Freeing Jesus, Part 1: Friend
Eastern Parkway United Methodist Church
A warm welcome to each worshiper today. We celebrate you and offer you our friendship and love. We are a congregation of people who seek to grow spiritually, to become more like Christ in His compassion and acceptance of everyone while growing more aware of what it really means to be Christians today.
As a Reconciling Congregation, EPUMC affirms the sacred worth of persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities and welcomes them into full participation in the fellowship, membership, ministries, and leadership of the congregation.
943 Palmer Avenue, Schenectady, NY 12309 / 518-374-4306 epumc943@gmail.com / www.easternparkway.org
Order of Worship
February 26, 2023
10:00 a.m.
*You are invited to rise in body or spirit.
Prelude
Greeting and Announcements
Mission Statement:
We are a faith community striving to be, to nurture, and to send forth disciples of Jesus Christ.
Call to Worship:
Happy are those whose sins are forgiven.
Happy are those whose sins are cast away.
Rejoice in the Lord! Be glad!
Sing out! Shout for joy!
Rejoice in the Lord!
Rejoice! Amen!
*Hymn All My Hope Is Firmly Grounded #132
Prayer of Confession:
We keep silent before you, Lord—
we are afraid to confront our transgressions;
we are terrified to face the reality of our sin;
we feel as if the weight of the world
were upon our shoulders;
we no longer recognize ourselves
or what we have become
as we keep our failings and fears inside.
Help us admit our sins and accept our imperfections.
Why is that simple act so difficult for us?
Why do we hesitate, knowing that you stand ready
to wash away our guilt?
You are the sanctuary where distress cannot reach us.
In your steadfast love, forgive us.
In your healing caress, cleanse us.
In your Holy Spirit, restore us.
In the name of our Savior, we pray. Amen.
Assurance:
When distress and anxiety surround us like an angry flood, our pleas are heard. The Lord hears the prayers of a faithful heart. God has become our hiding place, our refuge from trouble. No harm can touch us here. The Lord wraps us in the arms of salvation. Shouts of deliverance enfold us.
Scripture Reading Matthew 4: 1-11
The Testing of Jesus
4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. 2 He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished. 3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
‘One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and ‘On their hands they will bear you up,
so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, 9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,
‘Worship the Lord your God,
and serve only him.’ ”
11 Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
Sermon Freeing Jesus, Part 1: Friend
Friends, now that we’ve begun the season of Lent, I’m starting a new sermon series with you, that will go through Easter Sunday. It’s going to be book based, but whether you read the actual book is entirely up to you. The book itself is called Freeing Jesus, and the author is a prolific Christian theologian and academic and honorary Dangerous Liberal Lady Preacher, Diana Butler Bass. In Freeing Jesus, Bass chronicles her faith journey, which has taken many sharp turns along the way, and leads the reader through a rediscovery of Jesus in the forms many of us were taught to describe him as, but haven’t fully explored: friend, teacher, savior, Lord, way, and presence. As Bass deep dives into each of those expressions of Jesus, she also explains how each of those facets liberated her from an anxiety-riddled faith life into a joyous one.
In order to really appreciate the book itself, and why I’m using it as the basis of a sermon series, you also need to understand where it begins: a story of young Diana, kneeling in the Washington National Cathedral in front of a stained glass image of Jesus, depicted as we so often see him in art: White presenting, blue eyes, light brown hair, cute little button nose, flowing crisp white robe, and brand new Birkenstocks on his feet. Jesus as a pretty white boy. Jesus as a lead actor in Dawson’s Creek. Jesus unreachable to most of us, too clean to touch our messy lives, and not representing the actual population that gave him life. As Bass prayed to this icon, she heard a voice say “get me out of here.” Jesus didn’t shop at the First Century equivalent of the Gap, he didn’t have pure, untouched skin, he wasn’t entombed in glass and separated from the people he loved, and he wasn’t White. Let’s get him out of there, with Bass’s help.
Bass starts off her book with Jesus as our friend. A first image many of us are presented of Christ. Bass shares her own Sunday school memories, of sitting in a circle and singing “Jesus Loves Me.” This expression of Jesus is the one from that hymn. He’s the one who invited the children to come right up and talk to him when his own disciples wanted to chase them away. He’s the guy who made multiple house calls to Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and cried at Lazarus’ tomb when he learned his friend died. He’s the guy who set off on the near-impossible mission of teaching Israel about God’s love, and immediately found twelve people to stay by his side. He could have done his ministry alone, but he didn’t want to. There were lots of other relationships Jesus never pursued because he wanted to be free to teach the people—he left his parents, he never dated, certainly never married, and never had kids. He felt no need to model those relationships for us. But he modeled friendship, because it was that important to him. Friendship meant sharing everything he had, giving everything he had, and teaching everything he knew. Friendship meant loving each person he saw with a totally open heart. Friendship to Jesus means kneeling on the ground and washing the dirty feet of his disciples. It meant sharing his most vulnerable self with them. It also meant extending his love and grace to Judas, knowing what he would do. Because friends seek to understand rather than taking offense, and forgive. Jesus was a friend out of the fullness of his humanity. Jesus taught us that love would heal our world, and the love of a genuine friendship is exactly what he meant.
The kind of friendship that Jesus taught us about, and the kind of friend he wanted to be to us, is a lesson best learned in early childhood, and for an important but sad reason. As a lot of us age, we grow a shell out of life experience. We stop letting others in as easily, we get a lot less curious, and we close our hearts to things that could really help us because we’re keeping up appearances. These are the reasons why you all need to meet my very good friend, Dolly Jesus.
Dolly Jesus was a Christmas present many years ago from a parishioner. She told me she had one just like him, and when she went through a hard time in her life Dolly Jesus got her through it. She would just sit and hug him. Granted, this image of Jesus still represents him as a white guy in Birkenstocks, so it’s far from perfect. But this is who Jesus wants to be to us. Someone who you give a big hug on a hard day. Someone you trust like a toddler trusts their teddy bear. We’ll get touched by this image, but a lot of us will distance ourselves from it, too. “We’re too old for that.” No, you’re not. And you don’t have to go out and buy one of these. This doesn’t have to be your thing at all. I’m a thinker. I get in my head way too much. I struggle opening up. And things I can see and touch help me close the gap. They help me feel instead of intellectualizing everything. And Dolly Jesus, who’s soft and warm and cuddly, helps me understand Jesus as my friend.
Friendships, both positive and negative, teach us some of the most valuable lessons the Bible has for us. Elijah and his younger companion Elisha teach us about mentoring the next generation to serve God. David and his frenemy Saul teach us about the corrosion of jealousy. Paul and his many, many friendships teach us how much more we can accomplish together than alone. Nathan, who catches David after his affair with Bathsheba, teaches us about the importance of accountability and character in our friendships. In today’s society, we easily forget what a friend even is. A “friend” might be someone you contact once a year to send a Christmas card, or someone you text here and there but hardly ever see face to face, or even someone who follows you back on TikTok. The friendship Jesus models for us—committed, loyal, vulnerable, honest, deep, humble—could be the salve to heal this world.
It was, if nothing else, how Jesus got by. This takes us to this morning’s scripture reading, the Gospel lesson we begin every Lent with, of Jesus going off into the wilderness for forty days and forty nights and being tempted by “the devil”. Here’s what you need to understand: nothing in the Bible requires us to believe in the literal existence of “the devil”, a supernatural no-good-nick who rules a place called Hell where you go if you’ve been bad and who really has a thing for the color red and who carries around a pitchfork. Very important, don’t forget the pitchfork. That image of “the devil” was conceived by popular culture and unscrupulous clergy who wanted to scare people. There is, of course, nothing wrong with believing in hell and “the devil”. But I argue that’s not the point of this story, and I take you back to the source language for this story to prove my point. The word that Matthew translates, and that modern English versions of the Bible print as “the devil” or “Satan” means “adversary”. Not necessarily someone who rules the underworld, someone who’s evil, or even someone who literally exists. Maybe “the devil” speaking in this text had horns and a pointy tail. But maybe he was just some dude. Maybe he was a figment of Jesus’ imagination. The shadow side of his slipping will after exhaustion and hunger set in. But one thing we do know: he wasn’t a friend. He was manipulative, selfish, unsupportive, and didn’t want what was good for Jesus.
What got Jesus through this temptation at the hands of a troll? What he learned from his friends, his synagogue community, when he was in their care and safety. He learned how to discern the heart of the Divine even when his body was torn. Jesus and his adversary both quote the Hebrew scriptures, but Jesus has learned which verses actually apply to this situation. He learned that skill from people who loved him. Surely this experience was far from the last time that Jesus—or we—would hear an antagonistic person cherry pick scripture verses to support their own agenda. But genuine friendship carries us, even when we have to be alone, like a canteen of water in the desert. Good friends take up real estate in your head and heart, and teach you when to say yes, and when to say no.
Among the gifts of Lent is exactly that kind of discernment: learning when to say yes, and when to say no. That’s why a lot of us give something up, so we can learn how to say no. Whether you’re doing that or not this year is totally up to you. But whatever you do, think about what you bring to Jesus in your life. Is he your friend? Does he have your trust? Your commitment? Your open heart? And then think about how those same qualities, when applied to your community, can change the world.
Amen.
*Hymn Your Love, O God #120
Offering
Offertory
*Doxology #94
*Prayer of dedication
Pastoral Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Lord God, today is the first Sunday of Lent, a season of repentance, of self-examination, of silence and waiting for the leading of your Holy Spirit. Through your Spirit you lead us into the temptations of Jesus, forty days in the wilderness, where our lives are laid bare, and we come face to face with our desires for power—power over our lives and the lives of our friends and enemies and maybe even power over you.
Open us to your grace and mercy, your love and provision, as we confront the devil’s temptations, the demons that try to run our world and our lives. Give us the power of your Son that we may also throw off the insidious powers of sin—the forces of selfishness and pride, the forces that keep us from confronting the truth about our lives and the world.
During this season of Lent, shatter our illusions, save us from ourselves, and open us to the new life of your Holy Spirit—a life of faith, hope, and love. As we let your Spirit lead us into repentance, may we discover the goodness and fullness of life in your kingdom of peace. In the words of Psalmist, may we find in your presence a refuge, a dwelling place, a place of rest (Ps. 91).
May we also resist the temptation to find our rest in places that muffle the cries of injustice—the desperation of the needy, the anger of the wronged, and the despair of the hopeless. May those voices echo in our Lenten silence, for the call of your Spirit also speaks through those voices. As the apostle Paul says, your word is near us, on our lips and in our hearts (Romans 10). May we use this season of Lent to empty ourselves of all that makes us deaf to that word, the Word of God, Jesus Christ, who is already on our lips and in our hearts.
— written by Isaac, a Mennonite pastor. Posted on his blog, Rusty Parts. http://www.rustyparts.com/wp/
Our Father, Mother, Creator God, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. Lead us, not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen.
*Hymn God, Who Stretched the Spangled Heavens #150
Benediction
Postlude
Staff
Natalie Bowerman Pastor
Betsy Lehmann Music Director
Joe White Custodian
Cassandra Brown Nursery Attendant
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