spirituality

An Empty Tomb or Restored Life? (Sermon April 5, 2015)

John 20:1–18 (NRSV)

He Qi
China

The Resurrection of Jesus

(Mt 28:1–10; Mk 16:1–8; Lk 24:1–12)

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ² So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹² and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³ They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

We celebrate today because of the hope in Christ. The hope in Christ. This statement is heavy with meaning. Each person has a very different experience linked to that statement, each different and each correct in its own right. For nearly two thousand years millions of people have experienced the hope of and in Christ in their daily lives. This hope comes through the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Christ.

Every aspect of Jesus’ life is important. Each aspect can encourage, teach, give insight and hope from the Immaculate Conception through his sacrifice on the cross. Each and every moment in Jesus life that has been recorded and preserved in scripture provides us a glimpse into the intended path of humanity. Jesus God incarnate came to show us how to be human. Every aspect of Jesus’ life illuminates true humanity but that illumination does very little for us personally unless something supernatural could prove that the humanity Jesus proposed is greater than the humanity of the world.

We celebrate today because Christ has risen from the grave.

This is something that goes way beyond the mystery cults of ancient time, it goes beyond the pagan ritual that derive many of the ritualistic aspects of the secularized holiday of Easter, because those mysteries remain hopeless for us individually,  yet there is a glimmer of truth from those pagan rites. Yes I say that there is a glimmer of truth in those pagan rites. You might ask how or why I can say such a thing, but I say that because those rites and myths are linked to something deep in the history of humanity, and its desire to find the divine. But each of those ancient rites fall short. They can give beautiful descriptions that explain life, but they fail to give true hope. Within the secular or pagan world leave humanity in the same place. Even the faith of the Hebrews leaves humanity in the pretty much the same positon.

On a Friday the followers of Jesus watched as their teacher was hung on a cross. A teacher that they put all their hope into, a teacher that spoke about the kingdom of God, the kingdom that they all were sure was the kingdom of their ancestors. He told them that this kingdom was at hand, that it was all around them. That could only mean one thing in their minds, that this man was going to lead the revolution that would give them the freedom that they hoped for. Yet on a Friday their king hung from a tree, and the revolution they hoped for was dead. There was no kingdom, there was no hope. Because when things die everything is over. But then there is a glimmer of hope, every spring the dead earth begins to come to life again. The seasons change and maybe just maybe the next generation can find what humanity was looking for. On a Friday the king died, and they laid him in a tomb. They returned to the room they were staying and locked the doors, the only hope they had was that maybe as time went on the people would forget the teacher and maybe they would be able to return to their previous lifestyle and the next generation would see the new dawn of the kingdom.

Saturday the tomb sat sealed with the king inside. The hope they once had was sealed in the earth left to return to the dust from which all life emerged. All hope was lost, it was sealed in the darkness with a sour aroma lingering in the air. The teaching remained, the life they learned to live would still important to them but there was no real power to drive them to remain. Thomas is the first to leave, the first to attempt to reintegrate into the life they previously knew, but he was not the only one to consider this. The women in the ranks prepared the necessary items to anoint the body to honor the one that changed their lives in so many ways. None regarded the time as a waste but each felt as if their lives had their feet knocked out from under them and they would once again have to rebuild.

We know the sorrow and loss these people felt that day so long ago. We have each experienced the loss of a friend or loved one, we know how sharp and deep the shards of broken dreams can cut. We know this because that is life. We can wrap it up in fancy words and put names to the struggles: Hades, Poseidon, Thor, Odin, or a thousand other. We can form intricate word phrases that can pacify the pain or lessen the sting, but the fact of the matter is broken dreams and loss of life is the end. Death is the end.

The women walk to the tomb carrying the item that will help with the grief but when they reach that tomb on a Sunday morning just as the rays of the sun begin to chase off the darkness of night something is amiss. The stone has been moved and the tomb is empty. Mary is afraid and she runs to tell the others. Confusion strikes everyone because it is true the stone was moved, yet the cloths they wrapped the body in remained. They are confused because who takes a body and leaves the grave clothes?

Mary remains at the tomb on her knees weeping. Life could not get crueler. That is where many people sit. On their knees before an empty tomb. They know all the stories they have the right words to say in a situation yet their hope is empty. Those empty words and empty hopes are no better than any other religion in the world. They are nice words and stories that can help us cope but just empty words…unless.

Mary is there weeping but hears a voice, “woman why are you weeping?” She looks up and see a couple of angel in the tomb. What had Mary witnessed in the past few years to not be afraid of a couple of angels? They ask her why she is crying, they do not tell her not to fear like every other encounter people have with these spiritual beings, and Mary answers them as if it is just normal conversation. Then she hears yet another voice asking the same question but this one comes from outside the tomb. She responds saying, “just tell me where you he is!” and then the voice calls her name. Immediately she knows the voice. It is not the voice of just anyone but the voice of Christ.

This is where the secular platitudes of Easter remain empty and the power of Christ takes hold. There is power in the simple speaking of Mary’s name, because that voice came from the living not the dead. The impossible just became possible. The secular has empty theories and platitudes, they can look at nature, or the sun and moon and come up with elaborate stories that can comfort many, but the voice of someone that was once dead but lives fills the voids of the emptiness.

Immediately Mary responds to Jesus and then moves to tell the others. A broken body spirit is now renewed and filled with something that can only be called hope. Though the future is still unclear and the path not totally known there is something that drives this woman that is beyond words…He Lives!

We live on the other side of history. As time has passed darkness has fallen around us again in so many ways. The excitement of the risen Christ is often confused with the stories of the ancient mysteries. Again words are often filled with the emptiness of a world without hope. Even today many of us may find ourselves peering into a void of emptiness unable to see the miraculous around us. We have lost curiosity, we can no longer imagine, and we no longer dream dreams. Life has broken us to the point we can no longer see the difference between the Easter bunny and the Risen king! We look in the tomb and know it is empty but the emptiness does not give hope but only empty words. We are trapped in the emptiness, trapped somewhere between the secular and the spiritual unable to fully live because we are trapped between forgiveness and death.

Jesus did not rise to keep us on our knees. Jesus did not rise to leave a void where life once was. Jesus did not rise to leave us trapped and bound somewhere between life and death. He rose to restore hope. He rose to prove to all that are willing to see that the life that He lived, is true life. He rose so that we would be able to see what the true kingdom of God is.

The Kingdom of God is at hand. It is all around us. It is in the neighbor just over the fence, it is in the classroom at the university, it is at the coffee house and in the bars. The Kingdom of God is in the lives of everyone we meet. But are we able to see it? Are we able to see beyond the boundaries the world tries to place around us? Are we able to imagine the greatness, dream the dreams that will open the vastness of the kingdom to others, or see the miraculous that happens before our very eyes? The kingdom is only as vast as we let it be. The kingdom that we experience only extends as far as we will allow it to extend.

I have asked several times over the past few years: “what would happen if we believed in the resurrection.” I ask it because how we respond to that question tells us how far the kingdom can expand around us. We may say we believe but there are levels of belief: the belief of knowledge, trust, and entrusting. Knowledge leaves us on our knees before an empty tomb. Trust allows us to rise to our feet. Entrusting causes us to run and live and active life within the kingdom.

Often we find ourselves kneeling before the empty tomb unable to see, often we only see darkness before and around us. But Jesus the Risen King is calling our names. Will we join him in His life? Will we join him in his life of worship, prayer, and service? Will we love God, embrace the Holy Spirit and live the love of Jesus with others? He is Risen!

Our King rides a Donkey (Sermon March 29, 2015 Palm Sunday)

John 12:12–16 (NRSV)

Black ink and watercolors on paper bound between wood boards covered with dark brown kidskin.
Getty Center
Los Angeles, CA USA

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

(Mt 21:1–11; Mk 11:1–11; Lk 19:28–40)

¹² The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—

the King of Israel!”

¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:

¹⁵    “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.

Look, your king is coming,

sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.

Today we celebrate the announcement of the king! Jesus during the festival came into the city of David while people cheered and waved palms celebrating a new era of history. The restored kingdom of God!

Every year we celebrate this day because it is one of the greatest days of the year within our faith. I wonder if the power of this day has lost some of its splendor through the commonality. At first we cannot forget the significance of the proclamation.

The crowds went out to meet the parading disciples in the streets of Jerusalem. The palms were there for a very important reason, the palms were used to provide a roof over the heads of the travelers as they made temporary shelters as they made their pilgrimages to the festival. The amount of travelers in the city would have ranged between a 100,000 to a million people depending on who you read, but the reality is that the city was packed full. People were setting up shelters wherever they could, along the roadways and in the desolate places outside of town. People returning to the city of David to celebrate the Passover from the far eastern regions of the Persian empire, the western expanse of the Roman Empire, and even people from the heart of Ethiopia. Dispersed children of Israel as well as curious gentiles that feared and respected the God of Israel all traveling and camping around the great city of God. Tabernacles were built to protect these weary travelers from the elements as they sought to draw closer to God.

The significance of the palms runs even deeper because they are a symbol of victory in the ancient world. When ancient warriors would return home from battle the populous would wave palms in the air in celebration. This was done throughout the ancient world, a tradition among the Hebrews as well as the gentile nations. So we have camps of people lining the streets, as they saw the disciples approaching with Jesus they began dismantling their tents, their dwellings offering all that they had available to them to honor this traveling teacher that inspired them to dream about the emerging kingdom of God all around them.

As the people began to cheer and chant, Jesus found a young donkey and rode it into the throng. While they cheered, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!” Jesus did not turn from this pronouncement but accepted it, embraced it, Jesus is the King of Israel. The imagery is strong within these words. As ancient kings and tribal leaders paraded into the villages they would wear their greatest ceremonial gear, freshly cleaned and shined, and mounted upon their finest horse. The horses would be tall and proud, their heads were held high and their feet beat into the ground in time as everyone cheered. Jesus also rode into the crowds upon a beast of burden, but there is a striking difference. Jesus did not ride on a tall and powerful warhorse breed but a donkey. This speaks volumes of the identity of the emerging kingdom of God that the crowds were hoping for. War and victory are not something one would find donkey involved in. When I was younger, there was a traveling show that would visit the communities around the area that would recruit people to engage in a game of basketball while riding on a donkey. The reason they did this was because when it comes to competition donkeys are not the stead of choice. They are stubborn, they tend to have a mind of their own, and really only mind their owners. This makes for a hilarious show as you see amateur donkey jockeys trying their hardest to coax their beast to participate in a game, but goes to show that a cavalry of donkeys would be an army of clowns. I am not saying that Jesus’ parade was humorous, but only that his chosen means of transportation was not exactly what we might expect.

Donkeys are intelligent and loyal animals that are very willing to do assist in their master’s work, but require gentle persuasion. Donkeys are used for many tasks from pulling carts and plows or bearing a load upon their backs. They are small and surefooted, but have a very powerful instinct of self-preservation. They were and are common animals, common meaning strong yet fairly inexpensive. They were not the beast used to express great wealth or power, but were the gentle beast of burden owned by the common people. A young donkey as mentioned in this passage is a donkey that is untrained, not yet fit to do work. The king of Israel, the king of kings, and lord of lords was paraded into the city of David, the jewel of Israel, upon a common unfit and untrained beast. Not a conquering warhorse, not even a strong ox, but a common donkey. What does this say about the kingdom of God?

The crowd had been waiting centuries for a king that would lead them in the ways of God, that would again bring the blessing of the Lord to their lands. They thought they had found it again as they returned from exile but they were quickly conquered again by a foe that was even worse than Babylon. They rose up and pushed the dark forces back only to be tricked into selling their security to yet another tyrannical empire. It was a cycle that continued from the beginning of their history as a nation. I say this because this all began when the people originally cried for a king to fight their battles for them and to lead them into prosperity. A king was not in God’s plan but he allowed it because the people desired a king, but God told Samuel that by asking for a king they were rejecting God as being their lord and true sovereign king.

I am not saying that the kingdom of Israel and Judah were all bad. David was a king after God’s own heart and the scriptures are filled with song of praise written by this king of Israel, but slowly the people turned from God and began to put more and more trust into the hands of their leader. Within two generations the kingdom of Israel divided and fell further from God’s intended plan where they would be his people and he would be their God. God’s plan was to be the one and only lord of their lives, but years after year they placed their trust not in God alone but in their worldly kings, who fought their battles and consumed the work of their hands.

The people wanted the warhorse but the king paraded through the crowds on a donkey. They called for a king to lead them victoriously to freedom, but they received something different. The point of the palms and donkey is that true victory comes through the common, unfit, and unlikely. The kingdom of God is not the kingdom of man.

When Jesus began to preach he said, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” This does not merely mean that it is near, but literally here all around us. It was found right where they were it was not something that had to be conquered with swords and spears but one that simply had to be seen and acknowledged. The kingdom was found in the child that was curious enough to ask the question why, it is found in the disciple seeking God under the fig tree, it was found in the synagogue and on the streets. The kingdom was found on the mats of the lame and in the hearts of the blind. The kingdom of God is at hand it is all around us, here today and unto the ages.

Why then do we not see the kingdom of God? Why does it seem that so often the kingdoms of darkness seem to overtake the kingdom of light? Why did Jesus right triumphantly through his victory parade on a donkey?

When you are able to answer that last question you will begin to see the kingdom of God. All too often skew our understandings of God to meet our desires and because of this our view of the kingdom is hampered in fog. The people wanted a king to trample their enemies so that is the king they tried to find. But in the fog around them they failed to see that the victory of their king was not in trampling the enemy but bringing them into fellowship through friendship. Our king rides a donkey.

The kingdom of God is not like the kingdoms of man. Jesus said that whoever wants to be the greatest must be a servant of all; that the first will be last and the last will be first. He said to the wealthy rulers that to enter the kingdom they must sell all they have that gave them worldly power and give it to the poor. Everything about God’s kingdom is opposite and opposed to the kingdoms of the world. Jesus rode a donkey not a warhorse.

We often miss the kingdom because our eyes are not trained on the common but on hills far away. When Jesus said that the kingdom of God is at hand he did not say that it is in the seats of power, or in a future time after death only, but all around us. It is common. It is found right here in our communities. The reason that God was grieved at the idea of Israel having a king is that this redirected the people’s eyes off of their community and placed them out on the high hills. This can distract the attention away from what God is calling us to do where we are. Often these high hills are not wrong but they can distract us. To turn the governing bodies into God fearers is important, feeding the hungry of the world is important, providing for the medical needs of the billions of humans in the world is important, but often those big goals cloud our vision and distort our view of the kingdom. I have had several friends leave the church because of distortions just like these. Some leave because they see the church as powerless to meet the great needs so they look to the powers of the world to provide for the needs. Or they turn from God because they have invested so much time and energy into a project and see just growing needs that they cannot provide for. But Jesus rode in victoriously on a donkey.

The kingdom of God is here. We will not see it in Washington or New York, in India or Ireland unless we first are able to see it right here. This is why God himself had to come to live among mankind because through Jesus’ life and teaching He showed us how to begin to see the kingdom of God where we are. It comes through making it our custom to worship Him, withdrawing to isolated places to pray, and to serve our community. It comes when we become people focused on Loving God, embracing his Holy Spirit, and living the love of Jesus with others. The kingdom can be experienced here today and forevermore when we redirect our attention away from the war horses and start looking at the donkeys.

The kingdom of God is not in a nation, but is in the individual lives of people within each community. It is built on life at a time, one individual at a time, one family at a time. We do not need to force people to conform but encourage our friends and neighbors to live a life of loving God, embracing the Holy Spirit, and living the love of Christ with others. That is the kingdom of God. It is victorious in the commonality. It is a king riding a donkey victorious.

As we enter into this time of open worship and holy expectancy I would encourage each of us to consider the image of Jesus on that common beast of burden, consider where we are looking to see and experience the Kingdom of God, and where we are investing our time and energy. Are we able to see the kingdom of God in the lives of those around us or is our vision clouded by things beyond our control? Love your enemy, pray for those that persecute you, turn the other cheek, do not worry, and care for those that cannot care for themselves these are the things Jesus calls us to do right here because that is where the kingdom of God really is and our king rides a donkey.

Will you Save Them? (Sermon March 22, 2015)

John 12:20–33 (NRSV)

by Temporary-Peace

Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus

²⁰ Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³ Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵ Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

Jesus Speaks about His Death

²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰ Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³² And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

So often we look out at the world around us and get a feeling that all hope has left, and that everything we once stood for is in vain. For so long I lived in that darkness, the darkness where the only hope we had was for the return of our lord and the end of days. I would pray for the rapture and wake up in the middle of the night fearful that I might have been left behind. I also woke up thinking aliens were in my room but that is a different story. But over the course of the past couple of years my perspective changed. I do not know when it exactly began to change or even what triggered this change but through all the darkness I began to see rays of light shimmering and filtering through the shadowy figures around me. When I began to see these glimpses of light hope began to take hold, I began to see God working in the lives around me, I began to see seeds of love growing in places I once perceived to be barren wastes. Dawn is rising in a new era, the kingdom of God is near.

But still is wonder what caused this change? The only answer I can give is that the Spirit of God was working, as I sought to follow the ways of Christ more fully. I cannot say that it was something that happened instantly but little by little as I walked along in my journey with Christ. Along the way God would bring people into my life that I could encourage and we would walk for a while and I witnessed just a bit of light shine through their eyes. I first noticed this change when I went to Ukraine to teach English classes, as I spoke with fellow students from a land I had always perceived to be the enemy I began to see a unity and that unity was Jesus.

As I read through this passage today I am reminded of that first glimpse into true unity in Jesus. There were some Greeks that wanted to speak with Jesus. It is quite simple to gloss over this and just say that this passage was a precursor of the kingdom of God being opened to all people. That is true, and I would venture to say that it was always true, but I feel that that does not really catch the true gravity of the situation. These were Greeks, not just gentiles but Greeks. Often we forget the magnitude of why the gospel writers made sure to include the heritage of these particular people. We understand that the Romans were not exactly loved by the Jewish people of Jesus’ day but the Romans were there for a reason, they were there because they were invited. The Greeks were conquers from the days of Alexander the Great. When Israel and Judah were sent into exile they were conquered by Babylon, then Persia, and then Persia pushed back to their farthest eastern regions by the Greeks. The Greek empire stretched all the way east to India and Israel was occupied by this culture. Under Babylon the temple of God was destroyed, but when Babylon fell to the Persians the temple was rebuilt. When the Greeks came into Israel they began to saturate the land with their culture. They would not allow the people to speak any language other than Greek, they taught Greek philosophy and religion. It was the Greeks the performed the original abomination that causes desolation when a pig was sacrificed on the Alter of the Living God. Shortly after temple worship was restored and the people could worship again as their ancestors did the Greeks tried to put a wedge between God and mankind. This desecration provided the spark that would ignite beneath the people which lead the Maccabees to revolt and under their leadership the Greeks were pushed out of power in Israel and worship was restored. From that moment on the Greeks were regarded as the worst of the Gentiles.

The Greeks lost power but they had establish colonies throughout the land, and as time passed these colonies began to unite and grow in influence threatening the young kingdom of Israel that was established, so an alliance was found with the growing power of Rome. The Romans were invited to Israel to help protect the people from the Greek influence. And the Romans stayed.

Now imagine the situation, there were Greeks seeking to speak with Jesus. Greeks wanting to speak to the newly proclaimed King of the Jews. And they sought this audience through one of the disciples, Phillip. The Greek influence over Israel was deep, even after the revolt that pushed them out of power and allowed Israel to re-establish their temple yet again, one of the closest disciples of Jesus was given a Greek name. The Greek culture, for many of us in the west, did not seem that bad. They are the ones that gave the world the governmental system that we in America love so much, they were the ones that civilized the west. Yet to the east they were a parasite that was sucking the life out of their culture. To all of those that held tightly to the ancient traditions, the Greeks and their culture were darkness. Yet that darkness reached into every aspect of life in Israel, even into the lives of the disciples of Christ.

Contemplate that for a moment. The Greek culture colonized the East, they saturated the east with their ideas, their language, their culture they totally disregarded every tradition that was held dear to those of the conquered lands yet these people were seeking to speak with the newly proclaimed king of the Jews. Does that strike you as odd? What exactly did they see in Jesus that caused them to seek his counsel?

The only reason is that Jesus brought to the world a different life. A different way of life and a different way of living. He did not seek to conquer the world but to love the world. He did not seek to condemn the world but redeem the world through him. Without raising a single sword this traveling teacher gained the respect of the nations. Jesus spoke of a different type of life, a life that opposed everything the world knew where people would conquer with friendship instead of violence and where faith was expressed with mercy mankind instead of religious rites. They sought his counsel because everything Jesus taught brought hope not only to the Jewish people but all people.

These Greek individuals came to Jesus and Jesus responded by saying, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.” It seems like an odd response but it is fitting. Jesus came not to condemn the world but to save it through himself. The Greeks the most worldly of the gentile population was beginning to turn toward him this very action was a sign that things were changing and a new era was about to dawn. The powers of the world were losing their hold on the populous, not because of force but through the heart and the mind. This threatened the powers of Rome and of the temple. If this traveling teacher could attract the support of the Greeks over a third of the Roman Empire could be turned, if this teacher kept the hearts of Jewish people the power of the temple would no longer rule the faithful.

It is now time for the Son of man to be glorified. To most in the world the glorification of Christ is not something seen as powerful, it is often regarded as the exact opposite because Jesus did not use the tools the world used. In the world influence is gained through wealth and force. Jesus told the wealthy literally to give all their wealth away, and he told his disciples those that live by the sword will die by the sword. Everything about Jesus opposed the cultural norms of every civilization of the world, as does the kingdom that he established. It was not a kingdom of violence and force, it was not a kingdom of wealth and greed, but it is a kingdom of charity, service and love. Jesus is glorified because he established a new perception within the world a perception that those around us are more important than organizations, cultures, and nations. This threatens everyone who relies on wealth and force to maintain influence. Those that required those tools would then lash out and use those very tools to try to silence this emerging idea.

This new focus, this new era, the glorification of Christ is something that every generation struggles with for one very simple reason, it goes against everything the world teaches us especially in the western cultures whose roots are found among the Greeks.  Jesus says, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” What is it that Jesus is saying what exactly does he mean? He is saying that our lives only have lasting value if we invest everything we have and everything that we are into those outside ourselves. Jesus is saying we only have true value and true life if we live for others. This is easy when it comes to people we like, it is easy for us to invest our lives in our children and our families. It is quite a different story when it comes to people beyond that, when our enemy comes knocking on our doors seeking an audience.

This is where the lights began to shine through the shadows in my life. For too long I saw the world falling apart and darkness overtaking the light, but then in the eyes of people perceived as enemies to my nation I saw something different. I saw them as they were, a human being as I was, someone that had passions and fears just as I had passions and fear. I saw that just as I was seeing them as an enemy the very same words were being used against me. And we all learned something, those words were lies. So I had to reevaluate my life and my world view because even though they may have different ideas on many things they were people, lovely generous people. They were not enemies but friends, and we were united in Christ. I came home and God began to show me many more things, not quickly but little by little. I began to see people around me differently. I began to hear the spiritual yearnings in their voices. What I once saw as darkness was actually cries for light. God is still working and he is still teaching me. The world around us is crying out to God yet do we hear their cries? They cry out to us through actions, in songs and lyrics, in art and in novels. Listen to these words, listen to what the world is seeking through the words of a song:

When I was a young boy,

My father took me into the city

To see a marching band.

He said, “Son when you grow up,

Would you be the savior of the broken,

The beaten and the damned?”

He said, “Will you defeat them,

Your demons, and all the non-believers,

The plans that they have made?”

Because one day I’ll leave you,

A phantom to lead you in the summer,

To join the black parade.”- My Chemical Romance “Welcome to the Black Parade”

Do you hear the cries? Will you be the one that will encourage the broken, the beaten, and the damned? Will you be the one to defeat the demons, and the cynical? They cry out and yet feel hopeless. They seek yet do not find. My heart aches for those people. Those people are our people. They are not the people in the jungles of Africa or the heights of India, but people all around us. People left broken and defeated conquered by the world yet loved by Christ.

They seek but they do not see the church as a refuge because all too often the church has joined with the others to damn them that broke their dreams, and left them struggling to find a way in the darkness, because often we forget what the Glorification of Christ is. It is for these people Christ died. It is for the perceived enemy, the artists, the bands, the people we label with countless labels and push to the fringe of society. And we forget that we must die with Christ so that those in the world might live. The Greeks sought Jesus and he came to them, will we open our lives up to them so that they can see the light of the Glorified Christ in us?

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