Sermon by Deklan Jay Lewis.

Growing up in the 90s, I was told that being gay was a sin and that HIV/AIDS was proof of that.

I was taught to see gay people as willfully disobeying God and that I shouldn’t associate with them. Later in life, I was told that Muslims were terrorists, that they all hated Christians and wanted to kill us. Purity culture taught me to guard myself against temptations regarding members of the opposite sex and that just being alone with one could lead to all manner of sinfulness. These were all cultural norms, and they formed the way that I viewed certain people and caused me to avoid engaging with them, to the point of basically alienating them and myself, out of fear. 

This behavior is a symptom of the human condition and was very present during Jesus’ lifetime too. Jesus came to break those patterns and stereotypes and dividing walls. The story of an afternoon by a well in a town he had no business being in, talking to a woman he had no business talking to, is in itself an example of a learned bias, as we have all heard this story told from a particular perspective. But what if our teachers, our cultural interpretations, and assumptions are wrong? 

I did a lot of reading this week as there is no shortage of commentary on this passage.

One of my favorites said this: “In the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, we find the longest conversation Jesus has with anyone in the Gospels.” That right there should tell us something! “Contemporary interpreters tend to miss much of the significance of this encounter because they make it into the tale of the sinful and ignorant foreigner whose life turns around because she meets Jesus—the bread and butter of a revival preacher’s repertoire.” Oof! Where have we heard that before?

Did you ever read a story or hear a guest speaker talk about the most pitiful lost soul you could imagine coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus and turning from addict to evangelist, or the missionary stories about the witch doctor becoming the village pastor? It’s miraculous, charismatic, but still carries a level of shame; it ties that person forever to their less-than-desirable (in our eyes) past. That’s what we have done to the Samaritan woman. 

We’ve laid out the case: she was at the well in the middle of the day… why would she do that? She must have been an outcast! She had 5 husbands, and the man she currently lived with was not her husband at all. We have labeled her: Whore, Prostitute, Loose Woman, Serial Divorcee! The kind of woman you want to avoid.  Why do we do this to the women in the Bible? Why do we assume the worst and paint them as scheming, deceitful, fornicating women of very low or no morals? Why do we not believe women, even today, when they tell the truth about things that have happened to them? Why do we blame them for the things that men have done to them? 

According to every source I read this week, there is NO way she could have divorced multiple husbands! It was not possible in those times. For a woman to get a single divorce was virtually unheard of, but 5, no way! So what then could have been the explanation? The most likely story is a familiar one, if you know your Hebrew Bible. Anyone recognize the name Tamar?

I’m gonna switch gears for just a second to address the other questionable elements in this stories setting… the well at midday.

The writer of John’s gospel relies heavily on some themes; one of them is the contrast between darkness and light. At the beginning of the previous chapter of John, there is another story of Jesus revealing himself to someone. In that story, Nicodemus, a Pharisee and known leader in the Jewish community, comes to Jesus, in the dark of night, to ask Jesus about his identity. Without going into all the details, Jesus shares with Nicodemus some of the mysteries of God; he shares about being “born from above,” and about how God loved the world so much that God sent Jesus. But despite being a teacher of Israel, Nicodemus doesn’t understand, and we are left to imagine him leaving, even more in the dark than before.

Here is an alternative explanation as to why the Samaritan woman was at the well at midday: it was a literary device, employed by the writer of the Gospel, to draw a comparison and drive home a point. Nicodemus, a man of the law, came in darkness and left more confused than when he arrived. The Samaritan woman, an outsider, if not outright enemy to the Jews, meets Jesus in the light and can see and understand what Jesus is saying and who he is. One slinks back home in the shadows and utters not a word to anyone; the other runs back to the village and tells everyone about this man she has met.

Another important image in this story is the well itself. According to various sources, the people hearing this story would have immediately recognized the well as a symbol, used throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, to indicate that there was to be a wedding. Several of the patriarchs met their future wives by a well. The writer of John employs imagery of Jesus as the bridegroom throughout the Gospel.

Now lets put it together, a woman, who has been married 5 times, goes to a well at midday and finds a man there. Could this story be an allegory for the relationship God, through the person of Jesus, was to have with God’s people. The Samaritans, and the Jews, were like vulnerable women, who had lost their husbands and found themselves at the mercy of new, less sympathetic, often abusive, self interested husbands. One commentator I read this week described the woman as “wedding-weary”. That phrase really stuck out to me… she wasn’t some floozy who was excited about the prospect of another husband, she was weary, like the people of God.

Think of the number of times the Jewish and Samaritan people were conquered and exiled, then sent home just to be conquered, exploited, and exiled again. Was that the fault of the people? Was it the woman’s fault her husbands had died or left her, failed to value her the way she should have been?

And we only get this story, this reminder that all people are important to God, that God will pursue them and bring them back, because the person of Jesus, or this Gospel’s depiction of him, was not afraid to go to a town his people would have actively avoided, and sat by a well until a woman came to draw water. Then he talked with her and shared intimately with her things that he had shared with no other. He put aside all judgement and engaged with the child of God that was before him.

If we are to be changemakers in this world, we must first be mind-changers.

We have to change our minds about people and get to know them as they really are, not as the world or society, or our culture would want us to see them. We may have to put ourselves into uncomfortable or vulnerable situations.  Jesus never promised that it would all be comfortable and that we could do it with our prejudices and holier-than-thou attitudes. The change has to begin in us, if not we will miss a world of prophets because we have counted them as prostitutes.

In the book of Genesis, there is a story about another woman who has gotten a bad rap; her name was Hagar, and she ran away because of the harsh treatment by Sarai. She was special, like the Samaritan Woman. The Samaritan woman had the longest recorded conversation with Jesus and was the first person Jesus revealed himself to, and Hagar was the first person to give God a name, El Roi, the God Who Sees, because I have seen the God who sees me.

El Roi, open our eyes and hearts to the truth only you can reveal. Help us to be critical of the things that we have been taught, of the ways our culture, family, and religion have shaped us to see. Give us eyes to see others the way that you see them and the courage to humble ourselves so that we may begin to learn from them and from you about the richness and potential that comes from embracing your incredible design of diversity. 

May it be so. Amen.
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If you don’t know this about me, the word “obey” has negative connotations to me.

I was raised in a house, yes, I said house, not a home, Because although we looked similar to the Brady Bunch, we were not – we co-existed. So when I am told to “obey,” I want more specifics. Obey what rule? Who wants my obedience? And for what reason?

I am one of those people who does not respond well to “Because I told you so,” even though I used that line on our children, too. It is with this context that I approach this week’s scripture.

So if we look at the problem in the scripture, we remember from last week, we are still in the 14th chapter of John.

This was written to Jewish people who have been ostracized from their Jewish community -put out of their synagogues for believing in Jesus as the Messiah. It was NOT intended to create new followers but to sustain the faith of those already following “The Way.” This happened in the late first century.

Again, this context is crucial to working through the language of John’s gospel. Our focus verse for this week is the words of Jesus saying,

“Those who obey the commandments are the ones who love me, and those who love me will be loved by God.” – John 14:21a

And…being me…I want to know which commandments we are referring to. In the Gospel of John, Jesus gives the “New Commandment.” In John 13:34 and two other times later, “Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other.” I would add to this, “Love the Lord your God”

Because they are Jewish – That is the first and most important commandment. It is also the one used by Jesus in the other Gospels where Jesus says, “Love the Lord your God with all of your being and love your neighbor as yourself.”

But do you hear the difference? John’s version is inwardly facing. We are to love “each other.” It doesn’t say anything about our neighbor. And the answer to the question of why the difference is the same reason that John’s Gospel appears to look harshly at “The Jews.” Because John’s audience is the minority who are grieving the loss of their community.

They are the outsiders trying to find their way of living “The Way!” Jesus’ statement is an invitation to participate in God’s loving mission!

In the Acts scripture, Peter has just had a dream where God told him there is no such thing as clean and unclean in creation.

All creatures in creation are clean and can be eaten as all people are clean and worthy of baptism and inclusion in God’s Beloved Community. So Peter has an attitude adjustment and welcomes the Gentiles. Here I think the words of Mahatma Gandhi are relevant: “Whenever you are in doubt… recall the face of the poorest and the most vulnerable person whom you may have seen, and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to them“

The love that God has for us and the love we are being called to share is an expansive love rather than exclusive.

It seeks to help us grow in knowledge and wisdom to find more hope, peace, love, and joy in the world. So, as we gather, we have to remember to make space.

For instance – for those with disabilities we cannot see. It is allowing others to name what they need that includes them rather than deciding that we know best. And if we are honest, we have done that A LOT!!

This is a humble love that wants the best for others without declaring what that is. God declared God’s ultimate love for us in sending us Jesus, so that we can learn to love as God loves. And this love transcends greed, prejudice, self-Interest, fear, and narrow-mindedness. Instead, God’s love is one that embraces all people and creation! This is the love we are called to experience and to share!

And I leave you with the wisdom of Gandalf… A dismayed Frodo said, “I wish it need not have happened in my time.” And Gandalf responds, “And so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

We don’t choose the times we live in, but it’s often the case that the times choose us, to live out our faith, our resistance, and our healing. It is seldom, if ever, fun. Or easy.

But remember the words from 8th Chapter of John’s gospel where Jesus says, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” – John 8:31-32

May it be so. Amen.
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I don’t know what your week was like but mine was hard.

There were several mornings when I just wanted to stay in bed and pull the covers up over my head because that felt safe and comfortable. I always thought I had a pretty high tolerance for discomfort, but I met my limit this week.

On Tuesday morning, while eating breakfast, two jets flew over the house, which does happen now and then, but not often. And my mind took me back to when we lived in SC on the flight path for the Marine air base. Then, when the jets flew over, we said, “That’s the sound of freedom.” But Tuesday, I thought, “No, it’s not. Is this going to be one of those moments that I will remember for the rest of my life – like Sept 11, 2001, or the day President Ronald Reagan was shot?”

In that moment, I realized just how much fear I was carrying but not acknowledging. I say that because it helps me relate to the disciples in the locked room. What they knew was that Jesus had been killed. Mary Magdalene told them that he was alive and would meet them, but they didn’t really trust her word – I mean, she’s only a woman. I’ve met several of those guys!

So here they gather, trying to take comfort in being together, because it beats being alone, but they are scared and don’t know what to do. And when they needed it most, Jesus showed up.

Come now, Lord Jesus, come and save us again! And then again, no, please don’t – As if my opinion would change your plans. I say that only because there is a group within the Christian Nationalist movement who want just that. There is a group that believes the Book of Revelation is still to come true and thinks that the Anti-Christ will come from the Middle East and a war with them will bring about Armageddon and end the world. Please, Lord, please do not let them be right!

So Jesus showed up and gave them a few minutes of peace, a few minutes of encouragement, a few minutes of hope by reminding them that “Death has lost its sting.” And he breathed on them with the breath of life, the breath of creation’s birth, to bring them out of the darkness and into the light.

And then he said to them, “As God has sent me, so I send you.” They don’t get to stay in the locked room. I don’t get to stay in bed with the covers pulled up over my head. It’s time to move on! There’s work to be done!

And that’s where part of the rub is. We want safety and comfort, but that isn’t what Jesus did or where he went. He went to the uncomfortable places and offered healing. We are also called to the places that make us uncomfortable to offer healing and wholeness by naming those who feel left out, forgotten, or unworthy, that they are loved by God, and then show them with our words and actions. We are the hands and feet of Jesus for our time in history.

AND Jesus told them something else, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.” – John 20:23

This is a major responsibility, and I will add that if you do not forgive, you will be hurting yourself far more than them. Carrying the anger and resentment will be a disease in your body and take its toll. Because as I am learning in the class I’m taking, The body keeps the score. It knows and holds all the unresolved pain, anger and hurt and it is stored within our bodies until we work it out.

Here I think the wisdom of the great Howard Thurman is worth telling:

“The “growing edge” of a society is the place where new life is possible
because people refuse to accept what diminishes human dignity.
That edge is not held by those in power alone.
It is held by communities, by individuals,
by those who choose to remain grounded
when the systems around them begin to lose their balance.”
-Thurman, Howard. Jesus and the Disinherited. Boston: Beacon Press, 1949, p. 11.

And how do we care for ourselves so we can do the work Jesus calls us to do?

We come together, and we dance! Moving our bodies allows our bodies to process the emotions, the pain, anger, and hurt that we are holding. It gives us the endorphins we need to say, “Yes!” to Jesus and climb out of bed ready to work even in uncomfortable places.

Dancing together is not as easy as it sounds. It means watching each other. It is a give and take, or we will just end up “stepping on each other’s toes” and not getting where we need to be.

May it be so. Amen.

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Our scripture for today begins with some confusion.

Unlike the other gospels, here Mary Magdalene goes to Jesus’ tomb alone, and it doesn’t tell us why. In the other gospels, the women go to place spices on his body, but according to John’s account, that was done by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea on the night he died. That detail alone is interesting as that was considered “women’s work.”

But when Mary finds the stone moved, she gets Peter and the unnamed Beloved Disciple, who also seem confused by what they saw, and go home. But Mary lingers, and because she does, she has a holy conversation with angels and then with Jesus so that she can proclaim, “I have seen the Lord.”

Her testimony and the testimony of many others who also see him alive again create the narrative that he was resurrected – Not resuscitated – nor reincarnated – not regenerated or renewed. Now, whether you believe in the resurrection or not, what I want you to notice in this story and in all of creation is that when something dies, something also comes to life. The seed falls from the plant and presumably dies, but within the ground it sprouts life anew.

In this cycle, which God created, life comes out of death and LOVE WINS!

And what did Christ Jesus do after his resurrection? He forgave and affirmed those who had denied and deserted him with no retribution – no “hell to pay.” Despite how some in our current culture depict Jesus, he was not a person who condoned violence. Even when Peter struck a guard with his sword during his arrest, Jesus told him to put away his sword and healed the man. Our God is one who promotes life with compassion.

And in the next Chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus will look at Peter and trust him again with the direction to “Feed my lambs – Tend my sheep – Feed my sheep” – John 21:15-17.

My friends, this is about love and grace! I have heard it said that Christianity is about a free pass to heaven, but I say to you, Christianity is about how we are to live here and now! It is about being loving, compassionate people who seek wholeness for those around us and ourselves.

I have also heard it said that Jesus will bless the unmerciful killing of others, but I say to you, Jesus used his life to stop anyone from feeling less than, unworthy, or unwanted. He was about building community, not dominating or destroying it!

So, I invite you to have your own Holy Conversation with Jesus. Using what is called “faith imagination,” put yourself in the garden watching Mary from a distance. See the disciples run into the tomb and leave confused. Watch the conversation between Mary and Jesus. Then just stay there. For after Mary leaves, you can call out Jesus’ name. Then listen for what Jesus says to you. So that you too can proclaim, “I have seen the Lord!”

This, my friends, is where you will find hope!

May it be so. Amen.

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Before we get into the three conversations that make up today’s reading, I want to say a bit more about John’s gospel and the location of today’s scripture, John 11:4-37.

Last week, I talked about the “signs” or miracles John uses to prove his point that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, Savior of the world. And this chapter contains another “sign” – The resuscitation of Lazarus.

I recently read the argument for calling it a resuscitation rather than a resurrection because Lazarus is going to die again. He did not have a resurrection as Jesus did, nor does he ascend to heaven.

In this scripture, we also have the fifth of the seven “I am” statements of Jesus, “I am the resurrection and the life.” – John 11:25. Interestingly, the 11^th chapter is the middle of John’s gospel, and is a literary hinge designed to shift our perspective from seeing “signs”. To see “God’s glory so the Son of God may be glorified.”

This story is so empowering for believers because Martha and Mary tell Jesus with their words and actions what they are thinking. They both believe in Jesus – Martha confesses, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” But Jesus also experiences their pain and grief.

So when life doesn’t go the way we want or the way we have prayed for it to go, we can stand in the assurance that we can also tell God what we think. We can name our pain – our disappointment – our anger and know that Christ will be moved by it. That does not say that we will have our prayer answered – Because we cannot know or understand all the ways of God – But God is listening and will join us in whatever we are feeling.

We, like the sisters, want to avoid uncomfortable outcomes. And in our grief, we are invited to “let go” To let go of our expectations, to let go of our need for control, to let go and accept what is. Like Jesus, we can “feel all the feels” and express them – No matter who we are – this is what makes us human.

As we celebrate the work of women in our congregation, I want to highlight today Nora Beck Smith, whose story connects with the conversations and hard questions raised by today’s scripture.

Underlying Nora’s story and her call was a yearning from within and important questions about who she was and what she was meant to do. Being a member of St. John’s and then Church of the Apostles, she brought her questions to Rev. Glenn Rader, who was honest enough to admit that he didn’t have the answers to her questions. But he took her to Lancaster Theological Seminar, where she could explore her questions in a safe and nurturing environment.

A Jesuit priest taught Christian history during her time and invited them to see themselves in the stories of scripture and to creatively write about their experiences. This helped her to develop her questions and deepen her faith.

Nora was the first minister to join Rev. Schellenberger & Rev. Rader with this congregation, and we give thanks for her curiosity and call, which she shared with us.

As we are one week from Holy Week, there are a three take-aways that I want you to have today.

The first is that John’s gospel is favorable towards women. In this gospel, women are more than just important characters; their words have been preserved. This Jesus engages women in conversations without demeaning them. In this gospel, it is a woman – Martha in our scripture today – who declares who Jesus is, rather than Peter, who does it in the other gospels.

It will also be a woman, Mary Magdalene, who is the first witness to see the risen Christ. For women’s history month, this is worth noting.

Also, as we will be reading John’s gospel through Holy Week, I want to make sure that when you hear the words “the Jews,” you realize it is often referring to the religious leaders. All the characters of John’s gospel are Jewish – The Samaritans are not considered Jewish because they don’t look to Jerusalem as their holy site. But all the others are.

I say this because this can be read as the most anti-Semitic gospel, and that is not helpful or accurate. So as you read the scriptures, I want you to be sensitive to this. Our Jewish brothers and sisters are very scared right now. I will also name those of the Jewish people that I know support the state of Israel, but not the policies and wars of Netanyahu.

Rather, Jesus models and teaches us to care for those around us- whether they are family or strangers. Caring means empathizing with their stories and wanting the best for them. We are to be creating a world based on mutual care and compassion, not about who has the biggest weapons, biggest egos, and forces others to submit to promote their way of living.

In John’s gospel, Jesus says that he came that we may have life and have it abundantly – John 10:10. Let us work towards an abundant life for all!

May it be so. Amen.

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Today’s scripture, John 9:1-34, was quite involved, and we did not read it to the end.

In the seven verses we didn’t read, Jesus seeks the blind man and asks him if he believes, and the formerly blind man worships him. Then, Jesus has another confrontation with the Pharisees in which he reminds them that because they do not “see” him for who he is, their “blindness” continues.

But I’m wondering what questions you may have after hearing this scripture?

The goal of John’s gospel is to prove the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, Son of God, Savior of the world.

To make that point, the writer employs two strategies which are evident in this scripture – a “sign” of his power and an “I am” statement. In this scripture, Jesus gives sight to a man blind from birth, a sign that Jesus is one who restores our sight and he declares, “I am the light of the world,” naming that he reveals truth.

Jo-Ann Brant, a Johannine scholar at Goshen College, theorizes that this story is a miniature version of the larger story of Jesus.

• the crowd questions his identity (9:8-9),
• he asserts “I am” (9:9),
• he speaks frankly and logically throughout but is treated as an invalid witness (9:18),
• he is accused of being a sinner,
• he combats the Pharisees with sarcasm and truth (9:34),

This story ends in irony as the one who was blind “sees” who Jesus really is and those who claim to have vision are “blind” to who Jesus is. Jo-Ann A. Brant, John, Paideia Commentaries on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011), 151-52, 154-59.

As this is Women’s History Month, I want to name the connection I see with this scripture, and it is how the formerly blind men’s and women’s experiences are generally not believed.

Unfortunately, this is also true for people of color and the LGBTQIA community. As the townsfolk questioned if the formerly blind man was even the same person when he told his story, I think of women who were violated, and others failed to believe them.

The popularity of the #MeToo movement the other year was based on that fact. It was finally a way in which women could name the demeaning and violent experiences they had without getting into the details.

Our problem is now complicated by AI, where our images can be used to create stories that did not happen, and because in the 20^th century, we learned to trust video and pictures, we are left struggling.

I think we have reached a time when we need to tell our stories in-person and in safe spaces – thus the need for us to provide a safe space for this to happen. AND we need to listen to another’s truth and accept it and whomever they are as true – and here’s the challenge – even when it does not fit into our understandings of the world.

We have to be open enough to accept and respect another’s experience, even if it hasn’t been ours, and it makes us rethink how we understand others.

So where does this leave us?

Well, it may not feel good to hear, but we are like the disciples and Pharisees who want to judge others and point out their failings without looking at our own. And Jesus’ words provide corrections to our thoughts and actions.

We want rewards from God, so we think there needs to be punishments too. But maybe there aren’t. No one was being punished by the man being born blind.

To the Pharisees, just because Jesus healed on the Sabbath does not mean he is not of God. We, like the disciples and Pharisees, focus on the wrong things. Instead of seeing the gift of God, we disqualify it.

This week was a hard week with several attacks within our own country and abroad. We can let our legislators know that this is not the world we want. But we also need to name what we do want. We need to name that we want each person to be valued and respected, no matter who they are. Then we need to practice that too!

We need to be the love we want to see in the world. We need to put ourselves in positions to hear the stories of others –even if it is through documentaries on TV or reading non-fiction biographies of those whose lives are different. We can maintain our hope by reading about the hope and courage of those who have lived through hard times.

This is not the first time our country has experienced hard times. Let us focus on being and building the Beloved Community of God.

May it be so. Amen.

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This past week I read “The Golden Rule” to the preschoolers.

What I appreciate so much about the author’s take on it is that it invites our imagination to consider all the ways to apply it. It helps us define what we could do for others that would be helpful, thoughtful, and kind.

We can live asking ourselves and others, “Is this a loving response?” A loving response does not mean pacifying, because we can even say challenging things lovingly.

This is why this season, we are inviting you to “Press Pause & Listen.” There is currently an attempt to overwhelm us with chaos so that we will either opt to check out of the news completely or reduce our consumption to that with which we agree, which makes us feel safe and comfortable.

I am saying something different. I want you to look at how you are consuming news and choose a less reactive mode – a different station, listening rather than viewing, reading rather than listening or viewing – and spending less time with it. And with the time you aren’t watching news or the chaos of the moment, sit in silence – pray – talk or connect with those that matter most to you.

Practice being the love you want to see in the world!

I came across this artist’s rendering of John 4:5-30 by Henryk Siemiradzki, which surprised me, and I want to share it with you.

As you think of the conversation between Jesus & the Samaritan Woman, is there anything in the rendering that surprises you?

I also remember three years ago when Jonathan preached this passage, and he surprised me when he argued, against contemporary scholarship, that the woman was actually an influencer within the community, or the people would not have listened to her. He also argued over the interpretation that she was a prostitute because it does not say that.

What it says is that she has had 5 husbands. Whether she had been divorced a lot, which was not that common, or was a very unlucky widow, is not known. This picture would suggest a widow who has gained wealth through her marriages.

Regardless of her background, Jesus is willing to break the societal boundaries by engaging her in conversation as an unaccompanied woman, and a Samaritan who was considered an enemy of the Jews from Jerusalem. Actually, the Samaritans were also Jewish, but they were descendants of the Northern Kingdom, while Jesus and his disciples were Jewish from the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom’s perceived “sin” was associating with the Assyrians, allowing intermarriages, and their pagan gods to be worshiped alongside the true God.

Now, to add some contemporary context, the Northern Kingdom’s capital was Shechem and later called Sychar, the site of our scripture passage. Today, this is located in the Balata village, a suburb of the Palestinian city of Nablus in the West Bank. Shall we say that feelings run long and deep?

And in our scripture passage, Jesus challenged those feelings 2,000 years ago. This scripture also shows how Jesus treated women with respect and invitation.

As part of honoring Women’s History month, I want to share with you a message from the  President & General Minister of our denomination – the United Church of Christ.

So where does this leave us today?

Well, I’m inviting us to consider the “valuable conversations” that we need to have with others. In the Come Sunday, I asked, “In your life, who could you approach more thoughtfully?”

But before we approach these conversations, we have to be in the best frame of mind. We need to regulate ourselves, which is to calm our fight or flight tendencies. This is also “Pressing Pause & Listening.” We can do so by:

• Focused deep or square breathing
• Checking in with our 5 senses
• Prayer
• Movement (walking, dancing, swimming)

This calms our anxiety so we can access our best thinking rather than just reacting. In recent times, there has been a lot of reacting rather than responding. Again, as before, this does not mean agreeing, but it does include being curious enough to ask questions about how another understands something and share, not as much our position, but the reasoning behind our thinking.

If we talk about the world we want to leave our children and grandchildren, it changes the conversation. When we share our values – even the Golden Rule – it can change the conversation to be respectful.

Our country is based on the ability to have creative disagreements, understanding that we are in this together, appreciating the value of “others,” holding tension in life-giving ways, and respecting each person’s voice and agency.

May we embody this as we live and build God’s Beloved Community.

May it be so. Amen.

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Here is your word of the day: Quanked.

For our youth and young adults, expanding your vocabulary is a lifelong skill. For those of you who think I’ve gone “batty,” This is a real word – not just one I made up because I’m from Lancaster County – and I learned it this week. Its definition is: “to be utterly overwhelmed by fatigue, exhausted, or drained of all energy”

If you are like me, this describes me more recently than in a very long time, and I’m unwilling to say it is just “age-related”. This is why this season, we are inviting you to “press pause & listen.” There is currently an attempt to overwhelm us with chaos so that we will either opt to check out of the news completely or reduce our consumption to that with which we agree, that which makes us feel safe and comfortable.

I am saying something different. I want you to look at how you are consuming news and choose a less reactive mode – a different station, listening rather than viewing, reading rather than listening or viewing, and spending less time with it. And with the time you aren’t watching news or the chaos of the moment, sit in silence – pray – talk or connect with those that matter most to you. Practice being the love you want to see in the world!

Based on today’s scripture, John 3:1-17, I’m not sure I can argue that Nicodemus is quanked.

But he’s upset enough to risk going to meet Jesus, even if it is in the dark, where he’s less apt to be seen. Nicodemus is trying to understand who Jesus is and what to believe, as he is not like any other teacher Nicodemus has ever met. The conversation with Jesus raises even more questions.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, well-versed in the law, such that he even held a place on the Sanhedrin, which was the Jewish legislative and judicial body that ruled over the people. They will be the group later who tries Jesus before sending him to Pilate.

But for now, Nicodemus wants more information, and in this scripture, we have the very famous verse John 3:16. But with all the talk lately about the power & might of Jesus, and depictions of him coming with the “armor of God” to avenge those perceived as God’s enemies, I think we often forget verse 17

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

This month is Women’s History month and we are lifting up some women and their work within our congregation.

Today, I want to lift the Rev. Jacquie Church-Young. Pastor Jacquie was the Youth & Family Ministries pastor in the early 2000’s, and based on my conversations with those who were youth at the time, she was very beloved. One of the reasons she was beloved was that she appreciated the act of questioning, understanding that it led to growth.

During Pastor Jacquie’s work with you, I was leading the youth at Salem UCC, and we both took our youth to a retreat at Hartman Center, where I observed her, and unfortunately, my first impression was not as positive. Then when I became a Member in Discernment of the Lancaster Association, they assigned Pastor Jacquie to be my mentor for the process. To be clear in our descriptions, she was just out of seminary and starting a family, and I was the mother of three teenagers. This is where I was reminded that God has a great sense of humor and works out situations for us to grow.

To start the relationship off well, Pastor Jacquie invited me to lunch, and at that lunch, I had to be honest with her. During the course of that conversation, I learned about the challenges she had been facing, of which I was unaware during our first encounter at the retreat. She talked about the internal turmoil within the church at that time and the shenanigans the youth were doing at the retreat. This is when we both learned lessons.

When I messaged her about including her in today’s sermon, I named that by her telling her story, I was able to have compassion for her. She named that I helped change her for the better, not just as a pastor, but truly – as a person.

All of that learning and growth came from an honest, heartfelt conversation. Which is what I think happened for Nicodemus in his conversation with Jesus.

So, where does all of this leave us?

I think it highlights the value of conversation and its ability to help lessen our feeling of being quanked and increases our ability to be compassionate.

Within the scripture, I have two takeaways for today:
~ God is always wrapped in mystery
~ The Divine always give second chances

Which leads us perfectly to Holy Communion. Which I think is also wrapped in mystery & about endless chances. We are not bound by past mistakes, missteps, or failures. Every time the feast is served, we are welcomed. May we come to the table seeking the mystery and find another chance to live and love better!

May it be so. Amen.

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 We are well into the season of Epiphany, and the season of Epiphany is about revealing who Jesus is.

Since his conception, we’ve been getting signals. This is Matthew’s year, so the angel came, and we heard the story of the angel coming to Joseph and telling Joseph that this baby would be Emmanuel, God with us. Then at his birth, the angels declared, this is our savior, the Messiah, the Lord, and then the magi showed up. They came bearing gifts for this newborn king, this new ruler, this person who would become a shepherd of his people. At his baptism the Holy Spirit came down and declared, this is my beloved, my son.

Since then, we heard John declare who he was and point to him. “He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” – John 1:27. Then we saw how he chose the people to follow him. All he said was, follow me.

Now, we come to the Beatitudes, and I think that we like to approach these as what they tell us about who we are to be, because we have an insatiable desire to be self-absorbed. We love ourselves, so it has to be about us, right? But what does it tell us about who Jesus was? And this may be a different road to get to the same place. But that’s the road I wanna take you on today. Because it’s supposed to reveal something about Jesus.

So who is Jesus? What does this tell us about Jesus?

Well, if we look really carefully. I tried to do a deep dive. I’ve had five weeks to prepare this sermon, not one, five. I don’t usually have that much time, but I did, so I did a deep dive on this, and this sermon contains all of these words that do not appear anywhere else. The words that are translated meek, hungering, merciful, pure peacemakers, having been persecuted, they shall be insulted. Those words aren’t anywhere else. It’s the only time they show up. Well, a couple of them show up in Luke’s Beatitudes, too. Other than that, they’re not in the Bible. So what does that say?

What that says to me is that these words and Jesus are unique, and it means that those first people, remember I told you that you are like those first people hearing it. Those people, I can imagine, said, What did he just say? Did he say what I think he just said? Because these weren’t words that were used all the time. They would have been shocked to hear these words because other people who stood up and professed to know things wanted to talk about power and control. That’s the empire, they’re about telling you what you can do, what you can’t do, and how you’re gonna do it. But that’s not what this says.

The second thing I noticed was this offered hope, both in the short term and the long term. Our scripture says “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.“– Matthew 5:5, and they shall inherit the earth today and in the future. It’s both.

If we had read the verses right before this, they talk about how all the people were bringing their sick and infirm friends and relatives and themselves to Jesus because he was healing them. He was providing hope in the moment. Life was changing with him, and he was giving them this. Here’s your big word for the day: eschatological future hope that in the end they will be with God. They’ll be the ones in the kingdom of heaven.

The third thing it tells us is who Jesus cared about. He didn’t talk about the empire. That was the big thing about Jesus. That’s why Judas is scared. I’m frustrated with him when we get to Holy Week because he didn’t challenge Rome the way they wanted him to. Instead, he came to the people. He was there for the people who needed the help and the healing. This tells us that it wasn’t about the influencers of his time, but those who had been forgotten, ignored, and left behind. That’s who Jesus cared about. So, like I said, maybe a different road to the same destination.

That’s who we are to care about. Not necessarily who we are to be, but it’s who we are to care about. Who are the people in our community who are struggling right now, who are afraid? Terrified, even? He cared about those who wanted a different life, even if they didn’t know how to get there. There was hope in what he said, that this life that they had wasn’t the life that God had intended for them. That was good news. That is the good news, my friends, that this life that we live is not the way God intended for us to live. Even today, 2000 years later, we haven’t gotten it right yet. We still have much to learn.

This month is also the month that the inclusive church team wants us to focus on black history. So, I’m gonna try to do that.

Today, I wanna talk to you about someone who I think lived the way Jesus wants us to live, and who cared about others, who cared about her people as a black American. Who cared about the suffering of others. Fannie Lou Hamer was a sharecropper in the early sixties, and she decided that she had every right to vote as everybody else, and so she went to register. She was beaten and imprisoned in terrificly horrible ways. She paid with her body for that. She was not killed, but she paid with her body

Then she continued the struggle. She co-founded in 1964, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and she went to the Democratic National Convention in 1964. I don’t know how many of you remember that. I was too young to remember that, but I read all about it. I’m gonna read more of this because I wanna make sure I get my facts straight.

She went there demanding integrated nominating committees and delegate committees. Her plea was so compelling, and frightened President Lyndon Johnson so much that he did a press conference. So that she wasn’t on the live tv, but her speech for those who heard it could not be quenched, and it was televised later. In 1968, her vision of racial equality in the delegation became real. Took some time, but became real. She also created the Freedom Farm Cooperative that helped other black farmers have a piece of property. As part of the cooperative, they got a piece of property, and they got a place to live. They got pigs to learn how to breed, raise, butcher, and sell, and become independent.

She was a force to be reckoned with, and you know what she’s most known for? She’s most known for her quote, I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. That’s how we remember her. I’m glad to learn the rest. I’m glad I went looking for the rest of her story.

I put the picture of communion there because I knew it was communion Sunday. For me, it was the idea of the breaking of the bread, and the cup poured out for us that this is where we get to live our lives to do the hard work, because hard work is here. It’s not coming, it’s here.

We admit that we are all marred, scarred, and imperfect because we’re human. I’m sorry. I was wrong. I don’t know. I need help. Those are four statements that we need to use and own because we are living in a time when we cannot be silent, while those who are poor in spirit, mourning, and meek or those who are hungering and thirsting for justice, the merciful, the pure in heart and the peacemakers are becoming victims of hatred and violence, and we can’t just go along anymore.

So I also created cards for you that are on the high top with each of our congressmen’s names and telephone numbers. They need to hear from you. You need to tell them what you’re thinking and what you’re feeling about what you see in this country.

We need to figure out as a collective what we have to offer. One of the lessons that we got from the clergy in Minnesota was that we need to prepare before they arrive. We need to talk about what assets we have. What assets can our congregation give?

Is it that we can hold a large gathering and bring a lot of people together? We have space for a lot of people to gather. That may be our piece. There’s a prayer vigil that’s gonna start at Lancaster Friends, and maybe we wanna host one of those. Maybe we wanna send additional funds to the churches downtown. I’m thinking about St. John’s Episcopal because I know they do so much with the immigrant community in Lancaster. What is our peace to do? That’s something for us to, to really sit with and discern, but this is a time when we cannot be silent anymore. The white church cannot be silent now.

Next week I have invited Reverend Edward Bailey, who is retired, and he’s coming to have a conversation with us next week, because we’re gonna talk about. What do white people need to know about the black community in Lancaster? Because we don’t have the answers. We need to be listening, but this table makes all the difference. When we receive the bread and the cup, it gives us the strength, the comfort, the determination, the chutzpah, even to do what we didn’t think we could do.

We know that we couldn’t hang on that cross. We couldn’t pour out our blood, and we probably have a hard time or should drink the cup of forgiveness because we have not forgiven ourselves, let alone anyone else, but that is our challenge.

We come here and we gather because we need Jesus Christ. We need each other. And right now we need to be the beloved community.

May it be so. Amen.

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Sermon by Rev. Tracey Marx

 Our winter theme is “Look for the Light.”

We’ve been thinking about how we can see light in the darkness, how we can look for light in the darkness, even when it’s difficult. How can we not be overwhelmed by the darkness that sometimes can feel very overwhelming?

Our gospel reading for today is an unusual one, John 1:29-39. We don’t often turn to this passage because it’s only found in the gospel of John. In the other gospels, we read of Jesus being baptized by John in the Jordan River. But in this gospel, we don’t get that particular story. We only get this one, which is John the Baptist’s witness to the baptism, his witness to who Jesus is.

Well, the main purpose of this passage is pretty clear. It’s repeated several times, and it is this, John is pointing to Jesus. He’s pointing attention toward Jesus. He’s pointing away from himself and to Jesus, saying, He’s the one. I’m not the one. This is a story that takes place over three days. On day one, just the day prior, just a few verses before our passage, the religious leaders had been asking John, who are you? Are you the Messiah? Are you Elijah? Are you Moses? There was yearning expectation for one of these figures to return, and they wanted to know, are you the one? Are you the one we’ve been waiting for? Are you the one we’ve been hoping for? And John says no to each of these questions, and then, quoting the prophet, Isaiah says, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,'” -John 1:23.

On day two in our passage, John again is definitively clarifying that he is not the one. He literally points to Jesus, who’s walking by, and John says, he’s the one. He’s the one I’ve been telling you about. He’s the one I’ve been preparing you for and telling you to prepare yourselves for.

Then, on day three, John again points to Jesus, who is again walking by. This time, two of John’s disciples change allegiance right then and there. They stop following John, and they start to follow Jesus. John the Baptist did have followers, disciples, quite a few of them. He was the leader of a movement. He had his own ministry. He preached repentance and the ritual cleansing in water for one’s sins. When John explains the relationship between Jesus and Himself, he says, I myself didn’t know him, which might be hard to understand because according to Luke, they were distant cousins, but the word know can be translated as recognize him. John says, I didn’t recognize who he was until the day of the baptism. And then he has this complicated statement, which is almost like a prepositional riddle, where he says, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” – John 1:30.

At John the Baptist’s invitation and prompting, two of his disciples changed allegiance to follow Jesus. We’re told later in the passage that one of those disciples was Andrew, the fisherman, the brother of Simon Peter, and the other disciple is not named. And it’s the question that Jesus asks Andrew and the unnamed disciple that I’d like us to focus on today.

In John 1:38, we read, “When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?”

In the original Greek, the verb look is ζητέω (zeteo), which is translated to seek. He is asking them, what are you seeking? In the NIV, the translation is, what do you want? It’s a good question, isn’t it?

Because this question that Jesus asks his brand new followers gets to the very heart of our faith journey, the very heart of what it is that God might be calling us to or away from. What God might be wanting us to hear or to pay attention to.

Let me ask you this question this morning, and I’d like to ask it in three slightly different ways. The first is simply, what do you want? It’s still January. It’s still the beginning of a new year. It’s still a good time for looking deeply into our hearts and minds and answering the question. Not to create a resolution that might be hard to stick to, but to consider our identity. Now, when we ask this question, we might have to be careful because sometimes the first thing that comes to mind, what we really want is for someone else to change, someone else to be different, or we want circumstances to change, or we want outcomes to be exactly the way that we want them to be when we don’t have that kind of control.

So, asking this question as a spiritual question really focuses our attention on what we want within ourselves. Maybe when we first consider this question, we might answer on a more surface level. Maybe we wanna go on a trip, learn a new skill, explore a new hobby, fix something in our home, declutter our living space, spend more time with family, rekindle a friendship, or eat in a healthier way/be active. But when we dig deeper, there might be an unmet need that we are trying to address by those wants.

The second way of asking this question is simply to add the word really. What do you really want underneath what you might say at first? Maybe your answer might change and deepen. Maybe we want to belong. Maybe we want connection & a community. Maybe we want reassurance that we’re doing okay. Maybe we want to make a difference. Maybe we want to know that our lives matter. I think it can be really helpful to qualify the question one further time by remembering who is asking it. Because we’re not just asking ourselves the question. We remember that it is God who is asking the question of us.

Then the question changes slightly, and this is the third way of asking it. What do we really need from God? Then our answers change again. They distill down into what’s most important in the very core of us, where it’s just us and God. I need to feel God’s love. I need a sense that He is right here with me and with those I love. Bringing light into the darkness, bringing enough light so that it can shine deeply into what’s difficult and what needs to be addressed, and allow us to look straight at it and not be afraid. Or, I need God’s reassurance. I need His encouragement, or I need to find rest. I need to find rest in God. I need peace.

Sometimes, our answers can be further distilled down to something very simple and very central. When God asks, what do you really need? We might just answer. I need you.

John the Baptist is well known to most of us.

We might remember that in the gospel of Luke, we’re told that as a baby, he leaped in his mother Elizabeth’s womb. When her cousin Mary, who was newly with child, came to stay for an extended time, we might remember that his father Zechariah was silenced by the angel Gabriel for his disbelief that he and his wife, in their older ages, would bear a child.

We might remember that Elizabeth and Zechariah were told that their child was special and that his lips should never touch alcohol because he would be filled with the Holy Spirit. We likely remember that as an adult, he ate locusts and honey and lived in the wilderness. He wore camel hair and a leather belt. He was an aesthetic, turning away from the comforts of the world in order to be closer to God. Some scholars think that John was part of the Essene community at Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew scriptures. In fact, there was a tradition of ritual washing for spiritual cleansing that existed at Qumran, a practice which might have been the forerunner of baptism.

We might remember that John the Baptist came to a very tragic end as he spoke out against the immoral behavior of Herod the Tetrarch, and that his death is actually one of the more disturbing scenes in the gospels. Anyone who has seen the musical Godspell knows that John the Baptist belts out the very first song, Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord.

What’s less well known to us is that John the Baptist is the only one in the Bible who refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God. The phrase Lamb of God is very liturgical in Latin. It’s Agnes Day. Agnes, meaning lamb, and day, meaning of God. We use it in our communion, liturgy, Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. Lamb of God, have mercy on us and grant us your peace. So in the Bible, you might be surprised to find that this phrase only appears twice, and both of those times are right here in this morning’s gospel reading. Jesus is referred to as a lamb in other places. But the specific phrase, lamb of God is only found here, and it’s found in the context of John the Baptist pointing away from himself and to Jesus.

He’s saying it’s Jesus. Here is the lamb of God. There are so many other phrases that John could have used. Here is a charismatic speaker who’s drawing crowds that are eager to hear what he has to say. Here’s a man who tells thought-provoking stories that help us to think about who God really is. Here’s a healer who allows the power of God to work within him so that he can do miraculous things, but he uses this phrase, lamb of God. There’s very likely an intention to call to mind the sacrifice of Jesus. With this phrase, lamb of God, we are reminded that Jesus gave his life for our forgiveness.

It’s a foreshadowing the end of the gospel story right here in the beginning, right here in Chapter one. We are invited and encouraged by the author of this gospel, whose name is also called John, to read the entire story. Through the lens of its conclusion, here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Here he is just beginning his ministry. Here, he is just beginning to have others choose to follow him. Here he is just beginning to gently invite those followers to look inward and to ask themselves this question, a question of discipleship, a question that gets to the very heart of our faith. If you follow me, as you follow me, as you continually redefine your life to follow me, what are you looking for?

After Jesus asks these new followers the question, what are you looking for? They don’t answer him exactly, but in a way, they do. They say, rabbi, where are you staying? They call him Rabbi (teacher), which in itself is a statement of allegiance, letting him know that he will be their teacher and they will be his followers, and then they ask this very practical question, where are you staying? They want to know, and it’s understandable where they’ll be staying. Maybe, if there’s gonna be something to eat, who else might be there? They wanna know what it’s all gonna look like. Jesus, in typical Jesus fashion, doesn’t tell them what it’s going to look like. Instead, he invites them to come and find out for themselves by saying, come and see.

This quintessential invitation reminds us that discipleship involves a lifetime of following, of paying attention, of being open to what happens next.

I’d like to invite us to consider this question today, right now, but also maybe later today or this week, maybe as you journal or just have some quiet time. Maybe as you have a conversation with a trusted friend. Maybe when you’re by yourself, and it’s just you and God. What are you looking for? What is it that you need from God? What is a need that you have that only God can fill?

As the French philosopher Pascal said in the 17th century, so poetically, “there is a God-shaped emptiness in the heart of every person that only God can fill”.

Maybe the phrase, lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world can help us to further and even more deeply answer this question with honesty and vulnerability. What is it that we need from God? Maybe it’s a reminder of God’s grace & of God’s mercy. Maybe it’s a reassurance that no matter what happened in the past, no matter what, you are forgiven and you get that chance to start again. You get that chance to be seen as a person who’s not defined by their past or by their past mistakes, but by their relationship to the one who continually invites us to follow and to be faithful.

Maybe it’s a prompt to forgive someone else, to reconcile, or to stretch out your circle of inclusion. What is it that we really need from God as a church, as a community here in Lancaster, as a nation, as human beings, and worldwide? What do we really need from God? I invite us to open ourselves to those questions. To live with those questions, and as you do, may you look for the light this day, this winter, this new year, and always the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Have mercy on us and grant us your peace.

May it be so. Amen.

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