For all the people...

The nursing students from Linfield College do much of their training at Good Samaritan Hospital, aka "Good Sam" up in inner NW Portland. As many young people do these days before settling down into families and careers, they travel in their downtime. They see parts of the world where their parents or grandparents never traveled--except during time of war. Several years ago, a group traveled to Southeast Asia. They spent time in Thailand and Cambodia. They spent a lot of time in Vietnam. They took a lot of pictures, brought home many more in their heads. At one of the Linfield/Good Sam buildings there is a small space for art exhibits, often photography. This group took one of their photos with the sun at their backs and casting long shadows on the street to make a composite collage. Over 10,000 pictures. Most contain people. The students themselves. Or the people they encountered. From these images they reconstructed the one street photo on a large panel measuring approximately 4 x 5 feet. If your computer can do so, zoom in on either of these shots. See the people. All the people... As April 5 came and passed this year, I thought again about Wes and how few days he had left in his one-year tour in Vietnam. 5 April 1968. His last. I live. He doesn't. Most of the people in the photos were not alive when Wes lived. And died. None of the people who took the pictures were. For all the people, Christ came. He lived. He died. He lives... Amen. Roger

Angels Among Us

Steve Hanks is our favorite living watercolorist. His rendering of the human form has a draftsman's precision. But his shading of skin tones has to be a gift of the Creator. You have to be born with it, I think. Gosh, he's good.

This painting is titled "There Are Angels Among Us".

OK, which one is the angel? Woman walking the dog? The dog? Guy walking away? Guy in the background with his kid? Couple way in the background?

The woman in black?

Guy wearing the hoodie?

Kids would be willing to hazard a guess. Probably won't get a peep out of adults. Too afraid of being "wrong".

"Pastor wants me to say it's the homeless guy in the hoodie." That's what we might think.

"Or maybe it's the gal in black... Do angels really wear black? Could they?"

How might your answer about the angel question change if I asked this:

"OK, hold the answer to who the angel is. Meanwhile, ask this question: Who is the Christ?"

While you ponder, ponder another question. Is there someone else in the picture you haven't seen yet?

How about the person whose eyes are seeing this picture? How about you?

Rob Bell in his breathtaking short film DVD "Open" poses this thought. Maybe God wants to involve you in the answer to prayer. Then he gets to the meat. "Don't ask God to feed a hungry person if you have plenty of food."

We have no idea what act of kindness and grace anyone in the painting has just performed--or is about to. Even the person behind the eyes that see the scene before us.

There are angels among us. And so is Christ. So are you.

Amen.

Roger

Seeking the Living Among The Dead: I'm Listening!

Luke 24:1-13.


After most have denied him or cowered in the shadows at the foot of the cross, they retire to safe cover as the sun sets and Sabbath begins.


One Joseph of Arimathea makes a plea for the lifeless body of one Jesus of Nazareth, born in Bethlehem under tax enrollment upheaval and displacement.

Now, ordinarily the one being executed might have taken a little longer to die, had he not already been so weakened by scourging, blood loss and dehydration. Then the Romans would have left the body on the cross to be picked at by crows and swarmed by blowflys and maggots while rotting in the sun: Let this be a reminder, tax evaders, insurgents, revolutionaries and those who claim that anyone besides Caesar is the son of God.


Not this time. Pilate does not accede to the temple leaders' requests to revise "The King of the Jews" to "He said he was the King of the Jews." Pilate does not appear to believe Jesus should be put to death. He probably grudgingly gives the order so as to leave nothing to chance about possible insurgent leaders while placating the priestly class who could foment rebellion themselves. He signs the death warrant. But it's probably as much a poke in the eye back at 'em when Pilate grants Joseph of A-town the body.



The women go out to do the dirty work of finishing preparation of Jesus' body early on the first day of the week. They go expecting to find nothing but a body. They find a very different scene instead. They hear the words from beings of light "Why do you seek the living among the dead?"



It hadn't occurred to them that they were doing that. The words seemed like nonsense. They go back to tell the male disciples. The women's words seemed like nonsense to the men. I think the Bible and translators are being kind. I think the men probably responded with words more in the category of unprintables.


Hint, guys (gals, too!): Never make fun of somebody who has seen angels! Not unless you have seen something better.


In the days and hours and years and decades and centuries and millennia to follow, people have come to know and experience a powerful relationship with a living Christ.


Do those words seem like nonsense? Are we listening? Or are our lives still seeking the living among the dead?


He lives! Not just because the Bible tells me so. I know.


And here's a little tip. If death has been vanquished, sin doesn't stand a chance.


Er ist nicht hier. Aber er ist auferstanden. (German. Sounds like nonsense until you understand what the words mean.)


Peace,


Roger

Making the Most Of It

Happy End-of-May Day!

I sat on my butt in the front border of our yard digging out weeds and grass so that the roses and azaleas might fare a bit better. The man who mows and does other yard work for our across-the-street neighbor was talking to her quite animatedly. I could only get the highlights, the stock phrases of his speech; but my mind could fill in most of the details. Here are a few snippets of his words:

"Barack Obama says the discussion is over..."

"...taking us straight to the Book of Daniel..."

"...these banks..."

"...leading us to socialism..."

"when all the governments become socialist they will all decide to just become one world government..."

"...leading us straight to the Book of Daniel..."

To him, it's all pre-determined. It's laid out in prophecy which he takes (only) literally, because that's how his mind works. His scenario is that God will send Christ back to suck a few good guys out of the world and then put the rest of humanity and creation for which Christ died through a Cuisinart of sorts to squeeze the blood out of the remaining ones and then eternally incinerate everybody and everything with the great cosmic acetylene torch. Or maybe it's a nuclear torch. Heck, maybe it's nuc-U-lar.

Old Martin Luther took a few steps back from Scripture 500 years ago to ask what its point was, what lens we should use to view it all, how we could make sense of the seeming bi-polar nature of God. Was God passive-aggressive, bi-polar, manic-depressive? Could God be trusted? If so, how could we know this? Should we give more weight to certain parts of Scripture, certain types of literature, than others? If so, how?

His solution was the question "Does it make the most of Christ?"

It might help us to remember that Moses' intercession changed God's mind about Israel. It might help us to remember that Nineveh's repentance disappointed Jonah greatly because the planned holocaust was called off by God. It ain't all fixed.

If in our day all we look for in the future is an inexorable march to destruction for the many, salvation for the few, does it make the most of Christ?

More importantly, do we?

Shalom,

Pastor Roger