what do we know 3.15

Lent 3B
Lectionary:
Exodus 20:1-17, Psalm 19, 1 Corinthians 1: 18-25, John 2:13-22

1. This week we’re talking about What do we Know?
Over the last two weeks we’ve talked about what is our hope and what is our promise. This week our texts take us to the question what do we know.

What do we know? If nothing else we know two things… we have a hope and we have a promise! Our promise is that we are not alone, God is with us. Our hope is found in Christ… in his blood which washes us clean.

So we at least know these two things right. But, how do we know them? How do we know we’re not alone? How do we know his blood washes us clean? How do we know all this stuff?

In the Protestant church we have two sacraments, Baptism and the Eucharist (which we often call communion or the Lord’s Table). The sacraments have been described as: "a rite in which God is uniquely active”, “a visible sign of an invisible reality” and “an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible Grace.”

In our church we practice an open communion. You don’t have to be a member of our church; you don’t have to have gone through a confirmation class. What we do ask, is that you be open to hearing from God. Be open to God’s invitation to come and eat.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread while they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and giving it to his disciples, he said, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood, the covenant, which is poured out for the forgiveness of sins.

As you partake of the elements this morning, slow down and experience this process. Let it speak to you. Allow God, at his table, to engage with you where you are on your journey of life.

Partake in the Lord’s Supper

(Payer of Thanksgiving)
Almighty God, we are thankful that you have met us here today. We are thankful that you meet us each day, where we are, in whatever we are going through. Thank you for providing as you have, and will continue. Strengthen us, Support us, and Love us, as we strive to be your faithful light of love, now and forever. Amen.

(Pass The Peace)

2. Two weeks ago Mark was talking to us about hope and he referenced Noah and our baptism. He mentioned that we have a baptismal font in the back that we can dip our hands in and remember our baptism. We can remember the washing of the Spirit.

Last week when we were taking communion, when I broke the bread I watched a crumb fall. After I dipped the bread in the cup Mark and I both watched a drip of juice run down my fingers and finally rest in the palm of my hand.

What struck me two weeks ago when I dipped my hand into the baptismal font was that when I held my hands outside, letting them air dry, I could feel the air circling around them. I could feel the coolness of the air and it reminded me of the Spirit. The cool air on my wet hands reminded me of the nearness, of the infilling, of the life of Jesus Christ, his brokenness, his death, his resurrection. It reminded me of my own baptism. It reminded me of being washed with the spirit. It reminded me of allowing the old self with its desires and passions to be put to death.

As we take communion and I grab a hold of the bread and pull it apart. As the bread rests in my hand, I love that I can hold it, that its tangible and I can feel it. I love the different textures of the different breads we’ve used – from the Matzah bread, the Challah, grandma’s recipe, to the little wafers. I love the different textures. I love all the different breads. I love when I dip the bread into the cup… when a bit of the juice runs down my finger. I love when I can feel the trickle… like the trickle of blood Christ shed for me.

What is it about these sacraments that have lasted throughout the ages?

I believe it’s their connectedness with our senses. Dating back to Aristotle our traditional five senses are sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste.

I believe we know God by these amazing attributes which he’s given us to understand what is going on around us. I believe we see God in movement. I believe we smell because God loves the aromas of praise to him. I believe when we touch things, feel their texture - experience their fullness, we begin to understand the Creator. When we hear songs of praise, the chatter of friends, and the cry of new life - they all speak of God’s interconnectedness with his people!
I believe we know God because of our senses. I believe our senses – tell us intimate details of God’s love for us. We are able to touch, smell, taste hear, and see God’s love for us.

Part of our senses and the way we know God’s love is by our interactions with one another. Jesus tells us that we are known as his by our love. We are seen as his disciples by our love for one another. He tells us that when we have seen him, we have seen the Father.

When we see one another – we have seen Jesus.

When we take flowers around town to some of our seniors – we see Jesus. When we take our home grown fruits and vegetables to our neighbors, we see God! When the pains of the world are even slightly alleviated, in Africa, in Asia, and even in Wallingford – we see God.

God is with us. Jesus is with us. The Holy Spirit, the Ruach, is with us. We know God because we know one another. We know God because of our interactions with his people. The Scriptures tell us – all are made in his image. We all have bits and pieces, if not whole chunks, which are of God.
I believe everyone has God in them, everyone! Even the annoying people, they have God in them. Even those who at times seem to be just pure evil, they have God in them. The people we don’t like, the people we do… God creates, God sustains, and God never leaves! God is with us.

What we need to do is focus our eyes, and tune our ears, teach our senses to be aware of God, experience God! This is what we know! This how we know; it is through our senses, it is through our relationships. We know God, when we know one another. We know God, when we love one another… because knowing God, loving God, is knowing one another and loving one another.
Jesus says if you love me you will do as I command. Jesus bent down, and lived among us. Jesus stooped down and embraced us. Jesus stepped out, and served us in love.

As Jesus stepped out, so I am going to ask you, right now, to step out. Stand up, get out of the pew, get out of your place of comfort and embrace one another. What I’d like for you to do is to take a few minutes, right now during this service, to walk around and be in relationship with one another and with God. Because this is what we do, this is how we see God, touch God, know God. As we walk, talk, see, smell, touch, and hear… experience the presence of God. Stand up and greet one another with the peace of our Lord!

(Pass the Peace)

3. I was talking with a friend of mine this week. We met sometime last year when he began bringing his two sons to Mosaic and hang out in Demitasse. The first time he came in he was fascinated with our structure and we immediately began talking. Turns out he’s a Rabbi over in the U District. We try to get together every once in a while. I joke that he’s my Rabbi.

This week when we were spending time together, he asked me what I’ve been speaking on lately… so I mentioned this current series and went on to give a brief description of it. As I was talking about last week’s Promise message, he paused and listened. As we sat, he began reflecting on the Hebrew word promise, and was trying to remember its original use. He shared with me that one of its aspects is this: to know.

What do we know? We know we have a hope. We know we have a promise… Our promise is that we are not alone, God is with us. Our hope is found in Christ… in his blood which washes us clean.
God is with us. We see him… in our interactions with one another. We see him in our interactions with the community, in our interactions with the world we are in. We see him in the way our world interacts with us and in how our community interacts with us. We see God in and through the love and lives of those we come in contact with.

I believe whole heartedly that God is still with us. God is still speaking, dreaming, and moving us to great things. God still longs for us to love in great ways! We have heard it said that Jesus did not call us to love him because of his love for us… but rather to love others, as we have been loved!

We know because of our senses. We know because of our relationships. We experience God on a daily basis, when we open our eyes, our ears, our senses to the movement of the Spirit. We know God when we open our hearts to the warmth of those around us; when we love those who are unlovable, when we allow our spirits to be loved – even by our enemies.

Our text today says the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. In our egocentric worldly mindset God’s upside down kingdom of love is foolishness, its weak. In our power hungry world, love is not what we want to hear about, it’s often not what we want.

The cross is one of the most gruesome forms of torture our world has ever known. On its own it is not a beautiful picture. It is not a good symbol. To be honest the cross as a picture or symbol is one of the worst forms of excruciating pain and fear known to man.

But in God’s upside down kingdom – God’s foolishness to love, God’s perceived weakness to love – brings beauty to the cross. Jesus’ willingness to be nailed to the cross speaks to God’s weakness to love. God’s ability to allow his son to die for the people, displays God’s foolishness to love.

During Lent we are reminded of God’s pain in the sacrifice of Jesus. During this season we are reminded of Jesus’ hurt, pain, and loneliness. We are reminded that Jesus died, but not in vain. He took on the sins of the world – experienced the torture of the nails to his hands and the thorn on his brow, as his senses were stretched to max – that we might have life, and have it abundantly.

Jesus says if you love me you will do as I command. Take up your cross and follow me.

What do we know? We know we have hope! We know we have a promise! We know we are to love! We know we’re to follow Christ. We know we are not alone. We know God is for us. We know God through our senses. We know God through our relationships. We know God is with us. We know God has not left us. We know God, we experience God. We know God, and we know we are to love.

The beauty of this season is that we celebrate the Resurrection even in the midst of darkness and despair. Because there is hope. Because there is a promise that God is with us. We know this by the way we are loved. We know this by our own capacity to love beyond ourselves. We know this… because we know God!

Closing prayer

Benediction
As you go, know God and let others experience God through you. Go and Love.