Creating a World

I don’t know if this means anything to you but last week the astronaut Jim Lovell died at age 97.  Loveall was famous not just because he was an astronaut, the one who said, “Houston we have a problem…” but because he was a hero.

Jim helped navigate a space shuttle destined for destruction and his crew mates destined for death return to earth unharmed. 

Tom Hanks played Jim in the movie version of the events, Apollo 13. 

I don’t know if that means anything to you, in part because you’re not related to Jim; you’re not astronauts; that mission was a long time ago, 1970–that’s 55 years ago. The movie was a long time ago too 1995-30 years! (That’s 5 years older today than the depiction of the events then, that happened 25 years prior.) 

I also don’t know if Jim’s death means anything to you because you’ve got your own grief: 

One of our beloved friend’s fathers died last week. 

So did another friend’s brother. 

One woman celebrated a birthday (she’s not alone—many of you did.) 

This same woman also celebrated an anniversary…get this she thought they were going to a graduation party—she showed me the invitation. They opened the doors to the banquet room and the whole room yelled “surprise!” It was a surprise anniversary party. So many family members and friends from 40 years together. 

Their kids did good—from planning and organizing; to cooking and curating the play list…

And then they come to church and the Priest reads from the Bible, “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three.”

No. I’m good. Miss me with that religious stuff.

I’ve got a full life. 

There’s an anniversary party to attend and a birthday party to go to.  My goodness, there is even family to mourn. 

But what if I told you, it’s exactly for full lives that Jesus comes…not as a downer…or as a surprise; but as a world builder. 

For the last three years I’ve been working with the Pastor at old Bergen Church on a summer camp he began before the pandemic. He calls the camp, building a neighborhood together.

He has kids use cardboard boxes to imagine their neighborhood.  He used the world of Fred Roger’s; the Presbyterian minister, better known as the host of the PBS TV show, Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, as the curriculum. Mister Roger’s Neighborhood is a place where, even when everyone isn’t kind, the world they create, solves problems. 

Sometimes it’s easier to enter into this world, the land of make believe, with puppets and cardboard boxes; it’s even easier to enter into the movies with Tom Hanks portraying Mister Rogers or an astronaut—then it is the Bible; because we get this stuff, “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!”

But stick with me here…that’s not the best part of the story. 

It’s not even the most interesting part of the story…

This is not even the best line of scripture today. No, that line belongs, in my estimation, to the book of Hebrews, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,”

The book of Hebrews says life is bigger than we see in front of us. Life is so big that when we get married 40 years ago, we cannot imagine our children throwing a party where the guests yell surprise!

That’s kind of what Jesus is saying too…we imagine because we’ve heard the judgy stuff about faith; that’s who Jesus is—judgy; but he’s not. 

Jesus is a world builder. 

It’s not make-believe Jesus is building or cardboard he’s using—it’s real life. He’s using real people to build a world—the Kingdom of Heaven. 

The stuff about bringing division, some Priests, like me, dig into that and explain what Jesus means is….

Well. Jesus doesn’t use the same metrics you and I use to determine success. Jesus, unbelievably, includes people bigger than our families, our friend groups; our nation; even our faith tradition…Jesus says it outright, “You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?”

That stuff Priests learn in seminary we learned it so we can talk about faith and scripture with a credibility that comes from scholarship and not just feelings. 

The Pastor of a neighborhood church has a much better idea. 

“Let’s use cardboard boxes.” 

The Pastor uses Fred Roger’s to say, imagine a bigger world than just your house; or just your church; or just this city; or just this state. 

I love that Pastor. He’s so kind. 

This year he also said he’s tired. I’ve got a 20month old and a 6 year old; I’m not going to argue…but he’s got another idea. 

Tell me about how that thing Sundaes on Sunday. How’s it working…

Good actually. People stay after church and talk with one another. They celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and graduations. They do it by sharing ice cream.

How about we learn about our neighborhood together? We will go to the local museum and then invite people to a block party. 

Cool. 

So we are. We are going to a museum and then we’re inviting you to a block party

Or. 

How about we throw a birthday party with cake and we invite the whole church?

Or. 

How about we have an anniversary party where we all yell, “surprise!”

Maybe we even have a funeral where we wrestle with the complexity of family… not everyone comes from a two-parent household where all the kids are the biological children of a happy couple…

No, no they don’t 

I include commentary about the book of Hebrews on the back of a letter I wrote because Jesus clearly says faith is more than justice or neighborliness. Just because liberal Protestants prefer to read scripture through the lens of American social justice activism doesn’t mean that’s the only way faith works— Jesus builds a world—we may use cardboard boxes, ice cream. 

The Book of Hebrews says; use your life. 

That

That’s the most interesting part of Jesus. 

Jesus talks about himself as the entryway to God when other people talk about buildings or even faith. Jesus says, “Bigger.” 

“I can use stones to raise up children from Abraham.” 

“I can raise the temple in three days.”

Jesus uses his body to say, this is where God is. 

This is where love is. 

If God and Love are in Jesus; it’s in us too! The same power that raised Jesus lives in us. 

We have a much bigger world than we might imagine. 

Surprise!

It’s right here. Not with just our family. Not with just our friends. God is in places where we wouldn’t even expect…

May Grace and Peace be with you.