Today we concluded our series based on this year's Vacation Bible School themes with a healing story found in the Gospel of Luke (see Luke 17:11-19). In this story, Jesus heals ten lepers as he enters a village. In doing so, one of the lepers goes beyond expectations to express his thankfulness...and Jesus goes beyond boundaries.
* * *
Going beyond. Over the course of June, we have used the theme and texts from this year’s Vacation Bible School as our focus for worship. Starting at the beginning of June, we have looked at different point each Sunday - going beyond with faith, boldness, and kindness. We have explored the ways that in each of these stories, the characters have gone beyond expectation, and the results have been even more than could have been imagined.
Today we look at going beyond with thankfulness in this healing story found in the Gospel according to St. Luke. And along the way, we will look at the ways that Jesus was also going beyond in today’s story - beyond expectations, beyond social norms, and beyond religious norms.
Going Beyond: Go Beyond with Kindness
Today, we discussed the familiar parable most commonly known as the story of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25-37) as we consider what it means to offer others kindness and compassion no matter their circumstances or our own. This week, our focus is on the actions of the Samaritan in the parable itself. This passage returns as the lectionary reading in a few weeks, and we will dig a bit more deeply into the ways in which Jesus is going beyond the expected boundaries at that time. For now, we turn to the kindness and compassion displayed by the Samaritan in this parable.
This past week, Newnan First UMC hosted kids from around our community for Vacation Bible School. Over the course of the week, these young people heard about God’s ability to go beyond all that we could hope for or imagine and stories from the Bible of those that went beyond what we would normally expect. In the course of these stories, we see that the results of going beyond expectations often far exceed what could possibly have been hoped for. As Ephesians 3:20 reminds us: “Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us” (CEB)
Over the course of the month of June, we have been talking about these same themes in worship. At the beginning of the month, we heard about Daniel and the lion's den and going beyond with faith. Last week, we took a look at Queen Esther and going beyond with boldness. This week, we have the familiar story of the Good Samaritan and will focus on going beyond with kindness.
This is one of those stories that most Christians know by heart and that even many non-Christians have heard of. We even hear stories on the news of people described as a Good Samaritan when they do a good deed for someone else. One of the reasons for this is that we simply don’t expect this behavior. We have gotten to a point where we simply don’t expect people to be kind to others, so when someone does something compassionate or kind for someone else, we make a big deal out of it.
As I thought about this, I was reminded of the BBC miniseries (and book), Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. In this story, Richard Mayhew is a businessman who has been living and working in London for just a couple of years. He is originally from Scotland, so he doesn’t really know anyone in London. He is fairly successful at work, but his only friends appear to be one work colleague and his fiancée.
As the series opens, Richard is at work when he is reminded that he was supposed to get reservations at a very particular restaurant for his fiancée and her extremely influential boss from the museum. He manages to still get reservations and rushes out to get ready for this important dinner to discuss an upcoming exhibit at the museum.
As they walk down the street toward the restaurant, a young woman stumbles out of the shadows and falls on the sidewalk. She is dressed in clothes we would consider shabby, she is dirty, and she is covered in blood. People walking down the sidewalk step around her without even looking down. Richard’s own fiancée simply steps over the woman. But Richard stops, feeling the need to help.
Now let us pause here for a moment. I wonder which of these sounds more common - those that are walking by without a glance or the one that stops to help? Maybe this will help us think about why those called "Good Samaritans" are celebrated.
Returning to our story, when she realizes Richard is no longer walking with her, his fiancée turns around to ask what is going on. He points to the woman lying on the ground. His fiancée makes some disparaging remarks about the homeless. Richard says she is hurt and needs help. His fiancée is completely focused on the dinner. She tells him just to leave some money and hurry up. If they wait for an ambulance they’ll be late to dinner, and they cannot be late. Someone else will call. Hurry up.
But Richard cannot leave this helpless person lying there on the sidewalk. He reaches down and scoops her up. The woman manages to communicate that the blood is not hers, and that she just needs to rest, so please don’t call a doctor. He carries her back to his flat and lets her sleep. The next morning, the young woman named Door looks much refreshed. She enlists Richard’s help to escape some men that are looking for her. In the process, Richard is introduced to a world he didn’t even know existed, a world inhabited by those on the margins - the ignored, the outcasts, those that choose to live away from society's rules. It also happens to be a world of magic
In the end, Richard travels with Door until she completes her quest to discover who killed her family and why. He protects her from murderers, survives a quest that has killed countless others before him, and slays a mythical beast at the heart of London Below. He went far beyond simply aiding the hurting woman that others had ignored on the street, and his life was changed in the process.
In this story, Richard is constantly an outsider. He is a Scotsman living in London. He is a bit eccentric next to his fiancée's high class style. She frequents society functions while his desktop is covered with troll dolls. And he is an outsider in London Below as he follows along on a quest that is not his. But this does not keep him from stopping to aid a person in need. Where others simply stepped around or over this woman lying in the street with shabby clothes covered in blood, where others ignored the obvious pain of someone in need, where most of those on the street couldn’t even be bothered to look on that need, Richard noticed. He stopped to help. And he went beyond the typical help of dropping a bit of money or simply calling for an ambulance and walking away.
Richard stopped and talked to the woman lying there. He took her somewhere safe where she could recover from her injuries. He made sure she was safe before he allowed her to continue on her journey. And in the process, he entered into relationship with Door and many others he would never even have met if he had not stopped to help her on the street.
Like the Samaritan in the parable that Jesus told, Richard went beyond what was expected. He stepped beyond the norm with kindness and compassion for the young woman he found on the street. Like the traveler in the parable, Door was literally lying on the side of the road in obvious need. Her clothes were torn and covered in blood. And yet, those on the street simply walked around her. Perhaps they didn’t cross to the other side of the road, but they did their best to ignore her need. Or perhaps like Richard’s fiancée, they sought to justify walking away with their own needs.
Surely the priest and the Levite had very good reasons for ignoring the need of the man lying on the side of the road. Maybe they were running late for worship. Maybe they were afraid of touching the man’s blood and needing to ritually cleanse themselves later. Maybe they assumed the man was already dead.
But the Samaritan saw the man and was moved with compassion. He bound up the man’s wounds, placed him on his own donkey and took him to an inn. Then he set the man up with a room, paid the innkeeper to see that the man was cared for, and promised to pay any additional monies when he next came through.
The Samaritan didn’t just call an ambulance. He didn’t just put bandaids on the wounds and walk away. He tended the man’s wounds, took him somewhere safe, and provided for his needs until he was able to get out on his own again.
Now I can’t say that following this encounter the Samaritan entered a magical land, completed a sacred quest, and slayed a mythical creature. But I like to think that when he returned again to the inn, he continued to care for the traveler and developed a relationship of some sort with him. I like to think that some sort of bond was formed between the two. For in the end, this is what Jesus is calling us to - loving relationship with one another.
Loving relationships are built on the kindness and compassion that the Samaritan showed. They are built on a love that does not think of its own gain but seeks instead to serve others. The Samaritan was an outsider in the story. He is from a different nation and not even Jewish. And yet he is the one that stops to help the man in need. He didn’t stop and ask the man’s nationality. He didn’t stop to check his insurance card. He didn’t stop to wonder how his service to others was going to affect his own status in his community. He didn’t stop to ask if the man had done something to put himself in this situation. He simply saw someone in need and helped them.
Not only that, but he didn’t stop and ask what the least amount of help was that he could give and still be considered helping. He helped extravagantly. He gave abundantly. We have to remember that in these parables Jesus is making a case for what the kingdom of God looks like. And the love that God has for us, the love that God expects us to have for one another, is extravagant. It is kind, it is compassionate, and it goes beyond any limits we might want to place on it. We don't get to limit God's love - for ourselves or for others.
As we think about the compassion shown in these two examples today, I want us to think about our own lives. When faced with need, do we cross to the other side of the road, step around the outstretched hand, and refuse to meet the other’s eyes? Or do we look upon others with the same love, kindness, and compassion with which Jesus looks upon us?
In some ways, it is sad to think about the ways in which we celebrate the Good Samaritan. It is sad to think that acting with kindness and compassion towards others is so extraordinary, so outside of the norm, that it is something to be celebrated.
But this is exactly why Jesus told this story. He needed to jar us enough with this act of kindness that was so unexpected that we would recognize it as a sacred thing. The love that we are called to share with one another is a mere reflection of that love that God has shown us.
What I would truly love to see is a story on the news about “Good Samaritans” from a local church doing good in their community and have the response be, “Well, of course they would do that. They are Christians after all.”
That is the world that Jesus was pointing us to. That is the example of kindness, compassion, and love that Jesus talked about in this parable, the same example that Jesus lived in his life with others, and the same task to which Jesus calls us all still today.
When our community looks at the work of our church, are they surprised by the kindness, compassion, and love that we show to the world around us?
I hope that the answer is yes; at least I hope that they see us showing kindness, compassion, and love to others in our community. But I would hope it would not be a surprise that we act that way.
I hope that we will continue to go beyond in faith, that we will continue to act with boldness, and that we will continue to show loving kindness to the world around us.
So let us join together and love our neighbors so extravagantly that everyone will know we follow Jesus.
* * *
This past week, Newnan First UMC hosted kids from around our community for Vacation Bible School. Over the course of the week, these young people heard about God’s ability to go beyond all that we could hope for or imagine and stories from the Bible of those that went beyond what we would normally expect. In the course of these stories, we see that the results of going beyond expectations often far exceed what could possibly have been hoped for. As Ephesians 3:20 reminds us: “Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us” (CEB)
Over the course of the month of June, we have been talking about these same themes in worship. At the beginning of the month, we heard about Daniel and the lion's den and going beyond with faith. Last week, we took a look at Queen Esther and going beyond with boldness. This week, we have the familiar story of the Good Samaritan and will focus on going beyond with kindness.
This is one of those stories that most Christians know by heart and that even many non-Christians have heard of. We even hear stories on the news of people described as a Good Samaritan when they do a good deed for someone else. One of the reasons for this is that we simply don’t expect this behavior. We have gotten to a point where we simply don’t expect people to be kind to others, so when someone does something compassionate or kind for someone else, we make a big deal out of it.
As I thought about this, I was reminded of the BBC miniseries (and book), Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. In this story, Richard Mayhew is a businessman who has been living and working in London for just a couple of years. He is originally from Scotland, so he doesn’t really know anyone in London. He is fairly successful at work, but his only friends appear to be one work colleague and his fiancée.
As the series opens, Richard is at work when he is reminded that he was supposed to get reservations at a very particular restaurant for his fiancée and her extremely influential boss from the museum. He manages to still get reservations and rushes out to get ready for this important dinner to discuss an upcoming exhibit at the museum.
As they walk down the street toward the restaurant, a young woman stumbles out of the shadows and falls on the sidewalk. She is dressed in clothes we would consider shabby, she is dirty, and she is covered in blood. People walking down the sidewalk step around her without even looking down. Richard’s own fiancée simply steps over the woman. But Richard stops, feeling the need to help.
Now let us pause here for a moment. I wonder which of these sounds more common - those that are walking by without a glance or the one that stops to help? Maybe this will help us think about why those called "Good Samaritans" are celebrated.
Returning to our story, when she realizes Richard is no longer walking with her, his fiancée turns around to ask what is going on. He points to the woman lying on the ground. His fiancée makes some disparaging remarks about the homeless. Richard says she is hurt and needs help. His fiancée is completely focused on the dinner. She tells him just to leave some money and hurry up. If they wait for an ambulance they’ll be late to dinner, and they cannot be late. Someone else will call. Hurry up.
But Richard cannot leave this helpless person lying there on the sidewalk. He reaches down and scoops her up. The woman manages to communicate that the blood is not hers, and that she just needs to rest, so please don’t call a doctor. He carries her back to his flat and lets her sleep. The next morning, the young woman named Door looks much refreshed. She enlists Richard’s help to escape some men that are looking for her. In the process, Richard is introduced to a world he didn’t even know existed, a world inhabited by those on the margins - the ignored, the outcasts, those that choose to live away from society's rules. It also happens to be a world of magic
In the end, Richard travels with Door until she completes her quest to discover who killed her family and why. He protects her from murderers, survives a quest that has killed countless others before him, and slays a mythical beast at the heart of London Below. He went far beyond simply aiding the hurting woman that others had ignored on the street, and his life was changed in the process.
In this story, Richard is constantly an outsider. He is a Scotsman living in London. He is a bit eccentric next to his fiancée's high class style. She frequents society functions while his desktop is covered with troll dolls. And he is an outsider in London Below as he follows along on a quest that is not his. But this does not keep him from stopping to aid a person in need. Where others simply stepped around or over this woman lying in the street with shabby clothes covered in blood, where others ignored the obvious pain of someone in need, where most of those on the street couldn’t even be bothered to look on that need, Richard noticed. He stopped to help. And he went beyond the typical help of dropping a bit of money or simply calling for an ambulance and walking away.
Richard stopped and talked to the woman lying there. He took her somewhere safe where she could recover from her injuries. He made sure she was safe before he allowed her to continue on her journey. And in the process, he entered into relationship with Door and many others he would never even have met if he had not stopped to help her on the street.
Like the Samaritan in the parable that Jesus told, Richard went beyond what was expected. He stepped beyond the norm with kindness and compassion for the young woman he found on the street. Like the traveler in the parable, Door was literally lying on the side of the road in obvious need. Her clothes were torn and covered in blood. And yet, those on the street simply walked around her. Perhaps they didn’t cross to the other side of the road, but they did their best to ignore her need. Or perhaps like Richard’s fiancée, they sought to justify walking away with their own needs.
Surely the priest and the Levite had very good reasons for ignoring the need of the man lying on the side of the road. Maybe they were running late for worship. Maybe they were afraid of touching the man’s blood and needing to ritually cleanse themselves later. Maybe they assumed the man was already dead.
But the Samaritan saw the man and was moved with compassion. He bound up the man’s wounds, placed him on his own donkey and took him to an inn. Then he set the man up with a room, paid the innkeeper to see that the man was cared for, and promised to pay any additional monies when he next came through.
The Samaritan didn’t just call an ambulance. He didn’t just put bandaids on the wounds and walk away. He tended the man’s wounds, took him somewhere safe, and provided for his needs until he was able to get out on his own again.
Now I can’t say that following this encounter the Samaritan entered a magical land, completed a sacred quest, and slayed a mythical creature. But I like to think that when he returned again to the inn, he continued to care for the traveler and developed a relationship of some sort with him. I like to think that some sort of bond was formed between the two. For in the end, this is what Jesus is calling us to - loving relationship with one another.
Loving relationships are built on the kindness and compassion that the Samaritan showed. They are built on a love that does not think of its own gain but seeks instead to serve others. The Samaritan was an outsider in the story. He is from a different nation and not even Jewish. And yet he is the one that stops to help the man in need. He didn’t stop and ask the man’s nationality. He didn’t stop to check his insurance card. He didn’t stop to wonder how his service to others was going to affect his own status in his community. He didn’t stop to ask if the man had done something to put himself in this situation. He simply saw someone in need and helped them.
Not only that, but he didn’t stop and ask what the least amount of help was that he could give and still be considered helping. He helped extravagantly. He gave abundantly. We have to remember that in these parables Jesus is making a case for what the kingdom of God looks like. And the love that God has for us, the love that God expects us to have for one another, is extravagant. It is kind, it is compassionate, and it goes beyond any limits we might want to place on it. We don't get to limit God's love - for ourselves or for others.
As we think about the compassion shown in these two examples today, I want us to think about our own lives. When faced with need, do we cross to the other side of the road, step around the outstretched hand, and refuse to meet the other’s eyes? Or do we look upon others with the same love, kindness, and compassion with which Jesus looks upon us?
In some ways, it is sad to think about the ways in which we celebrate the Good Samaritan. It is sad to think that acting with kindness and compassion towards others is so extraordinary, so outside of the norm, that it is something to be celebrated.
But this is exactly why Jesus told this story. He needed to jar us enough with this act of kindness that was so unexpected that we would recognize it as a sacred thing. The love that we are called to share with one another is a mere reflection of that love that God has shown us.
What I would truly love to see is a story on the news about “Good Samaritans” from a local church doing good in their community and have the response be, “Well, of course they would do that. They are Christians after all.”
That is the world that Jesus was pointing us to. That is the example of kindness, compassion, and love that Jesus talked about in this parable, the same example that Jesus lived in his life with others, and the same task to which Jesus calls us all still today.
When our community looks at the work of our church, are they surprised by the kindness, compassion, and love that we show to the world around us?
I hope that the answer is yes; at least I hope that they see us showing kindness, compassion, and love to others in our community. But I would hope it would not be a surprise that we act that way.
I hope that we will continue to go beyond in faith, that we will continue to act with boldness, and that we will continue to show loving kindness to the world around us.
So let us join together and love our neighbors so extravagantly that everyone will know we follow Jesus.
Going Beyond: Go Beyond with Boldness
During the month of June, our church is hosting a community Vacation Bible School. Our worship themes for the month draw from the theme of this years VBS curriculum, "To Mars and Beyond." The overarching theme for this year's VBS is Ephesians 3:20 ("Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us" - CEB). Then each day of VBS, a different biblical character is highlighted.
Each Sunday of June, our worship will focus on one of these characters in the Bible who go beyond what is expected of them. The month started with the story of Daniel in the lions den and the ways in which Daniel (and others) went beyond what was expected in faith. This week we take a look at Queen Esther who acted with boldness to save her people. The remaining two Sundays, we will look at the Good Samaritan and the healing of the ten lepers.
Going beyond. That is our theme this month. Going beyond.
I admit that as I looked at our Vacation Bible School for this summer, “To Mars and Beyond,” and thought about this theme, the first thought that came to mind was Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story movies and his rallying cry - “To infinity and beyond.”
For Buzz Lightyear, there is no limit in his mind on what can be accomplished. He leaps without thinking, he doesn’t accept limitations, and he would do anything for those that he loves.
Hmmm, when I put it that way, maybe this does fit with our theme for the month. We are reminded in Ephesians 3:20, that God is able to do far more than we can ask for or even imagine. God does not accept limitations. God will do anything for those that God loves - including coming down to live among us, including reaching out to us no matter how many times we turn away. God’s love for us goes to infinity and beyond.
And when this love inhabits us, it encourages us to go beyond that which is expected. It encourages us to go beyond the norm. It encourages us to act boldly in our love for other people. It encourages us to show the love that God has for us out to other people, people who may not yet know God’s love but who are no more or less deserving of God’s love than any of the rest of us.
As we hear in our brief text today (see Esther 4:14), Esther is a good model for this bold love that we are called to have for others. I chose to read only a single verse out of the book of Esther today because it sums up well the ways in which God does far more than we can know or expect.
Now for those that may not be familiar with the book of Esther, this section of the Bible is a relatively brief book in the Hebrew scriptures - only 10 chapters long. It tells a story of Jews living in Persia under King Ahasuerus. Having gotten annoyed with his wife, Vashti, he sends her away and decides to choose a new queen. Esther is a Jewish orphan that had been raised by her relative, Mordecai. The king becomes enamored of Esther and takes her as his queen, but he does not know that she is Jewish.
Shortly after Esther becomes queen, Mordecai, who works at the city gates, discovers a plot to assassinate the king. He reports it through Esther, and the two men involved are captured. Mordecai’s actions are noted in the royal register.
Then the king promotes Haman to be his viceroy, chief amongst all his officials. All the guards at the gate bow to Haman except Mordecai. Mordecai refuses because as an observant Jew he will bow to no man. This infuriates Haman, who decides to not only punish Haman but also all of the Jews living in the land. He tells the king only that there is a group of people in the land that do not follow the king’s commands and that they should be destroyed. Without knowing who they are or what exact offense they have given, the king gives Haman permission to do as he pleases with them. Haman then writes up an order to be sent out to all of the governors that on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, all Jews are to be killed. He seals the order with the king’s seal to make it official. Then he waits.
When Mordecai learns of the plan, he goes into mourning, as do other Jews around the nation. They don’t know what to do. But then Mordecai goes to Esther and begs her to ask the king to reverse this law.
Esther is afraid to go to the king, because to approach the king uninvited means death. Mordecai reminds her that as a Jew, she also is subject to the law; being a member of the royal household will not save her. Then he says the words that we heard as our scripture text today:
After the feast, the king offers Estehr whatever she should ask for. All she requests is for the king and Haman to return the next day for another feast. She will make her request at the time.
After leaving the queens residence, Haman again notices that Mordecai will not bow to him. Becoming even angrier he orders a gallows built on which he intends to kill Mordecai.
That same evening, the king has trouble sleeping and orders a scribe to read to him from the royal records. I imagine this would be like being President and having someone read the Constitution to you when you have trouble sleeping. It also reminds me of the joke about the woman having trouble falling asleep so she asks her husband to tell her about his Dungeons & Dragons character. Once he starts talking, she falls right to sleep.
At any rate, as the royal records are being read, the king is reminded of the time that Mordecai had saved him from the assassination plot. When he asks how Mordecai was rewarded, he is told that Mordecai was never rewarded for his service. At that same moment, Haman enters the courtyard intending to tell the king of his plan to kill Mordecai the next day. Instead, the king asks him what he should do for one he wishes to honor. Thinking the king means to honor him, Haman tells the king all the things he would want for himself. Then the king says, “Good, we’ll do that for Mordecai.”
Obviously, this means he can’t have Mordecai killed. Then the next day, he returns to another feast with the king hosted by Queen Esther. At this meal, she tells the king that she is a Jew and that there is a plan to kill all of the Jews in the land. She begs him to save her people. When he learns what Haman has done in his name, he is overwhelmed. Haman is killed on the gallows he had set up for Mordecai, Esther is given control of all of Haman's wealth and possessions, and Mordecai is made the new viceroy.
Through the actions of Esther, actions that could have led to her death, the Jewish people living in Persia were saved. Because of her faith and the love she had for Mordecai and the rest of her family, she took bold action to make sure they would be safe from the calamity that would otherwise befall them. And the result is more than she could have asked for. Not only are all the Jews in the land saved, but she was given control of Haman’s wealth, and Mordecai was made the new viceroy.
Now in the midst of all of this, it is interesting to note that God is not in fact mentioned anywhere in the story. While Mordecai’s faith and what he will and won’t do because of it is central to the story, God is not actually mentioned. But this is not to say that God is not present. In fact, the lack of direct mention of God makes God’s presence here even more important.
When we look to our focus text for today, there is much we can say about God from these few short lines. First, God loves God’s people and will work miracles for them with or without our help. This is obvious from the first line of our text - “if you don’t speak up at this very important time, relief and rescue will appear for the Jews from another place” (Esther 4:14a, CEB). God is at work and will make sure salvation comes whether we act or not. This is obviously not meant to suggest that we should not act. In fact, this is part of Mordecai’s argument for action. But it does mean that God will do more than we can expect or ask for. Even when we aren’t asking for salvation, God is still there offering it.
But the next part of the text is equally important. “But who knows? Maybe it was for a moment like this that you came to be part of the royal family” (Esther 4:14b, CEB). For Esther, her placement in the royal household was an opportunity for salvation for the Jews. While Mordecai had made clear his belief that salvation would come even if Esther did not act, she is in fact in a prime position to do good for those in trouble.
It is like a more positive version of the story of Joseph and his brothers. While Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery out of their jealousy, it caused him to be in a situation to ultimately save his family during a great famine. In becoming queen, Esther is placed in a key situation to save her family in a similar moment of peril. This is not to say she did not otherwise deserve to be queen, but look how much more good was able to come from that than expected.
Other translations of this text use the phrase “for such a time as this” to indicate the providence at work in the midst of Esther’s circumstances. An orphan girl with little to offer as the world understands it becomes queen at just the right time to have the influence that will save her people. Even without naming God explicitly, we can see God’s hand at work in the story here.
And what of us? In the midst of our fears and hesitations, in the midst of situations that seem out of our control, perhaps we are exactly where we are meant to be for such a time as this. Perhaps we are in exactly the position we need to be in to show God’s faithfulness and love to the world in this very place, in a world desperately in need of love and forgiveness.
I’m not myself a queen. I don’t have any royal blood that I am aware of. And I don’t know that I have any particular influence on those in power. But I firmly believe that I am exactly where God needs me to be, exactly in the place I need to be for such a time as this. I can see God’s Spirit at work in all the subtle coincidences that occurred for me to get here. That doesn’t mean it was easy. There were plenty of occasions in the last two years when I was just as concerned about losing everything as Esther was when she was asked to approach the king. And yet, like Esther, my faith simply taught me to trust. And here I am doing ministry that I love in a community of faithful people.
What about you? As you go through your week I want you to consider your faith and the ways in which you trust God in your life. How does your faith and trust in God lead you to act boldly in the name of love? Esther risked everything she had in the name of those she loved. She chose to trust God rather than play it safe. And the results were beyond all she had hoped.
Imagine all the things God can accomplish through us in this community if we trust in God and act boldly for love.
Maybe that is exactly why you are here today, exactly why you are in this community at this time - that your presence may be exactly what this community needs.
Sometimes God answers prayers through us.
Sometimes we are in exactly the right place at the right time to benefit others.
And every time, God is able to do far more with that little act of faith than we could ever accomplish on our own.
Like Esther, may we act boldly in the name of love.
Like Buzz Lightyear, may we act without hesitation.
And may the God who loves us all use us wherever we may find ourselves.
"To infinity and beyond."
Each Sunday of June, our worship will focus on one of these characters in the Bible who go beyond what is expected of them. The month started with the story of Daniel in the lions den and the ways in which Daniel (and others) went beyond what was expected in faith. This week we take a look at Queen Esther who acted with boldness to save her people. The remaining two Sundays, we will look at the Good Samaritan and the healing of the ten lepers.
* * *
Going beyond. That is our theme this month. Going beyond.
I admit that as I looked at our Vacation Bible School for this summer, “To Mars and Beyond,” and thought about this theme, the first thought that came to mind was Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story movies and his rallying cry - “To infinity and beyond.”
For Buzz Lightyear, there is no limit in his mind on what can be accomplished. He leaps without thinking, he doesn’t accept limitations, and he would do anything for those that he loves.
Hmmm, when I put it that way, maybe this does fit with our theme for the month. We are reminded in Ephesians 3:20, that God is able to do far more than we can ask for or even imagine. God does not accept limitations. God will do anything for those that God loves - including coming down to live among us, including reaching out to us no matter how many times we turn away. God’s love for us goes to infinity and beyond.
And when this love inhabits us, it encourages us to go beyond that which is expected. It encourages us to go beyond the norm. It encourages us to act boldly in our love for other people. It encourages us to show the love that God has for us out to other people, people who may not yet know God’s love but who are no more or less deserving of God’s love than any of the rest of us.
As we hear in our brief text today (see Esther 4:14), Esther is a good model for this bold love that we are called to have for others. I chose to read only a single verse out of the book of Esther today because it sums up well the ways in which God does far more than we can know or expect.
Now for those that may not be familiar with the book of Esther, this section of the Bible is a relatively brief book in the Hebrew scriptures - only 10 chapters long. It tells a story of Jews living in Persia under King Ahasuerus. Having gotten annoyed with his wife, Vashti, he sends her away and decides to choose a new queen. Esther is a Jewish orphan that had been raised by her relative, Mordecai. The king becomes enamored of Esther and takes her as his queen, but he does not know that she is Jewish.
Shortly after Esther becomes queen, Mordecai, who works at the city gates, discovers a plot to assassinate the king. He reports it through Esther, and the two men involved are captured. Mordecai’s actions are noted in the royal register.
Then the king promotes Haman to be his viceroy, chief amongst all his officials. All the guards at the gate bow to Haman except Mordecai. Mordecai refuses because as an observant Jew he will bow to no man. This infuriates Haman, who decides to not only punish Haman but also all of the Jews living in the land. He tells the king only that there is a group of people in the land that do not follow the king’s commands and that they should be destroyed. Without knowing who they are or what exact offense they have given, the king gives Haman permission to do as he pleases with them. Haman then writes up an order to be sent out to all of the governors that on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, all Jews are to be killed. He seals the order with the king’s seal to make it official. Then he waits.
When Mordecai learns of the plan, he goes into mourning, as do other Jews around the nation. They don’t know what to do. But then Mordecai goes to Esther and begs her to ask the king to reverse this law.
Esther is afraid to go to the king, because to approach the king uninvited means death. Mordecai reminds her that as a Jew, she also is subject to the law; being a member of the royal household will not save her. Then he says the words that we heard as our scripture text today:
In fact, if you don’t speak up at this very important time, relief and rescue will appear for the Jews from another place, but you and your family will die. But who knows? Maybe it was for a moment like this that you came to be part of the royal family. (Esther 4:14, CEB)And so, Esther goes and stands at the door of the throne room. Fortunately, the king permits Esther to approach, and she invites him and Haman to a feast.
After the feast, the king offers Estehr whatever she should ask for. All she requests is for the king and Haman to return the next day for another feast. She will make her request at the time.
After leaving the queens residence, Haman again notices that Mordecai will not bow to him. Becoming even angrier he orders a gallows built on which he intends to kill Mordecai.
That same evening, the king has trouble sleeping and orders a scribe to read to him from the royal records. I imagine this would be like being President and having someone read the Constitution to you when you have trouble sleeping. It also reminds me of the joke about the woman having trouble falling asleep so she asks her husband to tell her about his Dungeons & Dragons character. Once he starts talking, she falls right to sleep.
At any rate, as the royal records are being read, the king is reminded of the time that Mordecai had saved him from the assassination plot. When he asks how Mordecai was rewarded, he is told that Mordecai was never rewarded for his service. At that same moment, Haman enters the courtyard intending to tell the king of his plan to kill Mordecai the next day. Instead, the king asks him what he should do for one he wishes to honor. Thinking the king means to honor him, Haman tells the king all the things he would want for himself. Then the king says, “Good, we’ll do that for Mordecai.”
Obviously, this means he can’t have Mordecai killed. Then the next day, he returns to another feast with the king hosted by Queen Esther. At this meal, she tells the king that she is a Jew and that there is a plan to kill all of the Jews in the land. She begs him to save her people. When he learns what Haman has done in his name, he is overwhelmed. Haman is killed on the gallows he had set up for Mordecai, Esther is given control of all of Haman's wealth and possessions, and Mordecai is made the new viceroy.
Through the actions of Esther, actions that could have led to her death, the Jewish people living in Persia were saved. Because of her faith and the love she had for Mordecai and the rest of her family, she took bold action to make sure they would be safe from the calamity that would otherwise befall them. And the result is more than she could have asked for. Not only are all the Jews in the land saved, but she was given control of Haman’s wealth, and Mordecai was made the new viceroy.
Now in the midst of all of this, it is interesting to note that God is not in fact mentioned anywhere in the story. While Mordecai’s faith and what he will and won’t do because of it is central to the story, God is not actually mentioned. But this is not to say that God is not present. In fact, the lack of direct mention of God makes God’s presence here even more important.
When we look to our focus text for today, there is much we can say about God from these few short lines. First, God loves God’s people and will work miracles for them with or without our help. This is obvious from the first line of our text - “if you don’t speak up at this very important time, relief and rescue will appear for the Jews from another place” (Esther 4:14a, CEB). God is at work and will make sure salvation comes whether we act or not. This is obviously not meant to suggest that we should not act. In fact, this is part of Mordecai’s argument for action. But it does mean that God will do more than we can expect or ask for. Even when we aren’t asking for salvation, God is still there offering it.
But the next part of the text is equally important. “But who knows? Maybe it was for a moment like this that you came to be part of the royal family” (Esther 4:14b, CEB). For Esther, her placement in the royal household was an opportunity for salvation for the Jews. While Mordecai had made clear his belief that salvation would come even if Esther did not act, she is in fact in a prime position to do good for those in trouble.
It is like a more positive version of the story of Joseph and his brothers. While Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery out of their jealousy, it caused him to be in a situation to ultimately save his family during a great famine. In becoming queen, Esther is placed in a key situation to save her family in a similar moment of peril. This is not to say she did not otherwise deserve to be queen, but look how much more good was able to come from that than expected.
Other translations of this text use the phrase “for such a time as this” to indicate the providence at work in the midst of Esther’s circumstances. An orphan girl with little to offer as the world understands it becomes queen at just the right time to have the influence that will save her people. Even without naming God explicitly, we can see God’s hand at work in the story here.
And what of us? In the midst of our fears and hesitations, in the midst of situations that seem out of our control, perhaps we are exactly where we are meant to be for such a time as this. Perhaps we are in exactly the position we need to be in to show God’s faithfulness and love to the world in this very place, in a world desperately in need of love and forgiveness.
I’m not myself a queen. I don’t have any royal blood that I am aware of. And I don’t know that I have any particular influence on those in power. But I firmly believe that I am exactly where God needs me to be, exactly in the place I need to be for such a time as this. I can see God’s Spirit at work in all the subtle coincidences that occurred for me to get here. That doesn’t mean it was easy. There were plenty of occasions in the last two years when I was just as concerned about losing everything as Esther was when she was asked to approach the king. And yet, like Esther, my faith simply taught me to trust. And here I am doing ministry that I love in a community of faithful people.
What about you? As you go through your week I want you to consider your faith and the ways in which you trust God in your life. How does your faith and trust in God lead you to act boldly in the name of love? Esther risked everything she had in the name of those she loved. She chose to trust God rather than play it safe. And the results were beyond all she had hoped.
Imagine all the things God can accomplish through us in this community if we trust in God and act boldly for love.
Maybe that is exactly why you are here today, exactly why you are in this community at this time - that your presence may be exactly what this community needs.
Sometimes God answers prayers through us.
Sometimes we are in exactly the right place at the right time to benefit others.
And every time, God is able to do far more with that little act of faith than we could ever accomplish on our own.
Like Esther, may we act boldly in the name of love.
Like Buzz Lightyear, may we act without hesitation.
And may the God who loves us all use us wherever we may find ourselves.
"To infinity and beyond."
Pentecost: Encountering the Spirit
Throughout the season of Easter, we have heard stories of lives changed and empowered by their encounters with the risen body of Jesus. On Pentecost, the fiftieth day of Easter, we celebrate the continuing encounter we have with God through the presence and work of the Holy Spirit.
Over the last fifty days, we have celebrated the risen Christ. We have heard about many of the encounters that different disciples had with the risen body of Jesus. During these encounters, Jesus spoke again of many of the things he had taught to the disciples before his death. These encounters filled the disciples with new life, encouraging them and enlivening them to both continue the work he had started with them as well as to enter into new ministries in the world.
Before he ascended to heaven, Jesus promised them that he would send to them the Holy Spirit who would dwell within them and continue to guide them.
So here we are, fifty days after Easter on the day of Pentecost. Now the word Pentecost comes to us from Greek and translates more or less literally as fiftieth. Originally, this Greek word was used to refer to a Jewish festival, the Feast of Weeks, that occurs fifty days after the start of Passover, or (as the Hebrew people understood it) a week of weeks after Passover. So when our text today tells us that they were all together on Pentecost day, this is what it means. It was the fiftieth day since the Passover, and, as observant Jews, they were all together to celebrate the holy day. This holiday is a combined celebration of the wheat harvest as well as the day observed as the day that God gave the law to Israel.
Due to the story we read today, we in the Christian tradition now observe Pentecost in the church. However, instead of celebrating it as the day God gave the Torah to Israel, we celebrate the day that God gave the Holy Spirit to all people.
And so, the disciples were all together in one place when the house was filled with wind and individual tongues of flame alighted on each of them. From that moment as they spoke, the others gathered there in Jerusalem for the festival were able to understand the disciples each in their native languages. The Jews and converts gathered in Jerusalem were from all over the Empire. And yet they could all understand the disciples as they told of the mighty works of God.
This refers us back to another story from the Hebrew scriptures, the story of the tower of Babel. In that story, people tried to build a tower that would reach all the way up to heaven and make them equal to God. Instead, God mixed up their languages so that they could not easily understand each other and scattered them across the globe.
But here in our story today, we see that story reversed. People from all over the globe are gathered, and they can all understand the disciples. And all this not because the disciples were trying to ascend to God, but because God descended to them, alighting on them in tongues of flame.
Can you imagine how terrifying this must have been for the disciples? After all they have been through over the past two months, a fierce, howling wind blows through the house they are in and then they see tongues of fire descending on each other. Try to imagine what that would be like for us today. What if we were gathered here in this place to celebrate and suddenly the space was filled with wind and sound and tongues of fire? I suspect we would all be running for the nearest exit.
And perhaps that is what the disciples did for the very next section of the text tells us that others heard the sound and gathered around the disciples. No longer in the house, the disciples are now out in public. The people that gathered around could hear the disciples in their own languages and were understandably confused. It would be one thing for a few people to understand the disciples in their native languages. But for everyone to understand them? There were probably more languages represented than there were disciples present. So how is it possible?
So there was surprise and confusion even though at least a few of those present just laughed it off as a drunken display. And why not? At least some of those present surely knew who these men were and all that had happened in the last few weeks. They knew these men had followed Jesus, knew Jesus had been executed as an enemy of the state, and had probably heard the wild stories the disciples had been telling about Jesus raised from the dead. No matter what Peter says about it being impossible for the disciples to be drunk because it is only 9:00 in the morning, it is unsurprising that some might think the disciples are constantly drunk as a way of explaining the outrageous stories they are telling.
But then Peter quotes the prophet Joel as a way to explain what is happening. This is not drunkenness, but the work of the Spirit as promised by God through the prophet Joel and by Jesus to his disciples. This is the day on which God’s spirit is poured out on men and women, young and old, free and enslaved. All have a place in God’s kingdom and all have a role to play. Diversity is no longer an excuse for separation; diversity is what brings the people together. They each hear in their own languages, but they all hear the same stories, stories of God’s mighty acts in the world and the good news of God’s relationship with all people as revealed in Jesus.
I keep trying to imagine what that was like. The rushing wind, the tongues of fire, the sudden ability to understand one another no matter what language was being spoken. As they realized what was happening, I am sure the disciples became more and more excited. The energy in that place would have been amazing. They would have recognized the same energy they had felt in the presence of Jesus, particularly in their recent encounters with him after the resurrection.
But I think it is hard for us to imagine what that was like. It is hard because sometimes we think God no longer appears in the same ways, that these stories are all in the past. We sometimes forget that the Holy Spirit is still moving among us today. God didn’t stop showing up 2000 years ago. The story didn’t end on Good Friday or on Easter or on that first Pentecost. The story didn’t end with Peter or Paul or any of their immediate followers or even their followers followers. After that day of Pentecost the disciples spread throughout the known world, gathering other followers throughout the Empire and beyond. Followers of Jesus spread out from Jerusalem throughout northern Africa, southern Asia, and into Europe. And the story still continues today.
We look back today on that first Pentecost as the birth of the church, the day that Christianity as something distinct from its Jewish roots was born. I think we sometimes like to look at this as a natural progression, but when we do we miss how truly radical this shift was for those early followers. Those that had been with Jesus were all Jews. They did their best to keep to the law and observe the holy days and festivals. They weren’t trying to start something new. They were trying to learn how to be better followers of God's ways.
But on Pentecost the Holy Spirit breaks in with something new. And as observant Jews, they would have recognized all the nuances at play here. Peter points to the prophet Joel. We have the reversal of the Babel story. We have the sound and the wind from the appearance of God to Elijah. We have the Spirit descending on the same day they were gathered to observe the gift of the Torah from God.
And we cannot forget the fire. A pillar of fire led the Hebrew people through the wilderness. And fire figures into several call stories in the Hebrew scriptures, especially fire which does not consume. Fire is part of the appearance of God to Elijah. An angel touches a burning coal to Isaiah’s lips. And Moses is called to lead the Hebrew people to freedom by a burning bush.
Though the reversal of the curse of Babel is most often touched on in relation to Pentecost, it is the burning bush that came to mind for me as I prepared these last couple of weeks. Moses who was watching his father-in-law’s sheep. Moses who was content in the life he had found for himself after fleeing the Pharaoh's household. Moses who wanted nothing more than to hide away from any prying eyes and live simply for the rest of his days. Moses sees a bush that burns without being consumed. He approaches and is told to remove his shoes for he is walking on holy ground. And then God speaks to Moses from that bush and places Moses on the path that he will follow for the rest of his life.
It is this same fire that descended on the disciples that day in Jerusalem. It was a fire that did not consume them. It was a fire that called them and set them on the path that each of them would follow for the rest of their lives.
And it is this same fire that empowers and enlivens us today. It is a fire that does not consume us, but one which calls us to follow Jesus for the rest of our days. It is a fire that leads us and shows us the way.
And just as the Holy Spirit led the disciples in new directions, the Holy Spirit can still lead us in new directions today.
So what about you? Where have you felt the Spirit still at work in your life? What has the Holy Spirit empowered you to do to continue the ministry of Jesus Christ here in the world today?
The Holy Spirit is present with us, here, now, today. This Spirit burns with holy fire, a fire that gives energy but does not consume. This Spirit guides us, leads us, sends us forth in service to the word.
Are we ready?
Are we ready to go where the Spirit moves us to go?
Let us go together.
* * *
Over the last fifty days, we have celebrated the risen Christ. We have heard about many of the encounters that different disciples had with the risen body of Jesus. During these encounters, Jesus spoke again of many of the things he had taught to the disciples before his death. These encounters filled the disciples with new life, encouraging them and enlivening them to both continue the work he had started with them as well as to enter into new ministries in the world.
Before he ascended to heaven, Jesus promised them that he would send to them the Holy Spirit who would dwell within them and continue to guide them.
So here we are, fifty days after Easter on the day of Pentecost. Now the word Pentecost comes to us from Greek and translates more or less literally as fiftieth. Originally, this Greek word was used to refer to a Jewish festival, the Feast of Weeks, that occurs fifty days after the start of Passover, or (as the Hebrew people understood it) a week of weeks after Passover. So when our text today tells us that they were all together on Pentecost day, this is what it means. It was the fiftieth day since the Passover, and, as observant Jews, they were all together to celebrate the holy day. This holiday is a combined celebration of the wheat harvest as well as the day observed as the day that God gave the law to Israel.
Due to the story we read today, we in the Christian tradition now observe Pentecost in the church. However, instead of celebrating it as the day God gave the Torah to Israel, we celebrate the day that God gave the Holy Spirit to all people.
And so, the disciples were all together in one place when the house was filled with wind and individual tongues of flame alighted on each of them. From that moment as they spoke, the others gathered there in Jerusalem for the festival were able to understand the disciples each in their native languages. The Jews and converts gathered in Jerusalem were from all over the Empire. And yet they could all understand the disciples as they told of the mighty works of God.
This refers us back to another story from the Hebrew scriptures, the story of the tower of Babel. In that story, people tried to build a tower that would reach all the way up to heaven and make them equal to God. Instead, God mixed up their languages so that they could not easily understand each other and scattered them across the globe.
But here in our story today, we see that story reversed. People from all over the globe are gathered, and they can all understand the disciples. And all this not because the disciples were trying to ascend to God, but because God descended to them, alighting on them in tongues of flame.
Can you imagine how terrifying this must have been for the disciples? After all they have been through over the past two months, a fierce, howling wind blows through the house they are in and then they see tongues of fire descending on each other. Try to imagine what that would be like for us today. What if we were gathered here in this place to celebrate and suddenly the space was filled with wind and sound and tongues of fire? I suspect we would all be running for the nearest exit.
And perhaps that is what the disciples did for the very next section of the text tells us that others heard the sound and gathered around the disciples. No longer in the house, the disciples are now out in public. The people that gathered around could hear the disciples in their own languages and were understandably confused. It would be one thing for a few people to understand the disciples in their native languages. But for everyone to understand them? There were probably more languages represented than there were disciples present. So how is it possible?
So there was surprise and confusion even though at least a few of those present just laughed it off as a drunken display. And why not? At least some of those present surely knew who these men were and all that had happened in the last few weeks. They knew these men had followed Jesus, knew Jesus had been executed as an enemy of the state, and had probably heard the wild stories the disciples had been telling about Jesus raised from the dead. No matter what Peter says about it being impossible for the disciples to be drunk because it is only 9:00 in the morning, it is unsurprising that some might think the disciples are constantly drunk as a way of explaining the outrageous stories they are telling.
But then Peter quotes the prophet Joel as a way to explain what is happening. This is not drunkenness, but the work of the Spirit as promised by God through the prophet Joel and by Jesus to his disciples. This is the day on which God’s spirit is poured out on men and women, young and old, free and enslaved. All have a place in God’s kingdom and all have a role to play. Diversity is no longer an excuse for separation; diversity is what brings the people together. They each hear in their own languages, but they all hear the same stories, stories of God’s mighty acts in the world and the good news of God’s relationship with all people as revealed in Jesus.
I keep trying to imagine what that was like. The rushing wind, the tongues of fire, the sudden ability to understand one another no matter what language was being spoken. As they realized what was happening, I am sure the disciples became more and more excited. The energy in that place would have been amazing. They would have recognized the same energy they had felt in the presence of Jesus, particularly in their recent encounters with him after the resurrection.
But I think it is hard for us to imagine what that was like. It is hard because sometimes we think God no longer appears in the same ways, that these stories are all in the past. We sometimes forget that the Holy Spirit is still moving among us today. God didn’t stop showing up 2000 years ago. The story didn’t end on Good Friday or on Easter or on that first Pentecost. The story didn’t end with Peter or Paul or any of their immediate followers or even their followers followers. After that day of Pentecost the disciples spread throughout the known world, gathering other followers throughout the Empire and beyond. Followers of Jesus spread out from Jerusalem throughout northern Africa, southern Asia, and into Europe. And the story still continues today.
We look back today on that first Pentecost as the birth of the church, the day that Christianity as something distinct from its Jewish roots was born. I think we sometimes like to look at this as a natural progression, but when we do we miss how truly radical this shift was for those early followers. Those that had been with Jesus were all Jews. They did their best to keep to the law and observe the holy days and festivals. They weren’t trying to start something new. They were trying to learn how to be better followers of God's ways.
But on Pentecost the Holy Spirit breaks in with something new. And as observant Jews, they would have recognized all the nuances at play here. Peter points to the prophet Joel. We have the reversal of the Babel story. We have the sound and the wind from the appearance of God to Elijah. We have the Spirit descending on the same day they were gathered to observe the gift of the Torah from God.
And we cannot forget the fire. A pillar of fire led the Hebrew people through the wilderness. And fire figures into several call stories in the Hebrew scriptures, especially fire which does not consume. Fire is part of the appearance of God to Elijah. An angel touches a burning coal to Isaiah’s lips. And Moses is called to lead the Hebrew people to freedom by a burning bush.
Though the reversal of the curse of Babel is most often touched on in relation to Pentecost, it is the burning bush that came to mind for me as I prepared these last couple of weeks. Moses who was watching his father-in-law’s sheep. Moses who was content in the life he had found for himself after fleeing the Pharaoh's household. Moses who wanted nothing more than to hide away from any prying eyes and live simply for the rest of his days. Moses sees a bush that burns without being consumed. He approaches and is told to remove his shoes for he is walking on holy ground. And then God speaks to Moses from that bush and places Moses on the path that he will follow for the rest of his life.
It is this same fire that descended on the disciples that day in Jerusalem. It was a fire that did not consume them. It was a fire that called them and set them on the path that each of them would follow for the rest of their lives.
And it is this same fire that empowers and enlivens us today. It is a fire that does not consume us, but one which calls us to follow Jesus for the rest of our days. It is a fire that leads us and shows us the way.
And just as the Holy Spirit led the disciples in new directions, the Holy Spirit can still lead us in new directions today.
So what about you? Where have you felt the Spirit still at work in your life? What has the Holy Spirit empowered you to do to continue the ministry of Jesus Christ here in the world today?
The Holy Spirit is present with us, here, now, today. This Spirit burns with holy fire, a fire that gives energy but does not consume. This Spirit guides us, leads us, sends us forth in service to the word.
Are we ready?
Are we ready to go where the Spirit moves us to go?
Let us go together.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)