Attention, Please

Palm Sunday

John 12:12-19

I will be honest with you...I hate parades.  Ok, “hate” is too strong a word, maybe.  But I don’t like them.  [Ironically enough, I love processions, though I couldn’t tell you the difference.]  Nonetheless, a parade is exactly what went down on that first Day of Palms.  The people had done a background check.  Turns out that Jesus was not only a citizen and a Jew, but he was also a great-to-the-nth-power grandson of King David.

The people, the High Priests and the Romans smelled royal blood.

The parade was a bold statement: the Messiah, the King, the Royal Heir has come!

So they placed Jesus on a donkey (the equivalent of a white horse, or a black, bullet-proof Cadillac limousine), and they brought him to the royal city in style.

The exhilaration, the joy!  Hosanna!  Huzzah!  Hooray!

But isn’t a parade something that celebrates something that has already been done?  A victory, a historic event in the past, a commemoration?

Well, Jesus had just raised Lazarus.  The crowd went out to meet him because he had performed this sign: Death gave way to life (John 12:18).  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

But there was more going on that day.  It was more than a parade, although the disciples did not understand that until Jesus was glorified (John 12:16).

This parade functioned differently.  It was a statement of hope...it was an act that anticipated political change.  It was meant to function as a turning point, a tipping point.

We call that a rally, a campaign stop, a march, a protest.

This Parade of Palms was also a March of the Masses.

We have all heard of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

In Rockford the last few days, our teachers were on strike.

Last week, Rockfordians (and people all around the country) donned hoodies instead of grabbing palms in order to raise awareness of the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida.

Recently, the Tea Party stood across from Edgebrook Center on Alpine Road, waving hands and signs.

The reasons for these demonstrations were different, but the purpose was the same: change.

Something has to give.

Demonstrations, whether with palms or signs or hoodies, are meant to raise awareness.  They are designed to get the attention of the people, to get the attention of those in power.  The point is to get those in power to say to one another: “You see, you can do nothing.  Look, the world has gone after him!” (John 12:19).

That was where the Judeans were at on that first Day of Palms.

And change was, indeed, about to come.  But it wasn’t going to be what they expected.

It wasn’t going to be revolution--at least not like they wanted.

Jesus wasn’t coming with a scythe to weed and prune and harvest.

Jesus wasn’t coming with a sword and army to overthrow Rome.

He was coming to sow seeds, to become the grain of wheat that would die in order to produce much fruit (John 12:24).

What a weird event.  The joy, the zeal, the hope...and yet the passion was only just beginning.

On this day, Jesus is lifted up onto the back of a donkey.  Our arms are lifted up to wave palm branches in the air.

It is a day of so much hope.  When we can taste the Kingdom of God coming near...when we can picture the kingdom of this world about to fall.

Approval ratings on Jesus are high.  The Jesus movement had the momentum.

Something is finally happening--a turn for the better.

Attention, please: everything is about to change.

Everything.

What is Evolution, Adaptation, Reformation, Revolution?

Words that describe the effect of God's presence in space and time.

Last year, a computer specialist at NASA was fired for, allegedly, promoting his belief in intelligent design.  Even now a lawsuit is being filed against NASA for wrongful and discriminatory termination.  I find it ironic that someone who worked for an agency of scientific exploration would have such an erroneous opinion on the unfolding of the cosmos and biological life on this planet.  

Intelligent design is the Christian parry to evolution.  It is heralded as a scientific hypothesis for the genesis of the universe and all of reality. 

But intelligent design is false.  

First of all, it is a wrongful use of scripture.  The Bible is not meant to be a science text-book.  The Scriptures contain truth, and there are stories that try to explain natural phenomena.  But it is stupid (yes, stupid) to believe that these explanations are a part of the truth that the Bible imparts.  Anything that appears to give a “scientific” explanation in the Bible was simply the best guess of a less advanced people and culture.  These humans in the past were trying to explain the inexplicable.  Their hypotheses were begotten from a spirit of discovery...they launched themselves into the unknown and tried to make heads or tails out of it.  To be satisfied with their account of the universe and science is an abuse against that spirit of discovery and exploration.  Instead of continuing to find truth about reality, many Christians simply give up and become satisfied with falsehood.  Perhaps they don’t read enough of either to tell the difference between Scripture and science book.

Christians sometimes imagine that the Bible supplied people with the answers to the mysteries of the physical world.  This is not the case.  Instead, the Bible is the revelation of God’s presence in the physical world.  So the Biblical writers were inspired to take the going scientific theories and to demonstrate how God was involved anyway.  The point was our relationship with God.  So, if we are to follow the spirit of the Bible, then we will do the same.  We will accept human knowledge and understanding as a gift from God.  But as we accept scientific advances, let us be diligent in reflecting on the question:  How is God present in this?  (More on that below.)

Second, It is a sin to lie or bear false witness, that is, to say something is true when it is not.  It is also a sin to say something is false when it is true.  It is sin, I tell you.

Evolution is true.

Evolution is a scientific theory.  This means more than you probably think it does.  We equate the word “theory” with “conjecture” or “guess” or “belief” in common parlance.  But a theory is actually much more.  By the time something becomes a scientific theory it has been tested thoroughly.  A scientific theory becomes a theory once it has been proven as far as humanity can prove anything.  A hypothesis becomes a theory once there is enough weight of empirical, testable evidence to say: this is true.

All we know and can observe about biological life points conclusively to the reality that beings evolve, and that they have been evolving for millennia.  If one denies evolution, then one denies the fact that God has created us to be stewards of creation, one denies that God has blessed humanity with the gift of rational minds and discovery--a gift that is unique to humans.  Intelligent Design is the same as saying that microwave ovens harness the power of the glory of God to zap our cold meals with divine electricity to warm them up.  

Here’s the kicker.  It is true that even a theory might eventually be proved wrong and false.  (Bu the burden is to find a better explanation.)  The highest tenet in science is intellectual humility.  Everything can and should be revisited and retested...especially as knowledge and experimental techniques advance.  Built into science is a rejection of the lazy arrogance that believes that one is always right.  Christians could learn a lot from science, especially this: a little humility instead of making an idol out of knowledge.

Now many Christians don’t like the theory of evolution, and they react against it in fear.  The fear stems from a perceived loss.  What do Christians think they will lose if Evolution is true?

Perhaps they worry that Evolution takes God out of the creation game.  If things go along happily on their own, then what is left for God to do?  Do not be afraid.  We often pray, “Give us today our daily bread.”  We say these words to remind us that every bit of food we eat comes ultimately from God.  But even Christians fail to see the truth in this.  We think to ourselves: “I bought this meal.  My daily bread comes from my paycheck.  I worked to earn that paycheck.  I have given myself and my family our daily bread.”  This is true.  But it is not the ultimate truth.  God has worked through the farmers and the stores and your employer and through you so that you could pull together the means to eat.  How did the plants and animals you are eating grow?  How has human civilization survived and developed to such complexity to allow for the confluence of events that have contributed to your quality of life?  Who gave you the gifts, talents and work ethics to get and hold down a job?  God has set up all of the pieces in such a way that the components work together in order to produce the desired result.  It is no different on a larger scale.  

Just because science explains how something works practically or physically, doesn’t mean that God disappears or becomes obsolete or becomes unnecessary.  The challenge of faith is to see God working to support me, even if it seems my hard work and paycheck do it all.  Evolution does not reduce God’s involvement, but rather gives us the opportunity to focus all the more on God’s presence even when God seems absent.  

How wonderful to believe in God when God is visible.  How awesome to believe in God when God is hidden, anonymous, incognito!   

The other fear is that, in evolution, the changes are random.  Intelligent Design, just in its name, reveals our need for reassurance that there is a plan.  In my personal theology, God is entirely and only in what is random.  And God is not in the random to bring order to it, but to make sure it stays random.  God has created things to adapt.  The only thing that makes adaptation necessary is: change.  God is that force of chaotic change in the cosmos...but I will have to blog on that another time.

For now, suffice it to say that Evolution is most certainly true.

And if there is one thing that followers of Jesus should not be ashamed of it is truth.

And that one word unites all of science and all of religion: truth.

Techno-Discipleship -or- Are you friends with Jesus on Facebook?

On several occasions, Jesus preached about “this sinful generation.”

It was a harsh judgement on the behavior of his contemporaries.

Many people in our churches love to pick up on this theme--in many different ways.

In the last few weeks, however, I have heard our youngest generations being casted as the “sinful generations.”  And many believe that technology is to blame.

Recently at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, we have been discussing the effect of technology and social media on morality and ethics in an Christian education series call “What would Jesus Tweet?”

The concern among many is that Facebook, cell phones, iPads and the internet are destroying the moral fabric of our society and inhibiting relationship everywhere.

Etiquette is considered to be among the biggest casualties of our mobile technology.

Cell phones in the car, at school, in church, at the theatre, in the checkout line at stores...at the dinner table.  No one seems to pay attention to, no one seems to care about the living, breathing entities around them.

Furthermore, instead of seeking face-to-face contact, instead of personalizing communication in letters (or even talking on the phone) “young people” are texting, g-chating and Facebooking--hiding behind digital lines, keeping distance from one another.  By replacing faces with Facebook, the allegation goes, we are becoming more inhuman.

I myself am far from being technologically advanced.  And yet, there are times when I find myself shooting off a quick text message while my family or friends are trying to talk to me.  There are times when I would rather just send a text instead of having a conversation in real time--and sometimes it leads to rather egregious misunderstandings. 

But is it our fault?

True, every individual has the responsibility to approach all things in life in moderation.  As soon as our tools craft our lives, as soon as we become the tools of technology, something has gone horribly awry.  A recent study has shown that social media and mobile technology are more addictive than drugs and cigarettes.  I check my email and Facebook several times each day.  I carry my cell phone with me constantly.  And since I started blogging, I have found that I spend a lot of time writing and tending my blog page.  Hi, my name is Ryan, and I am addicted to social media.

And yet...

We must not forget that our youngest generations did not mold the world to include things such as computers, iPods, smart phones and the internet.  These things have been developing for decades now.  And why?  To feed the desire of the whole world, particularly working generations and the generations that are in power; to feed the need for instant information.  We, especially in America, have long felt it necessary to know first, to have first and to react first.  Knowledge is power, at least that is what I was told in school and by G.I. Joe, and knowledge requires raw data--the more the better.

It takes time and work to foster strong relationships--whether one is using social media or not.  Young people have to fight a fast and digitized culture at every turn.  But our youth did not create these circumstances and challenges.  Adults have created the obstacles.  Young people are forced to adapt...and they have adapted well.  

In my opinion, our young generations have done a good job of holding fast to humanity even as our technocratic world foists a plethora of toys and tools on them.  Young people get that relationships are important, we get that face-to-face contact is right and salutary, a duty and a joy.  But there is no turning back the clock.  Technology and social media are a reality.  And young people are the ones who have the most difficult task of integrating human sociability and social media.  And adults are not helpful when they over criticize the job young people are doing.  

Dear Reader, here is the point...I implore you to consider this proposition:

Technology is a natural part of human evolution, and it is the outcome of God’s gift of creativity to humankind.

When Adam was cast out of Eden, he was given the task of farming the land for food.  Our technology is a tool for us to fulfill God’s task.

When Eve was cast out of Eden, she was given the task of laboring in childbirth.  Medical technology is a tool for us to fulfill God’s task.

From the beginning, before the Fall, Eve and Adam were given the responsibility of having dominion over all of the earth and every living thing in it.  Our technology is an important part of our being able to fulfill that task of stewardship.

We were created technological beings.  We were created with the capacity to learn and to grow.  We were created with the capacity to make tools and to invent.

Yes, these inventions, at times, do more to harm the earth (industrialization) and society (social media).  But going back to a “simpler” society is not an option.  The only way is forward.  Better techniques and technologies that do not harm the environment.  More intentional ways of building relationships--using social media as good tools.

God has given humanity the means, power and responsibility to shape the world.  We have created a world with internet and smart-phones and data plans.  These things are not inherently evil or destructive.  Instead, they can be used to deepen human relationships, to deepen our relationship with God.  Our technology can help us find the abundant life that God has promised us.  And our youngest generations have had an awesome responsibility placed on them to figure out how.  Let’s help them figure it out.

We can find the Holy Spirit in technology.  In technology we can grow closer to God.  It is just a matter of finding God in the midst of it all...perhaps we can start with a google search?

And I Will Always Love You -or- Temporal and Absolute Consequences of Sin

On Friday, February 24th, 2012 the Rockford Register Star published an opinion column from Monsignor Thomas Dzielak of Rock Falls.  He was responding to comments made by Tom Zuba.  Zuba, in the wake of Whitney Houston’s death, spoke of God’s love and judgement.  Obviously, he was concerned about our judging Houston’s lifestyle, decisions and cause of death.  He said that God’s love is one that “does not judge...does not punish or insist or demand or turn away.  Ever.”  The Psalms might seem to agree: “God’s steadfast love endures forever.”

Dzielak disagrees.  To Zuba’s assertion about God’s love, the Monsignor responds, “well, yes...and no.”  He writes that God does not judge our worth or dignity by our behavior, but God does judge and punish our behavior--at least the “freely chosen evil that we do without repenting.”  We are judged and punished here in this world, or failing that, “in the afterlife.”  There is some biblical basis for the Monsignor’s stance, too.

What we have here is a conundrum.

The column does not provide an rational argument for Zuba’s claim about God’s love.

There may not be one.

But Monsignor argues well: “If God never judges evil behavior (and by implication we are not to do so), then we should logically empty out the jails and prisons, as well as eliminate fines or jail time for breaking civil laws.”  The logic is sound...IF you agree with the presupposition that God’s law and human law are the same, operate the same way. 

But the two are worlds apart.

The Monsignor seems to be saying, that if God judges and punishes, then humans can and must also.  For him, our judicial and corrections systems have divine backing: God authorizes us to judge and punish our neighbors.

Is the Monsignor right?  Well, yes...and no.

YES.  All of Christ’s disciples are given the “office of the keys,” that is, we are given the authority and responsibility to bind and loose sin.  What we bind on earth will be bound in heaven, Jesus promises.  We can and should judge.

And NO.  In Christian hands the Law has a use and a purpose, well two of them:  

1. We are to strive for the peace and safety of all people.

So, we can and must honestly look at Whitney Houston’s life, so that we might learn (so that we might teach our children) that the wages of sin is death.  We can and should learn and teach that life choices have dire consequences. 

2. We are to use the Law in order to build up the community of God’s people.  We do this by helping people understand their crimes and their sin, so that they might ask for forgiveness and turn from their ways--for the good of self and of all.  We are first Ambassadors of Reconciliation (Paul)...and if we judge it is as ambassadors, not chief justices.

God’s law is a transforming law.  The use of the Law is to change us, inside and out.

Human law tries to rehabilitate criminals.  Many jail systems are called: Department of Corrections.  But in this regard it is, I am afraid to say, a failed system that does not produce the results that it euphemistically claims to offer.

________________

If you pay close attention to scripture, whenever Jesus talks about judgement, he reminds us that God alone has the right and privilege to judge.  And the only condition that is placed on God’s forgiveness is this, and you know these words by heart:

“Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”

If we do not forgive, then we will not be forgiven.  Binding and loosing sin is an infinite responsibility placed on the one judging.  Our judgements are not binding...but we are bound by our judgements.  This is the Gospels’ only comment on the matter.

I can forgive someone who murders my loved one, even if they remain in prison.

Here we go deep, so stay with me.

There is a distinction between temporal consequences and absolute or eternal consequences.

Temporal Consequences:

The wage of sin is death.

Our choices in the land of the living have consequences in this life.  If I do hard drugs, I destroy my body and may die from it.  If I murder someone, then I will be put in prison for a long time.  If I covet my neighbor’s property, then I am fixated and trapped by my own desires, and I am distracted from my life and from seeking the Kingdom of God.  If I lie, then others will not trust my word.

These are the consequences that I must face.  And even if I am forgiven by all people and by God, I still have to deal with these consequences--the wage of sin is death.

But death is the limit and boundary of these consequences.  Once I have died, I have paid these prices.

Eternal or Absolute Consequences:

Forgiveness does not necessarily bypass temporal consequences, but Scriptures say that forgiveness does have an effect on eternal consequences.

If I forgive, no matter what happens on earth, I will be forgiven by God in eternity.

If I do not forgive others, I will not be forgiven in eternity.

With the office of the keys, our judgements are not binding...but we are bound by our judgements.

Please remember, that in the confines of this blog, I speak without authority.

But as a pastor, I do speak with authority.  For this reason, I always declare to all people the forgiveness of sins, by the authority of Jesus Christ.

In Christ, we are all given the same authority...and it is authority to do one thing:
To “love one another as God loves us,” to “forgive others, as we ourselves are forgiven.”

Our task is to forgive--Whitney Houston, the criminals on death row, our neighbors and enemies.  Our forgiveness will not bring the dead back to life, or stay the execution or keep those who have sinned against us from the consequences of their actions.

But if I forgive, then I will be loosed from my sin.  If I forgive, then God will forgive me.

Beyond that, I am without any authority.  The rest I leave in the hands of God.

In sum, every time I judge, I am judging myself.  And so, I have but one choice: 

Do I forgive myself or not?

Many of us are far too hard on ourselves.

And if one cannot forgive oneself, forgiving others is out of the question.

A life without forgiveness is the real hell.

Jonah 3:10--4:11

Ryan Howard