Tag: cross

The Good Snake

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Lent, Sermons Year B1 Comment
Art by Carrie Knutsen

John 3:14-21 NRSV

It’s funny how I still have the same recurring nightmares that I had as a child.

Going to school and suddenly realizing that I forgot to dress myself that morning.

Being chased in the darkness by a gang of clowns that included Bozo, the Town Clown from Captain Kangaroo and Ronald McDonald.

But perhaps my most frightening recurring nightmare is the one where, I suddenly find myself standing in my front yard that is crawling with snakes. I can’t take on step without stepping on a slithering serpent.

Our deep fear of snakes makes even more strange the reference that Jesus makes to an obscure story in the book of Numbers.

 “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosever believes in him might have eternal life.”

 This reminds me of the Sumerian God of Healing who walked around with two intertwined snakes upon his staff, which was later adopted as the symbol for the American Medical Association.

It’s a strange image of healing, isn’t it? Two snakes on a staff. Something frightening and threatening as a symbol for healing and wholeness.

But anyone who has ever experienced surgery and has listened to the doctor discuss the risks involved, knows that if we want to be healed, sometimes we must take a risk. If we want to be made whole, sometimes our lives must be threatened.

Yet, we are often startled or frightened by any sight of a snake. And if we dream of snakes most of us would call that dream a nightmare.

 The story in the book of Numbers begins as the starving Israelites desperately cry out to God for help. God hears their prayers and sends manna from heaven. At first, they were grateful, but after eating the manna day after day after day after day, they are fed up with it, literally and figuratively. So, in a spirit of selfish ungratefulness, they begin to complain God.

 It is then that these “fiery” serpents show up.

 One of my favorite preachers, Barbara Brown Taylor, points out that the Hebrew word for “fiery” is Seraph. She says that it is a word that is used to describe how your ankle feels when it is bitten by a poisonous snake: “fiery.” The serpents who bit the Hebrews for their ungratefulness were called Seraphs. Does that sound familiar? It is also the Hebrew name for angels.

In Isaiah 6, we are told that Seraphs or Seraphim surrounded the throne of God, protecting God. And here in Numbers, these, fiery, frightening Seraphs, these slithering serpents show up to frighten, hurt, but to ultimately save the people.

One could say that these fiery angelic serpents come to strike the people back into their senses. Being brought close to death, they remember how precious life is. They apologize to Moses, admitting how selfish and ungrateful they had become.

“Please, Moses, ask God to call back the snakes!” they pleaded.

However, God doesn’t remove the evil from their midst. Instead, God says to Moses: “take a brass serpent, put it on a pole, and make the people look at it.” So that in the future, when self-centeredness and ungratefulness overtake them, they will look at the snake, the symbol of their sinfulness upon the pole, and be saved.

Moses makes a replica of the outcome of the sin of the people and lifts it up onto a pole, makes them look at it, and there, they are able to see that the Seraph of death has become the Seraph of life.

In looking at the truth of who they were, no matter how painful and fiery that truth was—they receive salvation.

And now John says that Jesus uses this serpent on a pole to describe himself.

In a conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus uses the image of a snake on a pole as a parable of what he was doing to save the world.  Thus, one could say that the Gospel of John refers to Jesus, not only as “the Good Shepherd,” but also as “the Good Snake.”

 Jesus surprised us when he came to dwell among us, slithering into our darkness, our sinfulness. He opened his mouth and spoke prophetic words that cut us like a sword.

His teachings to love all people unconditionally, including our enemies, to sell our possessions and give them to the poor, to humble ourselves by taking the lowest seat at the table, to turn the other cheek, to forgive seventy times seven, to walk the extra mile, to regard women and children with equality, to welcome the foreigner, to do justice on the behalf of the marginalized, to defend the sinner, to see God in the least of those among us, to deny ourselves, lose ourselves and take up a cross, felt like a fiery poison coursing through our veins as it made us realize that we have a propensity to love the darkness more than the light.

 So, we had him arrested, and when Pilate asked us to choose between an insurrectionist and Jesus, we chose the criminal. We tortured him and lifted him high on a pole. And while he was lifted up, his prophetic venomous words calling us to deny ourselves and take up our own crosses, somehow, some way became words of life.

And standing at the foot of this pole, all who, even today, hear him cry out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” are able to look up and say, “Truly, this was the Son of God.”

 When we dare to look intently at our Good Snake hanging on the cross, we begin to realize that on that cross hangs our refusal to follow his way of love, grace and justice, our choice to feed ourselves rather than feed hungry, look after ourselves rather than heal the sick, love ourselves, rather than love our enemies, and stand up for the rich, privileged and powerful rather than for those considered to be the least. We realize that on that cross hangs our pride, tribalism, hate, and bigotry. We realize that it was none other than our sin that put Jesus on the cross.

         And it is in looking intently at the snake on the pole, we find our salvation. It is in looking at our propensity for evil in this world that saves us and enables us to build God’s kingdom of love, grace, and justice in this world.

This why we need to take notice when others try to prevent us from looking at our sins, acknowledging our evil past, and studying our blighted history. We need to wake up and pay attention when someone repeats a lie to re-write history constantly spouting misinformation such as: “The United States was founded as a Christian nation,” “the Civil War wasn’t over slavery,” “some slaves had it pretty good,” “the holocaust never happened,” or the January 6 insurrectionists were “ordinary tourists.” And we also need to take note how the cross on which Jesus was crucified by an always unholy marriage of religion and state has been made into an adored ornament, and how the cause of Jesus’ death is most often attributed to God’s love instead of the rejection of God’s love by sinful humanity.

There are forces in our world today that want us to forget our sinful history, because they know in the words of George Orwell, that “the most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” But it is in remembering and studying the truth of our history, no matter how bad that truth hurts, even if it stings like fiery venom in our veins, that we become better, more loving, more gracious, more just, more like the D\disciples we are called to be.

There’s a reason that the Civil Rights movement was emboldened after Mamie Till, the mother of Emmett Till, forced us to look at the snake by declining an offer from the mortician to “touch up” her son’s body and opting for an open casket funeral, saying: “I think everybody needed to know what had happened to Emmett Till.”

Perhaps she knew that when we look intently at the snake, an outbreak of the Kingdom God can happen.

And as people who understand that it was our sins that put Jesus on the cross, we should always do everything we can to help others look at the snakes in our midst today: the bodies of school children riddled with bullets from a mass shooter; the bloodied face of a gay child beat by bullies in a middle school restroom; the malnourished, starved corpses of Palestinian children victimized by a war that needs to end. Because when we look intently at the snake, we find the courage to say: “enough is enough is enough already!”

In planning the annual Yom Ha Shoah Holocaust Remembrance service this week with Rabbi Harley and other clergy, we read together the following words written by Rev. Terry Dickinson which underscore our necessity to remember, to never forget, to always look intently at the snake, because if we are honest, we would rather look the other way and pretend it never happened:

I’d rather pretend it never happened.
I’d rather believe that the sky was never blackened by the smoke of human death, that children and mothers and innocent men
were never victims of such a magnitude of hate.

I’d rather pretend it never happened, but if I have to remember,
if I must look into this gaping scar of human ignorance,
I want to believe that it could only happen once in the history of this universe. Yet, history has a terrible way of echoing in the stone-hard canyons of bigotry, repeating itself again and again.

I’d rather pretend it never happened, for in remembering,
the world seems a frightening place,
where we cannot celebrate, but would rather exterminate our differences and merge into one large mass of sameness.

I’d rather pretend it never happened and believe that it could never happen again. Yet, I know that as long as I look upon even one other person
with seeds of hate, and fail to see him as my brother,
or her as my sister, or them as my family,

then my own precious soul is fertile ground
for these seeds to sprout yet another Holocaust.[i]

Let us look intently at the snake. Look at him, lifted up, crucified. Listen to his words of mercy, love and grace. For if we can keep our eyes on the snake upon the pole, one day, love will finally win, the kingdom will finally come, and the only place on earth we will be frightened is in the deep recesses of our darkest nightmares.

[i] By Rev. Terry Dickinson (1997, Christway Unity Church, Hot Springs, AR)

A Bunch of Losers

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Sermons Year CLeave a comment

forest-gump1

Luke 14:25-33 NRSV

I have heard people say that one of the reasons that they do not belong to a church is that the church is nothing more than a “bunch of losers.” They say we are weak, and we weaklings find strength in numbers. They say we cannot handle life on our own, so we use religion, faith, and church as a crutch to help us get along in this broken world.

Now, as bad as it might be for us to hear this, these critics of faith and religion may have a point. Sadly, their critique of Christianity, especially here in North America, may be justified.

To understand where they are coming from, all we have to do is turn on our TVs at almost any time of the day. There we will find countless preachers with great hair, bright smiles and big dimples promoting a health- wealth-and-prosperity gospel offering strength to the weak. Or we only have to walk into any Christian bookstore and see the shelves that are literally full of books promoting this message of self-help and good fortune.

I believe this is the reason Jesus may have become a little irritated with the large crowds that often followed him during his earthly ministry. One day, noticing the growing number of people following behind him, like a scene in Forrest Gump, Jesus suddenly stops, turns to the masses and says something like: “Do you people really know what this is all about?” Like someone asked me when I first moved to Enid, “Do you really know what you are getting yourselves into here?”

“Because I am not so sure the crowd would be this large if you really knew!” says Jesus. “Do you really understand what you are signing up for here? Do you really get this journey called, ‘discipleship’? Because, I have a sinking suspicion that most you do not have a clue.”

I suspect that the large crowds were following Jesus that day for much of the same reasons some people attend church today. They were looking to get something out of it. Some sort of blessing, reward, some kind of direction, perhaps a better handle on things, a little attention, keys to a better, more successful and prosperous life. They were looking to strengthen their families, be a more productive businessperson, get a leg up, receive a helping hand, get a little boost, a shot in the arm, a pat on the back and maybe just a little dose of something to help feel a little bit better, at little more righteous, a little more holy than all of those people who were not following Jesus.

As the church critics and cynics say, “They were merely looking for a crutch to help them to cope with everyday living. They were a bunch of losers looking for something, anything, to help them become winners. Because after all, isn’t that what God is all about: winning?

And noticing what was going on, Jesus stops in his tracks, turns and says to them, “You people really do not get this, do you? This journey called discipleship is not about making your family stronger. In fact, this could tear your family apart. This is not about making you feel superior or more holy than the ones who are not following. This journey will humble you! It will bring you down to your knees! This is not about self-help. It is about denying self. And this is certainly not about obtaining any keys to a more successful and productive life. It is not even about helping you cope or get a better grip on your life as it is. This is about losing your life. This is not about winning. This journey called discipleship is about losing.

So if you really want to follow me on this journey, you better think long and hard about it. Because this journey is not about receiving any reward or gain. In fact, the opposite is true. This journey is going to cost you. And it is going to cost you every possession you have. And guess what, there is even a cross involved. And you, my friend, are going to carry it.  So you better do some calculations, you better do a good ol’ gut check, you better look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you really have what it takes to follow me on this journey. For this journey is not for the weak, the timid or the reluctant. It is for the courageous and the heroic. Some say that it is for the crazy and the foolish.

So, if you are a loser looking for something to make you a winner, this may not be for you. But if you are an ordinary person who really wants to find true life, life the way God intends for it to be, I am looking for a few good people who are willing to take some risk and lose it all!

This church has two wonderful practices that define who we are as the Disciples of Christ. The first one is what we call Believers Baptism. One of the reasons that we do not baptize infants is because we recognize that there is some cost involved to becoming one of Jesus’ disciples. Although the gift of salvation is a free gift of God’s grace, and there is nothing we can do to earn it or deserve it, walking with Jesus as disciples is a risky and costly venture. So, we wait until a child is of an age where they can weigh and calculate that cost. We call it the “age of accountability.”  They have to be able to do some accounting. And that age is different for different children.

The second practice that defines who we are as Disciples of Christ is Communion. Every Sunday we remind ourselves of the cost that is involved on this journey we call discipleship. We break bread remembering that God through Jesus loved this world and all of us in it so much that he was willing was willing to suffer greatly for us. We share a cup representing the blood of Christ remembering that God’s love for us compelled God to pour God’s self out, empty God’s self through the life and death of Jesus Christ.

And we are reminded that we as disciples are called to take this same journey, carry our own crosses. We come to church not in search of some crutch to help our broken selves, but to be reminded that we are called to be willing to break ourselves for others, suffer with and for others. We come to church not looking for something to help us improve life, but for the courage and the opportunity to pour our lives out to help others.

I firmly believe that fully embracing this identity is the only way we are going to change the way the local church and the Christian faith is often perceived by those people who have all but given up on organized religion. Instead of being a bunch of losers looking for the church to help us become winners, we need to be a bunch of ordinary people who are willing to be a bunch of losers, willing to lose our very selves.

Then, we will not only have life the way God intends for it to be, we will be the witness to the world of the love that God calls us to be. And if we pay attention, there are examples of this witness all around us.

I have a friend in Raleigh who left a good paying job to become the pastor of a group of homeless men and women. He looks to the generosity from friends scattered all over the country to pay for a roof over his head and to put meals on his table. Loving God more than self, he gave up much, risked much and lost much to love a group of people who can offer him little in return.

There are people right here in this room who have given up much to not only do missions in other parts of the world like Peru and the Dominican Republic, but also right here at home. You give of yourselves constantly to minister to the poor and needy here through Loaves and Fishes or Our Daily Bread. Others here could have chosen more lucrative careers, but instead you answered a call to serve others as social workers, school teachers, nurses and other service oriented professions. Others have sacrificed much to provide for children, other family members, and even friends or employees who have exceptional needs.

Just this week, some of you gave up, lost an entire Wednesday evening, as you did yard work for people who needed it through Hearts for Care.

So to all of the church skeptics and critics, I want to say this: I understand that no one wants to be associated with a bunch of whiney losers who are always looking to get something, to find something to make their lives better or to get something just to help them cope. And I know that is why some people in the church are very attracted to the health and wealth evangelists and the always-smiling prosperity preachers.

However, I belong to the Central Christian Church of Enid, Oklahoma, a church that is full of a bunch of losers of another sort: a bunch of courageous and faithful losers who have made a commitment to always strive to love God and others more than self; a bunch of self-denying, selfless losers who are willing to risk it all to put the needs of others over their own needs and wants.

And no, we are not perfect. We all have our selfish moments. But we have decided to try our best with the help of God and each other to follow Jesus on a risky journey called discipleship— a journey of self-denial, self-giving and sacrifice, believing that it is the only journey that leads to real life, life that is truly abundant and eternal.

We believe “losing” is what “winning” really looks like. And yes, as crazy and as foolish as it may seem, we do know what we have gotten ourselves into!

I Need a New Drug

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn EasterLeave a comment

Cialis

Have you noticed that every other television commercial that comes on the air is an ad touting the benefits of a new prescription drug? There is a new drug available for whatever it is that might ail you!

Do you have frequent heartburn? Are you tired of being tired? Is depression making you depressed?  Do you have trouble going to sleep? Do you have difficulty waking up? Do you want to avoid diet and exercise? Is it painful for you to walk your dog? Is your hair falling out? Do you have a going or a growing problem?  Are you overweight but love to eat?  Do you need to put some excitement back into your relationships? No matter what you’ve got, there is a new pill created just for you.

And then, in nearly every commercial, after the person begins taking what they asked their doctor to prescribe, there is all of this exuberant celebration: dancing in the streets; jumping up and down; digging for clams; running around in the yard with your dog and your water hose; even sitting outdoors and watching the sunset while holding hands with your significant other in separate bathtubs!

As a pastor, I oftentimes wonder if this is not how we oftentimes promote the church.  \If you channel surf through the religious channels, you will find that there is no shortage of preachers who sound like they are spokespeople for some new drug. “Are you down and out?  Are you drowning in a sea of debt? Are you empty inside? Does your marriage need a boost? Then pick up the phone and make your pledge, send in your check, and sit back and wait for God to pour out God’s blessings!  Wait for God to give you a reason to celebrate!”

I am not exactly sure, but I suspect that is what many people were thinking when they were following Jesus throughout Galilee. Listen to how the Sermon on the Mount begins: “And great crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.”  Folks had come out from all over to follow Jesus.

And listen to what Jesus says:

Are you 50 years old and wonder where your life is going? Are you down and out and feeling blue?  Do you need help raising your children?  Does your marriage need a boost?

No, instead Jesus says things like, “For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

The crowd gets really quiet!  Someone whispers, “I know he didn’t say ‘hard,’ did he? I thought Jesus was all about making things easy!”

Jesus continues:

“Love everyone, including your enemies. Be a blessing to the poor and to those who hunger and thirst for justice. Pray for those who persecute you. Forgive those who have wronged you. Don’t judge. Accept others as I have accepted you. Deny yourself. Pick up your cross and follow me. Die to yourself. Don’t just hear these words, but do these words.”

I am afraid that churches are so desperate to attract people that they have been willing to trivialize and water down the gospel. I am afraid that the salvation that many churches are preaching is no different than the salvation that is being preached in commercials about a new prescription drug.

May God forgive the church for sometimes implying that Jesus will make life easier, will fix everything that is wrong with us, will put a little lilt in our voices, a little sunshine in our souls, because the chances are very good that the message Jesus preaches will only make your life more difficult.

Ten Reasons Victoria Osteen Was Wrong

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Short ArticlesLeave a comment

Victoria Osteen was wrong because our faith in God calls us to love all people. The reality is that if we love all people, and persuade others to love all people, there will always be some people, probably religious people, who will want to kill us.

Victoria Osteen was wrong because our faith in God beckons us to act like fools. While the world continually beckons us to look up and get ahead, Christ beckons us to look down and get with those who have been left behind.

Victoria Osteen was wrong because our faith in God drives us to bear the suffering of others. We are to offer others genuine care, not a simple cure; compassionate empathy, not a quick-fix; and an understanding presence, not some happy religious advice to make everything better.

Victoria Osteen was wrong because our faith in God encourages us to help those who cannot help themselves. Furthermore, not only can they not help themselves, neither can they help us.

Victoria Osteen was wrong because our faith in God challenges us to love unconditionally. We are to lift up, embrace, and accept those who in no way deserve our love and that seldom makes us happy.

Victoria Osteen was wrong because our faith in God demands that we forgive those who have wronged us. We are to forgive those who do not deserve our love and have done things to earn our hate. Happiness is revenge. It is not forgiveness.

Victoria Osteen was wrong because our faith in God leads us to places that we would rather not go to do things we would rather not do. It propels us to dark, dangerous and dreadful places to do unpleasant, uncomfortable and unsafe things.

Victoria Osteen was wrong because our faith in God requires that we put the laws of God over human laws. There is a reason that much of the New Testament was written from a prison cell: God’s greatest commandment to love our neighbor as we love ourselves is oftentimes illegal.

Victoria Osteen was wrong because our faith in God costs us our lives. A god that wants us to live long, happy lives is attractive. However, the God of Christ continually urges us to give our lives away.

Victoria Osteen was wrong because the symbol of our faith in God is a cross. We tend to forget that the cross is not a pretty piece of jewelry or a cool tattoo. It is an emblem of suffering and shame. It is an instrument of death to one’s self.

The Rainbow and the Cross

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Farmville Enterprise1 Comment

rainbow crossThe Ebola virus is spreading throughout the world, recently killing a top doctor. Financial turmoil has seized Argentina. A Malaysian plane was shot down over Ukraine, and fierce fighting has broken out around the wreckage. The death toll rises in Gaza as deadly violence occurs every day. Israel attacks a UN school killing 20 evacuees. Mobs of Islamic militants kill dozens in China. An unprecedented crisis at our own border continues. Immigrant families are being torn apart. Kidnapped Nigerian girls for whom churches all over the world prayed are still missing. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright summed up the state of the world last week in one simple sentence: “To put it mildly, the world is a mess.”

I am not the only preacher to point out that the state of the world today is reminiscent of a story found in the early chapters of Genesis. In Genesis 6 we read: “The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” In other words, the state of the world caused God great suffering. Other translations read that the state of the world “broke God’s heart.”

We know the rest of the story. The Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created” and in Genesis 7, we read that for forty days and nights the rains fell as God intended to start the whole thing over with Noah and his family. However, just one chapter later, the futility of God’s intentions became obvious, as the state of the world had not changed. After the flood “…the Lord said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done.’” In the following chapter, we read where the rainbow is forever a beautiful reminder of this great promise.

Sadly, I believe we tend to forget what this promise truly means. Perhaps it is due to a selfish inclination that we have had since our youth that we only remember God will never again try to “blot us out.” However, this promise means so much more. This promise means that our God has chosen a path of suffering. The rainbow means that the state of our world continually breaks the very heart of our God.

There is a reason the prophet Isaiah moves us when we read about “a man of suffering, acquainted with infirmity, wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities” (Isa 53). There is a reason Jesus said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things…”(Mark 8)  There is a reason at the death of Lazarus we read, “Jesus wept” (John 11). There is a reason Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Matt 27). There is a reason the soldier who was standing at the foot of the cross of our crucified Lord exclaimed: “Surely this man was the Son of God” (Matt 27).

Furthermore, there is a good reason that, living in a world which, “putting it mildly, is a great mess,” we sing: “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.”

Good News in the Disappointment of Holy Week

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Lent, Short ArticlesLeave a comment

holy week crown

It is two-thousand years later, and we are still surprised, confused, and even somewhat disappointed. Shattering our expectations of a Savior, King Jesus enters the city this week to liberate his people riding a borrowed donkey with an army of rag-tag students who have no idea what they are doing.

God’s throne is not made of silver and gold. God’s throne is made of wood and nails. God wears not a crown of jewels, but a crown of thorns.

When God chose to save the world from sin and evil, Jesus exercised a peculiar kind of power. It is not the type of power that we are accustomed to or desire. It is not a power that rules but is a power that serves. It is not a power that takes but is a power that gives. It is not a power that seizes but is a power that suffers. It is not a power that dominates but is a power that dies.

And we are still surprised, confused and somewhat disappointed.

“O God, though I attend and support my church every Sunday, why do my prayers seem to go unanswered? Why do I still struggle with life?”

“Dear Lord, We have been serving you our entire lives, faithfully giving you all that we have! I do not understand why you have not brought physical healing to my wife who suffers daily with a chronic disease.”

“Heavenly Father, we try our best to respect and love all people. That is why I am somewhat dismayed that you allow others to call us names, ridicule us and cause us pain.”

“And yet, Lord, in my astonishment, bewilderment and disappointment, you come to me nonetheless. Although I have no idea I am doing, you envelop me with your grace. You come to me in all of your glory and with all of your power. You come serving, giving, suffering and dying. You come offering me the very best gift that you can possibly offer—the gift of your peculiar holy self.”

And the good news is: that is more than enough!

Carrying the Cross

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Lent, Short ArticlesLeave a comment

Jesus_carries_the_cross

Philippians 3:17-4:1 NRSV

If there was anything good about seeing the movie, the Son of God , it was how it reminded us of the extreme heinousness of the cross. For two thousand years later, I believe many of us have forgotten the excruciating pain, the shame, and the horror of crucifixion on a cross. Our society has turned the cross into a hallowed symbol, a pretty piece of jewelry. We are no longer appalled at the nature of Christ’s death, and we no longer grasp the significance of what it means to share his sufferings and to imitate him in death as the Apostle Paul admonishes us to do.

So we live as what Paul calls “enemies” of this cross. We see our religion only in terms of benefit and advantage and are not prepared to share the humiliations and suffering that commitment to Christ  involves.

In thinking about the cross in relation to other world religions, the symbol for our faith is indeed a curious one. The cross is a symbol of suffering, shame and death. It is like having the electric chair as the symbol for our God. Think for a moment about other religions. Most have us have visited Chinese restaurants and have seen a statue of Buddah in the foyer. There he is, fat and happy: arms crossed; eyes closed; serene; peaceful; introspective; contemplative.  Compare that with the cross: cruel; painful; degrading, humiliating; lonely.  This is who our God is, and it is who we are called to imitate.  This is who we are called to be, and this is where we are called to go.

The good news is that you do not need to live long in this broken world to become grateful that our God is the God of the cross. For the world in which we live is not a serene, peaceful world where we have the luxury to cross our arms and close our eyes introspectively, contemplating it all. We live in a world where 15 year-olds take guns to school kill their classmates. We live in a world where the hearts of 44 year-old men stop beating as they sleep at night. We live in a world where malignant tumors grow inside of us and we are often unaware until it is too late. We live in a world where our automobiles crash crushing the life from us.  We live in a world where tornadoes and earthquakes and floods strike without warning.

Yes, thank God that our God is the God of the cross— A God who knows what it is like to suffer as we suffer;  A God who knows humiliation, who has experienced loneliness, who knows pain; A God who has entered our broken world to participate with us in our suffering.

In this season of Lent, may this be the God we imitate.

May we regard our religion as an opportunity to lose ourselves instead of an opportunity for advantage. May we through our church, with the help of our God, give of ourselves to others.  May we go to those places of suffering and shame of heartache and heartbreak and even death and participate in it. May we suffer with others, as God suffers with us.  May we imitate Christ and pick up and carry our cross.

Lent: A Time to Tell the Truth

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Lent1 Comment

lenten_cross

A few years ago an Episcopal church in a coastal South Carolina town created a ruckus as when it placed three crosses on the lawn adjacent to their church. They draped them in purple for Lent. After a week or so, the church received a call from the local Chamber of Commerce.

They called complaining, “We hate to cause any trouble, but Spring Break is right the corner, and the tourist season is starting to crank up. And we think those crosses that you’ve erected are just sending the wrong message to visitors on the beach. People don’t want to come down here for a vacation and be confronted with unpleasantness.  On vacation, people want to be escape from all of the unpleasantries of life and relax, be comfortable.”

Well, after much debate, the church stood its ground, and the three crosses stayed.  “It’s Lent,” said the church. “People are supposed to be uncomfortable.”  William Willimon calls Lent “the season of unpleasant uncomfortability.”

Willimon says that one of the reasons this season we call Lent is so unpleasant is that it forces us “to confront so many of those truths about ourselves that we spend much of the rest of our lives avoiding.” Here, during this Lenten season, “we try to tell the truth about ourselves, and sometimes the truth hurts.”

Lent is a time to honestly say, “I am a rotten scoundrel. I do things that I ought not do. I know they are wrong, yet I do them anyway.  I don’t do things that I know I should do. I think way too better of myself than I ought. Even my best deeds are tainted with pride and selfishness.  Sin is so much a part of my life that I cannot escape it.”

Yes, this is the season of telling the truth, even if it pains us a bit.  But here’s the good news.  The truth will set us free! No matter how hideous, disgusting, and abominable our sins are, the God’s honest truth will always set us free, because in Jesus Christ, we have been loved, forgiven and accepted.

On Ash Wednesday, we will gather together to worship. During this special service we tell the truth, and then, we will hear the truth.  We could not do right by God, so God, in Christ, did right by us.

Greatest Love Story Ever Told

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn MemorialsLeave a comment

greatest love storyJesus did his best preaching when he told a story, a parable. Jesus simply told a story, usually taken from the ordinary, everyday experience of life to reveal something extraordinary about who our God is and how much our God loves us. So, at this time, I would like to attempt to do the same.

Once upon a time, a man and a woman who loved each other very much were married (by the way, this is a true story, based on a real couple I know). They shared a wonderful life together.  They lived out their marriage covenant in a way that many couples do not duplicate.  They were completely faithful to one another in every way.  They were never abusive to one another, and neither one ever held any grudges or let selfish ambition come between them.

The couple had been married for nearly thirty-years, when the husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. After several unsuccessful brain surgeries to control the progression of his disease, he was left in a catatonic state and had to be admitted to a nursing home. Unable to lift his head, he was spoon-fed and cared for as if he were an infant.  On most days, there was no way to tell if he even knew he was in the world.

Yet, this loving, compassionate wife, who promised to be faithful in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, till death shall part them, remained very faithful.  A day never went by when she did not visit the nursing home to make sure his needs were being met, letting him know in the best way she can that she will always remain by his side.  And oftentimes, she made his favorite dishes at home: strawberry shortcake, always using pound cake as he liked it, and sometimes a pecan pie.  She would then wrap the dessert up and bring it to the nursing home, where she would place one hand under his chin, lift his head and feed him the cake or pie with the other hand.

I have often thought how wonderful it would be to know that if one day my health fails me, and I wind up in a similar situation, someone will be there for me, to not only check on me daily, to make sure I am treated well, my needs are being met, to stay by my side, but also to prepare my favorite dishes, which just so happens to be strawberry shortcake and pecan pie, hold my chin, lift my head, and feed me.

This is who I believe our God is.  God is a loving spouse who is living out a covenant with us, not only promising to be faithful, to stay by our side, but there at our side, in our weakest moments, takes a hold of our chin, lifts our heads and feeds us pie, a peace beyond understanding.

But you know something. There is something amiss in this parable.  There is something wrong, something missing.  For when we really think about it, as wonderful as this parable is, we realize that it simply fails to do the greatest story ever told appropriate justice.  Especially when we consider that unlike the husband in this parable, we have not always been faithful to our God; when we consider our constant betrayals and our continuous denials. When we consider that when God offered us the very best gift God had to offer, the gift of God’s self, we reciprocated that gift with the very worst we had to offer, the cross.  But remaining faithful, empowered by pure, unconditional love, God summoned the will to resurrect this gift and give him right back to the undeserving ones who killed him, making eternal life possible for all.

Perhaps a more appropriate parable would go something like this:

Once upon a time, a man and a woman who loved each other very much were married. However, they did not share such a wonderful life together. From the very beginning, the husband had a problem with alcohol, which grew as time went on. Although the woman remained true to her marriage covenant, he did not. He had numerous affairs.  He usually blamed the alcohol, but on occasions he would tell his wife that his running around was her fault. He simply did not find her as attractive as he once did.

Family and friends, even her pastor, rightfully tried to persuade the woman to leave the loser. But they did so in vain. She said repeatedly that she promised to remain faithful in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, till death shall part them, and she intended to do just that. And this husband was not always bad. She said, “At times, when he is sober, he could be a perfect gentleman, always apologizing for his actions. He can even be attentive to my needs.”

But as time went on, those good times became fewer and further apart. The abuse, which had in the past always been verbal and mental, turned into physical abuse.  It got to a point when the woman could hardly remember a day when he was sober and when he did not strike her.

One day, in a drunken rage, he was yelling and screaming for his supper. As the wife, who had been nursing a broken jaw from a previous fight, was preparing it as fast as she could, he hurled abusive insults at her and struck her again on the side of her face that was still swollen.

She said, “Stop it. Please stop it.  Look at yourself. You are not the man that I married. Look what you have let alcohol do to you. You don’t know what you are doing.  Please, please get some help.  Please. Don’t you know that I still love you?”

Interpreting her desperate pleas as being combative and disrespectful, he threatened to kill her if she did not shut up.

She continued, “Please, please, I love you, I really do love you.”

He stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door. She went into the den, dropped face first into a pillow on the sofa and began to cry.  Weeping would be more accurate.  He came into a den with a pistol, jumped on top of her and placed it against her head. She cried:  “Please no. I love you, I love you.”

“I swear to God if you don’t shut up and fix my supper I will blow your head off.” Somehow she managed to turn around and place both of her hands on the pistol. As they struggled, the gun went off.  The husband fell to the floor, bleeding from the head.

But the sorry sod was too mean to die. However, he had to be placed in a nursing home, for he was left in a catatonic state, unable to lift even his head. He had to been spoon-fed and taken care of like an infant. On most days, there was no way to tell if he even knew he was in the world.

And yet, this wife, who promised to be faithful in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, till death should part them, remains faithful to this very day. A day does not go by when she does not visit the nursing home to make sure his needs are being met. Letting him know the best way she can that she will always remain by his side. And oftentimes she makes his favorite dishes at home: chocolate cake and coconut pie. She wraps it up and bring it to the nursing home, where she will hold his chin with one hand, lift his head and feed him with the other.

Of course, unlike the first parable this one is not based on any man or woman I know. For no one could possibly have so much compassion, be so forgiving, so loving, so patient, so merciful, yet so offensive. No one loves with such socially unacceptable grace, no one except God, as revealed to us in the greatest love story ever told.

For when God offered us God’s very best, we nailed it to a tree.  And then somehow, some miraculous way, through the power of the resurrection, born out of pure love, God fed us and continues to feed us pie.

Left-Handed Power

On By Rev. Dr. Jarrett BanksIn Farmville Enterprise, Short ArticlesLeave a comment

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I recently had a conversation with someone who firmly believes God uses God’s power to either cause or avoid preventing tragedies in life in order to accomplish some divine purpose. The God who rules with “thunder in his footsteps” and “lightening in his fist,” as the song goes, will rain down cancer, heart disease, automobile accidents, hurricanes and earthquakes to accomplish the divine purpose.

Thus, when a school teacher and mother of two runs her car off the road and is tragically killed, people say: “God has God’s reasons.”

For me, this represents a gross misunderstanding of the power of God revealed through Jesus.

One day, a little boy and a father who were driving down the road admiring a beautiful sunset. The father said to son, “And to think, God created all of this just for us to enjoy.”

The little boy responded, “And to think, God did it all with God’s left hand.”

Puzzled, the father asked: “What do you mean, son? Where did you hear that?”

“Well, the little boy responded, “God had to use God’s left hand, because my Sunday School teacher told me that in heaven Jesus was sitting on God’s right hand.”

As they say, out of the mouth of babes.

The truth is, we have allowed the world to define “power” for us, instead of allowing Jesus to define “power” for us.

To the world, “power” means controlling.  Power means dominating.  Power means taking. Power means ruling.  Power means imposing.

However, the power of God as revealed through Jesus Christ is the exact opposite.  God has what the late theologian Arthur McGill called a “peculiar” kind of power.  You could call it a “left-handed power.”  It is a power of self-expending, self-giving love.

God’s power is not power that takes, but a power that gives.

God’s power is not a power that rules, but a power that serves.

Not a power that imposes, but a power that loves.

Not a power that dominates, but a power that dies.

And as Arthur McGill has written:

This is the reason that it is no accident that Jesus undertakes his mission to the poor and to the weak and not to the strong, to the dying and not to those full of life.  For with these vessels of need God most decisively vindicates his peculiar kind of power, his power of service whereby the poor are fed, the sinful are forgiven, the weak are strengthened, and the dying are made alive (See Reigning from the Cross).

Thus, the moment the school teacher in the accident took her last breath, God did not take her. The best way to explain it is that during that moment, God came and God gave. God came, and in a most powerful way, gave her the very best gift that God has to give, the gift of God’s holy self. God came and gave God’s self completely and eternally to her.

Thanks be to God.