No Real Mystery Fourth Sunday of Easter April 21, 2013 John 10.22-30

            "There is no such thing as a dumb question." Teachers like that line. Jesus apparently disagrees.

            John builds two important markers into this story: time and place. The time is "the feast of Dedication." The place is "Jerusalem. . .in the temple portico of Solomon."

            Solomon, of course, built the original temple and raised Israel to the pinnacle of empire. The Feast of Dedication ("Hanukkah" in Hebrew) commemorated the time, about a century and a half before Jesus lived, when Judas Maccabaeus defeated the occupying Syrians and purified Israel's polluted temple. It is in that context that the religious leaders ask Jesus if his purification of the temple amounts to a claim to be Israel's rightful ruler.

            Jesus, in essence, replies, "Duh!"

            This shepherd-and-sheep stuff has nothing to do with gauzy scenes of the countryside: It is lightly-veiled political language. Jesus declares himself the rightful ruler of the true Israel who establishes a reign that will not crumble in a century but instead last beyond death itself. While he does in fact claim far more than an earthly king, he does not claim any less: My sheep hear my voice. In other words, my subjects do what I tell them to.

            Around Easter we gather in the church and ask Jesus, "Did you really mean all that stuff you said about how to live? Do you actually claim complete obedience in every area of life?"

            Jesus, in essence, replies, "Duh!"

Turns Out There IS Such a Thing as a Dumb Question!

Doug

Jamaica & Jesus Third Sunday of Easter April 14, 2013 Revelation 5.11-14

            Expatriate islanders agree: America for opportunity, Jamaica for parties.

            It appears that DVD's of the block parties that form a natural feature of Caribbean nightlife are a hot seller among immigrants on the less-festive streets of Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. For five bucks at the local bodega, these exiles can watch for hours as their countrymen dance with abandon to a thumping reggae base-line and feel, for a moment, at home.

            Nor is this just a nostalgic spectator sport: Jamaicans use the footage to stay in touch with their culture. They practice new dance moves that have appeared since they left home. "I watch them and I live them," one man explains. As Norman Stolzhoff, author of a book on this "dancehall culture," tells the New York Times' Sarah Maslin, watching "is a way that these Jamaicans can maintain their identity in New York."

            Revelation 5.11-14 is an out-take from a DVD of the eternal party in Heaven. John, from his exile on Patmos, sees a scene from the home he has never been to and invites the Church, from our own terrestrial banishment, to watch as well.        Granted, the streets are gold and the ghetto is located in Glory, but the right way to use this passage is the same way the Jamaican diaspora uses their DVD's: We watch it and live it. It is a way that we Christians can maintain our identity in the midst of the world. Like island exiles who one day plan to return, we want to know the latest moves so we fit in with our family around the throne.

            This is really what the Church's Sunday worship amounts to: A chance to watch and live the eternal life for which we're headed. Of course it isn't as exciting here as it will be There; of course we look awkward as we mimic the moves of a dance we haven't learned yet; of course it seems at times more like a discipline than a celebration. But we keep it up, because it reminds us of home, and it prepares us to go there.

Join the Party!

Doug