Assurance of Pardon

In the empty tomb, God declares that nothing can separate us from the love of God; nothing we have done, or left undone; no one whom we have been or failed to be. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Friends, believe the good news: in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Acts 10:34-43    New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Gentiles Hear the Good News

³⁴ Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, ³⁵ but in every people anyone who fears him and practices righteousness^[a] is acceptable to him. ³⁶ You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. ³⁷ That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: ³⁸ how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. ³⁹ We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, ⁴⁰ but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, ⁴¹ not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

1 Corinthians 15:19-26  New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

¹⁹ If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.^[a] 21 For since death came through a human, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human, ²² for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. ²³ But each in its own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

John 20:1-18       New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Resurrection of Jesus

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ² So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” ³ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look^[a] into the tomb, ¹² and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³ They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir,^[b] if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,^[c] “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Where does the Easter Bunny live?

What do you call 10 rabbits walking backwards? A receding hare line

Top Ten Reasons to Celebrate Easter

Count down ten of the funniest and most ironic reasons that it remains a good idea to celebrate Easter this year. For those of you old enough to remember the “top ten” countdowns that used to exist on the Late Show with David Letterman, read this collection in his voice for added hilarity.

10. You absolutely love the movie, “The Ten Commandments”.
11. You look really, really good in yellow.
12. You just went on a low cholesterol diet and didn’t want to waste all those eggs in the fridge.
13. You figure any Holiday that starts with a “Good Friday” can’t be all bad.
14. You love to bite the heads off chocolate bunnies.
15. It’s a good time to check out your neighborhood church and not be noticed.
16. You have this bunny suit you love to wear, but are too insecure to wear it without a reason.
17. Even though you don’t know what it is, you really like the sound of going to a “Passion Play.”
18. You figured since Jesus went to all THAT trouble to make it to the first Easter, you’d give it a shot.
19. As a Christian you celebrate the resurrection every other day, why not Easter too?

A friend was in front of me coming out of church one day, and the preacher was standing at the door as he always is to shake hands. He grabbed my friend by the hand and pulled him aside. The Pastor said, “You need to join the Army of the Lord!”

My friend said, “I’m already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor.”

Pastor questioned, “How come I don’t see you except at Christmas and Easter?”

He whispered back, “I’m in the secret service!”

The Escape
20 April 2025
The Rev Dr Dianne ES Carpenter
John  20: 1-18

On the basis of the Open tomb Mary -Jumped to Conclusions:

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. ² So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 

How many times have we “jumped to conclusions?” about people, about outcomes, about expectations, about THE TRUTH

³ In response, Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴ The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, ⁷ and the cloth that had been on Jesus’s head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed, ⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that Jesus must rise from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples returned to their homes.

A Modern ponderance claimed the shroud shows that Jesus has been raised to life through the cloths, which have simply collapsed in their place. This is rather cleverly illustrated on the left of the slide by Andrew Sach using contemporary clothes!  For Mary, Peter and John they concluded that Jesus’ body had been removed, leaving the linen grave clothes. Someone [s] made off with a naked dead body that has been in the tomb for a few days. [OOOO no!]  Even these new eyes believed what? What Mary had concluded. By now the conclusion has a life of it’s own.

¹¹ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look^[a] into the tomb, ¹² and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³ They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 

say it enough times and it’s true
did Jesus send the angels to clarify the situation? There were no angels before
Now angels -heavenly messengers – with or without wings and halos were “dressed in white” – Mary does not seem to register this as extraordinary.

¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir,^[b] if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

“Supposing him to be the gardener” : We build truth from our perception of the facts…

Mary persists in her interpretation of the situation

We persist in believing we have the truth in situations that are very complex and for which we have limited understanding – in relationship to our health, our history: personal and social (national/global) and language nuances that we rely on in translations from the Greek.  We rely on negative interpretations to protect ourselves from disappointment and to avoid change.  How long will we be divided by our stubborn interpretations of the events of our lives?

Interpretations by bullies, interpretations by social custom, interpretations of the scriptures, interpretations of our understanding of our ability to be loved, and our place in society or our families of origin?

 ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew,^[c] “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her.    

Finally, Mary saw what was before her eyes all along…   Jesus was not stolen from the tomb: NO WAY! 

It was not a kidnapping….. it was an Escape!

When I say escape, what comes to mind:  Houdini? Magic? prisons

Escape means: [1] break free from confinement or control: “two burglars have just escaped from prison” or “the story of his escape from a POW camp”

God poured God’s self into a limited form – in many ways God imprisoned God’s self for a time in the human form of Jesus with all of its joys and sorrows and finally death

Jesus the man escaped the self-imposed limitations of the human experience when He left the tomb: He escaped [1] pain and death, [2] “positionality” – being in one place and moving to another.  Jesus could appear to the disciples in the upper room and then to the people leaving Jerusalem on the Emmaus Road, as testified in the weeks to come, Jesus could handle food and eat

Jesus/God could command nature – before His death ie, water/wine raising Lazarus, and healing illness and physical limitations  – now the tomb was opened, allowing for a Risen Saviour to emerge.

In the ascension, Jesus’ human body left the gravity [serious] of the earth.

Ironically, It is humanity that has been kidnapped, held against God’s will by our Freedom to choose, rightly or wrongly, kidnapped by the consequences of serving lesser gods: kidnapped by our passion for control, our use of violence, our selfish power structures to fracture the wholeness and holiness of humanity as a unified “tribe” and the natural world as our habitat, our insistence on hierarchy vs equity, competing for who is the “greatest” among us and insisting on dominating nature.

And it is God who paid the Ransom for our release – making it possible at every juncture to chose Resurrection & Reconciliation if we follow His teaching. Jesus escaped so that humanity might have the option to be set truly Free.

Funny Easter Story: The Great Easter Egg Mix-Up

In the small, charming town of Hoppington, Easter was always a big deal. The most anticipated event was the annual Easter egg hunt, organized by Mayor Bunnings, who was not a rabbit despite his name but a very enthusiastic human with a great love for Easter traditions.

This year, however, there was a mix-up at the Easter egg factory. Instead of the usual chocolate eggs, the factory accidentally shipped a batch of “magical” eggs that they were developing for a different festival. These eggs had a peculiar feature: when you opened them, they would turn into whatever you were thinking about at that moment.

The townsfolk of Hoppington gathered in the central park, baskets in hand, ready for the hunt. The whistle blew, and the hunt began. Children and adults alike scurried around, picking up the beautifully decorated eggs.

Little Timmy, who was always dreaming of adventures, opened his first egg and out popped a tiny dragon, breathing miniature fire. He was thrilled! Next, Miss Daisy, the town’s florist, found her egg transforming into a bunch of exotic flowers, which she found absolutely delightful.

Chaos and laughter ensued as more eggs were opened. Mrs. Pennington, who had been craving a tropical vacation, found herself holding a tiny palm tree. The local baker, Mr. Dough, watched in amazement as his egg turned into a loaf of freshly baked bread.

Mayor Bunnings was initially horrified at the mix-up but soon joined in the laughter. The park was now a spectacle of bizarre and whimsical objects.

Just when they thought things couldn’t get any more bizarre, old Mr. Filbert, known for his love for extraterrestrial things, opened his egg, and to everyone’s astonishment, a tiny UFO with miniature aliens flew out, hovering over the park.

As the sun set, the townsfolk of Hoppington gathered together, sharing stories of their magical finds. Mayor Bunnings, seeing the joy and laughter the mix-up had brought, declared it the best Easter egg hunt in the history of Hoppington.

And from that year on, the Easter egg hunt in Hoppington was not only about finding eggs but also about unleashing the limitless boundaries of imagination, all thanks to the Great Easter Egg Mix-Up.

Exodus 12:1-14 New International Version

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread

12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ² “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb^[a] for his family, one for each household. ⁴ If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. ¹⁰ Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. ¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

¹⁴ “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.

A Holy Thursday Leave-Taking
17 April 2025
The Rev Dr Dianne ES Carpenter

Tonight is about “Taking Leave”. There are times when we must acknowledge that we are “graduating”, “moving on”, departing from what has been for what will be. By far, more profound than leaving on a trip from which you expect to return.

The reading from Exodus is about an entire nation leaving Egypt – never to return. Though the disciples did not realize it at the time, the Passover celebration we remember tonight was the Last Passover Supper the Disciples would share with Jesus.

Taking Leave involves preparation, and The Exodus teaches us to-

First, travel light. That is the message that God has for the Israelites on the cusp of their own departure into their destiny. Eat quickly, reverently, and then travel light, leaving behind all those things that cannot endure the journey—your boxes of despair, your chests of regret, your shackles of servitude. Leave them behind in a pile, with the blood of the lamb marking the spot of their abandonment, as you abandon yourselves to the new thing that God desires for you—liberation, courage, undaunted joy. Wrap yourselves in a mantle of trust and wave goodbye to your subjugation, for the Way of the Lord is broad and cuts straight across the wilderness for those willing to step up and be carried away.

Traveling light is one thing that sets the people of God apart from the likes of Pharaoh and his counterparts, those tyrants who traffic in heavy certainties.  The people of God are on the move with dusty feet and eyes wide with wonder and a heart softened by humility. The Passover leaving teaches us that our liberation and our salvation will always bear the imprint of that dusty, hungry, vibrant spirit of our forebears. To escape the old heartbreak, to reach the land beyond the Red Sea, to become the light of the world, travel light.

Secondly,  As we leave, we need to say goodbye. Jesus’ supper with his disciples, among all the other things, is a goodbye meal. Our Lord knows, tonight, that He is leaving for a place where, for now, only he can go. But before he goes, a proper farewell is required—the kind that leaves nothing unsaid, nothing withheld.

We can go through our lives lulled by the assumption of tomorrow. Surely there will always be time to say what needs saying to the ones we love. But occasionally, piercingly, we discover that this is not so, that people are called away while a thousand unshared sentiments hover in the air.

Jesus says, “No, there will be no withheld words among us, my friends.” We will speak our love, we will speak our fears, we will speak our souls to one another across this table in the dimming light. We will confess our care, cleansing and holding onto one another while we still can do these things. Because yes, departure is imminent, but now, here, in the eternal, precious present, we have a new commandment: Love One Another….To feast upon each other’s fullness. And this goodbye will be enough to sustain you through the darkness of the days to come, across the hungry years and the lonely places. This meal, this moment, this perfect goodbye, will be enough until we see each other again. So, say goodbye.

Finally, departure teaches us that God is among the travelers. God is, and always has been, the One found in transit and transition. From the wilderness journey of Israel to the long and winding road of Jesus and his followers, God is most reliably present in transitional places and in transitional people. And this is important for we who are disciples in an age of crumbling certainties.

If we wish to know where to look for God in such a time as this, we should not be beguiled by the promises of monumentality and unyielding strength. Those are and always have been the wrong places to look, the wrong places to seek hope, even if they seem to last for a little while.

We should look for God among the people who know about departures—the ones who know all too well about change.  And who are they? They are the migrant, and the unhoused, and the lost and the hungry. They are the ones who have transitioned and the ones who have come out. They are the ones who know: There are worse things than leaving home because sometimes venturing out is the only thing that can save us.

As with the Israelites and with Jesus, too, we learn how to leave behind the affection we have known for the sake of a greater love. We learn how to lay down our baggage, how to lay down our lives, so that we might live in a different way, whole and holy, and free.

It is something that Pharaoh does not understand; something that God alone can reveal to us. It is something unfamiliar and alive, this departure that beckons toward the horizon, that calls us toward that thing waiting for us on the other side of night.

And with all this in mind, it’s important to notice that on this Holy Thursday, our liturgy does not actually end when we leave. It keeps going. We keep moving in perpetual transit through these three days. Tonight, we have simply embarked, because the God of departures, at work in our hearts, has told us, again, that it is time to go.

So, like those who have gone before us, like all those who have had the courage to depart, gather up what is precious to you. Eat quickly, but reverently. Lay down that which has burdened you thus far. Speak words of love and truth, and gratitude to one another. And then step up and come away.

It is a perilous and powerful journey, the one we are about to make together. But, as has always been the case, it is the journey that will save us. It is the journey that, since the very beginning, God has been hoping we will make.

Luke 19:28-40  New International Version

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

²⁸ After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. ²⁹ As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ³⁰ “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”

³² Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. ³³ As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?”

³⁴ They replied, “The Lord needs it.”

³⁵ They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. ³⁶ As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

³⁷ When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

³⁸ “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”^[a]

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”

⁴⁰ “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Stepping Stones
The Rev Dr Dianne ES Carpenter
13 April 2025
Luke 19:28-40

I always think of Palm Sunday as a day of celebration and joy, a kind of dress rehearsal for Easter. The Sunday before Easter was a story about a parade and lots of enthusiasm and excitement in the air.

This was not just any day in Jerusalem, this was the day faithful Jews tried to be in Jerusalem for the celebration of Passover. Jesus’ family had come when he was a boy, and He had wandered off to discuss theology with the elders in the temple.   This was a day when the population of Jerusalem, already a crossroads of the Mediterranean, swelled from perhaps 40,000 to 200,000 during the holidays and Passover was one of the busiest holidays.

In 2007, New Testament scholars John Dominic Crossan and Marcus Borg, published The Last Week, in which they suggested that the parade that heralded Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem wasn’t the largest or most spectacular parade in town during that Passover season.

Also entering Jerusalem at Passover, from the west, was the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Like the Roman governors of Judea before him, Pilate lived in Caesarea by the sea. In other words, Pilate spent most of his time at his beach house. But with crowds of devout Jews flowing into Jerusalem to commemorate their liberation from Egypt, the Roman Governors would put on a display of force, to deter the Jews from getting too exuberant about the possibility of liberation from Rome. Pilate’s procession was the visible manifestation of Imperial Roman power. Once a year, during the Passover, the Roman procurator moved his headquarters to Jerusalem in a show of strength designed to prevent any outbreaks of insurgency or violent rebellion against Roman rule. Such outbreaks were a constant danger, both because Roman rule imposed real hardship economically on their subject nations, and because, no one likes the foot of a foreign power on their necks.

In a show of military force, Pilate was accompanied by “cavalry on horses, foot soldiers, leather armor, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagles mounted on poles, sun glinting on metal and gold.”

The sound of “marching feet, the creaking of leather, the clinking of bridles, the beating of drums” which would have had a sobering effect on all those who saw this parade. There would have been no shouts of Hosanna as the powerful Pilate rode astride of his horse, hoping to strike fear into the resentful onlookers. As Pilate lead a regiment of his own most trusted soldiers into town; as a show of force, he did so with confidence knowing that he was backed up by several battalions of Rome’s finest garrisoned on the west side of Jerusalem ready to flood into the city at Pilate’s command.

Luke tells us Jesus came to town riding on a donkey, less impressive than a military parade.  More like the enacting of a church play hastily thrown together and written by the Prophet Zechariah than Star Wars. “Your king comes to you, triumphant and glorious, riding on a donkey,” Zechariah predicted, and Jesus dutifully acted the part. The words the crowds say are scripted also, lifted from Psalm 118, “Bless it is the one who comes in the name of the lord.  Hosanna, save us, we beseech.”

Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem and the cross after three years of ministry, miracles and multitudes. We have been placing 1 foot before the other all during lent as we’ve been facing the human condition. We have thought about our fears, our suffering, our attachment to the things of this world, our sin, our temptations and our relationships.

Today, no matter how you look at the story of Passover that year in Jerusalem we have to choose between two parades. The attraction of the power and the might of Pilate’s military parade with all its glory and wonder is still there to tempt us. The temptation to use force and violence, military might, drone technology, shock and awe, is still marching its way into the hearts and minds of so many people.

The pathways to glory still beckon. Power and might, greed and violence attract more attention and more converts than the path less traveled: Jesus versus Pilate, the nonviolence of the dominion of God versus the violence of the empire.

The city was a political hot bed of those invested in keeping the lid on things, and those ready to blow off that lid. The Jews hated the romans, and would have liked nothing better than to see them gone from their land. Romans viewed the Jews with disdain and were interested only in keeping them quiet. They were ruthless in enforcing that famous Pax Romana that held the empire together. They were not about to let a small subversive group of political or religious malcontents upset their uneasy peace in Palestine.

So for Jesus to ride into town like King David himself, on the back of a donkey, implying the ironic humility of a king described by Zechariah, and greeted to shouts of welcome and enthusiasm from the rabble, it raised the eyebrows of both the Jews who were vested in appeasing Rome, and the Romans who are vested in keeping the Jews quiet.

Empire vs the people. Power vs Resistance. Change vs status quo.

No wonder the pharisees tried to quiet Jesus’ followers when they got carried away, throwing their confetti and laying their coats on the ground and waving their palm branches welcoming King Jesus. 

“Rabbi,” they shouted to him, ‘tell your disciples to shut up.  Get them to stop.” but Jesus answered their cries. “I tell you if these disciples were silent even the stones would cry out.”

The steppingstones of life-the choices and the footing they represent, cry out for fruition. There is a certain inexorable quality to what unfolds from this point on.  Jesus is a man determined. He has a cause, he becomes a cause, an unstoppable cause whose momentary stopping and ultimate unstop ability is the salvation of the world.  Even the stones cannot keep from crying out that certain truth.

And I wonder what he meant, maybe all nature would cry out beginning with the bruised cobbles beneath the prancing war horses’ feet. Or maybe the inanimate objects would protest because how would you silence them?

In a city like Jerusalem or Boston or Worcester or maybe even Hyannis, there are many shouting sounds: sirens on their missions of intervention, rushing to the scenes of holdups and domestic violence, of muggings and accidents.  The ambulances speeding their way to people hit by cars, bicyclists careening into taxis, heart attacks at home, strokes silently striking down the unsuspecting, and drug overdoses snatching away our youths.

There are arguments on the street outside apartment windows.  A marriage coming apart.  Children waiting for the bus, impatient at the delay, and boom boxes and cars that have audio systems so reverberant they shake the windows and vibrant tires. The city has many sounds but so does the world. Far away from here, there are cries and people blown apart by bombs, targeted by drones and maimed by mines. Soldiers making daily rounds try to keep the peace while we as a nation cause stock market anxiety. The sound of war in many places shatters the silence of the night and turns laughter into tears and joy into sorrow.

The very stones cry out as earthquakes topple buildings and tornadoes level the landscape. Sometimes the earth is full of wailing as if all of us were at that wailing wall in Jerusalem, at the Temple’s foundation, as we bob and weaved and pour our hearts out for the ones we love and for this broken world.

Two processions—which shall we participate in? Sometimes it’s really difficult to know which parade to join, which bandwagon to hop on. It’s so easy and so tempting to join the wrong ones and so hard, sometimes, to even gain access to the right procession.

It’s so easy to simply get caught up in the enthusiasm of the crowds and join the processions which has the loudest brass bands or the most elaborate floats or the greatest number of celebrities or the most charismatic leaders. It’s easy to miss the counter-procession that is taking place on the other side of town—the one where Jesus is riding on a humble donkey, claiming a dominion, not by violence, but by courageous loving, serving and accepting his place among the victims of imperial power. In so doing, for those with the eyes of faith to see it, Jesus bears witness to the futility of the world’s kind of power in establishing God’s peace, God’s shalom, and points Christ’s followers to a different way.

The dominion of God is nothing remotely like the kingdoms or empires with which we are all too familiar. Power does not come from domination or oppression, but rather flows from love and service. Leadership requires servanthood and grace. Peace is won without a sword, without persons claiming greater value than another.

Holy Week reminds us how easily we are distracted and fooled by fancier parades and promises.

In a few moments we will hear again the story of how our salvation was wrought by the death of a man who was all goodness and light. All kindness and peace. As he rides into the city today and faces the crowds that will welcome him with Hosannas, he knows that at this very moment in some carpenter shop in a military barracks, cross beams are already being hewn, and nails are already being forged.  The crowd will soon shout, “Crucify” and another injustice, the great injustice of this world will be done.

There are still a few stepping stones and Rivers to cross. Jesus will clear the temple of commerce…  Celebrate the exodus Passover with his disciples… Be arrested, and interrogated, accused and sentenced… by Herod and by Pilate.

But come next Sunday, after the events of these days, there will come another shout, a joyful expression of resurrection, the truth of which even the stones will speak, when the stone is rolled away from the tomb. The stepping stones become the shouting stones when God’s people are silenced.  

Genesis 45:1-14

45:1 Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.

45:3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.   Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt.   And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.   For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are five more years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest.   God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors.   So it was not you who sent me here, but God; he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

45:9 Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.   You shall settle in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, as well as your flocks, your herds, and all that you have.   I will provide for you there–since there are five more years of famine to come–so that you and your household, and all that you have, will not come to poverty.

45:12 And now your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see that it is my own mouth that speaks to you.   You must tell my father how greatly I am honored in Egypt, and all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.”   Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, while Benjamin wept upon his neck.    And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him.

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
11:1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.  God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.

11:29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.  Just as you were once disobedient to God but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy.  For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.

Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28
15:10 Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, “Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles.”

15:12 Then the disciples approached and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard what you said?”

15:13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if one blind person guides another, both will fall into a pit.”

15:15 But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.”

15:16 Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding?

Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?  But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles. For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, and slander. These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.”

15:21 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon.

15:22 Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.”

15:24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

15:26 He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”  She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”

15:28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Rabbi Schwartz and Father O’Malley were at a diner enjoying lunch

Father O’Malley put down his ham and cheese sandwich and commented, “This sandwich is so good! Kosher dietary restrictions made sense in ancient times, but when are you going to join the modern age and eat delicious, wholesome food like this?

Without missing a beat, Rabbi Schwartz replied, “At your wedding.”

Mortal Wounds
Matthew 15:1-20
20 August 2023
The Rev Dr. Dianne ES Carpenter

The passage this morning has 2 parts.The interaction of Jesus with the Pharisees and the interaction of Jesus with the Canaanite woman.

The faith of the Canaanite woman is legendary – in fact, I shared one of my favorite reflections with you the first summer I arrived, and we worshipped in the parking lot.  Like the Canaanite woman, we are Lucky Dogs to be loved and blessed by the Lord!

I want to include the first 10 verses of chapter 15 this morning because it is the reason for verses 10-20.

Matthew 15 New International Version That Which Defiles

15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ² “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’^[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’^[b] 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ ⁶ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:

⁸ “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
⁹ They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’^[c]”

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

As usual, Jesus has a scripture answer for the accusations of the religious leaders.  It is easy to assume this is a passage concerning the dietary laws if you begin at verse 20 but the issue is:

“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

Not to belittle tradition, it was a tradition, not a “Law” that hand washing before breaking bread was required.  Jesus calls the Pharisees back to the “Law” of honoring Mother and Father – Commandment V and quotes Isaiah:  concerning the authority of traditions and the words we speak.

These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. ⁹ They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’^[c]”

This is what Jesus interprets for the crowds and disciples in vs 10-20!

First, Scripture has primacy and tradition is not as authoritative however, traditions are very powerful.

Tradition- at its best- is our attempt to enact scripture – an attempt – and as such is qualified by the intent.  I love tradition.  I change my vestments and the altar clothes to match the liturgical season.   I bring out the Christmas tree ornaments for the holiday.  I make special meals for birthdays.

But some interpretations of scripture have caused us to squish God’s diversity into molds of similarity and to deny people their God-given human rights.  Scripture has often been twisted to justify tradition and in order to serve self-interests.  Let me rephrase Jesus’ accusation of the Pharisee’s tradition.  On the basis of certain interpretations, we create traditions that have ranged from beneficial to heretical.  And these interpretations have sometimes divided us in our faith from our brothers and sisters.

Traditional justifications of slavery, homophobia, and the glass ceiling in employment as well as traditional male and female roles are all examples of traditions dominating practice and until questioned [oh no!] being given the authority of law in our public sector!

However, what grabbed my attention in this passage was Jesus’ interpretation of his interaction with the Pharisees:

15:17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?  But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this is what defiles.  15:19 For out of the heart come evil intentions, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.   These are what defile a person, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile.

Remember the saying: “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me!” This is what we were taught to say to people calling us names.  What we know today is that angry, hateful, racist, bullying, denigrating words Mortally Wound people who are valuable members of God’s handy work at the personal level and set the stage for injustice perpetuated at the social level.

Think back to when you have encountered a verbal attack on your person [ or when you have blurted out hateful accusations …]

Conrad Henri Roy III (September 12, 1995 – July 12, 2014) was an American teenager who died by suicide at the age of 18. His girlfriend, 17-year-old Michelle Carter, had encouraged him in text messages to kill himself. [The defense: protected free speech]

Racial slurs: n-word [lynchings] s word when Hispanic folk were outside their ghetto …. Canaanite ”dogs” etc.

Targeting weight…  family of origin [single parents etc.]

Hate speech, i.e. speech that promotes hatred toward an individual or group on the basis of a characteristic such as race, gender, sexuality, nationality, or religion, is known to cause considerable psychological and social harm to the members of the group targeted for hate.¹ Nevertheless, in liberal societies, there is ongoing debate on whether hate speech should be legally restricted. For example, a common argument against restrictions on hate speech says that since such restrictions curtail freedom of speech, they cause more harm than they prevent.² A no less common reply to this argument has it that the direct and indirect harms caused by hate speech are sufficiently great to justify legal restrictions on free speech.³  Stefan Rinner in Journal of Applied Philosophy

Name-calling and hurtful divisive language defile the speaker and pollutes the world we all live in.  Soliciting hate agreement as a rallying point is how the Klan fueled destructive social interactions and the “monster” Nazi hierarchy set out to exterminate all people who were not heterosexual Arians! –power politics of domination not freedom of speech justifications…

The defacing of Synagogues and Asian communities are not isolated instances. Hate language reinforces ‘us and them’ mentalities. Jesus called it correctly when he identified ways in which we destroy communities by labeling and acting cruelly toward one another.

We must identify the sewers of our common life and clean them up before they defile an already challenged environment! Amen.

Romans 10:5-15
New International Version

5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”[a] 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”[b] (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’”[c] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”   For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Matthew 14:22-33    New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Walks on the Water

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up to a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

 Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Joseph’s Dreams of Greatness

Jacob settled in the land where his father had lived as an alien, the land of Canaan. This is the story of the family of Jacob.

Joseph, being seventeen years old, was shepherding the flock with his brothers; he was a helper to the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his children because he was the son of his old age, and he had made him a long robe with sleeves a coat of many colors; (Meaning of Heb uncertain”);”* But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

Joseph Is Sold by His Brothers
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, ‘Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.’ He answered, ‘Here I am.’  So he said to him, ‘Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock; and bring word back to me.’ So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.

He came to Shechem, and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, ‘What are you seeking?’ ‘I am seeking my brothers,’ he said; ‘tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.’ 17 The man said, ‘They have gone away, for I heard them say, “Let us go to Dothan.”’ So, Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and they conspired to kill him before he came near them. They said to one another, ‘Here comes this dreamer. Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.’ But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, ‘Let us not take his life.’ Reuben said to them, ‘Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness but lay no hand on him’—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. So, when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves* that he wore; and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, with their camels carrying gum, balm, and resin, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his brothers, ‘What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.’ And his brothers agreed. When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.

What’s in your Closet?
The Rev Dr Dianne ES Carpenter
13 August 2023
Genesis37:1-4, 12-28

Jacob is already well up in the years when chapter 37 opens. Remember, Jacob had two wives and two servant women, concubines. Leah, the first wife whom Jacob tricked into marrying, was the mother of six boys. Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife, was the mother of two boys. The two concubines were mothers of four boys together.  The total number of sons of Jacob at this time was 12. Twelve sons. Not bad for somebody who started out with nothing, just hoping to establish a great nation through his descendants.

We already know that Jacob loved Rachel above all the other mothers of his children, but Rachel died while giving birth to her youngest son, Benjamin. So, Jacob was left grieving and clutching tightly to her memory through the affections of the two boys she’d birthed: Joseph and Benjamin.

And this dysfunctional favoritism, unresolved grief, or whatever it was Jacob was dealing with, well, it had a way of rippling down into his relationships with his children and, as a result, their relationships with each other. And that is exactly what today’s story is all about.

Turns out that, though Joseph was number 11 out of 12 sons of Jacob, Jacob had specifically chosen him as his favorite child. I certainly know how it feels to be sure your parents have a favorite . . . and it’s not you. We all often think the favorite is someone besides ourselves!  But if we study the Hebrew text carefully there is no disputing that Joseph was by far the favored child of Jacob.

We’re told that Joseph had been assigned to a supervisory position in the family business, responsible for reporting back on the activities of his brothers—who were busy managing Jacob’s herds and herds of flocks. The text tells us that Joseph was 17 years old when the story begins and, remember, the 11th out of 12, so you might imagine the dynamic of 17-year-old Joseph running home to his Daddy to report that his older brothers were taking extra-long lunch breaks!

To make matters worse, we’re told that Jacob had gifted Joseph with a beautiful coat. The Hebrew descriptive words in that section of the text are unclear, so scholars have translated them to say a “coat of many colors” or a “long-sleeved coat.” The Hebrew phrase Kethoneth passim could also be understood to mean “a coat with special markings” or “a coat with long stripes.” It was the good old King James translation of the Bible from 1611 that popularized the phrase we learned in Sunday School: “Joseph’s coat of many colors.” And the particular Hebrew word for “coat” here is used only one other time in the Hebrew text, in 2 Samuel, when we learn that Tamar, daughter of King David, wore a special royal garment. And to be called by the same name a garment of the king’s daughter would be called, well, we must know that Joseph’s coat was not just any coat, that’s for sure.

Distinctive clothing is often a special sign.  So at graduation, the professors wear their college colors and at ordination clergy wear their best robes – their Red robes or stoles to signify the Holy Spirit and Pentecost.

Whenever he wore this coat, it was clear to anyone watching who had the favor of their father . . . and who didn’t.

Think of the situation like this: when Joseph would come down to the fields wearing his colorful coat, the drab fabrics his brothers wore would pale in comparison. And, in fact, would mark them as less important. So what was in Joseph’s closet was this beautiful status coat!   Do we have status clothes?… the suit that makes the man….  The times when we “clean up” pretty good: you know, Picture Day—when even the class hooligan graduates looking like a person of means.   When the homeless person goes for an interview well-dressed.  When Liza in “My Fair Lady” goes to the royal ball and not only looks the part but speaks the part of a socialite!

Day after day, apparently, Joseph would come down to the fields and strut up and down, his beautiful coat swinging easily around his ankles. And he would return to his father Jacob and report any indiscretions he observed or any questionable behavior he saw in his brothers.

There he was every day, gloating on the sidelines while his brothers managed the flocks and tried to keep their burning anger in check. Remember, if there’s anything we learn from this story it is that every action has a reaction, and Joseph’s ridiculously unfair behavior, totally encouraged by his father Jacob, was bound to have a ripple effect.

And it did. Boy, did it ever. The straw that broke the camel’s back, as it were, was one day when Joseph ambled down to the fields where his brothers were working and proceeded to tell them about some dreams he had had. Remember what they were? They were dreams about all the brothers out in the fields, binding sheaves of wheat when suddenly all the brothers’ sheaves bowed down to Joseph’s. And another dream, about the sun, the moon, and 11 stars, all bowing down to Joseph.

Apparently, Joseph managed to report his dreams to his brothers with a straight face—totally serious, and the meaning of the dreams was obvious to Joseph—he was meant to be in charge, to lord it over all of them. The meaning of the dreams was obvious to Joseph’s brothers, too, and they were sick of it . . . sick of Jacob’s favoritism, sick of feeling second best, sick of Joseph’s arrogance . . . just sick of the whole situation.

I don’t think any of us would dispute the fact that this was a situation of injustice. Jacob perpetuated the dysfunction of his own childhood by repeating it with his sons, who could easily read the writing on the wall. There was no future for them as leaders of the family; even though he did not deserve to have it, Joseph was the one Jacob had chosen to set his sights on, the apple of Jacob’s eye, his favorite. And as a result, all the other brothers’ statuses were bumped down a notch—they were losing out, unfairly, because of the way Jacob was behaving. And Joseph’s gloating, whether intentional or not, was not helping matters in the least. It’s one thing to be the adored baby of the family, but it’s another thing altogether to use your special status to oppress other people.

And so, the brothers plot to kill Joseph out there in the field one day—just do away with him and his silly dreams once and for all. Their plan was to kill him and throw his body into a pit. But somebody’s conscience was pricked—the NRSV says it was Reuben—and Reuben convinces his brothers to sell Joseph to a passing caravan, to get him far, far away and out of their hair forever.

And they staged the whole thing. They killed an animal and smeared that beautiful coat with blood, then they took it back to their father, who made the assumption that Joseph was dead. And Jacob’s grief nearly cripples him, he is so devastated by the loss. Then, life continues, as it always does even in the face of tragedy and violence and pain, with the injustice perpetrated against the brothers seemingly avenged. But every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and you’d better believe the brothers’ behavior had consequences.

Curiously, God is not a figure in this story at all. We’ve come from epic sagas where God is appearing in all manner of ways, to this story, where God never appears. All we have are the actions and reactions of human beings, trying desperately to live in community, in family, with each other, and not doing too well at all. See, every action has a reaction, and we’re stuck, always, living with the consequences of our actions and the actions of others.  The sins of the fathers visited unto the 3^rd and 4^th generations- not by God as punishment but by human nature and nurture.

It was unjust and unfair, it’s true, and Joseph’s brothers did not deserve the treatment they were receiving from Joseph and Jacob, but they made a choice to address injustice with another act of injustice, of violence, even, and Newton’s third law of motion swung into effect, as we know by now it always does. When we are faced with injustice, as Joseph’s brothers were, we have a choice about how to respond. And remember, every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Simon Wiesenthal was a Jew who lived during World War II in an area of Europe that was conquered by Germany. During the war, he was forced to live in a ghetto and then sent to a work camp where he faced the possibility of death every day. One day in the work camp, Wiesenthal was summoned by a nurse to hear the dying confessions of an SS Nazi soldier. The soldier asked for forgiveness for the things he had done to the Jewish people; he wanted forgiveness as he was dying because he was afraid that his soul would not be able to rest in eternity unless he was forgiven.

In his book, The Sunflower Wiesenthal talks about trying over and over to leave the room because he was so afraid and because he hated Nazis. But he stayed and listened to the dying man out of pity and because the soldier begged him not to leave. Wiesenthal recognized that the Nazi soldier was showing true repentance, but he also knew that the soldier was ignorant, selfish, and a member of the group that had taken away the lives of his friends and family.

Overwhelmed with the heaviness of the decision, Wiesenthal eventually just left the room.  The next day he found out that the soldier had died and left all his things to Wiesenthal; Wiesenthal spent the rest of his life asking the question: “What would you have done?”

The book’s newest edition includes the contributions of many noted Jewish and Christian thinkers who comment on the dilemma Wiesenthal faced. Most agree that Wiesenthal could not have forgiven that soldier on behalf of an entire race of people, but many also note: there’s something powerful in stopping violence and hatred with forgiveness and love.

Desmond Tutu, who presided over the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa after Apartheid writes of Wiesenthal’s dilemma: “It’s clear that if we look only toward a retributive justice, we might as well close up shop. Forgiveness is not some nebulous thing. It is practical politics. Without forgiveness, there is no future.”

Sometimes in life, things happen to us that we can’t control. Sometimes we set out, for example, like Jacob in our story two weeks ago, to marry Rachel and end up married to Leah. But even when these things happen, we always have a choice about how we will respond to the situations in which we find ourselves.

We can respond to the injustice we face with anger and hatred and violence, and maybe some would say a response like that is even justified.

But remember: every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and violence and pain and injustice always . . . always . . . breed more violence and pain and injustice.

What pain could have been avoided if Joseph’s brothers were able to face the unjust situation in which they found themselves and respond, not with violence, but with forgiveness? What pain could we avoid if we train our hearts with the discipline of answering injustice with forgiveness and love?

Every action, you know, has an equal and opposite reaction . . . and I suspect what would happen when violence and injustice are countered with forgiveness and love, might even be something akin to what happened when Jesus came to die for “poor ordinary people like you and like I.”

Matthew 14:13-21

¹³Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁴When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. ¹⁵When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” ¹⁷They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸And he said, “Bring them here to me.” ¹⁹Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. ²¹And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Genesis 32:22-31

²²The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.

²⁴Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” ²⁷So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” ²⁹Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. ³⁰So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” ³¹The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip.

Romans 9:1-5

9I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit— ²I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh. ⁴They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; ⁵to them belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

One Tough Angel
Genesis 32:22-31
The Rev Dr Dianne ES Carpenter
6 August 2023

Jacob wrestled the angel of God, and Jacob won.  Is this scene attractive in the same way that when there’s a fight on the playground everyone quickly gathers around to watch?  Do you want to see what happens here, and already know that Jacob wins?  Do we want to see how we do it and what happens afterward?  Are we tempted to shout: why don’t you pick on someone your own size! – at the Angel

Perhaps, even stronger than that is the draw of seeing a picture that we recognize well.  There is something familiar here and something I find refreshingly honest and true to life.  Jacob is wrestling with God.  Not Jacob sitting quietly with God, not Jacob walking faithfully alongside God (In the Garden), not Jacob on his knees speaking and listening to God, but Jacob: a real live human being, wrestling, grappling, struggling with God from dusk until dawn.  It’s a scene that resonates with many people’s experiences.  What is there that you care enough about to wrestle until morning?

The Jacob story brings out into the open what is often experienced as hidden.  It makes public visible what can often be private and invisible—the human experience of wrestling with that which we do not know, can’t understand, and can’t control.  It’s quite common, and quite human, for us to do battle with those mysterious angels…  And to come out on the other side with a blessing, and some bruises.  We are engaged in what Sister Joan Chittister calls “a spirituality of struggle.” 

She says: God is not a puppeteer and God is not a magic act.  God is the ground of our being, the energy of life, the goodness out of which all things are intended to grow to fullness.  Yet it is a struggle…  How can we possibly deal with the great erupting changes of life and come away more whole because of having been through them than we would possibly have been without them?  To do that takes a spirituality of struggle.” (Sister Joan Chester, Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope, page 16)

This scene of struggle happens at an important transition in Jacob’s life.  He is on a journey, between the land of Laban, his uncle, where he had lived his adult life, married, and had children; and the land of Canaan where he is now headed, his place of birth.  Jacob’s time with Laban had been productive.  He came with nothing and had acquired wives, children, servants, flocks, and herds, all the signs of wealth and prosperity of that time.  But he and Laban were almost always at odds with each other, each trying to trick and deceive the other for personal gain.  [sounds like the market place-the rat race]  Interactions that are so common when we try to deal with systems and structures. Our federal and state organizations.

So, Jacob is leaving and heading back home.  To get home he will have to cross paths with his brother Esau.  On this night Jacob is camping by the river Jabbok.  His wrestling match with the angel that night will not be his first conflict or confrontation in life.  The event serves as a sort of parable for Jacob’s life up to that point.

He had always been wrestling-both by nature and by nurture.  He wrestled with his twin Esau in Rebekah’s womb.  Genesis 25:22 says,” The children struggled together within her;” and she said,” If it is to be this way why do I live.” Apparently, Jacob lost the match, because Esau came out first, but Jacob wasn’t giving up as he was born grabbing onto Esau’s heel.  Esau, the infant wrestling champion, had all the legal rights and blessings of the firstborn, but for the slightly younger Jacob, this was just round one.  He would spend much of his adult life trying to wrestle for blessings.  He wrestles Esau’s birthright from him, he wrestles his father’s blessing from him-the blessing had ritual and legal significance, so this was a big prize.  When Esau finds out he is furious and vows to kill Jacob after their elderly father dies.  Jacob flees the scene with his hard-earned blessing and goes to find his uncle. 

So now he is leaving Laban with all the blessings he gained while with him and facing the fact that he will soon be encountering Esau.  How do face what you are afraid of? [a visit to the dentist, relationships – like Thanksgiving gatherings.  At the river Jabbok, Laban is behind him, Esau is just ahead of him, and Jacob gets jumped by God. ************* At the river******* For ages important things happen at the river

Jacob should serve as a model to us because we don’t wrestle enough, perhaps.  There’s no way to handle the hopelessness of the results when most people just don’t care anymore.  “The opposite of love is not hate, but apathy.”

Part of the mystery of the story is the ambiguity around whom Jacob is wrestling.  Is it a God?  An angel?  A human being?  Is it himself?  All of these are possibilities.  From a modern psychological perspective, it’s easy to read this as an internal battle within the anxiety-ridden Jacob.  Quite possible.  The text identifies the opponent as a man in verse 24, who then later tells Jacob that he has wrestled with human and divine beings.  Eventually, Jacob says, “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.”  The line is blurred here between the struggle with another human being, like Brother Esau, an inner psychological struggle of confronting your own demons, and the struggle with God’s own self.  These kinds of distinctions are ones that the text leaves unclear.

What is clear is that Jacob sees his very real, physical struggle as an encounter with God.

We can relate this to any kind of wrestling match we may be involved in, in our psyche, in our family or friend relationships, in our struggle to promote justice and peace, and in our quest for spiritual and physical healing.  All these encounters are, in hindsight, encounters with God, seeing God face to face.  Recent experiences lying in a hospital …or visiting with friends… unable to do anything … to take away the pain…

Jacob wins not because he pins his opponent, but because he simply won’t let go.  He holds on for dear life- like those in the marches for racial justice and other issues- and refuses to loosen his grip until he gets a blessing.  His victory comes at a cost.  He gets bruised up.  From now on he will limp through life, bearing the scars of his encounter.

Struggle before reconciliation with God who so loves the world he sent his only begotten son—do we struggle enough to internalize that wonderful gift

Struggle before reconciliation with our estranged loved ones

He’ll never quite be the same, and visibly so.  He also never gains complete control over his wrestling partner.  And we come to this wonderful ritual of naming.  Naming plays a very significant role in the Old Testament, like many other cultures.  To name something or someone is to capture the essence of that person.  [Advertising has a focus on naming] Naming also can imply having power over a person.  If you can name something, you have a kind of authority over it, [God paraded creation before Adam for him to name the animals] sort of like us diagnosing and naming a certain disease so we know how to try and gain power over it.  Jacob tries but never gets to name his opponent.  The creature remains unnamable.

But Jacob does get his blessing and he gets a new name—Israel, roughly translated as “God- wrestler”.  It captures his character.  It’s also the name for the nation that came out of its descendants that continued receiving blessings and bruisings through its wrestling with God, and the name that the New Testament gives all people willing to enter the ring with this God.  We too are children of Israel and we are God-wrestlers.

The Hebrew translated wrestles…  “Stirs up the dust” …  We all need to stir up the dust- don’t we?

Genesis 33:3 [Jacob] himself went on ahead of his family, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near his brother.  But Esau ran to meet him, and embrace him, and threw his arms around his neck and kissed him, and they wept….  Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company that I met?”  Jacob answered, “To find favor with my lord.”  But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep which you have for yourself.”  Jacob said, “No please; if I find favor with you, then accept my blessing from my hand; for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God since you have received me with such favor.  Please accept my gift that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have everything I want.”

So, for all his wrestling and struggle, the greatest blessing for Jacob is one for which he did absolutely nothing.  He gets blindsided by an unexpected, undeserved, gift of grace from his brother.  And both realize that they have all the blessings they need.  And again, maybe even in a deeper way now, Jacob has seen the face of God.

So, wrestling and struggle are only part of the story.  Blessings also come in the form of unexpected, undeserved, gifts of grace that God hands out generously.  Reconciliation with an estranged family member, the healing of a memory, the healing of a body, or being given peace of mind about an illness that isn’t going to go away any time soon.  This is what theologians simply call grace, and it’s something that happens beyond the wrestling ring with all are striving and sweating and holding on for dear life.