With Arms & Hearts Wide Open

John 20: 19-23

Roger Lynn

June 26, 2016

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

“If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (John 20:23) Wow! That is an absolutely remarkable statement. There is the promise of power and authority. It implies a profound level of trust. And it is spoken to a group of people whose lives have very recently been thrown into turmoil because of the “sins” of people who, even now, would probably arrest them if given half a chance. What an opportunity for paybacks.

In the 2,000 years since those words were first spoken, there have been plenty of examples of both individuals and Church organizations who have read this story and taken it as divine instructions for their mission and purpose. “We have not only the right, but the obligation, to render judgment on God’s behalf. It comes to us straight from the lips of Jesus.” And tragically, the results have been pretty much exactly what Jesus warned them about (for it was, indeed, a warning) – lots of people have spent their whole lives absolutely convinced that they were no good, dirty rotten sinners who were cut off from God as well as from the people around them. After all, that’s what the good folks in the Church kept telling them, so it must be true.

Under Construction: Becoming a House of Living Stone

John 14: 6-14 & 1 Peter 2: 4-10

Roger Lynn

June 19, 2016

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to God except through me.” (John 14:6) At first glance this seems both clear and powerful – a path to God. And then upon closer examination questions begin to surface – concerns start to cloud the matter. What does it mean to say that “no one comes to God except through me”? This particular passage in John’s Gospel has been weighed down with centuries of interpretive baggage which seems to make “I believe in Jesus” the only acceptable password that will get us past the front gates of heaven. In the wrong hands it has even led some to violently impose their brand of “faith” on others.

But I’m convinced that it does not have to mean this at all. To begin with, it’s important to remember that all of the Gospels, and particularly John, are really theological rather than biographical in nature. This means that John is using the story of Jesus to present an understanding of who God is and what it means to be in relationship with God. Thus “I am the way...” is about the path to God which is represented by the whole of Jesus’ life and teaching. It’s about what Jesus stands for – loving enemies, washing feet, accepting the outcasts, healing and wholeness, and all the other qualities we see revealed in the picture of Jesus which John paints for us. That is how we recognize God’s presence, John is telling us. And what happens when we come to know God in this way is that we begin to take on those qualities in our own living. “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do...” (John 14:12) Even the part about asking for things “in my name” isn’t about using the name “Jesus” as a kind of magical incantation that will insure our prayers get answered. In the ancient world names were understood to represent the essence of something – the true character of that which is named. So to pray “in Jesus’ name” is to pray with the same character, the same quality of living, which we find revealed in Jesus. In short, we are called to follow the path of faith to which Jesus points us with the whole of his life. It is no accident that from the earliest days of the Church the community of those who are seeking to follow this new way of life are referred to as “the body of Christ.” We are literally called to be Christ in the world.

Being a Neighbor

Luke 10: 25-37

Roger Lynn 

June 12, 2016

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

The parable of the Good Samaritan may well be one of the most famous of all of Jesus’ stories – ranking right up there with the Prodigal Son. According to Luke it comes in response to a question from a religious scholar who wanted to know what was required to earn his way into eternal life. In Jesus’ usual style, he doesn’t answer the question directly. Instead he tells a story which illustrates his understanding of the matter. 

One of the difficulties inherent in trying to understand Jesus’ parables, and particularly the really famous ones, is that we have heard them so many times. And we have heard them referred to so many times. In the case of this particular parable, even the title has become so commonplace that there are hospitals and care centers named after it. Here in Helena people shop at the Good Samaritan Thrift Store. When something reaches that level of familiarity we frequently stop paying attention. So it can be a challenge to approach this story with any kind of freshness. But let’s try!

Living The Gospel

Mark 1: 14-28

Roger Lynn

June 5, 2016

(click here for the audio of this sermon)

Jesus arrives on the scene with an amazing message. Amazing in its power and amazing in its simplicity. “The active presence of God is here, now, in the very midst of us, and this is good news!” It is good news because the God who is present is the God of love and grace. It was, and is, a radically inclusive, universal message. And it was, and is, a message which is shared and received one individual at a time.

One of the problems which Jesus faced when he proclaimed this powerful message was that he encountered people who thought they already knew what it meant for God to be in their midst, and they thought they already knew what the person bearing such a message would be like. They had, after all, been watching and waiting for the coming of God’s Messiah for a very long time and they were certain that their particular version of the “truth” was the only one.

But apparently Jesus had other ideas about what it all meant and how best to communicate the message. He didn’t want to be labeled and he didn’t want to be put in a box. Every time someone seeks to hang the “messiah” label on him, he tells them to be quiet. Sometimes he isn’t even very nice about it. “Shut up!” would be a reasonable translation of what he says to the unclean spirit who declares him to be the Holy One of God. Why would he do this? Why would he engage in this business which scholars refer to as the “messianic secret”? I suspect that at least part of the reason was because Jesus understood something about the ways in which labels tend to limit our understanding rather than expand it.