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164: Easter 5C (April 24, 2016)

Eric Fistler

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164: Easter 5C (April 24, 2016)

Image: from the Facebook page of the Center for Progressive Renewal
Voice in the Wilderness: Acts 11:1-18 Renee Roederer of Ann Arbor Michigan, Pastor of Michigan Nones and Dones

Featured Musician - Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, “Hear Me and Show Me Your Love” (Psalm 17) From his newest album Trust which is available now here!

Episode 164 Easter 5C - (April 24, 2016)
Image: from the Facebook page of the Center for Progressive Renewal
Hello and welcome to the Pulpit Fiction Podcast, the lectionary podcast for preachers, seekers and Bible geeks. This is episode 164 for Sunday April 24, 2016, Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C.

Introduction and Check-in  

  • Wild Goose Festival - should we go to North Carolina?

Voice in the Wilderness: Acts 11:1-18 Renee Roederer of Ann Arbor Michigan, Pastor of Michigan Nones and Dones

Featured Musician - Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, “Hear Me and Show Me Your Love” (Psalm 17) From his newest album Trust which is available now here!

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Gospel Reading: John 13:31-35 Love commandment
Initial Thoughts

Bible Study

  • Glorify

    • Jesus’ glory comes in the midst of betrayal- both of Judas and Peter
    • Not the glory we might expect
    • Connect his life and his public ministry to his death and this farewell discourse
    • “Now”...interesting since Jesus has not yet been crucified.

      • Jesus is glorified as much through his life as through his impending death
  • Little Children

    • Tenderness, love, compassion for these whom he has told repeatedly what will happen and yet still do not understand
    • patience
  • New Commandment

    • "[This] new command is simple enough for a toddler to memorize and appreciate, and it is profound enough that the most mature believers are repeatedly embarrassed at how poorly they comprehend it and put it into practice.” D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John (Leicester, England: APOLLOS,1991), 484.
    • What is the ONE test by which people will know if you are Christ’s disciples? LOVE
    • Love is all you need
    • Love as I have loved you:

      • “Get behind me Satan”
      • “O Ye of little faith…”
      • Love does not equal nice, but authentic and honest
  • About belief or life?

    • Jesus is not concerned about orthodoxy but orthopraxis - no creed or scripture but a way to live: love.

      • Karen Armstrong "Religion,” is not about having to believe or accept certain difficult propositions; instead, religion is "about doing things that change you.” quoted by Gary Jones in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary - Feasting on the Word – Year C, Volume 2: Lent through Eastertide.
  • What is New about this commandment? Joseph Bessler (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary - Feasting on the Word – Year C, Volume 2: Lent through Eastertide.)

    • Augustine: Different kind of love - a spiritual love distinguished “from all carnal affection” , Tractates on the Gospel of John 65.1, in John: 11-21, 114
    • Cyril of Alexandria: Different degree of love - Leviticus commands us to love others as ourselves. Jesus loves us far more than he loved himself. Jesus self-giving love which led to the cross is far greater than love for oneself. Commentary on the Gospel of John 9, in John: 11-21, 114
    • Who is one another?

      • Are Christian called only to love one another (i.e. the elect or fellow Christians) or called to love everyone (i.e. Good Samaritan style)

Sermon Thoughts and Questions:

  • Joseph Bessler- the command is to continue to love one another in the midst fo the fear and awfulness which is to come. Do not give into fear or self-preservation - love one another, even if it means giving up your own life.
  • What would it mean for each of us or our churches to be glorified? What does that mean in our culture? What is an example of a glorified church?
  • Can any of us be glorified while our brothers and sisters are not?

Psalm Nugget: Psalm 148 with Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist)

Second Reading: Revelation 21:1-6 New heaven
Initial Thoughts

  • A suggested reading in the UM Funeral liturgy
  • Skipped a lot.

Bible Study

  • Renewed, not Replaced.

    • “The greek word used for ‘new’ earth in Revelation 21:1 can mean either ‘renewed’ or ‘new’ - but certainly doesn’t mean a ‘different’ earth. There is no justification for using up the earth on the grounds that we get to trade this one in for a new and bigger one in seven years.” (Rossing, p. 7)
    • Earth is not disposable.
    • The plan of God is not to destroy this earth so as to create a new one. This is the only one we have.
    • Key word is “Renewed.” To renew something is not to destroy it and replace it. It is to take what is there, and transform it, heal it, and reconcile it to a pristine condition.
  • God dwelling with.

    • The throne of God has moved. What was once in heaven, is not in and among the people.
    • Emmanuel - God with us.
    • “Three times in this verse God is said to be ‘with them.’ … In the new Jerusalem, mortals are now God’s ‘peoples.’” All of the peoples - every tribe, nation, and race. The relationship with God is now complete and intimate with all.
    • “The message of God’s dwelling in the world is not a message reserved for thousands of years off in the future… Biblical prophecy and apocalypses do not operate according to a rigid sequential timetable. Revelation gives us a vision, not a chronology of predictions. God and the Lamb already reign. Revelation insists as the very outset.”
    • Tension of already and not yet is the tension of the Christian faith. Those that want to use Revelation as a script for the future are escaping that tension. They want to forget the “already,” and focus on preparing for the “not yet.”
    • This messy timeline is evidenced in the “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” Time is not a linear experience that has a clear beginning and end. God is in it all

      • This, by the way, fits with most modern understanding of the world that is quantum in nature. Time is relative - which is a modern discovery that Revelation seems to be hinting at nearly 2000 years ago.
    • “Finally God sees an alternative city - God’s wonderful paradise-like world, descending from heaven like a bride, inviting us in. This is the citizenship Christians are to hope for. The urgent message is that Christians must be faithful in worshiping God and renounce Babylon/Rome in order to participate in God’s holy city.” (Rossing, p. 84)

Sermon Thoughts and Questions

  • Goal of Revelation is like that of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, which has terrifying visions of the future that are not intended to be bold, set-in-stone predictions of the future as it will happen. Instead, the vision that Scrooge is given is of a possible future if he does not change. The goal of the vision is to exhort him to change, and it works. The terrifying vision of what might be guides him to repentance, which then has vast ramifications for the way the world is. The vision of a possible future reshapes the actual future.

    • “The book of Revelation… shows us terrifying visions precisely because there is still hope for us and for the earth. Indeed, the hope of the book of Revelation is that God’s Lamb, Jesus, is already victorious and that God’s people will be faithful to the Bible’s vision of life. The hope is that we will follow the Lamb, renouncing the seductions of imperial injustice and violence, so the threat of the plagues will be averted. God loves the world. God does not desire earth’s destruction.” (Rossing, p. 85).
  • Renewed not Replaced. This is a key theme of all of Revelation. How might we participate in the renewal?

Tasty Wafer of the Week:

CLOSING
Thank you listeners
Shout-Outs:
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Twitter:

  • Ascension Lutheran @ALutheran “Thanks @iamLeeBob for your words from the wilderness about Tabitha on @PulpitFPodcast”
  • Sean Andreas @Shon_Ondray  “How can you not like the Greek love interpretation? NT Wright does, so you know it’s gotta be good :) (being cheeky)”

Email:

  • I am an ELCA pastor and have fairly recently become a more faithful listener to the podcast. The reflections of you and others are really helping me in my weekly sermon preparation. Thank you for your thoughtful exploration of all the texts, and even offering new music and other things. I do have one question or suggestion: is there any chance you could add chapter marks within the recording? Sometimes I'm in a rush and only want to hear one or two parts instead of having to search through the whole thing. Or I am trying to find a section to write up notes after listening to it while driving the first time. It could also work to have timestamps within the show notes. Maybe you've tried before and it doesn't work, but I thought I would ask. Thanks again for offering such a great preaching resource!

Feedback:

Voice in the Wilderness: Acts 11:1-18 Renee Roederer of Ann Arbor Michigan, Pastor of Michigan Nones and Dones

Featured Musician - Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, “Hear Me and Show Me Your Love” (Psalm 17) From his newest album Trust which is available now here!

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Thanks to our Psalms correspondent, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan (psalmimmersion.com, @pomopsalmist). Thank you to Scott Fletcher for our voice bumpers, Dick Dale and the Del Tones for our Theme music (“Misirlou”), Nicolai Heidlas (“Sunday Morning”, "Real Ride" and “Summertime”) and The Steel Wheels for our transition music(“Nola’s First Dance” from their album Lay Down, Lay Low) and Paul and Storm for our closing music (“Oh No”).