Hear the Good News of God's Choice for Us (leader-telegram article, March 26, 2016)

This was an article for the Leader-Telegram originally written for their Faith Walk supplement, but they had too many entrees, so they used some of the clergy submissions for their Saturday "Matters of Faith" columns, which is where this one ended up on March 26, 2016.

My congregation, Plymouth United Church of Christ, are spending the six weeks leading up to Easter talking about choices. We started by talking about the choice to throw stones or not. Jesus lamented over Jerusalem saying, “You who kill the prophets, and stone those who are sent to you.” We do like to throw stones at people or ideas we don’t like. Throw them at the normal evolutionary change that happens around and within us. Throw them at the faults of others. Throw them at those who speak words of peace for people and nations. We are considering our choices because we are on a journey to Easter, which is the sign that God has made a choice for us. In Christianity, Easter is the numero uno holy day. The day of the empty tomb and Jesus’ resurrection is the starting point of the faith. Christmas is far most popular, celebrated by people all over the world, including many who do not identify as Christians. And why not? The birth of a child around whom has been created a holiday of gift giving, feasts, choral concerts and carols, images of families gathered peacefully and functionally around a Christmas tree stacked with wrapped presents while a fireplace roars and crackles... It's so popular it covers a large swatch of our yearly calendar. By my estimate, it occupied about one-fourth of 2015. But Christmas is only a small part of the whole story that culminates in an empty tomb and a rolled away stone on Easter morning; God shouting to the world, “I choose you!” I like to think that the stone rolled away from the tomb is also symbolic of God trying to put the stones out of our reach. It is this truth of Easter that compels my (and many others) passion about choosing life over stone-throwing at our neighbors, and especially to speak out when those within the church are calling for the stone throwing, instead of choosing the better way of Jesus. I think of those who often receive our stones: our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters; immigrants; minorities; the homeless; the poor; the sick and suffering; Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and atheists; women; prisoners both domestic and those at Gitmo; those who have faithfully made the very difficult decision to get a divorce, have an abortion, climb out of addictions, or undergo gender-realignment surgery; those who have been abused and hurt by the church and others; and those who do not deny the truths we learn from scientific inquiry. Proclaiming that God made a choice for us should include the proclamation that God has also chosen “them”, whoever our “them” might be. Not to change “them” into “us”, but in a way that honors their story and their dignity. To trade shaming them in God’s name or to use the Bible as a weapon against their God-made selves for a gentle open hand of invitation to experience love. Because none of us are innocent of cheering along at Jesus’ crucifixion. That calls for us to be gentle with one another. Even when we are at our worst, because of our worst selves, God chose to come as one of us on Christmas morning, allowed us to crucify him so he could rise back to life on Easter morning and show us the impotence of stone-throwing against the force of love. Jesus’ love is a kenotic love, a fancy Greek word that means “self-emptying.” It’s a love that puts “the other” before oneself. If you’d like to know more about what this “Easter” thing is that churchy people keep talking about; if you’d like to hear a message about God’s choice for you; if you’d like to experience a community that strives (however imperfectly) to mimic God’s kenotic way of unconditional love, I invite you to join my congregation, or ask a friend to join with their congregation, this coming Easter. Hear again or for the first time the story of Jesus raising himself to life from death, leaving behind an empty and open tomb. To hear the Good News story of God’s choice for us so that we may all roll away our own stones and experience God’s unconditional love for each of us. See Plymouth's Facebook page for more information on our Easter celebration and Magnificent Muffin breakfast.