Ah, the royals. The parties they throw. The revenge they get. “Gold teeth, Grey Goose, trippin' in the bathroom/ Bloodstains, ball gowns, trashin' the hotel room…”[i] They don’t care. We leave the byways of Galilee with Jesus and his disciples and find ourselves at the birthday party of none other than King Herod Antipas. There is a dance. There is a promise. And there are gruesome consequences…

When it comes to scripture, oftentimes, context is everything.

The shocking story we’ve just heard doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Something happened before, and something happens after. To understand the story, and its significance, it helps to look at the context.

Image: Solario, Andrea, approximately 1465-approximately 1520. Salome with the Head of John the Baptist, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54128 [retrieved June 9, 2022]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17884832@N00/1163690185/.

…So the elders of the people go to Samuel, and they insist: “You are old, and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us…” Actually, that word govern is, literally, “judge.” The people want justice. And, then they add, “like other nations.”

There’s the rub: “Like other nations.” God’s covenant people are not like other nations. They are bound together by the laws God has given them, summarized in “You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart and soul, mind and strength,” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” They live in community with an unseen and yet sovereign God as their king. This is challenging. And if the humans who are supposed to provide justice are failing, all the more reason to press for something that seems to be working elsewhere: hierarchical human leadership. A scholar I consulted this week reminds us, “The lure of conformity is seductive, and the pressures towards cultural accommodation are great.” Then, as now. Even in the year 1100 BCE, which is more or less when we think Saul was on the throne. The problem as Samuel sees it, is that the people have rejected him. The problem as God sees it, is, the demand for an earthly king is a rejection of God. It is also the first step towards idolatry, putting a person or thing before God. It’s a dangerous move…

Image: Bloemaert, Abraham, 1564-1651. King Saul, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57940 [retrieved June 8, 2022]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_Saul_MET_DP802069.jpg.

All the gospels tell us stories of Jesus and his disciples. Some names stand out. Simon Peter, the fisherman, older brother of Andrew. John and James, sons of Zebedee, also fishermen, who, for some reason, have the nickname “sons of thunder.” But only one disciple is the chief witness to the resurrection, mentioned by name in all four gospels. Only one disciple is called “apostola apostolorum,” apostle to the apostles, for their role in bringing the Good News of the resurrection on Easter morning. And only one disciple has been egregiously misrepresented and misinterpreted for at least fifteen hundred years. Of course, I’m speaking of Mary Magdalene…

Image: LeCompte, Rowan and Irene LeCompte. Mary Magdalene in the garden with Jesus, ca. Resurrection Chapel, Washington National Cathedral, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54843 [retrieved June 8, 2022]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurapadgett/2533997012/.

… The people want a king. That makes sense. We all want good leadership. Especially in times that feel chaotic, unpredictable, times in which we have things like plagues and insurrections. When times are turbulent, it is the most natural thing in the world to look to our leaders and hope they can rise to the occasion. And when we see clearly that they cannot… we begin to look for other, better leaders.

But, to be clear, God is not crazy about kings…

Image: Koenig, Peter. Walking on Water, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58527 [retrieved June 8, 2022]. Original source: https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/.

Jesus offers us peace in this morning’s gospel lesson, but as members of the church, the body of Christ, sometimes that peace feels elusive. Sometimes it is life in church that feels as if it’s the source of chaos, and division, and anything but peace.

A minister friend told me of a conversation they had with a beloved church member, the kind of person we call “a pillar” of the church, who was frustrated and upset by changes. (This was long before Covid-time.) “Don’t I have the right to have this church be the way I want it to be?”

That’s a great question, and one I think we can find clues to the answer to in this passage from John’s gospel…

Image: Peace I Leave with You!, Tile from a Peace Wall, Hamilton, New Zealand, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55274 [retrieved June 8, 2022]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/taniwha/7186824/.

I love this story so much.

For one thing, I love that this story always comes up in the lectionary in the summer, that time when we are most likely to venture outdoors, to enjoy the sun, to have a meal on the porch or in the backyard or on a blanket at the park. I love that we are sharing this story on a day when we are poised to do exactly that: to share the meal so central to our faith in the open air, in the shade of trees, with the warmth of the sun all around.

I love how this story begins: it begins with people who are suffering…

Image: Ottonian Master. Feeding of the Thousands, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55899 [retrieved June 8, 2022]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/medievalkarl/6800029480.

What I’ve found over the years is that most people are much more uncomfortable with Jesus’ humanity than they are with his divinity. Years ago in a book group at another church I found myself in a conversation about what Jesus knew as a child. Scripture is largely silent on this, though there are some gnostic gospels with fanciful stories. My position is that, if he was/ is fully human, if he had to be born to a woman, then he had to grow and learn, just like other human beings. That’s still what I believe. But someone else in that group took the position that Jesus had all the knowledge of God available to him—even as a child. Jesus knew, for example, the quadratic equation, understood quantum theory, string theory. If you read the gospels in chronological order, it seems that they move from a very human Jesus in the earliest gospel (according to Mark) to a very divine, all-knowing Jesus in the latest gospel (according to John.)

And the truth is, we don’t know the inner workings of Jesus’ mind when he walked this earth. But this is what we claim: fully God, fully human…

Image: Bazzi Rahib, Ilyas Basim Khuri. The Canaanite Woman asks for healing for her daughter, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55922 [retrieved June 8, 2022]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ilyas_Basim_Khuri_Bazzi_Rahib_-_Jesus_and_the_Canaanite_Woman_-_Walters_W59243A_-_Full_Page.jpg.

Naskh is the caligraphic style for writing in the Arabic alphabet that the biblical text is written in for this manuscript. The artist, Ilyas Basim Khuri Bazzi Rahib, was most likely a Coptic monk in the late 17th century in Egypt. Date: 1684.

… Here is a timely reminder: Love isn’t a feeling, or, at least, it isn’t merely a feeling. It isn’t only a feeling. Love is a verb, as well as a noun. We “love” by our actions, not in proportion to the residue left by others’ actions. We don’t have to “feel” loving toward our enemy in order to actually behave in loving ways towards them. With that in mind, I’d like to offer a three-part plan for loving our enemies…

Image: Love Your Enemies, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54226 [retrieved June 8, 2022]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/boojee/2929823056/.

"We are a non-profit membership organization based in Ithaca, NY, whose mission is advancing environmental and community sustainability through building design, development, and construction. Members of the Ithaca Green Building Alliance include people from the building/design and related trades who are interested in learning about, sharing, and practicing or using greener building techniques and products." [from: http://www.ithacagreenbuilding.org/about-igba/]

This morning we encounter Lady Wisdom, a poetic personification of this attribute found in the Book of Proverbs. Scholars believe Proverbs was intended for use in the Temple education system, in which promising boys and young men were trained as scribes, experts on the scriptures. We have received a tradition that the Book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon. The story goes: when he was young and passionate, this king who had 100 wives wrote the Song of Songs, that collection of beautiful erotic poetry that’s right there in the middle of our Bible. And when he was a world-weary old man, he wrote Ecclesiastes, whose theme the Common English Bible translates as: “Perfectly pointless... Everything is pointless.” (Eccl. 1:2)

That’s not the Solomon we find here. This is the book, tradition tells us, composed by the king who was middle aged and thinking about his legacy, and who sought to pass along his wisdom to the young. Here, the man who famously determined which woman was the mother of a particular baby by very unusual means, provides a book whose goal to help young people to learn to value wisdom above everything else.

Image: Reid, Robert, 1862-1929. Wisdom Mural, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54178 [retrieved June 3, 2022]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wisdom-Reid-Highsmith.jpeg.

In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your young will see visions.
Your elders will dream dreams.
~Acts 2:17

Image: Koenig, Peter. Pentecost, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58542 [retrieved April 27, 2022]. Original source: https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/.

That word, “Advocate,” translates a Greek word, Parakleton, which means, literally, one who walks beside. These days, the word “advocate” carries a legal understanding. We tend to think of an advocate as someone who will plead our case for us, whether in court or, say, when we’re trying to persuade our health insurance company to cover something our doctor says we need. But that’s not the only translation for that word—that became clear in Bible Study this week, when people started sharing all the different translations they were finding in their Bibles. So, I decided to look at all the English translations I could find—nearly sixty of them. (Don’t be impressed: using the Bible Gateway website, it took about twenty minutes.) There are more than a dozen different words used to translate “Parakleton.”

Advocate… one who pleads our case for us.

Comforter... one who cares for us.

Companion… one who accompanies us on our journey, literally, one who breaks bread with us.

Consoler… one who dries our tears.

Counselor… one who can advise us, help us to understand.

Friend… the person we’d most like to be wtih, who has our best interests at heart…

Image: God's Hands and the Holy Spirit [detail], from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56826 [retrieved April 27, 2022]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/basta-cosi/1547659026/ - Jean Bean.

There’s a great website called Judaism 101, and I love their description of the Sabbath:

People who do not observe Shabbat think of it as a day filled with stifling restrictions, or as a day of prayer like the Christian Sabbath. But to those who observe Shabbat, it is a precious gift from G-d, a day of great joy eagerly awaited throughout the week, a time when we can set aside all of our weekday concerns and devote ourselves to higher pursuits. In Jewish literature, poetry and music, Shabbat is described as a bride or queen, as in the popular Shabbat hymn [Lecha Dodi Likrat Kallah], “Come, my beloved, to meet the [Sabbath] bride.” It is said "more than Israel has kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept Israel."

Image: Bateman, Robert, 1836-1889. Pool of Bethesda, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56900 [retrieved April 27, 2022]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Robert_Bateman_-_The_Pool_of_Bethesda_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg.

A woman of many names and many roles. Tabitha – Did you know her Aramaic name? She was also called Dorcas, her Greek name. A name she probably used in running her business of woven fabrics and garments.

Before she is called Dorcas in our text, and before she is called Tabitha, she is called “disciple.” This disciple’s account is often told as Peter’s story, for, after all, he was the one who brought her back to life.

Today we focus on the only woman in our holy writings to explicitly be called disciple. We speak her name, like Peter, “Tabitha” and hear how her life brought glory to our God. For her story was life-giving long before her resurrection.

Image: Didron, Edouard. Raising of Tabitha [detail], from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56890 [retrieved April 27, 2022]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P%C3%A9rigueux_Saint-Front_vitrail_mur_nord_(2).JPG.

We have been steeped in resurrection stories since Easter, appearances of Jesus to his friends. But today, we read a story of something that happened before that first Easter Sunday.

The passage I’ve just read takes place on Thursday night in Holy Week. In fact, we read this passage, in this sanctuary, on April 14, Maundy Thursday, our remembrance of the night Jesus shared his last supper with his friends.

We’re in chapter 13 of the Gospel According to John. But, you may have noticed, I started out by reading the first verse, and then I skipped over the next thirty verses! But to really understand what’s happening in the verses I did read, we need to know what happens in the verses I didn’t read.

So, here’s what happened…

Image: Wilson, William, 1905-1972. Caritas [detail], from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57837 [retrieved April 27, 2022]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/8539356086/.

We have walked together the eight days that began with the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. We have encountered the empty tomb, and we have heard the story of the women dismissed and mistrusted. We have met Jesus appearing suddenly to his friends through a locked door. We have heard from a disciple who needed to touch Jesus’ wounds to believe, and then we heard him declare, “My Lord and my God!”

But today’s story is different. Now the timeline is fuzzy: we know this is some time later, but we don’t know how much later. And the story has changed locations. We were in Jerusalem, but now we’re back Galilee, where everything began. Simon Peter announces to his friends, “I’m going fishing,” and his friends respond, “We’ll come along!”

I asked the folks in the Bible Study this week: Why do you think they went fishing? What was going on? We talked about the chaos of it all, the confusion, mingled with the joy. The fact that everyone had experienced the shock of Jesus’ crucifixion and then the shock of his resurrection, with no real time to process either shock—not to mention the grief.

Fishing is a great thing to do when you’re grieving, and you’re not sure you want to talk about it, but you also don’t want to be alone. As one of our members said, when life gets chaotic, hurtful, or confusing, sometimes you have to say to yourself, “I’m gonna go do something I understand…”

Image: Koenig, Peter. Breakfast on the Beach, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58541 [retrieved April 27, 2022]. Original source: https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/.

We meet Thomas, also known as Didymus, in our passage today. Thomas is from the Hebrew word for “twin,” and Didymus is the Greek word for “twin.” (Thomas seems to be a twin.) For nearly two thousand years the church has called him “Doubting Thomas.” But there’s more to Thomas than this one moniker. So today I’d like to expand on Thomas. What else do we know about this apostle, who is so famous for what happens in the passage we have just read?

Barlach, Ernst, 1870-1938. Reunion - Thomas and Christ, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57610 [retrieved April 8, 2022]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:G%C3%BCstrow_Gertrudenkapelle_-_Barlachsammlung_Wiedersehen_1.jpg.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen.”

This is it, right here, at the heart of Christian hope and proclamation: the tomb is empty.

It’s a message that was at first kept silent out of fear; and then disbelieved and dismissed; and then, vigorously fought, and sought to be disproven; and then… it rolled out across the world like a kind of glorious high tide that caused every heart that embraced it to overflow with joy:

The tomb is empty. Why do you search for the living among the dead?

Image: Resurrection of Christ, mosaic, Church of Saint Sebastian, Porto Alegre, Brazil, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56588 [retrieved February 26, 2022]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:0000_Mosaics_of_Resurrection_of_Christ.JPG - Eugenio Hansen, OFS.

“Remember me.”

Every month we gather around the communion table. The table is always there, present, and visible to us. But once a month when we walk into our sanctuary, we see that the table has been set for us. A meal has been prepared. It is the Lord’s table. We do what we do here, in memory of Jesus…

Swanson, John August. Last Supper, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56552 [retrieved April 12, 2022]. Original source: www.JohnAugustSwanson.com - copyright 2009 by John August Swanson. Used with permission.

Roughly three hundred years before the events we read about today, someone writing under the name of the prophet Zechariah said it all:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you…

Image: Hochhalter, Cara B.. Palm Sunday: Even the Stones, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=59018 [retrieved February 26, 2022]. Original source: Cara B. Hochhalter, A Challenging Peace in the Life and Stories of Jesus, 2019.

…As of this week, the estimated number of refugees from the war in Ukraine has risen to nearly four million. Terrified people, running for their lives, leaving a home they love, looking for safety.

Our passage tonight brings us into the dreams of a refugee dad…

Image: La Tour, Georges du Mesnil de, 1593-1652. The Angel Visiting Joseph in a Dream, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=46742 [retrieved February 26, 2022]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Georges_de_La_Tour_022.jpg.