I Am the Gate - John 10 Easter 4A

I am the gate

Tony E Dillon Hansen

Reflection based upon John 10: 1-10, Psalm 23, 1 Peter 2: 19-25, Acts 2: 42-47

Opening Prayer

The gate is a curious symbol for Jesus.  Like my yard gate it, it swings in and out of the yard.  Thus a gate is a path between something and another. Going to somewhere and coming from somewhere. The question is where are you ? Which direction are you going?

At its simplest, it is a start and an end to something.  From this point, you take steps either into where you need to go (should go) or you stay where you are. On Good Shepherd Sunday, we believe that Jesus is guiding us and holding open this gate to something more than we can possibly imagine.  

We believe that whatever ails us in our lives today is enough to take the step with Jesus into the new, the promise, the forever of God with Jesus. 

So what or who holds you back?

What is it that you leave behind? What worries you about the next step?

Why do we hold so dear that which we would leave behind that we cannot, or will not, take the leap of faith with Jesus?

What is it that we turn to drugs, alcohol and violence instead of faith?

Jesus offers us so much in our world and the afterlife, but we question and doubt.  I can understand these because people want proof and they want assurances. Then if that doubt and question are what holds you back, your faith is tired and broken.

Maybe instead, that is when you lean into your faith, lean into the words that Jesus proclaims and find yourself taking that next step into the promise, into the life with Christ.

Doubt and question are part of faith so long as they don’t stop us or hide the truth.  We don’t have all the answers and we don’t know everything. That is the most truth I can give you. Thus, faith in that promise is understanding that and understanding that there is an answer to those questions and doubts.

That answer can be found here in Jesus and proclamation of victory. The resurrection of life from certain failure and doom and misery. In this Christ, we have life that we need and all the answers that we couldn’t imagine on our own. 

So yes, Jesus is a gate, and the shepherd calls to us to be with us near the still waters and restores our souls when we need it the most. For when Jesus was tortured and murdered, Jesus was knew that faith in God was most needed, and because God was going to see him through to still waters of new life. 

Even in those moments, Jesus held true and bore violence so that we might have new life with him because “by his wounds you have been healed.”

Then together, we are more than our wounds, our miseries, our political divide, our social anxiety. Together, we can believe and walk together through the gate with similar doubts and questions but with faith that that is the true promise that has been given to us. We are healed. That, like Acts 2, is when we break bread and are a community with people because we, together, believe in the purpose and the life that has been given to us is not just some fairy tale or fantasy.  

This life, that Jesus gives, is real and waiting for us to walk through that gate of acceptance, that gate to the promise where no one is turned away or denied - to a promised land of deliverance and restoration despite all of our failures and doubts.

This gate is for those who hear the words and follow as the sheep of the Shepherd. As farmers will tell you, sheep know their voice and respond to the words they speak. In the same way, Jesus is calling you to come to the gate. This gate is for you.

Where are you and which direction are you going? Take the step into the promise of Jesus. Take the step into resurrection and new life. 

Beloved, Jesus is calling. The questions for you: will you respond and will you go to that gate and be saved?

Beloved, that is possible, that faith is possible because …

Thanks Be to God.

When Will You Believe - Easter 3A

When will you believe

Tony E Dillon Hansen

Sermon based upon Luke 24:13-35, Psalm 114, 1 Peter 1: 17-23

Opening prayer

There are times in our lives when we journey with someone and have conversations. Or even, when I walk with Reno, we get the chance to be in our environment and consider points. 

Then you notice things along the path and trail like blooms of spring, birds in the tree, other people walking and talking and riding. I also see the garbage that has been dumped in the stream next to our trail. How so much lands there and even clothes like that infamous missing sock from someone’s laundry room. I have often thought it would be good to organize our youth to help clean those areas - to get sense of what happens when we disregard our environment.and the mess that it causes. 

When I was in high school, I had a paper route that included the whole town. When I would finish, I would walk into the local cafe (the kind that served plate-sized pancakes) and sit with the fellows having coffee. The conversations ranged from politics to weather and farming. Never did I see someone get to rattled or annoyed. It was a joy to start the day with such conversations.

Back to our lesson, these fellas walking and having a conversation. A person joins them. “What are you talking about?” Then the two give testimony, “Where have you  been that you haven’t heard about the great Jesus, what we hoped he would be, what he preached and how he was betrayed and murdered??”

What happens in this story is people on a journey, conversation, teaching, dinner and recognition. Some of the best parts of scripture are the conversations like the woman at the well in John or the conversation between Martha, Mary and Jesus. 

What happens in these discussions? News, learning, sharing and ultimately caring. After all, these two invite Jesus to be with them after this great discussion to stay with them for dinner. “Its getting dark, come eat and stay  with us.” 

All the while, there must be some curiosity of who this “stranger” is but nonetheless a welcome is extended. When they sit and have supper, Jesus does something familiar - blessing and breaking the bread with them. Then eyes open, mouths drops, and “wow”!

They have told what they believed and hopes of Jesus to find that Jesus was right there the whole time. How astounding and awesome that would be? 

That raises great questions for us today “When will you believe?” When will you realize that Jesus has been and will be there with you. 

This is a moment of clarity for the two and a discovery at the same time. In this conversation, they reveal what they know and hope. In the dialog, they learn. (That is something sorely missing in our lives today, an honest conversation between folks about what we believe and hope in order that we might together share and learn. 

Yes, this is a moment of clarity that is uninhibited by distraction or ego even. Moments of clarity, moments of truth, of realization are powerful but these are not elusive.

Every time we share Eucharist, we have opportunities to meet and be with Jesus. Every time you have a meal, you go for a walk, have a conversation, or just be. These are moments of clarity and learning and sharing. Even by oneself, these moments are of sharing because what you share with the world is what you share with God. If you can share with God in the solitary moments, then you can share with others in the breath of conversations.

Jesus appears and has conversations with these people. Yet, they do not recognize until something familiar breaks the dissonance and curiosity: they break bread.  That is the power of the Eucharist because we, here, meet Jesus when we bless and break bread together.

We have moments many times in our lives to take notice of who and what is around us.  We have moments where understanding can happen and recognition of what has happened and what we need to do. These are tremendously powerful moments because they are not pretend but honest-to-goodness needed coming to terms with something or someone - even God.

Just think of one, and you may even experience that today where you need to come to terms. Day of reckoning, as it were, does not have to have to be scary but an invitation, a welcome, to something so much more. If you are missing someone, start with a conversation. If you are wanting connection, start with a conversation. If you are needing something, perhaps, start with a conversation. 

Maybe you are having a difficult time believing or you have doubts, sounds like perfect times for a walk, a journey, or to have a conversation. 

Additionally, the familiar can be all that we need and (might be needed to start the conversation.) When I have visited folks in nursing homes or on the streets, one way to bring focus is to talk about familiar, a picture, music, a touch or breaking bread. Even in the midst of dementia, people can recognize familiar. Then conversations take off.

The conversations are just as important as the recognition too. They are journeys to and about the recognition: where we learn and share with each other. That is where we take time to listen to each other and learn what makes each other tick - what you and I believe. These are not one-sided lectures. They are dialogs allowing each other to express ideas, hopes and knowledge so that, together, we learn learn from each other. When we do, we experience the presence of grace and spirit among and with us. 

When you recognize that, like the Eucharist meal with Jesus, when you understand in your heart that dimension, so much more is possible to you.  Then for those moments, you have glimpses of the holy promise and all that is meant to be. For those moments, feel the love that is truly given and poured out to you. Beloved, feel the power of the spirit lift you. 

Then you too can and will say I have witnessed the living Christ. You too can say that I have learned and shared with Christ. Let us today share and learn together. Lets have a plate of pancake with coffee and have a conversation too.

That Beloved is…

Thanks be to God. 

Magnificent Miracles - Matthew 28 - Easter 1A

Magnificent Miracles

Tony E Dillon Hansen

Sermon based upon Matthew 28:1-10, Psalm 118

Opening prayer

It is a beautiful and bright sunshine. Lets wind the clock a short bit. The passion brought us the story of the anguish and tumult that Jesus endured before fateful silence. Yet in the darkness, we saw light - light to remind us that God’s power (God’s love) prevails over violence and anguish. God showed us a path to victory.  

Why? Because you and I are worthy. 

Now. Today is Easter - Hallelujah! Today is marked with miracle because this day itself is miracle - a magnificent miracle. Discovery at the tomb, leads to confusion and gives way to recognition.

Why do miracles happen? Why do people try to explain them away as some farce that ought to be forgotten? 

We could do that and lose a moment of teaching reduced to happenstance.

We could sit and argue over why miracles happen. Doing so, we forget that miracles do happen. 

A colleague of mine once said to me, everyday he wakes is a miracle. Yes this day is itself a miracle.

As a martial arts instructor, I have witnessed a miracles as well like when a young girl who discovered she can break a board with her bare feet. Or how a parent and child grew a bond together as they rose in ranks.

For years, an acquaintance and I did not see eye to eye. Then one day, we sat down and started talking; we learned about each other.  We remembered history and we still had doubts, but it was perhaps a miracle that we spoke after so much between us. 

Miracles contain blessings and discoveries not anticipated - some good news. If we explain them away, we lose what is truly there.

Still some miracles contain contributions. That means you don’t experience it alone. We contribute with effort and prayer, and then let faith guide the next step because all things are possible with the help of God.

How do we explain the runner crossing the marathon finish line that years before doctors said she wasn’t going to walk, how a martial artist became master instructor after blowing both knees. How do we explain cancer that goes into remission? 

Our Gospels says Jesus does the ultimate - victory over death. The discovery at the tomb wasn’t some farce, but recognition of victory over the gruesome and brutal torture. This miracle contains blessings.

This miracle was not just for one to escape death but gift for us to find life through Christ. 

Through this gift, we have the blessing of freedom and the gift of life through this spirit. All of this is possible through God.

Yes there are miracles that contain our agency through training, discipline and skill, but maybe, a miracle is that we didn’t give up hope and faith; didn’t give up on the possible. Why because all things are possible with who?? 

Maybe, we have help along the way. You don’t have to walk alone. You are part of something bigger. Let God help you learn what is possible.

Miracles are lessons that with hope and faith, we persevere. They’re lessons that reveal God’s love and work in our lives - that we don’t do this alone - because we cannot. We need each other and we need God. That is why we come to church.

People like to say otherwise (e.g. No one helps me; I can do it all myself). A little idolatrous don’t you think? To think you have all that you need and all the answers, please write a book because people want to learn from you. 

Whether healing from injury, repairing friendships, surviving and recovering from a tornado, building a church, or simply raising a family, miracles don’t happen/grow on their own. They require care, effort and faith. Will there be mistakes? Probably. Perfection? Perfectly yours. Thank God, because all things are possible… 

In the darkest days and nights, when things are not going the way we feel they should, that is when we need strength to persevere. That is when we can reach deep and find that miracle of Jesus, the life in Christ, helping to build that strength - setting purpose and path before us. 

We may not understand the wisdom or see the end game, but wisdom of the divine is there. We go forward with God’s blessing and assurance that there is possible. 

Miracles are blessings because we believed the possible and prayed. We have hope; all is not lost. We believe there is a mystery that lifts us in greater purpose than we can imagine. That, my friends, is for you and for me today. We are set free through Christ’s victory to free us from the chains of sin. Why? Because all things

Finally, our task then is to share what we learn and what is possible with others. Like Mary witnessing so long ago shared the good news with the others. 

Our neighbors around us need that just as much as you do.

We are called to grow in miracle love of God and of neighbor - called to witness and to be a blessing for those around us. To show others that through God all things…

So share your smile, prosperity, helping hand, comforting arms and listening ears. Let the light shine upon you and be gracious to you. Let that light flow - be a miracle (a blessing) to others that God has been for you.

Through the Easter magnificent miracle, we are set free to live in freedom together with our neighbors in Christ’s life of love. 

This Easter Christ is risen indeed hallelujah!

Beloved that is.

Thanks be to God!

Service of Tenebrae (Matthew Year A) - Maundy Thursday

Service of Tenebrae 

(Latin for “shadows”)

The Shadow of Betrayal:  Matthew 26: 14-16, 20-25

All: Lord Have Mercy. Christ Have Mercy.

The Shadow of Agony of Spirit & Arrest:  Matthew 26:36-50

All: Lord Have Mercy. Christ Have Mercy.

The Shadow of Denial:  Matthew 26:69-75

All: Lord Have Mercy. Christ Have Mercy.

Hymn:  When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

The Shadow of Accusation:  Matthew 27:11-14, 20-26

All: Lord Have Mercy. Christ Have Mercy.

The Shadow of Mockery:  Matthew 27:27-31

All: Lord Have Mercy. Christ Have Mercy.

The Shadow of Crucifixion:  Matthew 27:32-43

All: Lord Have Mercy. Christ Have Mercy.

The Shadow of Death:  Matthew 27:45-54

Extinguishing of the Paschal Candle (“It is finished”)

The Shadow of Burial:  Matthew 27:57-60

Singing of “Were You There”

Silent Reflection

Benediction

Congregation leaves in silence

Who do you want Jesus to be - Matthew 21 - Lent 6A

Who do you want Jesus to be

Tony E Dillon Hansen

Sermon based upon Matthew 21: 1-11, Psalm 118

Opening prayer

We come to the end of Lent and the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. When I think about this “celebration” this year, a question kept coming to mind. Who do you want Jesus to be?

For all of the people in the crowd, many want a new king, some want a saving general, and some want a person that brings peace.

The question is for us the same: what do you want? What do you expect of Jesus 

Maybe, once you have determined, “I” would like a person that has this kind of hair, wearing this garment, or hat. Also, what kind of things they say and do. Once you have done that, maybe then question why is that “version” of Jesus what you want.

People have done this for centuries. They build an image of Jesus, and that is the image others ought to also see. There are plenty of other people that get the same kind of image placed upon them (whether deserved or not). Incidentally, that is one of the dangers of idolatry.

What makes Jesus so revolutionary then and today is not the image but what Jesus did, did not do, and what Jesus preached.

Perhaps Jesus had perfect hair and wore clothes just right for a traveling rabbi in Roman-occupied Palestine.

Today’s lesson furthers a quirky image with a makeshift one horse-colt-donkey parade into Jerusalem with people at the gates throwing down cloaks …and don’t forget those poor trees on the way suddenly having branches plucked and what does the farmer think about suppling the ride?

What did the people see in Jesus that they were hoping to see? What did they hear about this person ? What did they expect Jesus to do? 

And when many of them did not get what they want, they kill him.

What a perspective? If I don’t get what I want, someone has to die, someone has to pay some violent, ridiculous consequence. That is the mentality that infects our society today! People would rather use guns to settle arguments than take time to listen and learn.

Perspectives are great to have but why such extreme measures to “gain understanding?” To contort real truth, (just because it affects me in some way), into fiction is in fact fiction. Why this affects me might be the better question. 

Then people go and lie about the circumstances on national TV (like particular talking heads changing the narrative around the Nashville shooting into hate against an already oppressed and isolated group; never mind the actual pain and violence infecting our society or the freely available weapons. (How fascist propaganda!) 

It could be like the shouting heralds of the time or the many whispers to each other - what’s in the whispers?? 

It is not just religious people that get this treatment. People do this to successful musicians, to politicians, to athletes and to the neighbor down the street, especially when they look or sound different. People do this to yes, Jesus, to God.

People love stories that meet their ideas while quietly dismissing or ignoring important details.

Thankfully, what we have in Jesus is someone who was so revolutionary in peaceful protest, someone who demanded that people be included, that people in power be held accountable, for crying out load, someone who says you and I matter. That you and I matter is not revolutionary but divine! Why? Because God says so! 

That is too much for some, because people fall short. Some are looking for places of honor and to lord over others. That is people falling short of the vision of Jesus however. That is people dismissing the truth that the love of God is meant for all, even those on the fringes -those just trying to scape by. God’s love and grace is not just for those who have power, wealth or status. 

Yes, there are people who hear words of Jesus but don’t really comprehend their magnitude. Those are people who contort the blessed image of peace and love into something mired in controversy or worse. You might even say that about me or even use fallacious arguments that my words and actions don’t match nor match those of Jesus. Suffice to say, there is much to improve. 

Yet, the message of Jesus, the preaching and the example, is simple and real - something we cannot and should not ignore. 

This message is for you and I when we have questions and doubts. This message is riding on a donkey to meet intense scrutiny and fully expecting death. This message knows that you and I are worth the costs, the sacrifice, that Jesus would bear on the cross. 

This message comes from one that loves you so much, and that love demands the whole you to find something bigger in God than we ever were alone.  

Jesus asks of us to be the very best of you, to be with each other, to be the church, and to live in the grace and peace of God’s expectations rather than our own material wants.

We may falter, we may fail in our pursuits, our lenten quests, and we may fail Jesus, but Jesus will never fail you. 

So Beloved, whatever you think Jesus should be, the truth is Jesus is exactly who you need today. Jesus is not doing this for show and tell because Jesus does this for you! 

Hear the words, breathe the words and live the words. There you will find the truth about Jesus and your relationship with God. There you will find the truth about yourself.

Go ahead question and conjure images if you will. Unlearn what you thought about Jesus. Instead, listen to Jesus speaking to your heart the truth that you need to hear, that you need to feel. Let Jesus open your heart to God’s celebration and triumph. Let Jesus be with you on your journey, and yes you will find everything you need Jesus to be is right there.

Thanks be to God