A Smithsonian Institution sign is seen on the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on March 28, 2025. KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY/Newsweek – See the Newsweek article sparking this post.
Recently, the President pondered about slavery in the context of what he suggested was one sided history presentations at the Smithsonian. Certainly, one can point to possible errors, but the President made a big one himself. Plenty of people on social media have regrettably expressed similar things before and since. He said that their portrayal of U.S. history was too negative and focused too much on “how bad Slavery was.”
Well, unfortunately, slavery was worse in the USA than many understand or admit. Don’t take my word for it. Read first hand slave narratives from diaries and interviews: extreme poverty, dismemberments, whipping, rape, murder, and more abominable acts were a norm. Many potential slaves, Native American, African and others, historically feared slavery more than death. In fact, you read of suicidal acts rather than being dragged into slavery or returned to it.
So if anyone is wondering, in the best of circumstances one could imagine, slavery is wrong. It was and always has been steeped in sin, a sign of our fallen world not God’s Kingdom. In Genesis, every human was created in God’s image, male and female alike. Some (I sadly know from experience) will say God allowed it. They will point at a few verses which l agree seem to affirm slavery in that period, but even in speaking of the Ten Commandments, Mosaic law called for better treatment and freedom processes for slaves.
God’s patience with our sin should not be confused with God’s approval of it. (God was not too keen on Israel having a king other than God or the Temple in Jerusalem being built either, for they could lead to idolatry and other sin. Yet, God consented.) By the time the Church comes around, Jesus has extended the understanding of the neighbor whom we should love as oneself to include everyone. Paul emphasizes how slave and master should live within the existing structure while prioritizing Christ, as he did regarding women, but he never argued for slavery. He argued that Christ’s plan is to make all one. In the dangerous context of the Roman Empire where slavery was so embedded, order valued, and social roles defined, he expects Jesus back soon. He didn’t want anything to hinder the spread of the Gospel, so within an unjust fallen world, he counsels humility, patience and love even to one’s enemy. Living faithfully was his primary concern whether a slave or any other lot in a fallen life.
Yet, God did not stop speaking in biblical times. As the Church grows and becomes more diverse, as education spreads (both knowledge and wisdom are said to be gifts of the Spirit), as people pray, meditate on scripture, preach and teach about our Lord, the consensus and understanding grew that slavery and prejudice of any kind is sin. The Spirit works through such holy discernment to try to open our hearts to God’s truth. So again, God called and created everyone. Jesus is to call all peoples to himself. And we are to love one another and see the Christ, the sacred, in one another – in everyone whether friend or foe, believer or not.
Still to this day, prejudice of all kinds, slavery, and ignorance sadly continue to exist. Some people don’t want to see their ancestors as “bad,” but we are all sinnners, so let’s get over it. Going in circles about the multiple causes of the Civil War is a distraction distancing us from the horror. Slavery always takes away a person’s self determination, rights, dignity, health and ultimately life. It’s a kind of theft and murder, as Luther extended those commands similarly to many sins in his Large Catechism. (He suggests we are all murderers at times as we lack care for our neighbors or live selfishly.) As I often quote from Jesus, let your yes be yes, and your no be no. Slavery was evil. It was and remains sin. Let’s leave it at that.
Our ancestors might not have understood this was a sin, but we now do. So, we shouldn’t forget or be shy about their errors. We can learn from them. Sinner-saints all, certainly there could be signs of kindness or generosity back then like now. Yet let God be their ultimate judge, for we have our own sins still to address including modern slavery and human trafficking.
Good thing God is still patient and kind. For, we all need his forgiveness.
As many of you have read, I left police work in the City of Alexandria, Virginia, to discern my religious vocation and volunteer with the Brothers of Taizé in December 1994. (I previously shared about this in some detail in another blog post.) I had come to know them through young adult gatherings in the United States.
My first encounter was while escorting Mary Washington College students to the first ever, large Taizé gathering for young adults in the United States at the University of Dayton. Approximately eight thousand attended. As for me, I had only recently returned to the Church after years of wandering. I experienced a conversion of sorts, a deepening of faith. Or as a hero of mine, Jonathan Daniels, noted in his own life, my faith was synthesized during a time of great trial and loss. At that time, March of 1992, I reconnected with a campus minister I had known in college, and I began to volunteer with her ministry.
I had not heard of the brothers or Brother Roger before, but this trip and its many experiences of the Risen Christ and his Spirit, encountered through others, further redirected my life more radically in May 1992. I subsequently read many of Br. Roger’s books, other writings, and prayers. I prayed with their chants daily. Then, I came to finally visit their village in France in 1993 for a week of silence, and I was invited to come back by my “contact brother,” one who basically serves as a spiritual director for the week. As I shared before in yet another blog post, I thought – just maybe – my call might be with them. Brother Francois said, “We cannot know yet what the answer will be, but we have similar hearts. You must come.” I agreed.
Once back in France to volunteer, Br. Roger joined the male volunteers from all over the world and many denominations for supper when not traveling. I also had an invitation to join the younger brothers nightly for song practice where he always joined us when home in the village and would share news and insights. Among my private memories with him is a walk where he listened to my pain while a very beloved friend and mentor was facing death in the United States from cancer. I had spoken to her by phone for the last time the night before, and my spirit was greatly disturbed. He understood from his own life of sacrifice how hard it could be to find oneself in this beautiful village, surrounded by joyous people, and yet still carry one’s crosses. He uttered a phrase he shared often, “Taize’ is such a desert.”
I was in a desert once again twenty years ago today as I learned of his death at the hands of a person suffering mental illness during an evening prayer in Taizé. Kristine, my wife, had been with me for the Barcelona European Meeting in 2000, so she understood and shared my grief to some extent. Yet as signs of life went on around me, it was among the hardest things I ever experienced to be so far away from others whom I love also grieving deeply, the brothers I called friends and my fellow volunteers now at home in multiple countries or some having become brothers themselves. Meanwhile, so few around me even knew of him while I was so very deeply saddened. I felt somewhat alone.
Yet in the desert, God can make life still bloom. Letters, emails and prayers connected me with these friends and helped sustain and heal me. This remains a living sign of the communion of saints we share through the power of the Holy Spirit. My wife, my greatest gift from God, was an embodied sign of Christ’s love for me. The Spirit also groaned on my behalf carrying prayers that I had no words for. I recognized once again that I was never alone even if tears must come at times. Sometimes, the most beautiful of desert flowers can only come to life this way.
I learned a lot from Brother Roger, especially to trust God and move forward through the desert times. And as we walk, we pray, we sing to the glory of God, and seek to serve. This is just as Brother Roger sought to do throughout his own life, sometimes facing great dangers in order to love others, especially the vulnerable and those alone. Through his example, I also came to understand the Gospel ethic to love our enemies even if others do not approve or understand. It was just his way, and ultimately the Way of Jesus.
Br. Roger died in 2005, but I think of him, his commmunity, and my fellow volunteers daily. I carry them in my heart. I try to live for Christ and others as Brother Roger tried to live. While we might not always succeed, wherever we might fall short, I now truly believe love never fails. God will make the desert bloom as Isaiah foretold, both now and fully at the End of Time.
As I just wrote, Brother Roger, who I lived with and loved, was murdered twenty years ago on August 16, 2005. Jonathan Myrick Daniels, a Civil Rights martyr on the Episcopalliturgical calendar of saints, who I never met but came to know through my own attendance at the Virginia Military Institute and later study of his legacy, was murdered sixty years ago on August 20, 1965. Through curating a Facebook page in his honor, I’ve been blessed to become connected with members of the West family who he once lived with in Selma, his grand-niece, and other people and ministries inspired by his life. These two men are both remembered by the Church for their faith – how they lived – not for how they died. They both remain among the greatest influences upon my own life and the lives of many others. Their Christian witness ultimately helped change how I see myself, others, and the world, and especially how I see our Triune God who is ultimately only love as John the Evangelist plainly and all of scripture ultimately attests.
In a prayer shared on this anniversary of Brother Roger’s death back in 2023, the next prior (now retired from the role), Brother Alois, shared the following:
Christ Jesus, today we give you thanks for the life of Brother Roger. For so many people, he awakened trust in God. By his welcome and his listening, many people were encouraged to commit themselves and to take on responsibilities in the world and in the Church. In his footsteps, we would like to put into practice what we have understood of the Gospel, remembering that with you, Christ, who came for every human being, nothing can separate us from God’s love. (Quoted from a social media post by the Ecumenical Community of Taizé)
“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” Galatians 5:13
Left or right or in between in the US, we all are a sinful, stiff necked people in need of grace; called to become more through Christ. As a culture and fallen people, we historically swing dysfunctionally between political poles of excess and denouncing the “other,” hurting ourselves and those entrusted to our care all the while. Platforms tend to become more important than people, for we rest in the assurance that we are “right,” and we want to defeat the “other.” We self righteously think, “They are the evil ones after all.” In doing so, we often forget that true justice requires mercy and the least of these are indeed our responsibility. At the same time, or perhaps because of this plank in our eye, we tend not to like to reflect deeply on our own sins – what we have done and failed to do – with the gift of holy wisdom at our disposal. We prefer passion and group-think over the Holy Spirit’s guidance and light.
It ultimately doesn’t matter what wrong was done in the past. We must let it go instead of letting anger metastasize. We are called to love one another in the present, not ignoring or enabling wrongs, but striving with God’s help to see the Christ in others and treating them with gentleness, patience, and the love we ourselves have received first. As I’ve said before, it is a habit of life which takes practice. We are to forgive and forgive again when wronged. “Seventy times seven” times according to Jesus, we should forgive. This means we should forgive others without limit even when they don’t deserve it. For Jesus died for our sin – that which we have been born into or done, those we struggle with today, and the sins we’ve yet to do – when we still don’t and never will deserve it.
And what about us? Our recalcitrance in regard to all the teachings of Jesus including doing good to those whom hate us? What evil is at work in and through us and our choices as we face the fears and pressures of our day? How might we be making a bad situation worse? Who are we to condemn people to hell in our hearts or cause others to suffer through our actions? Each day in a similar way to our siblings in Twelve Step programs, we who are addicted to sin and selfishness can take a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Then, we ask for God’s forgiveness, seek to repent of our wrongs (turning back to God), make amends as we can (as we are empowered by God). We do so because Jesus said he wants us to have his abundant life and peace, and this is the Way.
We might feel caught in an impossible situation, but all things remain possible with God. We can make choices to help change our behaviors and attitudes for the better today; repenting of our wrongs and positively influencing others. God’s Spirit has already been sent to help us, residing in our hearts through the gifts of our faith and baptism. Most importantly, Jesus promises that we are never alone. He will carry our cross when we cannot. He already has!
Jesus once said, “People do not light a lamp and put it under the bushel basket; rather, they put it on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” In times of trouble and discord, this is even more true. We need our yes to mean yes and to seek to love God and others as ourselves no matter the cost. It is Jesus who has called us to this time and place to be his body. Don’t be afraid.
Whatever happens around us or to us, our first allegiance as a Christian is always to Jesus. As we American Christians look upon fireworks tonight celebrating Independence Day, never forget that Jesus always wants us to reflect his light…always. Sinning in our anger is never his way. Political waffling is not his style. We can be better as a person and a nation. We can be healed. We live in hope thanks be to God.
I wish you a happy and safe Independence Day, while remembering and seeking to serve the only One who truly makes us free.
I pray with my friends in France for world peace (see link in comments as it wouldn’t post), and I’m praying for those impacted by today’s political violence in the US. Sad is an understatement. We might feel impotent in the face of such senseless violence, but we aren’t. Loving our neighbor including our enemies can be lived out through our lives. If enough people do, just as bad or hate filled sentiment can spread like a disease, so can faith, hope and love from person to person. As hard as it is, try to pray for your political opponents and try to treat them with respect as human beings even as we might think they live in grave error. Ask the Spirit to use you as an agent of reconciliation and peace in your context. Pray for the person or persons who did this for they do not know what they do even as we pray for justice. And seek to defeat evil with good. Sounds easy enough, but it’s a biblical intentional practice often in tension against our baser instincts. Yet if we seek to practice over and over, with God’s help, it will become a habit – a new instinct or gift from the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. Jesus said to his anxious friends, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). He’s still saying that to us today.
Stained glass window in L’Eglise de la Réconciliation
The post began simply, “Meet Jennifer Thurston – the latest activist on the bench.” Those responsible went on from there saying this judge was stopping Border Patrol from arresting “illegal aliens without a warrant.” They continue with self righteous indignation, “You read that right: The people tasked with protecting our borders are now being told to stand down unless they have paperwork—while illegal entry is happening in real time. This isn’t about justice. It’s about tying the hands of law enforcement and opening the gates even wider. Border security should be law. Not optional.”
The post was unsolicited; promoted on Facebook and likely coming to me through my feed thanks to AI and my interest in law enforcement. It spoke of a desire for justice. Yet, I think it reflects the deep darkness impacting our public discourse; infecting us through social media’s memes and posts as well as uninformed podcasts and sites pretending to be news. Fake news and incendiary commentary is sadly a problem among all political persuasions. It just happened to be leaning conservative this time.
I’m not naming the page because I don’t want them to be promoted. I also don’t need anyone hunting me down on line or in real life. Yet as a pastor, former law enforcement officer, and current chaplain, I want to warn anyone who will listen to be careful trusting nondescript Facebook groups, other social media posts, and podcasts claiming a law enforcement connection. Just because someone claims to love and support law enforcement, it doesn’t mean the poster knows what they are talking about. Indeed, watch out for the veracity of posts from such sources and in general. Verify claims. This one just popped up in my Facebook feed, and I immediately found it distressing. I saw major red flags in its tone but also broad brush of accusations.
In this case, they insinuated Judge Jennifer Thurston was an activist judge, thus an enemy to justice. I don’t claim to know all her cases, yet with a quick Google search, one finds her statement at the ruling was actually, “You just can’t walk up to people with brown skin and say, ‘Give me your papers.” Is that so evil? Do we really want our Native, Hispanic and other neighbors to have papers checked because they look foreign in some official’s eyes or because they have an accent? We aren’t supposed to be judged by the color of our skin, accent, etc.
In the 1990s when the Clinton administration floated national identification cards, I clearly remember conservatives were concerned about illegal stops and tracking of citizens especially (the Cato Institute, for one, argued) during times of emergency. They feared abuse of our civil liberties. What’s changed? At some level, law enforcement agents always needed to have a warrant or reasonable suspicion for a stop – much like police are expected to do. If we have an immigration emergency as is claimed, this doesn’t mean all judicial precaution is to be thrown in the trash.
Yes, border security should be and is the law. Laws should be enforced, including immigration enforcement, but we also have laws on the books about when a legal stop can be made to help prevent abuse of our civil liberties. Case law has also historically shaped law enforcement policy. This is all for our protection. Imagine repeatedly being stopped because of your appearance or accent. How might you feel? It would likely anger or annoy most people. Imagine being falsely detained for days (as has happened) because you look Hispanic and was found to be walking without identification. Then, your rights have been abridged. You don’t need a law degree to understand that.
During this time of discord, journalists, judges, and others are having threats made against them and their families. The post invites condemnation which can indirectly call people, especially unhealthy people, to action. They claim the judge is not doing her job, abusing our rights. They point an accusatory finger with words; words not supported by fact.
It was wrong when extremists threatened police families during the last decade’s protests over alleged law enforcement wrongs, and this kind of propaganda which can incite violence is wrong too. Unhealthy people could follow through on the misrepresentations and seriously injure or kill somebody. The page in question, at least through this post, appears to be about inciting people to anger rather than making legal claims. Yet, it ultimately doesn’t rely on “just the facts” as Detective Friday might want on Dragnet. It omits them. In the end, lies of omission can be as harmful as lies of commission, and this kind of post is ultimately sinful.
Martin Luther writes in detail about the Eighth Commandment (as Lutheran’s count them), “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” He addresses the social and spiritual and practical values of this commandment in courts, in the family, and amidst the greater community. “In the third place, what concerns us all, this commandment forbids all sins of the tongue whereby we may injure or approach too closely to our neighbor. For to bear false witness is nothing else than a work of the tongue.” He suggests this sin includes speaking behind a person’s back and slandering. We often love to hear people speak of us like we are gold, “yet we cannot bear that the best is spoken about others.”
Indeed, he goes on, we too often behave like base beasts when we “know a slight offense of another, carry it into every corner, and are delighted and tickled that they can stir up another’s displeasure [baseness], as swine roll themselves in the dirt and root in it with the snout.” We pass sentence, taking God’s place as judge. In doing so, we might not wield a sword like worldly powers, but we use or “poisonous tongue to the shame and hurt of your neighbor.” In a sense, we murder them – killing their honor and the respect due to another.
Martin Luther makes many other great points about how our lies and assumptions hurt others and our unity. It can tear communities apart and lead to injustice rather than justice. This easily applies to our social media posts in a way that would horrify Luther. (I suspect it certainly saddens Christ.) Luther argues we should assume the best of people rather than the worst. Although he doesn’t use this specific word, he suggests that we be empathetic. How would we like to be treated?
Luther concludes, “Thus we have now the sum and general understanding of this commandment, to wit, that no one do any injury with the tongue to his neighbor, whether friend or foe, nor speak evil of him, no matter whether it be true or false, unless it be done by commandment or for his reformation, but that every one employ his tongue and make it serve for the best of every one else, to cover up his neighbor’s sins and infirmities, excuse them, palliate and garnish them with his own reputation. The chief reason for this should be the one which Christ alleges in the Gospel, in which He comprehends all commandments respecting our neighbor, Matt. 7, 12: Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”
Today, we have arguments over many laws and court cases. These spill from the courtroom into online discussions. Yet to irresponsibly mischaracterize a legal argument may not just end a person’s career. It could conceivably end a life. The post in question makes no threat, but it doesn’t need to. Someone reading it could act on the anger stirred by its inferences.
Yet, this just isn’t just a problem for others. James writes, “If any think they are religious and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless” (James 1:26). Along with our mouths, we need to bridle our fingers today. If we share such posts, take them at face value, or act on them, we are likely guilty of sin too.
While serving at Christ Lutheran, I have not had many opportunities to participate in any concrete, personal ministry serving those with intellectual disabilities or those on the autism spectrum. Yet, such experiences remain a deep part of who I am. They have shaped my vocation, my relationships and theology, even my personal relationship with God. People experiencing these issues have always been part of my life, and they have taught me a lot…even helped me experience Jesus…if not see him.
Long before I was born, my grandmother chose to keep my Aunt Therese at home after she was born with intellectual disabilities in the 1930s. Many relatives pressured my Nana to give her daughter up…to institutionalize her and move on with her own life. That was the way things were back then. Instead, my grandmother (with my grandfather’s support) ensured that my aunt learned how to read and write, manage household tasks, and was educated about Jesus and the importance of loving others. As a result, Aunt Therese was eventually able to find a job in a factory, serve on her congregation’s altar guild, and even drive. Later in life, she could live alone with the proper support in place. When I came along and still a child, I only saw my aunt as my aunt. There were no labels yet in my mind. She was just another person to love and care for me. And I loved her. I still love her although she died many years ago.
In high school, I was one of several students chosen to assist physical education teachers during the school day. One day, a coach came over to ask me if I would be willing to help a teen new to the school with intellectual disabilities. He was having a hard time adjusting, had loads of energy, and was prone to act out as a result. My job, if I accepted it, was to help accompany him…to model and teach sportsmanship and relationship…and try to get some of his energy out in a healthier way. I was maybe 15 years old, and I must confess I was intimidated. This was not my aunt. It was a new experience.
Yet, I said yes, and my relationship with that young man led me to a new kind of joy. I was eventually asked to help the Special Education Teacher at our high school on a regular basis, and I made more friends who just happened to have disabilities as a result. I also discovered that these students who were sometimes made fun of by others, discounted, ignored, or cast aside, could teach me more things than I ever taught them – especially about kindness and the acceptance of others. Those who were often called the least of these proved to have an inestimable value.
Once in college, I was on a vocational retreat exploring service in the Church. We were in the Appalachian region of Kentucky, and as part of the ten days, we stopped by to visit and help residents at an underserved nursing care facility. Brother Cal, the group leader, invited me to help feed a young woman who was restricted to a life reclining in a special wheelchair. She was physically, and intellectually, severely disabled. She was also almost blind, only able to see shadowy figures. I believe I’ve shared with some of you this experience, for my fear and reluctance turned to a profound joy with new understandings as she responded to my male voice, felt the contours of my face and stubble of my unshaven chin (in order to “see” me in some way), and giggled like a small child as she felt words and noises come from my mouth. I came to sense a kind of holy relationship form between us. Although brief, I still sense our connection as I speak of her or when I think of her. It created a kind of mystical and life-changing communion like that which we speak of in our prayers.
Later remembering these experiences and many others, I would come to support Special Olympics as a police officer after college. You likely know that police officers love to support Special Olympics. (It’s a thing.) Still later as a pastor, I therefore quickly volunteered to Go Over the Edge for Special Olympics Virginia, rappelling down the 26-story Sun Trust building in Richmond for donations. “Push your pastor over the edge” was my tagline, and apparently many people wanted to do just that! I raised over $6,000 that first year. And in following years, other pastors and Lutheran lay people (including Pastor Anne) were crazy enough to join me on that rooftop. In three outings, Lutherans in Virginia raised nearly $20,000 for Special Olympics. This went not only to high quality training and sporting events for those with intellectual disabilities but also to school programs, health and dental programs, along with family support. These are all the activities of Special Olympics.
This became one factor leading to my being invited to serve on the Board with Lutheran Family Services of Virginia, now called enCircle. The nonprofit began with adoption related care in the 1800s, but it now helps with foster children and adoption, geriatric issues, schools for at-risk youth, counseling services for individuals or family, some migrant and refugee assistance, and many other things. Their efforts, of course, include services helping those with intellectual disabilities and autism. They offer day centers, in home care and support, and options to live in community.
I served for nine years on that board, and eventually came to also serve with a L’Arche community in Richmond. L’Arche is an international Christian program that supports and promotes people with different levels of ability living together in community. At one worship service at Messiah Lutheran, my former congregation, a severely autistic young woman, a member of L’Arche, could not wait for the Lord’s Supper and ran up to the altar with great abandon and joy to stand next to me. In her hunger and excitement for Jesus, she taught me something holy that day. And as with everything else I mentioned, I learned a lot about myself, life, and Jesus.
In reflection, I recognize that I could feel my heart burning inside me. There was something…is something…sacred about all these relationships and experiences. In summary, I agree with the words of Father Henri Nouwen, famous for what he learned through his involvement with L’Arche communities:
Giving yourself to others is only possible when you have been fully received…only when you know yourself as unconditionally loved – that is fully received by God – can you give gratuitously. Giving without wanting anything in return is trusting that all of your needs will be provided by the one who loves you unconditionally. It is trusting that you do not need to protect your own security but can give yourself completely to the service of others…When you know yourself as fully loved, you will be grateful for what is given to you without clinging to it, and joyful for what you can give without bragging about it. You will be a free person….Free to love! (As quoted at Apprenticeship to Jesus.)
I do not share these experiences to brag, but hopefully to help point you a way down your own road…a way available to all of us…to help us encounter the Risen Christ. In life, too often, the stressors of our day, the fears over our tomorrows or potential want, and the sin that is at work in us and around us can blind us. We forget God’s promises, and we fail to see Christ’s presence…even though he is right before us!
Today, we heard of Cleopas and another unnamed disciple (possibly his wife, Mary, according to some early authorities) traveling to Emmaus after stories of Jesus’ resurrection had begun to spread. Think about what they had just experienced… profound grief and fear. They were likely still in shock over the death of their beloved Jesus…Now, they were to believe in his physical resurrection? It would be unthinkable for many of us. We would likely be overcome with perplexity and confusion just as they were. Again, fear remained like a specter before them as well.
Then unexpectedly, Jesus appears. He’s in a form where they do not recognize him at first. He’s just another traveler on the road as far as they are concerned…an uninformed one at that. So, they begin to share their dilemma. They speak of Jesus and all that was seen and heard. Jesus finally has had enough. How foolish they are! They seem not to remember all that Jesus and the scriptures before them have taught. “Then,” scripture says, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.” He unpacked the scriptures for them…held them up…so they might see how the scriptures touched their lives.
As they near the day’s end, they must have found some comfort or inspiration from their time with this supposed stranger. “Please do not go. Stay.” They perhaps hoped to help him, as he had helped them. This is the context in which their food is shared…a mutual, caring relationship. As Jesus blessed and broke the bread, only then do they see Jesus for whom he is. They ask in wonder, “Were not our hearts burning inside us?”
It is highly unlikely that Jesus will appear to us in a dream or a vision. (It is not impossible, but it is unlikely.) It is even more unlikely that we will see him in the flesh until our own resurrection. Yet, we are promised Jesus is here. Sure, scripture can help us catch a glimpse of Jesus. The sacraments rightly practiced and received in faith might give us a glimpse of Jesus sparking a fire in our hearts. These are both true, but they are not the totality of where we might see Jesus.
Let us recall Jesus’ parable about the judgement of the nations at the end of time for help. To those at the King’s right hand, he will say: “‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’” (See the complete parable at Matthew 25:31-46).
Indeed, in our faith and baptism, we become the vary body of Jesus as we serve. Yet, Jesus is reminding us that he is all around us in the world. He’s in all those who are suffering need. Jesus is even in the hearts of our enemies and those who don’t know him yet…trying to set a spark of recognition…wanting to warm their hearts. He can be spotted at the oddest times…when ordinary kindnesses are seen as the sacred things that they are meant to be…binding us together as one…helping us learn more about Jesus and the life he himself exemplified.
Today’s story tells us of a great miracle, but, oh, how foolish we remain and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!…We are slow to believe what Jesus himself has taught us. Our life is meant to be sacred…a life where Jesus is not only made known but fully made present. We might only catch a glimpse, but he says he is there. Can you not perceive him? Have you ever slowed down enough to try. We can so often be like those travelers – seeing people for what they do or don’t do, or maybe as the world labels them, blinded by our own shortsightedness or our concerns for self. It is too easy to prove blind to Jesus who is always with us!
Yet, Jesus wills to not leave us in our blindness. He comes to us again and again in the need we find around us. In our ordinary life, we are called to a holy purpose that we might not ever fully recognize…or maybe we might never know and understand in this world…Still, there is something Jesus would have us do. If we want to glimpse…just glimpse…even a shadow of the Risen Christ in our lives, we have to look up and around us. We must walk the roads and byways aware and alert for those in need but also those marginalized and easily overlooked. For Jesus will be there.
Yet, we live in a world that often sees things otherwise. The autistic and intellectually disabled are sometimes said to not provide value. For too many, they are not seen as fully human. The homeless deserve what they get, some say, and those suffering mental weakness might be labeled as weak. The old are an inconvenience, a drag on finances. To have empathy and compassion is said to be against Christian values. (Some Christians say that!) These are all things I have seen, heard and read over the years…not just these last months. The day is over, and things are getting dark.
Who might Jesus be calling us to break bread with, so that he might be seen? It might be through serving others or in the sacraments. We might catch a glimpse of him in the forgiveness and kindness we offer others. It could be just non-anxiously accompanying someone through a life’s challenge, not having answers but being willing to listen and care as we walk with them.
These kinds of opportunities to see Jesus can happen when we least expect it…when we are so tired or stressed that we think that we cannot take anything else on…or present themselves at the most inconvenient of times. Yet Christ’s love is a fire, and his love burns in our hearts. When we feel it, we must pay attention to it…no matter how small a spark or even if it might lead toward our own sacrifices or death. For it is at just those times, we and others can be profoundly gripped by the wonder of Christ’s love. We will come to know that we are loved, and we will be better able to find a road forward loving others; leading us to a deeper communion with God; taking us to places where we will come to see Jesus face to face…together. Amen.
If you would like to listen to the above sermon or watch our service, the video can be found below. The Gospel text and sermon begins at about the 18:45 minute mark.The preaching text isLuke 24:13-35.
Can’t understand why some are upset over any potential autism registry? Culling data from medical records, pharmacies, genetic tests, even smartwatches reminds many of similar lists Nazis used to kill hundreds if not thousands of autistic and intellectually disabled kids. (It is estimated that close to 250,000 disabled people were murdered under the Nazi regime.) Whether one thinks it fair or not, likely to happen in the US or not, people are concerned, if not afraid.
It’s all being done because Secretary Kennedy is convinced autism is an epidemic. The term “epidemic” is typically used to describe a rapid increase in the incidence of a disease, and most reasearchers and medical professionals understand autism as a neurodevelopmental brain condition. It ignores that better tools and awareness has increased detection.
Many on the spectrum work, marry, and live full lives despite Kennedy’s suggesting otherwise this past week. His comments were not generous nor true. (I wonder what Kennedy’s friend, Elon Musk, thinks. He’s on the spectrum too.) And ultimately as a Christian, does one’s ability to produce make one more valuable in the Kingdom of God? The answer is no. Every life has value to God. They should to us as well.
This is ultimately the government accessing private medical histories for its own use – theoretically for research, but without any historically required consent. It’s instigated by a person with no true medcal knowledge, just theories too often echoing the evils of eugenics. He’s suggesting an answer to the causes of autism will be found by September because he has a preferred cause in sight based on his assumptions and half baked ideas, not scientific research. Nothing says that this proposed list won’t result in black lists of some kind, restrictions on rights or care, insurance loss, or who knows what.
We are a fallen humanity and capable of great evil, even when we think we are doing good. Now all of a sudden, it seems we are to trust the government (or anyone) implicitly? That’s ignoring biblical and real world realities. In fact, the US government doesn’t have such a great track record. (Nor does humanity in general.) Consider as just one example the moral depravity of the Tuskegee Experiment. And so, we must not be too quick to look away from your neighbors’ loss of privacy if not eventually many other rights. It can become a downward spiral. It could be any of us next.
Love of neighbor, in this case protecting and caring for those with special needs, is a call of all Christians and a civilized society. Meanwhile as debate rages over any registry, services to our autistic neighbors or loved ones (and others) are being cut. These cuts can lead to reduced access to therapy, longer wait times, increased financial burdens, and limitations in school-based services, potentially affecting low-income and rural families the most.
I understand cuts or changes in policies, but the ways this is being done is not loving our neighbors well. It has been utilitarian. This leads me to share why I am posting about this when just a pastor, not a medical professional. It’s because I love people on the spectrum and with intellectual disabilities – in and outside of my family over many years. I invite you to get to know such people better and love them too; supporting their families as you can and they allow. It can be hard in some cases, but no human is ever a curse. You will likely learn more about love, joy and Jesus on your way.
An icon of Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles. She holds an egg, a symbol of resurrection, and myrrh, as she has been associated with the sinful woman who anoints Jesus’ feet. (This identification is contested.) She also intended to care for his body after burial, likely with ointments containing myrrh.
As Easter approached, a very problematic, allegedly Evangelical pastor was waxing eloquent on social media. Joel Webbon wrote, “The young men are waking up. Women will learn to have a quiet and gentle spirit. Deus vult [God wills it]” (Joel Webbon on X, April 7, 2025). He was likely referencing 1 Timothy 2:11-15 – out of its original context, of course – where women (likely in the Greek most particularly wives) were supposed to publicly follow the lead of the husband during instruction and worship within a Greco-Roman patriarchy of the day. The post is being accepted as sound advise by some, including some I know. That concerns me greatly, and I’d like to publicly challenge that.
Yes, the Bible speaks of submission, but what is that and how does it apply? Paul and his contemporaries were trying to fit in, being all things to all people (1 Corinthians 9:19-23), including those influenced or under the dominion of Roman culture and laws. In that culture, respectable faiths should not be too loud and crazy at worship. So, Paul asked that all things be done in an orderly way (1 Corinthians 14:40). Women should have head coverings and men should have short, uncovered hair while at worship like other contemporaries. It was improper and shameful in that world to do otherwise…but he never explicitly calls it a sin. Thus, later Christians have allowed all kinds of practices regarding length of hair and head coverings. Cultural expectations plays a part in what Paul writes, as he never wants such things to discredit Christianity or become a stumbling block to faith. They play a part in our lives now. Would a church allow men in shorts at worship in the 1950s? A women’s bare shoulder? What is “right” is often impacted by what culture sees as acceptable.
Paul also continually connected the Christian faith to the ancient Jewish faith. Why? The Romans expected a “real” religion to be orderly, reflecting Roman social structures as above, but also connected to an ancient faith. “Real religions” were ancient ones to the Romans. New faiths were looked upon with suspicion if not derision as cults. So, the Romans respected and allowed Judaism, and Paul regularly tried to ensure the Roman world knew that Christianity was not new. It was a the fulfillment of ancient promises. Jesus was the New Adam (see Romans 5). And Christians, whether originally Gentile or Jew, were all the Children of Abraham (see Romans 9).
Yes, the early Church lived in a Greco-Roman world under suspicion and threat from many sides. The execution of Jesus was just the start. That context matters. Ironically, Webbon made his comment about women just before Easter, when the entire Church worships Jesus, Son of the Living God, risen from the dead. Among the Gospel stories read at worship, one most often hears of a woman who would not be quiet, Mary Magdalene. (She is also known as Mary of Magdala, a small town on the Sea of Galilee where she was likely from.) Out of the norm of her day, she followed Jesus. She seems to not have been under the authority of any household male. Yet, she helped sustain his mission with money, and she seems to have been looked upon with respect within the Christian community.
The day after the sabbath had ended, three days after Christ’s resurrection, women went to the tomb carrying myrrh and other spices to anoint and clean the body of Jesus. They hoped to finish the burial possess cut short by the start of Passover. These women are called with respect, the Myrrhbearers. (The list includes Nicodemus and nine named women including Mary Magdalene. (Some suspect there were more than those named.) As a result, Mary Magdalene is often pictured with an urn of myrrh ointment, a spice used for healing, blessing, and burials, and an egg, meant to remind Christians of the Resurrected Christ coming out of the tomb.) In Matthew 28, as they came to the tomb, Mary and another Mary, the mother of James the Less and Joses, are told of the resurrection by an angel. Jesus soon appears to them both, instructing them to share the Good News with his other disciples. In the oldest Gospel account, Mark 16, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome go to the tomb. An angel appears, and they are told to tell others, but fear keeps them quiet…at least for a time. For Luke 24 reports, “Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this [of Jesus’ resurrection] to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they [the Apostles] did not believe them.” Despite disbelief, and likely being told to be quiet, they spoke until Peter ran to confirm it. And in John 20, Jesus appears to Mary first of all, asking her to tell the others. In all the Gospels, Mary Magdalene plays a significant role particularly after the resurrection.
As a witness to the Resurrected Christ, she brings the Good News to others. She eventually becomes called the Apostle to the Apostles, most likely first called this by Thomas Aquinas, a Doctor of the Church. Yet who was she to deserve this? All the Bible says is that she was a woman of means who supported and traveled with Jesus. She had seven demons exercised out of her according to Luke, but it is only later in the Middle Ages that people start to assume she is a prostitute or adulteress. (One of the common excuses for besmirching her reputation is that she had money to share, when Greco-Roman women could actually have money under certain circumstances. They could even run businesses and farms.) Ultimately, it was grace. She was chosen by Jesus to be the first to see him. He thought her important apparently. She’s called an Apostle as a first hand witness to Christ’s Resurrection and commissioned by him to tell others.
Contrary to this story, Webbon doesn’t apparently trust or keep women in such high esteem. Along with following the husband’s lead and staying in the home, women should not vote. He claims the 19th Amendment has stolen half of his vote from him. He only “allows” his wife to vote as a form of restitution. She votes his way. (Listen here.) Sure, 1 Timothy 2 was particularly in the context of worship, but I see that scripture is usually fitted into his preconceived political and social notions. He appears to want women not just submissive but subjugated. (This effort to make scripture fit one’s argument is called prooftexting.) He’s not a fan of using scholarship of any kind to help us understand what the original voices were really saying in their time and place and why.
And so, he has also suggested women who falsely accuse men of sexual assault could be publicly executed to stop the #metoo movement. That might have been good for some leaders of ancient Israel – if a lie. Death could indeed be the sentence if someone lied under oath. Yet Webbon’s way is not the way of Jesus. He seems to call for death in light of his politics, bias, and desire for control. I have not yet seen him call for justice for men who do sexually assault women as in Deuteronomy. Nor can I find where he ever considers the many accusations and findings against the current President’s sexual improprieties, if not crimes, seriously. Webbon appears to start with doubting any woman’s claims. In fact, if one wants to be “biblical,” the ancient Israelites were meant to consider a women’s accusation, but the repercussions were like many other tribal people’s of the time. If a man committed sexual violence against an unmarried woman, he might have to marry her. If she was engaged or married, this might lead to his death. Still in that patriarchal society, the woman’s well being was not always of prime concern. Keeping some kind of peace within the family, tribe, and people would be.
In contrast to Jewish scriptural laws and Webbon’s corruption of them, Jesus lifts up repentance and forgiveness as his way. Justice is offered to all people, and justice includes mercy. In John 8:1-11, Jesus famously stops a woman caught in adultery from being stoned according to Deuteronomy 22:21. Paul writes in Galatians 3:23-28, the Children of God are no longer male or female, even though he recognizes social structures and their realities. So, you can find Christian societies allowing women to exercise varied levels of female emancipation throughout time. For example, women likely had more freedom and power under the Roman Empire than in Europe under the Middle Ages. And over time, women in modernizing, democratic countries have allowed women self agency and the ability to protect themselves or seek justice.
In the original statement sparking this post, Webbon was responding to Fox News’ Megyn Kelly’s concern that educated, working, conservative women were running into trouble. On the right, more young men do not want to marry a woman who works. This might be true. There are some polls and studies that suggest young men are looking toward the ancient Orthodox faith more with its claimed clear certainty, religious rigor, and high church spiritual practices including long-term, prayerful fasting. While other Christian churches are shrinking (both liberal and conservative congregations and denominations), Orthodoxy has grown in the United States by as much as 78% – or so it is claimed. Articles and Orthodox friends I know gleefully suggest it is due to the feminization of the Church. (Indeed, women make up the majority of most religious bodies in the United States.) Yet, multiple studies indicate a number of factors leading to attendance changes including the growth of what is called the “nones.“
One conservative, Reformed person that I know from my past simply suggested that Webbon was right. “The Bible opposes feminism and egalitarianism. And has high callings for husbands and wives,” the person said. (I doubt he knew Webbon’s reputation, he just heard a statement he agreed with.) Unfortunately, too often, that high calling becomes staying at home and losing oneself. It can lead to abusive relationship. Webbon’s (and my Reformed friend’s) is not a clear reading of scripture but a simplistic one. Yes, being a spouse and mother can be a wonderful calling. Yet, God can call women to other pursuits alongside or in place of marriage. Even the earliest Reformers understood that. Each person has their unique call from God. Indeed, people might have multiple calls in their lifetime – one after another, or more than one at once. We need to allow people to answer their call. If called to marriage, men, too, are to be helpmates, not task overseers. God created Eve as Adam’s helper before the Fall. There is no biblical implication that she was to be subject to his whims. “So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26-28).
Further, there is evidence in and out of scripture that women took some leadership rolls in the early Church. Lydia’s home church, started by Paul with her willingness and generosity as a business owner, was critical to Paul’s success in Philippi (Acts 16:11-15). We hear accounts of widows ministering to others, but we also learn on the office of deaconess. Deaconesses likely existed as an office into the 4th Century, then the office began to decline as culture changed and faced worldly pressures. (The Roman Empire split in 395 AD into East and West. It ended in 476 AD.) Some archeological evidence might exist that they served as pastors/priests at communion, such as a famous fresco (see below) in the Santa Priscilla Catacombs, although it is hotly debated. There is no indication it was common practice as of yet, even if exceptions might have existed for female pastors/priests. (The figure referenced could have been a deaconess as some suggest, but hand gestures shown make them think of the Eucharistic prayers.) Then in the closing of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, he gives thanks for many people to include women for their faithful leadership within the Church and for helping him. One who is named Junia (in most translations) might have really been named Julia according to five thus far discovered early versions of the letter. It remains an unsettled mystery. Still, there were much later women under oppression from communists behind the Iron Curtain who took on the role of Roman Catholic priests. Ludmila Javorova was one such known person, along with others. (The religious validity of this ordination was suspect according to the Vatican who never recognized it. Yet, she and others seem to have served as priests in the underground church to help the Church survive oppression.) Perhaps a similar thing happened in the early times of the earliest Church?
I would have loved to ask Martin Luther his thoughts. In a desert island scenario, he suggested the stranded group might consider anyone from the group to serve as pastor in order to preside at communion, as Lutherans believe in the priesthood of all believers. Would he have included women as candidates? Even within his own cultural context, I suspect that he likely would have said ok if no men were present. His wife, Katie, might have been much more in favor of this. After all, there is much evidence that she was a major part of Martin Luther’s ministry behind the scenes. She was a theologically educated nun in her own right, one who had found freedom through the Reformation and escaped her convent. Based on letters and outside sources, she seems to have deeply influenced his life and theology.
By the 9th Century, only nuns could be deaconesses in the West. By the Middle Ages, the role had pretty much disappeared for woman. Lutherans of the 19th Century led the way to restore this office for women. “In 1836, in Germany Pastor Theodor Fliedner and his wife Friedericke Műnster, using the story of New Testament Phoebe (Romans 16:1), the example of Mennonite deaconesses in Holland, the work of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul and the work of Wichern and his brotherhoods of deacons, called women to serve as deaconesses in a small pastoral charge in Kaiserswerth.” (Read more at the ELCA Deaconess website.) The first female pastor recognized in modern times seems to be Antoinette Brown Blackwell. She was given a license to preach by the Congregational Church in 1851 and then offered a position as Minister of a Congregationalist church in South Butler, New York in 1852. She ultimately became Unitarian though.
Yet, this blog post isn’t about women’s ordination. It is not ultimately just about the treatment of women in society or families. This problematic pastor’s writings, sermons, and public statements ripple into other spheres. He has influenced (along with others) national discourse and attitudes in an unhealthy way. This is also about who is a Christian or not. It is about Christian nationalism, too. It’s about dangerous teaching, a threat to life and liberty to include the expression of one’s faith. I’m sharing this post because members of my congregation had concerns and questions about his post, so maybe others do too. They are right to be concerned!
Unfortunately, some others on social media thought his quote seemed like a welcome vision of the family without looking at the darkness behind the words. The first thing to remember is that a Christian is not a Christian is not a Christian. Even Jesus says some who cry out, “Lord! Lord!” won’t be recognized by him (Matthew 7:21-23). Being a Christian isn’t just being one in name. It is a life that is meant to reflect Christ’s own. Yet in practice, Christianity is a huge umbrella of beliefs. Some are closer to Jesus’ teaching while others miss the mark, still others manipulate, offend, or violate laws under the name Christian for prophet, sexual gain, or other worldly power. Yet no group of individual reflects Christ perfectly (including my own understanding and practices) because we are human.
In fact, not all Christians or denominations are humble enough to recognize they could be wrong on some things if not many things. Christians can echo worldly politics more than the Holy Sprit. This happens among both those labeled liberal or conservative politically. Meanwhile we as Christians are supposed reflect and hope in Christ first – to embody him in the world. We are in the world, but not supposed to be of it (see John 17). Or as Paul writes in Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Then theologically, some might be incredibly rigid and unhealthy, while others become so open, it’s hard to see Christ amidst the syncretism. So when we see such posts, I suggest we consider the source – the spiritual leader’s judicatory if any, as well as the person speaking. It might sound like a reasoned statement but prove anything but. It can be helpful to dig deeper to better understand the argument being made.
Take for example this particular pastor who is listed publicly as simply “Evangelical.” Again, no one size fits under this label. In his case, his congregation is part of The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). It was founded by immigrants who broke away from Swedish Lutheranism in favor of a radical pietism, emphasizing certain teachings regarding holy living over grace. As it’s base, pietism has some merit. Faith should have a heart centered component. Yet with radical pietism, if faith is not in your heart (at an emotional and personal level), and you don’t overtly, rigidly witness to your faith in your actions, you might be told that you are not a “real Christian.” Those who believe but struggle with sin are out. You might say you are a Christian and go to church and serve others, but that might not be good enough for radical pietists despite whatever might be said about heart and grace. His denomination focuses a great deal on perfectionism and legalism in practice. They tend to be politically very conservative and quickly judge others. Radical Pietists in general tend to distinguish between “true” and “false” Christianity based on their assessment of works and a rigid theology and biblical fundamentalism.
This pastor who wants women to “submit” is in a very small denomination, yet it teams up politically with likeminded people. In our modern age, he can have a big influence. In this season of Easter, it’s good to remember that Mary Magdalene and other women refused to be quiet. Again, she’s the “Apostle to the Apostles,” first sharing news of Jesus. She traveled with him before his death and watched as he died. She was going to care for his body when men were still hiding out of fear. There have always been women leaders. Moses’ sister, Miriam, was a prophet for example. Deborah was a Judge of Israel, a tribal leader, and prophesied as well. Many women helped the Apostles and first disciples succeed and even start churches. Paul was helped in his ministry by a married couple. “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my coworkers in Christ,” he writes in Romans 16:3. On the other hand, Webbon seems to deny women a place not just in the pulpit or voting booth, but perhaps even at the feet or Jesus or at his table. He seems to not truly like and respect women. He has said he would prefer his wife never votes.
Perhaps most dangerously, Webbon is also a Christian Nationalist who aggressively supports the current administration. His Christian beliefs are bound as one to national ones. His wants to control more than women. He has wrongly and explicitly claimed that the United States belongs exclusively to Christians, and that means non-Christians shouldn’t hold public office. He’s overtly anti-semetic. He has wrongly said that God is done with Jews. He has suggested illegal immigrants be shot crossing the border. This rigid thinking all loops us back to his extreme pietistic roots. Who’s going to be considered a real Christian and who a false Christian? It’s not going to be Roman Catholics, the Orthodox, Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and members from other established denominations out of sink with his rigid worldview who have power, a vote, or even a say. It will be a small group of unhealthy Christians lording their ways over others – including Christians and non-Christians alike. It’s dangerous and unlike Christ. It most certainly does not reflect the Constitution.
Certainly, his desire to subjugate goes well beyond women. His teachings are far from Jesus who says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” When you have executive orders that might inadvertently (or perhaps intentionally) disenfranchise women by creating more hoops to jump through, it is people like Webbon who is applauding if not urging this on. We discover it becomes a bigger issue that potentially impact all of us in many varied ways, crossing from family, into religious freedom, and Constitutional values. Formally of the New Apostolic Reformation, now denouncing them, Webbon still shares their goal – a Christian nation in the worst and most un-Christian sense.
The ripples of injustice can have a long reach. So, I encourage everyone to stay informed, and please don’t take memes or social media quotes at face value. Sharing them might connect you to some very bad theology, politics, and people. When considering hot button social and political issues of the day, especially when someone uses scripture (including when you read anything from me), test what you read. Look deeper. Listen to other voices of the past and the present. We don’t want freedom to be drowned by ignorance, nor our true faith and baptism, amidst its many differences being worked out peacefully, to be denied by a wolf in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15). Just because someone claims the title of pastor, it does not mean they should be one.
Jesus wants streams of justice and a baptismal people who live and love others like he does. He calls all people to follow him together as one. For he alone is the Living Water, the Good Shepherd of his sheep. Don’t settle for the political poison, the gall of the world. Gall, which contained myrrh in it, was not for healing, honor, or blessing. Gall was offered to Jesus to numb his pain. Worldly control and domination might seem to numb our fear and pain for awhile, make one think they are in control, but it leads to death. Jesus refused it. Out of love, he was willing to fully willing to experience the pain of death.
We, too, are asked to risk feeling the pain that can come when following Jesus in love. He invites us to accept our crosses and bear them with his help. It is hard to live in relationship with others. Yet, we are told to die to oneself for the good of others. Yes, even marriage is a form of martyrdom to the Orthodox. We are meant to give of ourselves fully and freely in love of our spouse, answering Jesus’ call.
The Christian life exemplified by Jesus is hard, but it leads to life for you and others. It is meant to be walked in communion together, no longer slaves but children of God, siblings, family. Thank heavens Mary Magdalen and other women of the early Church did not shut up because culture told them too. In a time such as this, they have more to teach us.
Image source: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
Hearing the story of Jesus’ Passion hits differently when you hear it all at one time, doesn’t it? The pace of the story and the details woven into it wash over us in a more discernable way. You might sense a theme in the author’s focus…get a better feeling of what Jesus went through in his human form. Our beloved Jesus faced extreme exhaustion and grief as these stressful events went on overnight and into the next day; a body slowly giving in to torture, bleeding, and pain; a heart hurting as people he loved abandoned him and still others mocked him ceaselessly. Then, ultimately a final gasp, most likely amidst the sounds of what is commonly called a death rattle…“It is finished.”
We have moved away from the Narrative Lectionary during this Tenebrae service, a service of growing shadow echoing the growing darkness of that day long ago. Instead of Luke, we chose to solemnly reflect upon John’s witness. And among the most ancient practices of the service, sights and sounds might be added to reflect the words of the story. Thanks to Mike Moffit, we heard the occasional clang of a bell, tolling us toward Jesus’ death on the cross. In the earliest traditions, a loud bang was often created to simulate the closing of the tomb. Or, shrill lamenting might be heard as the chanting of Psalms continued. The final lit candle might be taken out of the sanctuary as if it was Jesus’ body being transported to the grave…only to have it come back again after a time of meditation. For just as John began his Gospel witness, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
In some traditions for Good Friday, you might hear from more than one Gospel witness, and perhaps like in a courtroom, this can help us move closer to the horrible, full truth of the events. Imagine if we had heard Matthew, Mark, or Luke, along with John this evening. We would have heard differences, nuances, and varied details, because that’s what happens when people speak truly. They don’t get their story straight. They report on what they know as best they can. As humans, we focus on and remember various things. We tell our stories differently. I argue that this attests to the truth of scripture. These words are considered so sacred that despite knowing these differences, the Church has decided to rest in their mystery. And so, amidst some glaring discrepancies and questions…not only on the our Bible’s pages but in our lives…we wait for God’s Spirit to speak to us…to help us understand…perhaps more importantly to trust.
At my former congregation, we used to have a three-hour service from noon to three where we listened to Matthew, Mark and Luke, one per hour, interspersed with silence, song, and reflections. People came and went, or they stayed for three hours, likely as people did during the crucifixion of Jesus itself. Jerusalem was a busy city after all, and it was packed with holiday excitement and people going to and fro. Then, we shared in a John-centered service that night. Still other congregations have shared in a three-hour service with multiple pastors preaching on the seven last sayings of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels. There are many more Good Friday traditions than there are Christian congregations – no one tradition perfect. For, we never can fully express or understand Jesus’ suffering. Words can never capture it. Only Jesus knows the full truth.
Certainly, there are countless creative ways to help us try to encounter the suffering and death of Jesus. I’ve used art to reflect upon the Stations of the Cross. It is not unusual, and has always been a tradition of the Church, to have Jesus reflect varied ethnicities and races. For Jesus came to draw all people to himself, and sometimes seeing ourselves reflected in Jesus’ person can make us more likely to approach him.
In movies, plays, even musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar (now at the Riverside Center by the way), the stories are melded together to elicit an emotional response (perhaps more so than any objective accuracy). Even a number of our children recently went to the King of Kings, an animated version of Jesus’ life and Passion. As a result of the film, we overheard their young voices asking awe inspired questions, and a few tears were seen shed as Jesus died. Such artistic renderings have their place in conveying the realities of the story, for art can mirror life. It can help focus our attention on what we might have otherwise missed. It can facilitate the connection of our emotions to life…even as such efforts remain imperfect… glossing over facts, or taking artistic license at times to help the story flow.
Among my favorite Holy Week spiritual practices, I look forward to listening to Bach’s “St. John’s Passion.” It stands out for its dramatic portrayal of Jesus’ suffering, trial, and crucifixion. Its musical settings are meant to evoke emotion, not just images in your mind, because Jesus’ suffering was not just some mechanical, step by step history. It is not “just a story.” It really happened and the suffering was real with a human toll. As we contemplate how Jesus suffered and died for us…his loneliness, his own emotional desolation as people abandoned him, sadness as he gasped his last words…his life might just touch our own heart.
And if we slow down to listen closely, we find that scripture itself very well captures the truth of Roman executions. The Gospels are validated by outside histories of the day and archeology. There are three main parts to any Roman crucifixion: scourging, carrying the cross, and being hung to a cross publicly to warn others not to offend. In Jesus’ case, he was nailed. The scourging Roman soldier used a flagellum (a whip with multiple ends to tear your flesh more efficiently). You see, that would start bleeding and potentially send your body into shock.
Many have tried to guess how many times Jesus was struck. Some suggest thirty-nine times as that’s the limit under Jewish law, but it could have been more. The Gospels don’t say, and Jesus died under a Roman sentence. Many more strikes with the whip remain a possibility.
The carrying of the cross subjected one to more abuse – people hurling more than just curses at you. The fatigue helps facilitate one’s death. Then, hung on the cross, a means of execution usually reserved for the worst offenders against Rome, your death could last for days. Your body could remain on the cross to rot much longer. Again, the cross served as a warning to those who would defy the power of Rome.
Perhaps you have never considered this, but why would Jesus be offered poison instead of water to drink? For gall was usually a mixture of myrrh and vinegary, foul wine. Yes, it could serve as a painkiller or anesthetic for your suffering, slight relief though it would prove, but it wasn’t what your body longed for. And yet, even then, Jesus refuses this bitter consolation…this mockery of kindness. He chose to bear the full pain of his death…a death he would die thinking of us.
And then, why would the authorities want to break Jesus’ legs? You die on the cross from fatigue, exposure, blood loss and your system shuts down, but ultimately you can no longer support yourself in a way that you can freely breathe. Your legs give out. Your lungs cannot expand enough to welcome life-giving air. Breaking Jesus’ legs would suffocate Jesus prior to the start of the sabbath holiday…not for mercy’s sake, but out of political convenience, efficient calculation, and a nod to cultural and religious propriety. To ensure that Jesus was truly dead, that the breaking of his legs was not necessary, the Romans speared his side.
Now, I know this is graphic, horrific, seemingly inappropriate perhaps to speak about in detail at a church service, but this is indeed what Good Friday asks us to remember. Our Easter joy and our redemption come at a great cost…amidst great sadness. This should not be a surprise or a shock. For we have already heard all this from our faithful readers this evening.
It’s true! John attests to this very thing, as does our other Gospel writers. The early Christians would have known this horror well. Today, it seems far removed…almost unreal. Still…and I know this is true for me…I don’t want to understand it. I resist it. I want to gloss over it. I don’t want to believe it. It is too horrible to contemplate. Each wound, every insult, his horrid death…was for me…was for you. It is hard enough for me to accept the violence that I have seen and experienced in my life…but this? To contemplate this story makes my heart cry, and I want to push its realities away and move quickly past it toward Easter joy.
Yet, John won’t let us. He wants us to hear and contemplate the details. For even amidst the horrors of Jesus’ death…the horrors of our own life and losses…there remain signs of hope that we must recognize. Jesus said these things must happen. He died when the time was right. And through his death, prophesies and ancient promises are fulfilled.
From the prophet Zechariah 12:10, we hear that the nation would look upon the one they have pierced. Psalm 22 hinted that the Chosen One would have his garments shared among his oppressors. Pieces of clothing would be won through the casting of lots. Further, his strength would become dried up; and his tongue would cleave to his jaws…He would thirst. Then according to Psalm 34:20, none of the Messiah’s bones were to be broken…just has happened with Jesus. There are many other passages that prophetically point to Jesus’ death, but they also shout of who he is and his purpose. He came to gift us with true, abundant, and eternal life. He is our Messiah.
“It…is…finished.” Jesus’ mission…God’s plan for our salvation…was fulfilled on the cross, and Resurrection joy with a new and final age would soon begin as a direct result. Yes, Jesus wanted to fully share in our life, so he had to suffer our death, too. Even before we were ever born…Jesus was remembering us as he suffered each indignity, with every stroke of the hammer, in every tear he shed, with every faltering breath…as he died…remembering us as much as he did when forgiving the criminal at his side (recorded in Luke).
It is ultimately Jesus that asks us to remember what he went through so long ago. He wants us to have our hearts to be ripped open like his tomb would soon be, to watch and learn…to find assurance. For if anyone wants to follow after him, Jesus says that we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow. Peter later wrote (1 Peter 2:21), “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”
Yes, Jesus really suffered and died, but it was because he really loves us. His death can never be understood rightly unless we also understand that suffering and death never has the final word under the sovereignty of our loving God. Jesus hopes our lives and love will be just as passionate, sacrificial, and real…that we won’t reject suffering if that cup most be drunk in order to fulfill God’s will and share God’s love concretely with others.
For through faith, we have become Christ’s body to be broken in love for the world. Fears of our own want, sin and death need not control us. They don’t have to dominate our decision-making process, worldview, or actions. We are to live in hope even as we suffer and die, for the powers of this world will never defeat us because of Jesus and his cross. Never! The dark powers of this world might still rage, but they are done for…It is they that are finished.
“So maybe today,” a non-ordained friend of mine (Robert Keith Cartwright, Facebook post, 4/18/25) so wisely urged in a reflection shared with his friends, “the invitation is this: Don’t rush through Friday. Don’t numb it. Don’t theologize it away. Don’t skip to Sunday. Let Friday do its work. Let it remind you that some of the best things come not by conquering the darkness, but by trusting God enough to walk through it.” Amen.
If you would like to hear my sermon or watch our service, the video can be found below. The Gospel text and sermon begins at about the 42:16 minute mark.The preaching text isJohn 18:1—19:42.
“So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves'” (Matthew 27:24).
Coming across this meme today made me consider the Pilate in me. I can clearly remember times in my life when I looked away, walked by, thought others could help instead of me, or assumed that things were hopeless, so I did not try. I absolved myself from sin as I washed the pain of others away from my consciousness. As humans, we have all likely been like Pilate at times – frustrated, feeling powerless or tired, wanting to say, “I don’t care anymore,” “It is not my problem,” or “The heck with them!”
Yet, Jesus modeled a new way to live. He reached out to people to heal, and he let himself be touched for healing too. It wasn’t because they deserved it, and it always came free of charge. He never let religious piety or cultural propriety get in his way as he did so. His life embodied the heart of the law which is love – loving God with all he was and others as himself, for God is only love (1 John 4:8).
So, he asked his followers to share what they had with others in need, loving even enemies, and not just from their abundance, but trusting in the provision of our daily bread. He saw the blind man needing help although the man was obscured by a large and noisy crowd – a crowd that wanted him to shut up. He recognized the timid Zacchaeus in his tree. He loved the child of God within each sinner waiting to be set free. He sometimes healed people, understanding their need, before they even asked. He had compassion on me when I felt utterly desolate, far from God, and he changed the direction of my life forever.
I don’t want to be Pilate anymore. I want to love with my life. I pray that by God’s help that I can be more like Jesus every day, no matter the cost. I know its a struggle to do what is right, because I still struggle. I know I will fail, but I trust I will never be condemned. I can repent, get up again, and walk like the forgiven adulteress without shame. It can be hard to speak truth when accusers seem always ready to pounce. We can fear potential consequences. Bullies real and imagined might threaten us. Certainly, we are not Jesus.
Yet, Jesus asks us to bear our crosses in his name anyway. As Paul urged early Christians in Corinth, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love” (1Corinthians 16:13-14). We have been washed through our faith and baptism, so that the promise of scripture will prove true. There’s no bowl of stagnant, dirty water good enough for those freed by Jesus. Instead, we are told, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). It is a water (and life) meant to be shared; splashing onto others, blessing and nurturing new life with a grace filled abandon. It is a life like Jesus’ own.
Husband, Pastor, Law Enforcement Chaplain, and member of the Clerical Errors (aka "The Three Priests"), I'm sharing my two cents with anyone who cares...
You can also find me on social media as Loudluthrn (Lou-d-Luthrn or Lou the Lutheran). It is a moniker given me while attending a Presbyterian Seminary, but I'm a loud and proud Lutheran too (just not too loud and proud, mind you).
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