changed. Elohim was the god of the ancestors, Elohim was the god of the twelve tribes, Elohim was the god of our help in ages past. Even in telling the story of God I have to be overly simplistic and gloss over a lot of things. There is evidence of both names all throughout the history of the bible. But as the twelve tribes came in contact with other peoples, who believed in other Gods. They realized that the needed to have a better understanding of who their God was. Up until them, their loyalty was to their tribe. To their own understanding of life. Why Elijah chose Yahweh over Elohim It was Elijah who spent his life wanting to tell them that it was time to unite as a nation. To stop collecting their own beliefs, and to come together as one. If there is only one God, there should only be one people. We should have only one belief, and in order to head in one direction in the future, we have to put aside our differences, and pull together around one belief. It is sort of like the united Methodist, where we are divided into churches – but we work together as one deminination at one voice. Yaweh was the god of unity. Of togetherness. Every jew must remember and repeat the shema – hear o Israel, the Lord is our God, The Lord is one. If the lord is one, that means that we are one also. Yaweh was the god of the unfolding future of destiny. Elijah grew weary trying to get that message across – there was a man who stood on the street corner preaching to the people. The more he preached, the more people ignored him. One day a young boy had pity on him and asked why he constantly spoke, when no one listened. The man said because if I stop speaking, then I start listening to them and become like them. I need to keep my perspective. Elijah felt that way tired, yet determined. But in year B we hear the Elijah and Elisha stories in the summer. Elijah worked hard to get people to have a new understanding of God, and to live in that understanding. I was leading you up to a point in lent, and I was going to save it until Easter – but I Mark says that I have to tell you today – that God changes his him, his perspective and his understanding again. Every generation needs to redefine God to fit their time. That is why in Christianity we have the old testament and the new testament. Why we have Elisha and Joshua, why we call Joshua jesus. The story of God’s saving grace in our lives needed to be redefined. Jesus is our chance to see God in full glory The good news is that once we see God in his full glory – God doesn’t need to change. Jesus Christ is our revelation of who God is. We don’t need to redefine Jesus, we just need to find new ways for the new generation to connect to Jesus. Jesus Christ is our diamond, jesus Christ is our light, Jesus Christ is our understanding of who God is. And yet this is the only time in Mark, that we will see Jesus in all of his glory. There are no resurrection appearances in Mark. The Uniqueness of Mark Mark is the original gospel. He lived a generation before Matthew and Luke. Mark is my favorite – because you get a deeper understanding of who Jesus is as the messiah. It is the shortest gospel – only 16 chapters. Verses -9-19 are believed to be added later. Mark has a distinction of all of the other gospels, that I have not point out. Each time Jesus encounters someone – he tells that person not to tell anyone what he does. Even this scripture, he says don’t tell anyone until after the resurrection. Before that none of this will make any real sense. Why theology is important Without the cross, all of this is just a history lesson. Without the cross, this is not about us. it is about them. Today is just a glimpse of the glory of God. There is more to come, but we have to wait until after Easter. I spend a lot of time researching scripture before my sermons. It is beginning to be a very long task. And sometime I worry that I may be too wordy. And people don’t like words. One man got up and told his pastor – I don’t need your words about God, because I can feel God. I am more interested in how I can feel god in my life, not in theology. We have to have both. We have to feel God , but we have to know what we are feeling. We have to see God, but we have to have perspective about what we are actually trying to see, Elijah became zealous for the lord – because he saw that people were praising God, but there were not living the rules that God had set forth in their lives. One theologian – a God thinker said that today people are flocking toward a religion of Jesus, but they don’t want to cross. We want to praise, but we don’t want to acknowledge what killed jesus on the cross – our sin. The way we live our lives, our perspective, the way we see god in our own lives. Jesus is the God of our times, and of all times to come – because Jesus is the God who died for our sins, and revealed for us the true glory on God. If we don’t follow Jesus to the Cross, and see Jesus in a new light – we may never understand God. And all that God has done for us in our lives. Lent is our chance to think, to see God in our lives, but to transform our lives, in the light of God. The story of Jesus will not be complete without the cross. For Mark, the true nature of God will be revealed on the cross. The cross helps us gain perspective Two old artist used to visit one another – Matisse and Renior. Today a painting by Matisse is worth millions. He painted until very late in his life, and he had arthritis very bad. His friend asked him one day – why he sent so much time painting, when it was obvious that it was painful. He replied – because the pain will go away – but the beauty will remain. The cross shows us that the pain of our lives will go away – but the beauty will remain. We just have to learn to keep our perspective through the pain. Our perspective is what helps us to see God clearly. Jesus Christ is our light – to see God in our lives, no matter what. Let us pray…

Where do you go for healing?

Super Bowl Sunday – who is on Jesus’ team? This is Super Bowl Sunday. The New England Patriots, vs. the New York Giants. Do we have any Patriot fans on the congregation, how about Giant fans? I really don’t know much about either team. But let me ask you one more question, do we have any Jesus fans in the congregation? If you are on Jesus Team, raise your hand. Let’s all show our team spirit – we are going to do the sr. citizen wave for Jesus. You don’t have to stand up, just waive your hands in the air when I point to you. Hopefully we are all on Jesus’ team. And let us not be fooled when they say that God does not take sides. God has a side. There is a war out there between good and evil. And God is fighting for the souls of humanity. And God has a definite side. God is on your side God is on the side of those who suffer, those in pain, those in grief, those in sorrow, those in need. Isaiah 57:15 says – I dwell in the high and holy places, and also with those who are contrite and humble in spirit. God always takes the side of righteousness, health, wellbeing, justice and peace. People may tell you otherwise, but Isaiah tells you that God is always on your side, always for you, always true. Isaiah 40 starts out, have you not known, have you not heard? God gives power to the faint and strength to the powerless. I think we all could use a little power and strength today. We are all a little frustrated. We are all in need of healing of some kind. We are on team Jesus because we are all searching and seeking for something that can only be found in Christ. The whole point of the gospel of Mark is that Jesus Christ is the source of all healing. Last week at the beginning of Jesus ministry, we followed a demon into the congregation at Capernaum. The unclean spirit was there, because it recognized the power of authority of Jesus. For the gospel of Mark, the uncleanest of spirits leads the way, and every manner of illness follows Christ in search of healing. Someone said once that the church grew because it attracts the sick, the sinner and the fool. Somehow the unclean spirit knew where to go for healing, and scripture for today says that sunset anyone with all manner of sickness was at his door in search of healing from Jesus. And Jesus healed them, no questions, no charge. There were faith healers of the day, but in order to heal, they had to do all types of incantations and formulas. Jesus just healed by virtue of who he was. Within his relationship to God, He could just talk to God about the problem and the solution just naturally came. Healing of Mother in Law All of Mark is about healing. One healing of note in this story is the healing of Peter’s mother in law. She had a burning fever, and in Marks version of the story, he reaches out and lifts her up, and immediately she is better. So much better that she gets up and fixes dinner for the disciples. Now we have to be careful not to read this story from our modern perspective. In our understanding, Peter’s mother in law would be Peter’s wife’s mother. In Mediterranean and African society, after marriage a husband would never come to live in his wife’s house. Once married, the wife is expected to become a part of the husband’s family. Once she is there, she is there forever. Death, hardship, abuse, are not valid reasons to go back home. The woman referred to as mother in law is a part of Peter’s family. One theory suggests that she is Peter’s father’s brother’s wife. She is Peter’s uncles’ wife – Peter’s aunt. But since she is a woman in the household, she is referred to as mother. Chauvinistic interpretation For me, I also have to be careful not to think of this as a chauvinistic story where the women did all of the work. For me it seems that Jesus and his male disciples has been out teaching and talking all day, and by this time they were hungry and tired. They are looking for a place to eat. Peter’s house is the closest, so they all go there. They gather around the table, waiting until dinner time. Peter goes to check to see when dinner will be ready, and comes back to tell them the news. There is not food, because his mother in law is sick in bed with a burning fever. Jesus, hungry and knowing that he has the power to heal, immediately jumps into action and heals mother in law, so that she can get up and fix dinner. I can’t help but ask, if the woman was just healed, why they couldn’t just let her sleep, why she had to get up and fix dinner for them. But I have to remember that God’s ways is not our ways – even in a man centered society. God trying to heal the world God’s healing is not about us, it is about us. It is about the war between good and evil. God restores well being to our souls for the sake of salvation. Salvation not just of us as one person, but for all persons, for all creation. When people start coming for healing, Jesus retreats and says it is time to move on. He came here to proclaim the message and that there are other places that he need to heal. We have to remember that our understanding of illness and healing is always related to our culture. In china if you want healing you take herbs. In America, you go to the doctor. For us disease is a medical condition. Illness is the way that we deal with disease and any other pain. I will repeat that - disease is a medical condition caused by something in our body. Illness is a soul condition – caused by how we deal with disease or some other pain. Scripture says that Jesus took the mother in law and lifted her up and the fever left her. It is as if Jesus removed the spirit in her, and the fever left also, leaving her well. How do we know we are healed? Today, we may take our medicine, get an operation, and change our habits. Sometimes we are cured and sometimes we are not. Yet in our souls we are still sick, still yearning, still suffering, still looking for answers. Even if the doctor says we are okay, we are the ones who need to come home and rest and recuperate before going back to our daily lives, and yet Peter’s mother in law immediately got up and went on with her daily routine. She got up and fixed dinner because that is what she always does. It was proof that she was 100% healed. How do we know when we are healed? When we are ready to move on, no regrets, no questions. We are able to move beyond our pain and serve others. We are not saved for our benefit; we are saved to glorify God. We are saved in order to serve. Isaiah would say that we have learned to wait on God. The same God that created the world, the same God in charge of all of life, is the same God that wants to bring us to complete healing and wholeness. Have you not heard that before? Learning to wait The flying Roudellas, a group of trapeze artists explain that in a trapeze performance there is the flyer, the one who lets go and the catcher. And a very special relationship must exist between the two to be successful. As the flyer flies high above the crowd, there is a point in which he or she must let go of the trapeze. But his job is not to reach for the catcher. The job is to let go and remain perfectly still in the air and to wait for the catcher to reach out and catch him or her. I imagine that must be a very scary moment – to stay still in the air in perfect trust. But our lives are like that, those tough moments in our lives are like that – moments when we are still, serene enough to wait for God to pluck us from the circumstance and bring us to the other side. Prayerful waiting Prayer-full waiting, and waiting with patience Silent waiting, and waiting with song Centered waiting, and waiting in a world full of distractions Persistent waiting, and waiting with a foot tapping impatiently Hands-open waiting, and waiting with an open book Eyes-open waiting as the sun begins to rise, and waiting in daydreams Sitting-still-as-a-cat waiting, and waiting with one's tail about to wag Off We are simply told, over and over, to wait for the Lord, And I personally think all waiting, every kind of waiting, is appropriate. If you wait, the prize is renewal I would say that Waiting on God is being willing to live life as a prayer – a devotion to God. It is understanding that the world we see now – is never God’s final word. But those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Amen. We Will Be Made Whole (not used) How can you know when you have been healed? Seems like an odd question. For many, the answer is obvious: when the pain is gone, the fever has come down, and the disease is no more. But the Gospel gives a better answer. “The fever left her,” we are told of Peter’s mother-in-law, “and she began to serve them.” As she was healed, she immediately began to serve others. When we are ready to help others in their need and focus once again outside ourselves we will know that we too have been cured. We will no longer be slaves to our hurts and resentments. We will at last be made whole. And we shall live. Frank Hegedus