Welcome to Pastor Jack Buckley's weekly blog and podcast.
You have three ways to hear his weekly message:
- Read Pastor Jack's GODblog.
- Listen now to an audio of the scripture reading and Pastor Jack's sermon.
- Listen anytime. You choose the time and place. Download Pastor Jack's GODcast to your MP3 player.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Don't Look Here!
 Psalm 126; Mark 16:1-7
The artist pretty well nailed the moment...
Shock! Empty tomb!! Angel glowing bright as the mid-day sun!!!
These women had come to Jesus' grave ever so quietly in the dawn's early light, with the makings of a proper embalming for his oh so dead body.
And with his body, their hopes and dreams lay equally dead. All he had embodied for them and the rest of his followers had died three days before as they watched his crucifixion. Now, the least they could do was pay their last respects, providing the next best thing to a decent burial.
But no! In this picture we see the rude surprise they found at Jesus' burial site.
The angel tells them, "He's not here, but alive again and on the move!" Then he says they need to go tell the disciples about it, and get them in motion to reunite with Jesus in Galilee -- "just as he told you."
I hear the angel calling these women, the disciples, and us as well, to make sure we look for Jesus in all the right places. And to beware assuming we know where all those places are going to be.
The women logically expected to find Jesus dead and buried, for they had watched him die and seen his body carried off to this borrowed tomb. But of course!
Instead, it's clear now that they needed to remember more than Good Friday's horrible events. To think back beyond that day, to hear again his words of promise.
"I will be killed, and buried, yes. But I will rise again! After that we will meet again, and I will tell you everything you'll need to know about your next steps on the journey of faith."
You and I, like these good women, must not go looking for Jesus in all the wrong places. How tempting it is for the most sincere Christian person, congregation, or denomination to think of Christ the Tiger (T. S. Eliot) as some kind of elegant purebred house cat.
He is anything but predictable. We dare not define him tightly into a spiritual symbol with no practical relevance in "real life." He is full of new surprises, and he usually springs them just in the nick of time.
Here's an example of this principle at work in the earliest churches...
The Apostle Paul was also shocked into new spiritual life by (a) meeting the risen Christ in a transformative vision, and (b) having more Gentiles than Jews accept his message of Jesus as God's Messiah. After much struggle, he wrote a one-verse manifesto of the world-changing nature of Christ's new covenant community.
In Galatians 3:28 he says, "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."
Paul saw clearly, and put into practice, the first part of that declaration. His churches freely welcomed Gentiles and reinterpreted Jewish traditions spiritually to find a way forward together in the name of Christ.
The second and third points took longer, more complicated, paths to fulfillment.
In the Letter to Philemon, Paul urged a church leader to receive back into his household a slave who had stolen from him, run away, and wound up in a Roman jail. There he met Paul, became a Christian, and got Paul to write a letter of reference to Philemon upon his release from prison. Paul instructed Philemon to consider the man now to be more than a slave, to be in fact his brother in the family of God. While Paul didn't expect the slave to be freed from bondage, he definitely sowed the seeds of freedom here. For spiritual equals simply can't live for long in practical inequality without going crazy or committing evil deeds. In due time, among Christians, slavery ceased to be.
In various letters, Paul spelled out rigid standards for women's behavior in the church and in the home. They were to remain silent in worship, to cover their heads, and to exert absolutely no authority over men. At the same time, in some of those same letters he speaks highly and affectionately of numerous women as gifted teachers, church leaders, and even partners among the apostles. The Book of Acts also describes Paul and some of those women in action, gladly teaming to lead and teach the early Christians how to be the church. It took centuries for the majority of Christian churches to catch up with Paul's practices because his principles were so dogmatic. Thank God, most of us now accept that gifted women are called along with gifted men to lead the church in learning and doing the will of God.
This last example underscores the fact that sometimes (usually?) intuition prompts us to do the right thing even when our logic, traditions, or expectations might contradict it. Only when the tension becomes no longer tolerable are we ready to break through to sufficient philosophical, structural, and emotional transformation. And once that change takes place, there can be no safe or sane turning back to the way we always did things before.
Whew. All that from three women shocked at an empty gravesite out of looking for Jesus in the wrong place?
In a word: Yes.
Listen to the GODcast!
posted by Jack Buckley at
6:38 PM
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
We're Famous! (Again)
Our historic Sanctuary building's stained glass windows are famous far and wide for the artistry of their images and of their manufacture. Details about their origin are obscure at best, for all documentation was burned to a crisp in the architect's San Francisco office after the 1906 earthquake. Even so, we are honored to have them recognized once again by the Alameda Free Public Library as part of their new series of California oral history videos. Watch for yourself, as our own Mark Cunningham speaks up about our special efforts to restore the windows a few years ago to honor the building's centennial birthday.
posted by Jack Buckley at
4:32 PM
Monday, September 14, 2009
Storm-Tossed Salvation
 Psalm 107:23-32; Matthew 14:22-33
If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat!
It's as simple as that. And as profound as that.
The stained glass window depicts Jesus and Peter doing that water walk thing in the middle of a midnight storm on the Lake of Galilee.
Well, Jesus is walking. Peter has plunged right into a sink-or-swim situation.
He'd started out just great -- doing the impossible according to any law of physics that's ever been discovered -- and probably enjoying every second of it more than words can say.
But here are a few choice words he might have said after all...
"Dudes," to his mates back in the storm-tossed boat: "Check this out. I'm hangin' ten without a board!" And then: "Bet you wish you were out here, too! C'mon, boys, what's stopping you?"
But after that, it must have been: "Whoa, these waves are rockin'!" Then: "Wait a minute! I can't do this. Nobody can walk on water!"
Then down he went, like a rock!
Just one more word he spoke, between all the gulps and sputters... "Help!" And that was all the prayer he needed to say.
Jesus reached out a strong hand, gripped Peter's flailing hand, and pulled him up so they could walk together back to the safety of the boat. And then the wind died down, the waves grew calm, and all was well once more.
Three thoughts for you:
1. Sometimes the best prayer is a brief one. Anne Lamott says that all our prayers boil down to these two: "Help me" and "Thank you." Everything else is elaboration. God knows what you're thinking and feeling long before you wrap your words around it. Eloquence and propriety are trumped every time by basic honesty.
2. Peter's real problem with walking on the waves wasn't how weak his faith was. In another place, Jesus assured Peter and all of his disciples that even the smallest amount of faith (the size of a mustard seed) is sufficient for the biggest of challenges (like, moving a mountain). What got Peter in trouble was taking his eyes off Jesus and sizing things up as if faith has nothing to do with "real life." (Repeat: "Nobody can do this that I'm right now doing!") The fact is, little faith... naive faith... weak faith... is stronger than death when it's focused on the bigness of our God.
3. If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat. The drive for safety and security can put a death grip on the best of us. What a tragedy to reach your life's end wondering "What if..." and wishing "If only..."! Faith always calls us to stretch forward, to reach out, to take an occasional risk and so to grow into all God wants for us to be and do in life.
[The proverbial technical difficulties prevented an MP3 recording of this week's sermon. It was a good one, too! Hope you can come hear me live sometime, and enjoy the fellowship in the bargain.]
posted by Jack Buckley at
3:52 PM
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Eternal Security
 Psalm 95; John 10:11-16
If Jesus is your Good Shepherd, you are one safe secure sheep.
That's the theological and emotional bottom line of this whole Bible metaphor of God and Christ as Divine Shepherd.
Look at that stained glass picture and see what I mean.
Two sheep following close at either side... One lamb held close in his strong and tender arm... Shepherd's crook in his other hand...
That walking stick gives the shepherd both strength for the journey and solid footing on any kind of ground. It gives the sheep careful guidance, protection from attacking beasts, and rescue if and when they go astray on their own.
That last point reminds us that sheep are not the smartest animals on the farm.
They're well known for following anywhere they're led, even by another wandering sheep who's just as dumb as they are. They're oh so prone to wander at a moment's notice.
How that bites, to be compared more than once in the Bible to the lowly sheep.
But then again, how encouraging, to have a capital-S Shepherd who's always on the job to keep us safe, meet our every need, and even track us down if (more likely, when) we meander off on our merry way.
While I was preparing my sermon notes, I came across a video featuring -- of all things, ta dah -- shepherds and their sheep. With the assistance of some very smart dogs and a gazillion LED Christmas lights, the shepherds put their sheep through some very tricky night time maneuvers for our viewing entertainment. There had to be some computer trickery in what I saw, but it was laugh-out-loud enjoyable anyway. And it fed right into my sermon, with a little help from my monkey mind. (See for yourself [later] at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw)
Okay, nowhere near so entertaining, but 100% trick-free, here's my recorded sermon...
Listen to the GODcast!
posted by Jack Buckley at
4:09 PM
Thursday, September 03, 2009
The Real Lord's Prayer
 Psalm 130; Matthew 26:36-46
We call it the Lord's Prayer, the one that begins with "Our Father who art in heaven."
Truth be told, that one is really the Disciples' Prayer. Jesus gave it to them (and to all of us who follow in their steps) as a guide for handling all of life's major concerns with God's will in mind. In just a few short phrases that prayer covers the whole world of human experience.
The stained glass window I preached about this Sunday shows us Jesus in the midst of his most personal, intense, and powerfully dramatic conversation with God. Let's call it the Real Lord's Prayer.
He's sprawled against a huge rock, in the dark of night. But his face is illuminated by a bright beam of light shining down from the heavens. Or from heaven itself.
The place is called Gethsemane, which probably translates into "olive press." How appropriate, since Jesus is under extreme soul pressure here. In that crushing context, of all the choices he could make, he turns all his worries and wonderings into a prayer. And, wonderfully, when Jesus prays heaven opens. He may seem to be all alone, but God is right there with him.
In the foreground we see a tangle of thorny branches. Out of place among the olive trees, they represent the next day's crucifixion, which includes a mock crown of thorns his enemies pushed hard into his scalp.
It's the knowledge that all this is just hours away that drives Jesus to pray so strenuously. "If it's possible," he pleads with God, "let this terrible fate pass me by. Let me live!" But then, "Never the less, not my will but your will be done!"
Outside the frame, his three closest disciples lie fast asleep. He had left them there, close by, to pray for him while he wrestled in prayers for himself. Asleep they are! In this the most critical hour of his entire life.
Let's cut them some slack, though. First of all, they'd just come with Jesus from a Passover meal, which features several cups of wine. That would make the heartiest soul more than a little tired. On top of that, Jesus' bad news during that last supper, about his arrest and execution, was the most depressing thing they had ever heard.
While preparing my sermon, and in the midst of preaching it, I had to wonder how many ways people like you and I might be as guilty as those three men of sleeping right on through God's critical hours in our own lives.
As with the disciples, it's not impossible that a bit too much wine might be involved. Or some deep depression. Both are driven by intense desire to escape unpleasant, uncomfortable circumstances. More often, I suspect it's about preoccupation with business as usual. Tight agendas, regular responsibilities, doing the right thing the right way, for once if not once and for all. On and on the list can go and grow.
Whatever the cause, we're prone to spiritual sleepiness exactly at the moment we need more than anything else to seek and to do the will of God. Thanks be to God that Jesus absolutely refused to sleep off his soul's struggles that fateful night so long ago.
What else can we learn from this Real Lord's Prayer?
Listen to the GODcast!
posted by Jack Buckley at
6:11 PM
|
