Category: Kim’s Blog

There is a Holy Week litany which asks, Judas, are you here? Judas is remembered for betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and then hanging himself. There is also a stream of belief that Judas did this out of devotion and faithfulness; that it was necessary so that Jesus’ mission could be fulfilled.

When we think of Judas as a betrayer, the case can be made that Judas betrayed Jesus because Jesus did not fulfill Judas’ expectations of a Messiah. Perhaps Judas was looking for more of a political rebel as a Messiah. More of a fighter. Someone who would take up arms and challenge Roman rule, then set himself and his friends up in positions of power. Then, when Jesus did not meet Judas’ expectations, Judas betrayed him. That is the customary view. And it has insights for us, even if we don’t see Judas that way.

We may feel that our faith is not strong. That is does not make enough of a difference in our lives. Maybe we feel that we are not making enough of a difference in the world. Perhaps we wish we were closer to God. We may have these disappointments because we feel our expectations are not being met. But maybe the problem is our expectations. Maybe what we think we want is not what is best for us, or what is needed by the world, or what is truly consistent with the way of Christ, or fitting for our circumstances. Maybe we are disappointed because what we are hoping for is not what we need.

Our faith could be offering us wonderful experiences, amazing new life, and exciting transformation, but we could be missing it all because it is not what we are looking for or expecting.

This Holy Week is a time to let ourselves be surprised and stunned by Love.

Prayer
It can be very hard to follow. We want to lead. We want to be in control. We think we know best. This Holy Week, may we open ourselves to the leading of Divine Love even when it leads us to the cross and beyond. Amen.

Jesus leads a peace procession in the streets of Jerusalem. Evidently even then, there wasn’t peace. The parade culminates at the Temple. This should be the locus of God’s peace in the world. This should be a place of serenity, devotion, and reverence. You know the hushed feeling of awe you get in a sacred space. Even in our little church open to the world, there is a sense of reverence. The Temple should have been a holy place of peace where you know to speak in hushed tones.

In the Palm Sunday account, when Jesus and the peace procession get to the Temple, what occurs is surprising. Instead of a candlelight vigil or a prayer service, we are given the story of Jesus driving out the money changers and overturning their tables. It’s as if things go from a peaceful demonstration to a riot. We know that line can be thin. An orderly market is thrown into chaos. This is one of the few stories we have of Jesus literally upsetting things. He disrupts the functioning of the Temple. Obviously, some people will not be happy about this. Surely the money changers were not thrilled with following their coins all over the ground and collecting their pigeons and other animals from hither and yon. The Temple officials would not have been happy about the disruption to their business and their income. They would not like the upset of the sacrifice system from which they benefitted and were fed though at the expense of the masses. To bring peace, Jesus uncovers the corruption of the sacrifice system. The peace of God and bilking the believers do not go hand in hand.

This episode shows us Jesus getting right to the heart of things. Follow the money. In religion, in society, in politics, in our personal spending, Jesus shows us that what is going on with the money is what is going on. It reveals people’s true commitments and intentions.

If you want to know more about yourself and what you care about, look at your spending and your budget. To know more about an organization, look at what is done with the money. When investigating political candidates, see where the money comes from and what the person’s policies are around money. Want to know more about a church or religious institution, look at the budget and finance statements. And if you can’t get access to the figures, someone does not want you to follow the money because it leads to the truth.

Prayer
May we align ourselves with Jesus’ procession of peace even when it disrupts our financial assumptions and conventions. May we follow the money and see the truth exposed. It is only through honesty that we can rid ourselves of the corrosive effects of greed which prevent God’s peace. Amen.

Palms. We are told they were used to line the path for the donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem. His was a parade of peace. He did not enter the city as a military conqueror, though that is what some people would have liked. Jesus entered Jerusalem as the embodiment of peace, of hope, of reconciliation, of a new future. And not only a new future, but a different future. A future in which the oppressed do not apply the tactics of the oppressor to reverse the situation. Jesus comes into Jerusalem as a symbol of a reality in which violence, harm, and pain are not used as weapons against others. Jesus is leading the way to a reality in which the innate dignity of every person is honored and the creation itself is revered as the self-disclosure of God.

The palm tree is quite unique. It provides food through the nuts and date. Oil can be made from the palm. The fronds can be used for making baskets and for roofing and other practical applications. The trunk and the crown are home to countless insects, birds, and other flora and fauna.

Then there is the symbolic nature of the palm tree. It is associated with tropical warmth, the beach, vacation. Can you remember driving south on I-95 from the frozen north, eagerly seeing that first palm tree by the side of the highway in South Carolina? With global climate change, maybe they are in North Carolina now. But the palm tree is a symbol of tropical paradise especially for those from temperate climes.

So we see that the palm is really a very fitting symbol for the new reality that Jesus is pointing us to: a reality of peace, lived in harmony with one another and with nature. Paradise.

Prayer
May we keep focused on the kind of community and world that Jesus shows to us. May we be disciplined and keep ourselves from the allure a self-centered, greedy, violent society. May the palms around us remind us of Paradise and peace. Amen.

“When they came to the land of Goshen, Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. He presented himself to him, fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. Israel said to Joseph, “I can die now, having seen for myself that you are still alive.” Genesis 46:29-30, NRSV

The story of Joseph can be seen as a foreshadowing of the story of Jesus. As one commentator says, “The long and moving story of Joseph, who is sold by his brothers and then becomes their saviour, is the first image of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ in the Bible.” [From The Christian Community Bible. Translated, presented and commented for the Christian Communities of the Philippines and the Third World; and for those who seek God.]

Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, so unjustly gotten rid of. He is then falsely accused by Potiphar’s wife, which lands him in prison. So he knows what it is to be an innocent victim. When the brothers return home, they tell their father that Joseph is dead. Jacob mourns inconsolably. For Jacob, his son is dead. His pride and joy, gone. It is final. Finished. He has the blood-stained robe to prove it.

Then after many years, the drought drives Jacob to sent his sons to Egypt for grain where they encounter Joseph. Eventually, all is revealed. Well, almost all. We don’t ever hear the brothers confessing to their father what they did to Joseph. We are just told that Jacob finds out that his beloved son, Joseph, whom he thought for years was dead, is alive. So, in the story of Joseph we see the innocent victim, whom his father believes is dead, appearing alive once again to his father and family.

Jesus would have known well the story of Joseph. We can imagine the saga of Joseph and his trials, the suffering of Jacob, and the ultimate working of all things together for good was a comfort to Jesus as he was undergoing his own suffering and grief.

In this season of Lent, we examine our lives to discover and acknowledge where we are dead. In our personal lives, our dreams, as a church, as a culture, where is there death? The story of Joseph and the story of Jesus show us that God brings new life, even from the most dead places, where we have long given up.

Prayer
We like to portray the image that everything is fine. We may obsess, medicate, or otherwise obscure reality. We can delude ourselves into ignoring where death holds sway. May we open our eyes to see the death around us and within us so that we can welcome the new life God brings. Amen.

“Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you out of this land to the land that God swore the Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.’ So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, ‘When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.’ And Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old; he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.” Genesis 50:24-26

So ends the book of Genesis and the saga of Joseph. Joseph wants his body to rest where it first came into the world. He wants to end where he began. Full circle. Fully rooted in his family, land, culture, and religion of origin.

Joseph began in Canaan. His brothers sold him into slavery. He ended up in Egypt. In Egypt, he was a servant. He was imprisoned. He was put in charge of the country. His family came to Egypt and he was able to sustain them through the drought with the grain stores of Egypt. Joseph is reconciled with his family and they settle in Egypt. But still, Joseph wants his final resting place to be in his original homeland of Canaan. He still longs for what he considers his home.

We live in a time of much migration and mobility. People move from place to place for jobs, for weather, for retirement, to be near kids, for school, for lifestyle, for culture, for love. There is also much migration that occurs because of violence, war, and drought. Migration may be caused by severe weather events, like Hurricane Katrina. Many people left New Orleans and did not go back. With rising sea levels, there will be even more migration.

Our faith teaches that our true home is in God. And God is everywhere. So we can be at home everywhere. We also affirm that God is within us. So wherever we are, God is with us, and we can learn to be at home. We think of Jesus always going from place to place. And everywhere he went, he was at home. May we find our way home to God this Lenten season.

Prayer
The Earth is full of the glory of God. May we look for that glory everywhere, even within ourselves, and certainly within others. Aware of the presence of God, may we find our true home. Amen.