THE PULPIT: to go or to follow

Yesterday was "Friends Day." We had almost double our usual Sunday attendance, and one lady whose kids come, but she never does, indicated an interest in becoming Christian! It was so much fun...very nerve wracking though. Anyway praise God for his mercy and goodness. I hope you enjoy reading this more than I enjoyed preaching it (I was very nervous with this one!).

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It had been a long and eventful trip so far. Jesus had turned his disciples’ attention, as well as their wanderings, toward Jerusalem. At various points along the way, Jesus had stopped their travels to tell them of his impending date with the cross. Three times he’d told them of his upcoming death and resurrection and each time they had managed to misunderstand. Last time, Jesus told them of what must happen and they all started fighting about who would be great in Jesus’ kingdom. How they were so unable to see what Jesus was telling them I don’t think we’ll ever figure out. They were so blind to what he was trying to show them. They must have all been a little frustrated. There’s no doubt, all involved were glad to get a small break from their travels. They had arrived in Jericho and probably spent at least a couple days there before setting out again on the road to the cross. This morning’s text is Mark 10:46-52. Stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.

Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

Then they reached Jericho, and as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

“Be quiet!” many of the people yelled at him.

But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”

So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said. “Come on, he’s calling you!” 50 Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.

“My rabbi,” the blind man said, “I want to see!”

And Jesus said to him, “Go, for your faith has healed you.” Instantly the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road.

Jesus and the twelve had wrapped up their stay in Jericho and a great crowd escorted them out of town. The large group made quite a cloud of dust as they shuffled down the dirt road past the city gates. The crowd, no doubt, also made quite a racquet as they passed the lonely beggar, each trying to brag about how Jesus bumped into them. The crowd was nearly past when Bartimaeus was able to make out one name: “Jesus.” Putting two and two together, he realized this was the one everyone was talking about. This was the Messiah.

Bart’s usual chant, “alms for the poor,” usually mumbled under his breath because no one really listened to a nobody like him was suddenly emboldened. He began to shout. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Messiah, Messiah, be gracious unto me!” It was so out of character for Bart to speak up – for an outcast to talk like that to a citizen – that everyone stopped to see who had spoken out.

They turned and saw Bart. He was sitting along the wall, wrapped in a blanket. In his lap, on top of the blanket, was a small pot with a few coins jingling inside. But their attention was quickly drawn to his face, his horrific face. It was filthy and unkempt, like many who sat at the gate, but it was horribly disfigured too. His blindness was not a birth defect, but rather a disease. His eyes were extremely swollen and dark pink. So swollen infact that they were swollen shut, like two golf balls popping out of his head. They oozed with infection and flies buzzed incessantly around his head. His disease was highly contagious, which is why he was relegated to begging at the city gates. It simply wouldn’t do for him to have contact with health people. It was unacceptable for one of his uncleanness to be around the clean.

The crowd began to rebuke him. They didn’t want this man infecting their Messiah – they didn’t want this man infecting them! But Bart knew this was his one chance to meet the Messiah, so he cried out, loud as ever. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.” “Messiah, Messiah, be gracious unto me.”

Jesus stopped when he heard the cries for mercy. As the dust settled, he turned to the crowd and told them to invite Bart to the front of the pack, where Jesus stood. One brave one in the crowd stepped carefully toward Bart. “Take heart…be courageous, get up! He’s calling for you.”

Ah the sweet, sweet music to his ears. It was like the prospect of cold water after wandering through the desert for days. Bart through off his cloak, sending the coins flying through the air as the pot shattered against the wall. He quickly, well as quickly as he could, limped toward Jesus.

“What is it you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked.

Bart simply wanted some money or maybe some food, but this is the Messiah. He paused while thinking. “Do I dare ask for the impossible?” “It is the Messiah.” “What the hey,” he thought. The crowd waited with baited breath, Jesus waited as if reading his mind. “Great teacher,” he said, “I want to regain my sight!” The crowd gasped, but Jesus wasn’t surprised.

Jesus responded as if he were going to heal him all along. “Very well,” he said, “Go. Your faith has made you well.”

Immediately the puss dried up and the swelling went down. His eyes were opened and he saw the looks of amazement on the faces of the crowd, and the look of love on the face of Jesus. Jesus and the twelve started again on their journey while the crowd just stood petrified with awe. Bart looked at Jericho and thought of his family, friends, his life. Then he looked at Jesus. He’d been told to go, but he took off running, following Jesus, not wanting to be left behind.

We often look at this story and are totally amazed by Jesus. His compassion is in full view. Bartimaeus was not just a cripple; he was unclean and contagious. His disease would lead to death for anyone who got near. He was a second-class person, he was unimportant, he was a drain on society, he was worthless. In every sense of the word, Bartimaeus was a NOBODY. Yet Jesus stopped for him. Jesus was present with him. Jesus was attentive to Bart’s life.

Further, Jesus power is displayed for all to see. Bartimaeus asked for the impossible and Jesus granted it. Jesus healed his eyes so that he could see again. But Bartimaeus was not only healed physically, but the cause of his social and emotional ailment was healed as well. Having his sight back, he was no longer contagious. He could soon be declared clean. He was no longer a drain on society. With his vision, he could soon return to work as a productive member of society. He was no longer a social outcast. He could return to the city, and to his relationships with family and friends. Jesus healed Bartimaeus in a tremendous miracle.

We often get so caught up in the miracle that we miss the truly astounding part. “Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘take heart; get up, he is calling you.’” This story contains a healing, but it is about a calling. “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” The real miracle is that Christ calls Bartimaeus. Christ call is extended to a contagious, unclean, unimportant, unproductive, second class, worthless nobody like Bartimaeus.

And when Bartimaeus hears the call, he must respond. He “jumps to his feet” -- he pushes his way through the crowd, brushing shoulder after shoulder. When the master called, all the social stigmas didn’t matter anymore. All the things that Bartimaeus would never have brought himself to do (running, yelling, touching people!) he did to get to the Messiah. He came to Christ, and was confronted by Christ. Christ asked him about his deepest desires, and Bartimaeus responded honestly. “What I really want is to have my sight back.” Jesus calls this response faith. Bartimaeus responded openly and honestly to the call of Christ and it was called faith.

At some point in our life, we are all Bartimaeus. We’re all spiritual Bart’s, stumbling through our existence just hoping to find the next meal. We’re all spiritual Bart’s – suddenly aware that Christ is near. We’re all spiritual Bart’s – when Christ calls us to come to him. We all have to through off our cloaks, jump to our feet, and stumble to the Master, just like Bart! But the most intriguing part of the story to me is not the healing, but the ending. It doesn’t end as we might expect.

Jesus tells Bartimaeus he is healed. Jesus tells Bartimaeus to go. We would expect Bart to jump for joy, yell and scream, run and be reunited with family and friends. We would expect him to go, but he does not. What does he do? He follows. Christ and the twelve continue on the road to Jerusalem – the road to the cross – but no longer are there 12, there are 13. Bartimaeus is following, bringing up the rear.

It is not enough that we are healed. Faith is not a one-time decision to come, but a lifelong decision to follow. The truth is we are always like Bartimaeus. Who of us can really see the face of God? Who of us can see where God is going? Who of us can see where God is calling us? Every day is a new call. Every day requires a new response. We are not called only to a one-time decision, to a moment of faith after which we “become Christian” and go back to life as usual. We are called to much more than that. We are not called to just a moment of faith; We are called to live a life full of faith. We are called to be faith-full…faithful like Bartimaeus, faithful like a phoenix. To the glory of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

RIVERSIDE REFLECTIONS: my other love

My grandfather always told me that I'd either be a pastor or a politician. Perhaps he saw something in me, or perhaps I heard that and it became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Chances are it is not an either/or proposition, but a both/and (there's a novel idea...). Anyway, please allow me to venture off the path of religion and into the woods of politics for a brief moment.

In this election season we have grow so caloused to the political negativism in the media. Everything is Democrat vs. Republican. Has it ever dawned on anyone that it might not be an either/or proposition, but a both/and? Nearly everything in life is found between the poles of extremism and yet our system idolizes extremism. If you are in the middle you have no good choices. Seriously, when was the last time you ever felt great about casting your vote for the person you did? It is always a choice between the lesser of evils.

But why? Perhaps Nancy Pelosi summed it up best. Recently (I think on 60 Minutes) she was asked about possibly becoming the first female Speaker of the House. Her response was that it would be great for people to see that women can weild power too. That is precisely the problem. Politics has devolved into a fight for power, not for people. When did politicians stop being public SERVANTS and start being the weilders of POWER? (see my sermon below)

I contend the system makes it that way. Our system of parties makes the priority on which party is in power. Issues don't matter, people don't matter, the party matters. The party's preservation is far more important than the people's or even the nation's. The party system makes it that way.

The Democrats are saying that this election is a referendum on Pres. Bush. This election should be a referendum on the party system. Politicians will remain party power weilders as long as we let them. The solution is simple: DO NOT VOTE FOR ANYONE IN A PARTY. It is quite easy: VOTE ONLY FOR INDEPENDENTS.

Until people start running the country instead of parties, there will be no good choices. As long as you continue to play party-politics you are as bad as they are. Don't be part of the problem...be part of the solution (could it be that this is an either/or?): VOTE INDEPENDENT!

THE PULPIT: the journey to greatness

Mark 10:35-45

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor." “What is your request?” he asked.

They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”

But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”

“Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”

Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”

When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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One writer reminisced about his experience as an intern in Washington DC:

"[W]hen I got to Washington I discovered that even among young people, being a good guy was not the key thing: The key thing was your position on the great Washington totem pole of status. Way up at the top of this pole is the president; way down at the bottom, below mildew, is the public. In between is an extremely complex hierarchy of government officials, journalists, lobbyists, lawyers, and other power players, holding thousands of minutely graduated status rankings differentiated by extremely subtle nuances that only Washingtonians are capable of grasping.

“For example, Washingtonians know whether a person whose title is "Principal Assistant Deputy Undersecretary" is more or less important than a person whose title is "Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary," or "Principal Deputy to Deputy Assistant Secretary," or "Deputy to the Deputy Secretary," or "Principal Assistant Deputy Undersecretary," or "Chief of Staff to the Assistant Assistant Secretary." (All of these are real federal job titles.)

“Everybody in Washington always seems to know exactly how much status everybody else has. I don't know how they do it. Maybe they all get together in some secret location and sniff one another's rear ends. All I know is, back in my internship summer of 1967, when I went to Washington parties, they were nothing like parties I'd become used to in college.

“… Washington parties were serious. Everybody made an obvious effort to figure out where everybody else fit on the totem pole, and then spent the rest of the evening sucking up to whoever was higher up. I hated it. Of course, one reason for this was that nobody ever sucked up to me, since interns rank almost as low as members of the public.”

Sounds just like the disciples, doesn’t it. They’d spent the better part of three years together. Christ had finally confirmed what everyone already knew. He was the Messiah. Everyone knew what that meant: a new kingdom, new power and new positions up for grabs!

Three of the twelve had emerged as big dogs in this pack: Peter, James and John…the latter two being brothers. We all know that climbing the ladder is all about timing. If you are too early in making your play, you fall and look pretty silly doing it. Peter is a good example of this. When Jesus first brought up the subject of being the Messiah, Peter jumped at the gun a little too quickly. He pulled Jesus aside, as if Peter were Jesus political advisor, and gave him a little advice. It was not what Jesus wanted. Peter jumped too quickly and was quickly put in his place. “Get behind me!” “Go to the back of the line.” Peter had his chance, but he blew it.

That means, of the three frontrunners, only James and John are left. Jesus brought up the issue a second time, but not wanting to seem too eager, they each chose to keep silent and wait for a better opportunity. It dawned on them, “If we go together, we might have a better chance than if we compete against one another.” “We’ll go as a package and leave it up to Jesus who gets what job. The important thing is that we keep it in the family.”

A little more time passed. The two sons of Zebedee bided their time until exactly the right moment. Together they walked along the road to Jerusalem. Each day they grew closer and closer until finally, Jesus took them aside. They sat down in the shade. As they started sipping their drinking water, Jesus opened the door they’d been waiting for. He began talking about the new kingdom!

Jesus had said what he had to say. Knowing that this was their chance, James and John nonchalantly approached their teacher. With great respect they made a simple request, “Jesus, dear Rabi, won’t you be gracious unto us? Won’t you grant to us whatever we ask?” Did they really expect Jesus to say yes? Did they really think he would just grant anything, not knowing what he was granting?

“I guess that all depends on what you want…what is it that you want?”

The two were a little nervous now. Maybe they hadn’t chosen the right time. Maybe they should have waited. “O-well, it’s too late to turn back now,” they thought to themselves. “We want to sit, one of us at your right, and the other at your left in the kingdom.” There it was…they’d made their move.

The others were sitting back trying to eavesdrop, but they couldn’t make out exactly what was going on. One of them thought they heard. Had they heard right? “Did they just ask what I think they asked?” It seemed that everyone heard the same thing. Because of they were griping amongst themselves, they couldn’t hear Jesus’ response. It didn’t matter, because they were not going to sit there and let the two brown-nosers get the positions they were each secretly hoping to get. Up to Jesus they ran. By this time all twelve were trying to make a case for why they should get the privileged seats in the Kingdom.

We’re all like that. We might be ashamed to admit it, but we’ve all been there. A better job, better benefits, more influence, more authority, more respect. We all want to be someone special. None of us want to be a nobody. We all want to be SOMEBODY!

How you get to be somebody is not a big secret. All you have to do is watch TV for a couple hours and you will have it all figured out. First, you have to have the right connections. You need connections because you can’t get a job without them. You need a job, because it is the first step up the corporate ladder. Once your foot is in the door, it won’t be long until your new connections start getting you promotions. Soon you will be the manager at your location. You will have a pretty good salary, drive a nice Lincoln, have a pretty cool house, maybe a swimming pool and a big screen. But that isn’t high enough. You really want to be SOMEBODY. You keep connecting, you do whatever you have to and you’re on your way up again. Now you’re SOMEBODY at corporate. You have a Hummer and a Porsche. You have a mansion on the ocean. You have several big screens, personal assistants; you even have a chef and a chauffeur. Isn’t life great? Money, cars, mansions, gadgets, servants, groupies, influence, power: the American Dream!

“Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant.” --- Huh? What?

“And whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” --- No cars? No chefs? No chauffeurs?

“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” --- BUT I WANT TO BE SOMEBODY!

We all want to be somebody. We all want to be great. This quest for greatness, however, is what has been our greatest downfall. In Eden, the temptation faced by Adam and Eve was the prospect of being great. “When you eat of [the tree of good and evil] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” If they ate the fruit, they would be great. OK, so as Christians, we can’t be great. We must give up our desire to be somebody.

WRONG! Jesus never says you can’t be great. He never says you can’t be somebody, but rather that in the kingdom we are all somebody! He says, “If you want to be great…” “In order to be great, you must…” Jesus does not condemn the desire to be great. We all should aspire to greatness. Jesus simply redefines greatness.

Henri Nouwen is one of my favorite authors. He suggests that our greatest temptation is to replace love with power. He writes, "The long painful history of the church is the history of people ever and again tempted to choose power over love."

Greatness to the world means getting to the top of the pyramid. The pinnacle of the pyramid is the one who stands alone with all the power. Greatness is climbing to the top. Everyone else is beneath the one on top. Christ says greatness is a measure of love, not power. Greatness is not a pyramid but rather a cone. The road to greatness is the journey to the bottom so that all are considered greater. “He must become greater, I must become less.” Love compels us to sink lower and lower so that we find our greatness not in lording power over those beneath us, but in serving those above us.

William Willimon, Professor at Duke Divinity School tells this story:

“The other day I was talking to a man who has become a close friend of a Hungarian government official. "Have you ever met a real-live, lifetime, 100 per cent atheist?" he asked. "I mean somebody who is an atheist the same way I am a Methodist."

I confessed that I had not.

"Well, this woman is that kind of person. I thought, when I first met her, that getting to know somebody who lived her whole life, every minute, every day, without even a thought, not even a hint of God, would be a real revelation for me. I figured that she must be strange, different, like somebody from another planet."

"You know what I found out?" he asked, getting close to my face, gripping me by the collar of my overcoat.

"No, what did you find out?" I asked.

"There’s not a damn bit of difference between her and me. She isn’t somebody strange; she is just like your average, everyday, commonsense American. Like me, she never wonders, ‘What does God want me to do now?’ Like me, she doesn’t lose sleep expecting God to come down and do something about the world. She just goes about her life, deciding on the basis of what’s in her own best interest... That little ‘godless communist’ could pass for you or me anytime."

How do we seek greatness? Do we seek to gain greatness through the lure of success, wealth and power? Or do we seek greatness through loving and serving?

“The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” To the glory of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

RIVERSIDE REFLECTIONS: old friends and family

I was reading "Dresser of Sycamore Trees" this morning. The author tells of his visits with an old gentleman in a nursing home. He was one who became a dear friend...family infact. I began thinking about my life. I've been blessed. I have not always been near to my family, but God has always given me people who became family. People like Rhonda and Norm, Evan and Julia, Raymond and Kitty.

I began to think about my friends at the Back 40...I began to think about my faith...I began to wonder if there might be a special place in heaven for Whitey and the gang where we can sit and play guitar and sing old country songs around a campfire and an old Ford.

I wish church were more like the Back 40. I was only part of the gang for a year and I experienced closer community there than I ever have in the church. I am convinced that what will draw people to Christ is the community they find in the church. We talked in Sunday School Sunday about "fellowship" in the Purpose Driven Life. The ideas of intimacy, honesty, accountability, etc. Do people find it at our churches?

Many would suggest men would not find this appealing. They wouldn't feel the labels appealing, but I know that we find the experience appealing. I know...I had old friends and family that taught me community on Hell's Half Acre.

THE PULPIT: god's gracious grip

It was a spectacular autumn day, not too different from today. The air was cool and crisp, in the refreshing sort of way we only experience in the fall-time. A gentle breeze kept the air swirling comfortably, but when it gusted, a small shiver could been seen shooting through a body. The skies were blue, with an occasional cloud surfing through the azure seas of sky. It was just another beautiful fall day.

It was so nice infact, that a father and son decided to go for a walk in the woods. They lived with three women…mom and two older sisters…and Ol’ Red, their part time pet and part time coonhound. Home was a small log cabin on 60 acres of hardwood forest. Actually, it was very much like the valley…only smaller. The land was divided pretty equally by a small stream that over the years had cut a path in the hills, leaving a steep and awesome ravine. In front was the rustic cottage with a small line of smoke wafting from the chimney, a dying out garden where once had grown enough vegetables to last the year, and small pond where they fished when it was cool and swam when it was hot. You couldn’t see the ravine from the house, but it was there, just beyond the wood line. Hidden in the stand of elms and maples and oaks…all brilliantly strutting with their fabulous fall foliage… is the creek that separates the “yard” from the “back 40.”

Father and son set out for the woods. On their way, they stopped and turned out Red. The three men headed for the woods, strolling slowly just enjoying the beauty around them. There is only one place where it’s safe to cross the ravine, and that’s at the far edge of their land. Like the river had carved out the gorge, so had the many generations who had lived here before cut out a trail that ran along the lip of the ledge, and lead to safe crossing. It was a marvel just to gaze out over the deep valley. It was that dangerous kind of beauty that so easily draws your attention away that you quit focusing on the narrow trail. As they walked, the boy spotted an eagle perched high atop a towering elm just on the other side. The boy was captivated, and before anyone knew what had happened, the boy missed his step and let out a blood-cuddling yell as he began to plummet.

On pure adrenaline alone, the father tuned, and in an instant fell flat on his belly, thrust downward his arm, and caught his young son by the hand. The son dangled, just inches from certain death, but holding fast for dear life.

This morning’s text is Hebrews 4:14-16. Would you stand with me for the reading of God’s Word?

14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Hebrews was written from a leader in the church to a church in very mortal danger. The general consensus seems to be that Hebrews was a sermon preached and then circulated to Christians who had Jewish origin. Times were tough then. The Christians were being persecuted from every side. The civil authorities didn’t like them much, nor did the Jews. There was just no getting away from the persecution they faced.
They were still living in the shadow of the first of the great persecutions by the government. Emperor Claudius had endorsed a great persecution of the church. Things were not about to change either. In the near future, Emperors Nero and Domitian would establish reigns of terror and leave the church with many martyrs. Times were obviously dangerous, but physical danger was only part of the issue they faced. It is likely that there was emotional and mental testing too. “Why do you do this?” “Why do you do that?” “That is so silly?” “That doesn’t make any sense?” And probably, as is usually the case with intense persecution, there was strong temptation, both internally and externally, to abandon the faith. “Hey, why don’t you just come back home?” “Just forget about Christ!” “Is it really worth it?” “Why do we put up with this?” “What difference has Christ really made for us anyway?” It seems clear that the persecution they were experiencing was causing them to doubt and to debate reverting to their old ways.

We have a word for that today don’t we? We call it backsliding. We all know that temptation. We’ve all had times in life where we wonder where God is. We all have times when it seems it would just be easier to let it all go. When things are going well, life is good and faith is strong, but when we find that edge, we can be distracted easily. It is very easy to let our distraction cause us to miss a step and to fall over the edge…straight toward the bottom of the ravine. We hold on, but our arm is so tired. We fight and we fight, but it would be so much easier to just let go. Is it really worth all the pain to hold on? How easy it is for us to see ourselves in the shoes of the Hebrews.

So there they were, father and son. Ol’ Red was standing on the edge too. Sensing danger, he barked as if encouraging the son to not let go and as if telling the father to pull him up quick! The sons arm ached excruciatingly. His palms grew sweaty and his grip faltered. The father, laying face down on the ground, held on tightly and prayed fervently on behalf of his young son…for the safety of his young son…his three-year-old son. But the son could hold on no longer. His cries became wails as his hands finally slipped from the father’s. But he did not fall! Surprised, the three-year-old boy realized his father was holding him. He looked up to see the face of the father reassuring him. “I have you son,” he said. “I will not let you fall.” The wailing ceased. The boy quit struggling. He realized all his fighting was unnecessary because all along it was not he who was holding onto the father, but it was the father who was holding onto him!

We do not have to fall. We do not have to sin. Why not? The writer of Hebrews draws our attention to the sympathy of Christ. “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness…” Sympathy is the ability to understand the experience of the other. Many religions believe God cannot be sympathetic because God is completely transcendent. God is way far out somewhere. God is completely separate and distinct from us. Sympathy requires participation in the other’s experience. To sympathize, one must feel what the other is feeling and experience what the other is experiencing. For many, this cannot be true of God. Our faith, however, teaches us of a sympathetic God -- a God, who while he is transcendent (far away), desires to be quite close.

“We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens.” Christ, our great high priest, became a man! God, who many say cannot enter the world of humans, became human in the person of Christ. St. Irenaeus wrote, “He became as we are, in order that we might become as He is.” Jesus, the Son of God, became human. He understands what it is to be human because he became human. He understands the tough times in life because he had tough times in life. He can sympathize with us because he became one of us!

“We have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” Christ, our great high priest was tempted! Tempted? The writer is emphatic. Christ was tempted just as we are tempted. What’s more? Christ never yielded to temptation! The Gospel writers tell us of Christ’s temptations: self-preservation, wealth, power. Christ was tempted in every way, and Christ had victory over temptation. He understands what it is to be tested because he was tested. He understands what it is to be tried because he was tried. He understands what it is to be tempted because he was tempted. He can sympathize with us because he was one of us!

Because Christ is sympathetic, we can hold fast to our faith! Like the young son, however, we must realize that the power to hold fast is not within ourselves. We don’t have the power to hold fast any more than a three-year-old could hold fast while hanging over the edge of a cliff. Neither can we hold fast because of some experience we have had. Neither salvation nor sanctification gives us the ability to hold fast. Saved, sanctified, or all of the above, we cannot hold fast alone, only Christ can hold us fast. The irony of it all is that holding fast really means letting go. “The secret to holding fast our confession is not something finally that we do, but what Christ has done and continues to do.”

It is sheer grace that we have a sympathetic God. We worship a God who listens to us -- not defensively, not critically, not suspiciously. Our God listens compassionately. We worship a God who participates in our experience -- not symbolically, or metaphorically. Our God participates in our experience by Christ’s life and death. God feels what we feel. God experiences what we experience. It is all so that we can hold fast… so that we can let go… and find ourselves held in the grip of a gracious God.

That is good news indeed isn’t it? But there is a bit of a challenge here as well. Being Christian means being like Christ. If Christ was our sympathetic High Priest, then we too should be a kingdom of sympathetic priests to one another and to the world. We must listen to others compassionately. We cannot listen with a defensive spirit. We cannot listen with a critical spirit. We cannot listen with a suspicious spirit. We cannot listen to another with the mindset of a jury, for we are not judges but priests. We must listen to one another with compassion.

We must seek to participate in the experience of the other. We cannot live as some who are “holier than though.” We cannot live segregated from the world around us. We must enter into the world. We must participate in the life and experience of others. We must celebrate with them when they celebrate. We must mourn with them when they mourn. We must laugh with them when they laugh…cry with them when they cry…work with them when they work…play with them when they play. We must seek to participate in the experience of the other. Only in being sympathetic did God provide us the grace to hold fast to faith. Only in being sympathetic can we point others to Christ who gives them the grace to find and hold fast to faith.

To be the church is to be the Body of Christ. Christ was sympathetic, making holding fast possible. If we are less than sympathetic…if we are judgmental, critical, defensive, suspicious, or unforgiving…if we are not compassionate to the experience and reality of others…then we are less than Christian. But we don’t have to be judgmental or critical, defensive or suspicious! In Christ we have been given the power to hold fast to our faith…we have been given the power to let go and be held in God’s gracious grip. To the Glory of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.