Central America 2: suffering leads to?

6/13

A touch of beauty in Tegucigalpa

B

I asked to lead worship this morning, because my Nicaraguan friend asked that we join them - the Nicaraguan diaspora-in worship and prayers of solidarity on Thursday or Friday. With of course Thanksgiving for the release of political prisoners and the promise to release the rest. I would like to believe that all our actions of solidarity helped to bring this about but I suspect the threat of the Trump administration for more sanctions had something do with it.

And it’s all in the context of an “amnesty” act that frees those responsible for the murders of protestors  from any accountability and criminalizes further protests. Sigh.

The words of this passage certainly came to  my my mind earlier this year as I watched los Hermanos Mejia in concert and heard the familiar chants “un Pueblo unidos jamas sera vencidos” and “viva Nicaragua Libre” now joined with “ Ortega y Somoza esta la misma cosa”....With the waving of flags and dancing and .....stories from students and people from revolutionary families like Katia Cardenal driven into exile and I think, “ How long go lord, how long does this suffering people have to go through this? Live through this again? "And I look out at a 98 % Nica crowd and realize that before, the audience would be augmented by myriad gringos internacionalistas singing loudly “adelante, el frente Sandinista”.....Overthrowing a right wing dictator is sexy. Forcing out a one time revolutionary turned repressive autocrat, well, you’re on your own.

And then I live through a day like yesterday and realize that Honduras has never had an explosion of hope like the revolution of 1979. When Sandinistas sang Si Nicaragua vencio, El Salvador vencera, y Guatemala prepara ya con fusiles de libertad, nary a word about Honduras. Honduras was never sexy. Honduras is without a doubt a text book testimony to the reality of global predatory capitalism ringing every last ounce of life out of a country....and a people...

You hear stories like I heard last night from everyday Honduran Presbyterians and join in the question “Where is God?” The obvious answer is there...God is there en camino..in the midst of the people...On the journey...by their side. But then, so what? .What does hope even look like here? In the darkest days of apartheid, Archbishop Tutu would smile that all conquering smile of his and say, “ We have already won. The other side just doesn’t realize it yet.” What would that even mean in Honduras?

I hear Paul’s words again:
1Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

And I wonder if I can believe these words. Does suffering always produce persevere despite everything? Doesn’t it also produce desperation, resignation? Does character really grow out of suffering and does hope necessarily follow?


What faith I have says that with the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit, yes. But humility bids me to be silent and listen. And let those with ears to hear, hear.

Central America 1: Bienvenidos a Honduras!

6/11

Presbyterian Church Central America Study Team

Honduras. San Pedro Sula.  My first time back in Honduras in  36 years.  And my first time ever in this city. Honduras. The awkward kid in the back of the classroom . The one who gets picked last for teams. The poor cousin. Back in the '80's, the  Sandinistas sang:

Si Nicaragua vencio
El Salvador vencera
Y Guatemala prepara ya con fusiles de libertad
Somos el Central America, la esperanza de la humanidad.

(If Nicaragua won, then El Salvador can win. And Guatemala is now preparing with bullets of liberty. We are Central America, the hope of humanity.)

Yep. Not one word about Honduras. Nicaragua had the victorious Sandinistas. El Salvador the valiant FMLN in the face of daily death squads. Even Guatemala had a genocidal born-again Christian madman to contend with. There was just nothing sexy about Honduras.

The wet tropic middy heat hits my lungs and I remember. Honduras trying  to contend with refugees from Salvador and Nicaragua. I remember the massive US airbase at Comeagua. The people joked that the US had turned Honduras into an aircraft  carrier. And that the brothels near the base were a metaphor for the country. 

A random connection with an old classmate on our taskforce led to an invitation to Rafael Leonardo Callejas' birthday party. As a what you might call an agrotechnocrat phd from Mississipi State, in 1990  he would be elected President in the first peaceful transfer of power in Honduras since 1932. 

My photo of a Tegucigalpa barrio graced the Presbyterian AD magazine cover in a feature article on the region. I wrote an extended article for a Synod of the Covenant newspaper series on the five countries of Central America pretty much by default. Someone had to do it.  It was called "On the space of a tear." Even then, it was a story of unremitting sadness.

Historically one of the poorest nations in the hemisphere, last year it was the murder capital of the world. 

The hotel, like most local businesses, has a security gate with a red "ALTO"sign and an  armed guard. We are instructed if we go out, not to leave the perimeter of the hotel. 
 Our hosts are against going to  see la plaza in city center or where the caravans gather. The local papers are filled with stories and pictures of the latest murders. Four teenagers. A kidnapping. Traffic disruted by burning tires and striking teachers and doctors.  A pile of tires was ignited on the door of the US embassy leaving it scorched. A few pages later feature the smiling faces and classy celebrations of a lighter class's 2019 graduates. Caravans...why are the people leaving? What would it take to make it livable enough for people to want to stay?

That's what we're here to explore....

Bienvenidos a Honduras.....

Last Sunday in Easter: Prison Break

6/2

Sunday morning Beverly 

It's a beautiful spring day walking from the subway station to Beverly Church. 

along the way....

along the way

As I arrive, Evgeny is very excited telling me about his art show. He will fill the church with 300 paintings.. Today is the last Sunday in Easter....

Ready to preach

                                                                             **** 

Let's start with Paul and Silas in prison. Incarcerated is what we say. When I say that, what do you think of? How many of us have family members or friends behind bars? I was never chosen to be a juror because I always had members of my church incarcerated. 

So common that we speak of the "school to prison" pipeline. A friend of mine who works with homeless people tells me that in Oklahoma they  use  3rd grade failure rates to predict future prison building needs. Michelle Alexander has shown us how mass incarceration is "the new Jim Crow." In a direct line from slavery. 

According to the NAACP:
Incarceration Trends in America
Between 1980 and 2015, the number of people incarcerated in America increased from roughly 500,000 to over 2.2 million.
Today, the United States makes up about 5% of the world’s population and has 21% of the world’s prisoners.
1 in every 37 adults in the United States, or 2.7% of the adult population, is under some form of correctional supervision.

StopFriskRacial Disparities in Incarceration
In 2014, African Americans constituted 2.3 million, or 34%, of the total 6.8 million correctional population.
African Americans are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of whites.
The imprisonment rate for African American women is twice that of white women.
Nationwide, African American children represent 32% of children who are arrested,

Though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately 32% of the US
population, they comprised 56% of all incarcerated people in 2015.


Drug Sentencing Disparities


African Americans represent 12.5% of illicit drug users, but 29% of those arrested for drug offenses and 33% of those incarcerated in state facilities for drug offenses.


In 2012 alone, the United States spent nearly $81 billion on corrections.
Spending on prisons and jails has increased at triple the rate of spending on Pre‐K‐12 public education in the last thirty years.

I'm gonna stop. It's just not right.

There sit Paul and Silas in prison....why? Well as always it's got something to do with money. Seems this slave girl kept following them around. Calling out that these men were "slaves of the most high God" who were ".....proclaiming a way of salvation. Well, come to think of it, that was true! And she is annoying  Paul to no end. So  he discerns that  there's a spirit involved  and he draws the spirit out.

SO the owners who were making  money from her "psychic readings" or "fortune telling" or "tarot card reading" are angry at having lost their meal ticket and seek to find a way to get  Paul and Silas taken in. And it of course involves some "Jew" baiting language and sure enough there's an angry mob and beatings.  And they wind up in double bondage, not only in jail, but in stocks as well !

So far, as to be expected. I like the scene where they are singing hymns and the prisoners are listening...I remember when I was arrested in the protests following the Mohamed Diallo killing. As I was led in to the cells, my African-American brother clergy were singing spirituals and gospel songs, making the prison walls vibrate with sound. I thought of this verse. 

SO here's where the story takes a turn...seems God doesn't like prison walls either . and there's an earthquake and the walls fall down. And everyone runs away, right? No way. They stay. And presumably the other prisoners do too. 

The jailer is sure he will be blamed and made to pay. But when he looks, they're all still there. Still praying, singing , testifying. 

And before  it's all over, the jailer will have become  their  captor, in essence. By this  propaganda of the deed, as my Central American call it, the jailer is converted...and his whole household. 

And Paul and Silas, who took the risk to stay in jail, are washed, bandaged and fed. .

What we see is caring about someone enough to take a very serious risk on their behalf. Showing by doing. We're called to that kind of love. 

Loose ends. I don't expect any earthquake to take down our walls anytime soon. Rikers Island isn't going anywhere anytime soon. We'll have to do our own actions, like Paul and Silas, and see what can happen. 

At our last General Assembly last year in St.Louis,  as a sign of protest against the bail bond system, we  took up an offering of some 65000 and a whole bunch Presbyterians marched downtown and bailed out over 100 prisoners...not a bad way to begin....

Amen

In our prayers, there are many intercessions  as always. But this tine, prayers of thanksgiving as well as Geraldine's granddaughter has 6 college acceptances to choose from.  Geraldine always knew something special was in store. As always we will go downstairs to break  bread together.

Beverly is hospitality

First Reading Acts 16:16-34

16One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. 17While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation." 18She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour.

19But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 20When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, "These men are disturbing our city; they are Jews 21and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe." 22The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. 24Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was an earthquake, so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. 27When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul shouted in a loud voice, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here." 29The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30Then he brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." 32They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. 34He brought them up into the house and set food before them; and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Sixth Sunday in Easter: Pick up your mat....

5/26

Ready for worship

It's a sunny Memorial Day Sunday as I head to Good Shepherd Faith. Folks are talking about the holiday. And Fleet Week. And the Yankees...Pam starts the service by playing "Eternal Father Strong to Save," the Navy hymn. And I think of my father, and what  that  hymn mean to him. After the scripture is read, it's time for my reflection, or "prompting," as they call it here.

So it's been  a busy  week in the city.  Graduation week. The streets uptown were filled with Columbia blue robes. The subways with NYU purple. And all around Times Square with sailors in their dress whites and marines in khaki and blue. Fleet Week. Not sure why, but I always enjoy this annual visit of the navy ships to our city.  And now, Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial beginning of summer. And the beaches are open. And we are here, still in Eastertide. Alleluia! Christ is risen. (Christ is risen indeed!)

I chose this passage this morning because it's a weird one. And I wanted to wrestle a bit with it.

We're at a pool in Jerusalem ,at a time of an unnamed festival. Beth-zatha, probably the same as 'Bethsaida'or even "Bethesda." Meaning "House of newness" or "house of kindness." There's a back story here you don't have. The tradition was an angel would stir up the pool and the first one to make it into the water would get healed. We don't know exactly what was wrong with this man except that he'd been ill for 38 years.

Apparently he gets beat out every time he tries to get to the water. No wonder he sounds bitter. It's perhaps the strangest of Jesus' healing stories. When Jesus asks him "Do you want to be made well?"  you expect, as is usually the case, to hear an affirmation of faith followed by either a statement of Jesus about faith or forgiveness followed by a healing.

But what do we get? A complaint. No one will help me..And how does Jesus respond? He says
"Stand up, take your mat and walk." And  he does. Our lectionary ends with Now that day was a sabbath. 

If you're paying attention, that means trouble. Because pretty soon Jesus will be accused of healing on the sabbath. Which was forbidden.  And there's no note of gratitude on our man's part. Never even bothers to say thanks, just goes on.

And later, when confronted by the authorities for carrying his mat on the sabbath, he tries to deflect the blame back on Jesus whose name he didn't even bother to ask.  When he learns Jesus' name, he immediately goes to tell the authorities. Maybe hoping they'll leave him alone.

On the one hand, it's the nature of living under occupation. It reminds me of the  popular current Broadway play  "the Ferryman" where the IRA (no worse than the British) coerce and manipulate people into informing on each other. In the East Germany, during DDR years, some 260000 people were recorded as being informers. One never knew who to trust. Likewise with Palestinians today and their Israeli overlords.

This healed person is the least heroic, let alone faithful, loyal or even thankful of all Jesus' healings. So what's up here?

A simple answer might be that Jesus is promiscuous in his love....not just for the worthy or deserving, it's for all.

But maybe there's something deeper going on here. Three images come to mind:
* First, I remember John Lennon singing "War is over if you want it"....sounded overly simplistic, but.... that's kind of how it starts.

Or the lesson I learned  that if you want to play music, the only way to do that is to play music.

Or the exercise I've seen in retreats and you're in a group and they tell you to imagine you are surrounded by an invisible box then are asked how do you get out of the box. There are usually overblown strategies or dead silence. The answer of course? Step out of the box...

So Jesus tells him to pick up his mat and walk. And he does. It's that simple. No faith has made you well. No sins are forgiven. Just  "Stand up, take your mat and walk." And it works...

So what do we see here? Sometimes the answer is right in front of us. And we can't see it because we believe theres no there there. And so we keep on waiting for someone to carry, drag or pull us down to the pool. Or take us out of the box. So we refuse to take the first step or even try because you know, we can't, right?  And 30 years or more go by and we're still bitter, lying there beside the pool. Waiting.

And Jesus says, "Yes you can, pick up your mat and walk."
Where have we been stuck? What are we waiting for? Are you ready to take that step?
"Stand up, take your mat and walk." 

Alleluia! Christ is risen! (Christi is risen indeed...)

Amen.


We talk. Neil, who does flower arrangements, says it's often the ones who get something for free that are most demanding and least appreciative. We talk about gratitude, how important it is to get us moving. And how hard that step can be. And about the Jewish Passover story that the Israelites had to go into the water up to their noses before God parted the waters. We finish by singing "How beautiful for spacious skies" and I mention the irony that this much beloved hymn, as someone reminds us, was written by Kathy Lee Bates. How conservatives don't even realize it was composed by someone who could so clearly fit that general category of queer. And of course, the conversation turns to Ray Charles....

                                                       Ray sings it....


Gospel John 5:1-9

1After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3In these lay many invalids-blind, lame, and paralyzed. 4, 5One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" 7The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." 8Jesus said to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk." 9At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Game of Thrones: One last word

5/23

...all about the throne....

Last  Friday night, the lines started  forming outside Yankees Stadium hours before the gates opened. The lines would continue well into the game.  "Game of Thrones Night." Everyone hoping for the special edition Yankees GOT T-shirt. 

Inside the stadium, the line to sit in the Iron Throne curled up the ramps all the way to the top of the stadium.

The Throne

Some folks would spend half the game in line. Though theYankees early spring training like lineup would come back to win dramatically in the bottom of the 9th, clearly the game itself was an afterthought for many fans. Game of Thrones fever had come to Yankee Stadium.

Sunday it all came to an end. And soon enough the reviews would start coming in and the world of social media express its disappointments.  A week ago, a petition drive had begin to rewrite the story.

Look, endings are hard. it's hard to let go. HBO's record is hit and miss in this area. From near perfection with the "Leftovers" to the fan frustrating and still debated Sopranos to the Deadwood finale that has taken 20 years to come around. That's the way it is.

I won't go into al the critiques but to mention only two....Khalesi's WWE style heel turn was no surprise. It had been telegraphed for weeks like the best of wrestling story lines with hints that direction all the way back. Though one reviewer referred to her "Nuremburg-like" triumphant manifestation, that's the wrong analogy. Stalin may be a better referent. Her vision was an honorable one of breaking the wheel, not brute dominance and power.

The point about Khalesi is even to the end, she believed she was being a liberator who would bring a new and better day. Like any liberator turned tyrant she continued to believe in her own goodness. Believing in your own goodness can have pretty bad results for many other people. From the French revolution to Ronald Reagan to Daniel Ortega it's an old sad story.

Most chilling was the incineration of an already surrendered city. Like the napalming of Vietnam. Or more disturbingly, the incineration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US who knew they had already won.. We know now that Japan was already on the verge of surrendur.  Already defeated. Ring the bells....

Drogon the dragon makes one of the  most important points of the series (and I'm surprised so many didn't get this. ) After watching Jon Snow kill his "mother" Khalesi, the dragon turns its fire not on Jon Snow but the Iron Throne itself, melting it. Not Jon Snow but the quest for that damned throne was what had ultimately killed Khalesi. 

So the main theme was clearly the corruption of power and futility of war. 

But there was another theme as well. Redemption. From Theon to Jaime to Tyrion each has the opportunity to face themselves and become moral agents once again. Tyrion especially grows from the hedonistic family wastrel to being the moral compass of the narrative.

Much to reflect on, criticisms aside. All in all, it's been a good ride, worthy of our attention. So let's say thanks, and let it go at that. And perhaps take time to move from vicarious adventure to working on becoming more the subjects of our own history.

Third Sunday in Easter: Feed my sheep

5/5

Beverley Church

On a cold and rainy day, the walk to Beverley from the subway station is no fun. As I arrive, I find my pone is dying and with it my sermon. Thankfully, Irina the accompanist has a charger and I don't need to freestyle...

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! (I'm trying to get them to learn this exchange for the whole of Easter..)

Today our Resurrection celebration continues....

This is another of my favorite resurrection stories. Former Episcopal Bishop Spong of Newark used to say he believed this was the first story of the resurrection.   Let's be clear on what's  going on  here.

It's clear that the disciples have given up. Jesus is dead and gone. It was a nice run, a good  run. There had been hope, excitement. But it's all gone now. No use crying over spilt milk. Time to move on. And go back to their old life. Back to being fishermen as if nothing had ever happened. And when Peter says he's going fishing, they all follow.  And they fish all night. And catch nothing.

When Jesus tells them to try the other side, they get so many they can barely haul it in. (As to why 153? Don't ask. No one knows...) Stop right there. Sometimes we keep on doing what we've always been doing with no results. Jesus says Try the other side. That's what he always does. Gets us to see what we haven't seen before. Try what we haven't tried. And then????..they get so many they can barely haul it in. 

John, the one who loved him, gets it immediately and cries "it's the Lord" and jumped in. Maybe it was Jesus' voice that got him, just like Mary on Easter day. Peter, hears John, but doesn't know, and like Adam in the garden, feels embarrassed and puts his clothes on. (Swimming  naked would have been easier..)

It's what happens on the beach I love. Notice they had not recognized him. No glowing body, no halo. Nothing fancy. Just like Mary thought he was the gardener, the resurrected Jesus looks ordinary. (Warning....he still does that ...shows up when least expected...and so ordinary looking you don't recognize him at first...)

There's a charcoal fire going. And he puts some fish on the fire. Stop a minute. Close your  eyes. Imagine the beach. The feel of the morning sun. The smell of salt in the air. (Or not, it's actually a lake...But I like the smell of sea air..)..the smell of charcoal...then of the fish starting to cook.....

(Throughout Lent when I was growing up, every neighborhood church had a fish fry every Friday...I associate that smell with Lent...)

And Bishop Spong says here is where they know he is with them...not through some spectacular resurrection display, but in the simplest of acts, something they had done a 100 times before, breakfast on the beach, and in the smell an the taste and the presence of each other around the fire, they know he is there with him. And my friends, that's how we know he is risen..in our presence, here in this place,  with each other, we feel it, know it, he is in our midst.

But my friends, if you know he is alive, there are consequences. Demands. And that's what now faces Peter. He's got to be filled with guilt. When he pulled his clothes on, he felt guilty as Adam. He had after all, denied Jesus three times. So Jesus gives him three chances to un-deny him. By the the third time, Peter's starting to feel hurt.

Now I'm one who believes you all can understand the Bible by reading it yourself, with discipline, with regularity. With prayer. And the leading of the Holy Spirit. And community, with each other. You don't need a seminary degree to get it.  But here's where we ministers help.

Jesus asks Peter "do you love me"  with the word "agape" ..self-giving  love...and Peter answers with "philos"....brotherly love...he's still holding back, you see? And Jesus' answer is pretty clear...if you love me, tend my lambs, feed my sheep..

That's it, right there.

Look, it's our call  to extend grace to each other. But the fact is, in human relationships, you can exhaust another's patience and run out of grace. Believe me, I know.  But not so with Jesus.

I'm willing to bet that like Peter, everyone of us in here has denied Jesus (and not just in words) at least 3 times...some of us might be feeling that this morning...

And the point is, our Easter story, our resurrection story is that he's ready to take us back again. Even today. BUT....
you can't just tell Jesus you love him. The way you let him know you mean it is you tend his lambs, you feed his sheep. Believe me, he'll know.  And on this rock, Peter and all of us Peters, the church is built...


After this he said, Follow me...

Let those with ears to hear, hear..
Amen.

                                                    ****


Three  postscripts..yesterday was the 49th anniversary of the Kent State/Jacksom State shootings. A day that changed my life...Pete Seeger's 100th birthday.  Throughout his life Pete tended the lambs and fed the sheep and kept us going in dark times ...we give thanks to God for his life and witness..

Today is Cinco de Mayo. No it's not Mexican independence day. It's when a badly outnumbered Mexican army unit defeated the French at Puebla. Thus preventing the French from aiding the US Confederacy. What we're really celebrating is the ongoing contribution of Mexicans to US society and culture. We do that by opening doors and embracing brothers and sisters, not building walls. No one who doesn't support immigrants should have a shot of tequila or Corona, lime or no lime.
Tend his lambs, feed his sheep.



Gospel John 21:1-19

1After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." 6He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. 8But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

9When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." 11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

15When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." 16A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." 17He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. 18Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." 19(He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."

Easter Sunday: ....by name....

4/21

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

 It's a cool but sunny Easter Sunday. Enjoying the gardens in the front yards of the Victorian homes on the walk from the subway to the church. As I near the church,

Beverley Church

I see that the little church's garden needs tending and the grass needs mowing

the garden

but I'm sure Eugene will take care of that. The sanctuary is dressed in white for Easter. And people are arriving. Eugene would like to get coffee for us, but he's reminded we will do that after worship. Geraldine asks what my good word? and I say, "There can be a new beginning for us, if we say, Yes" and she smiles and says "Yes."  I begin the service with "Alleluia! Christ is risen!" and ask the congregation to respond,"Christ is risen indeed!" And soon it is time for my sermon. 

Alleluia! Christ is risen. (Christis risen indeed...)

They thought it was over. The men had all run away. Men do that. they get into big stories, dramas, movements , scenarios. And when it doesn't go well, they're gone. But the women stay. 

Mary goes first. Why? It doesn't matter to her that the dream seems to be over. The movement over. The revolution never came. Doesn't matter. She loved this man. And we need know nothing more than that. Details don't matter. And she will honor the love she felt by going to the grave to take care of business, tend to the body. That's what women do. And she gets there and the stone is gone. So she goes to tell the main men and they go to check it out and see the empty tomb. And what does the scripture tell us they did? That they returned to their homes. Obviously they didn't get it.

So she goes to see for herself. And it's like the ultimate insult. Not only have they killed him, but they won't even allow the body to receive a traditional  burial. She can't even make the right good bye. And so she weeps. (Believe me, I've never really understood that part with the two angels. All I know is they ask her Woman, why are you weeping?)

And just then, Jesus appears. And asks her the same question. And this is my favorite part....she thinks he's the gardener...I mean check this out...he's resurrected for God's sake (Uh, literally...) and he's not shining or glowing or levitating or anything. He's just standing there looking like the most common laborer in the cemetery. Like overalls , or jeans or? Like in those campesino paintings from Solentiname, blue jeans and a guayavera? He looks ordinary.  And she cannot recognize him. 

And then it happens. He says one word, Mary, her name, and she knows it is him in the very deepest part of her heart and soul. He has said her name said as no one else she knows has ever said it. It can only be him. He knows her so intimately, so well, it can only be him. 

Let's think about that a minute. This is not seeing is believing. She doesn't see anything that leads her to believe.....its what she hears and what she hears is her own name. 

So let's stop a minute...when you close your eyes and think about hearing your name called, what does it sound like, who is saying it? When you hear your name called in love, what does it sound like? 

Today is about believing and how does that happen? There are no external verifications. No iphone videos. No facebook, instagram, snapchat. None of that. All we've got are these four stories in this book. And they're all different. And please....don't even try to mash them all together. Each one by themselves is true, it's own complete story. Read them separately. Allow each one to tell its own story in its own voice (that word again) and explore each for its own truth for what you can learn but you know what?  Those stories are not going to cause you to believe or prove anything unless you already believe it.

So what do we do? Do what Mary does.  Listen....and hear your name called...the way no one else can....because Jesus will do that...God  knows you more intimately than anyone else...and loves you anyways....and that's how we know....we come to believe as Mary does when we hear him call our name...

So proof? You want proof? Look to your left, look to your right....we are here. It's two millenia later and we are still here. What we celebrate in communion is this...as Presbyterians, as followers of the reformed tradition, it is not the bread and wine that becomes the living body of the risen Christ, it is us....we become his hands, his feet, his words, his silent touch...

Today is  about resurrection. I don't know many of you that well, but I know any of us at our ages have had our share of deaths. Many of us have risen again over and over again and sometimes we don't want to do it again. But he hears us in our weeping...oh Mary don't you weep don't you moan....and he calls us by name....

If you hear it and know it's him, follow Mary, who in this story becomes the first evangelist. She is the first to say out loud, "I have seen the Lord..."

So if you have heard him, if you have known him, go out from here today and don't be afraid to say it. Don't be afraid to bring good news in a day and time when good news is so badly needed. (Good Lord, sometimes I don't even want to watch  it any more...) Go ahead and say it, "I have seen the Lord!"

Alleluia! Christ is risen! (Christ is risen indeed!) 

And so we share our prayers and make  our communion. Geraldine sings a solo, shares her music.

Bob abd Geraldine

It's a joyous day as her family has come to be with her. Grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

Geraldine's family came

Soon we will go downstairs where Eugene has put white covers on all the chairs and the good china is out. They will share an Easter dinner together. I won't eat much since I'm heading to Bushwick for brunch with my boys, bringing them eggs I colored last night.

Eggs for my boys

I do have to try some of the traditonal mac'n'cheese that seems to be part of most special occasions. It is Easter.

Eggs fro my boys


Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed!






Gospel John 20:1-18

1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.


11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.