Potato Chips, Clouds, and Seeing Jesus

John 12:20-33

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’

Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.

‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’ Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

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Where do you look to see Jesus? On the night before Easter, Carol Issak opened up a bag of Clancy’s potato chips from Aldi and as she pulled out that second chip, she exclaimed to her husband Vern, “look at this!” To which he shouted, “that looks like Jesus on the cross!” The couple took this sighting as a sign of hope in the midst of Vern’s health problems.

But if you don’t have luck seeing Jesus in your next bag of frito’s, perhaps you’ll see him seared into your next piece of meat or fishstick, as Fred Whan did back in 2003! The fried Jesus portrait is frozen safely in Whan’s freezer as he waits for the right time to sell it on Ebay.

And if you have no luck with food, maybe go for a walk in the woods and you’ll see Jesus in the trees, as some people did in a small Argentinian town. Now thousands of people flock to General Las Heras to see the fame woodworker on this work in the woods.

Or perhaps look higher in Argentina and you’ll be lucky enough to see Jesus in the clouds as Mónica Aramayo did. In 2019 she shared what she said was a perfectly-timed image she took on her camera phone to "bless" others online. i’m somewhat skeptical.

Seeing Jesus in the world around us is nothing new. For centuries, people have claimed to see a real, living Jesus on crucifixes in chapels, in visions when alone in nature, or by way of a divine stranger. Whether these encounters are true or factual or not doesn’t matter much, or at least it doesn't to me. Because what I think these stories, Jesus on the potato chip or a vision of him in the woods, really show is a desire, a longing, to not simply “see Jesus’, but to have an encounter with him and for that encounter to change something in their life. It reminds me of the Greeks from our gospel reading.

There’s this group of Greeks who have traveled who knows how long of a distance to get to Jerusalem. What’s curious to me is that these Greeks were likely not Jews, meaning they weren’t there to worship at the Passover festival like everyone else. These Greeks had their own religion. They likely prayed to Zeus and Aphrodite; made sacrifices to Ares and Athena, yet they’ve come all this way looking for something, looking for someone. No surprise that the group approached the disciple who bears a Greek name, Philip, and who comes from a mostly Greek town, Bethsaida. And they say to Philip, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus”.

Maybe these Greeks were unhappy with the religion of their parents; maybe they were frustrated by their gods; maybe they were philosophers looking for an argument; regardless of why, what’s clear is they want to see Jesus.

They don’t ask Philip to tell them what he knows about Jesus. They don’t want a list of beliefs. They don’t ask to join a committee or a new member class. They ask to see Jesus. And the word “see” here in John isn’t just the physical act of light hitting retinas. It means they want an encounter, to meet him face to face, an experience with this Jesus they’ve likely heard so much about.

What’s not clear in our passage is if the Greeks wish ever comes true. As soon as they ask, Philip goes to Andrew, and then they both go to Jesus to make the request. But instead of instructing his disciples to bring the greeks to him, Jesus jumps into some discourse that on the face of it, seems completely unrelated to the request: seeds dying in the dirt, loving and hating life, the hour of glory. What does any of that have to do with seeing Jesus?

This request from the Greeks is more than just a group of people wanting to see Jesus. It’s an indication that this movement has gone beyond the Jews, reaching gentiles now too.

Which for Jesus means the hour has come for him to be glorified, to do what he came to do; it’s time to be lifted up, for this single grain of wheat to be buried in the ground, and to draw all people to himself. In other words, Jesus is telling anyone and everyone that if you want to encounter me, look to the cross because that’s where you’ll see me.

It’s in the last place we expect to look. And Jesus says this is glory? For us, glory is wealth and comfort, beauty and success; but for Jesus, it means service, suffering, and sacrifice. The best view we get of Jesus, the place we encounter his grace, and experience his love most, is standing at the foot of the cross. Because there on the cross we see service, suffering, and sacrifice for the benefit of others; that’s what it means to see Jesus.

The question for us this morning is, If those Greeks showed up at Cross of Grace, would they see what they’re looking for? Would they see service and suffering and sacrifice for the benefit of others? Because that’s what others want and need to see. Maybe people are unhappy with the religion of their parents, or frustrated/hurt by another church, or simply looking for something, someone to tell them they are loved. Regardless of why, there is a longing, a desire to encounter this Jesus that so many have heard about. Do you see that, when you come here?

I do and I know others do too. Maybe you’ve encountered Jesus through the wide welcome and affirming love we share here. Or through a meal with our friends on the Eastside through our agape ministry. I saw Christ on full display yesterday as Emily Michaelis made vows to serve all of God people out in the world as an Ordained minister of Word and Service. And throughout Lent, I have experienced God in our Wenesday rituals as we bear our grief and suffering together. Hopefully you too experience Jesus in this place.

Yet, we don’t only see Jesus in the church, nor should we.

Like me, many of you kept an eye on the weather Thursday night, hoping the storm would pass and no tornados would hit. The communities of Winchester and Selma, two small towns in Delaware county, weren't so lucky. Reports I’ve read say at least one EF3 tornado hit the towns, maybe more. 22 homes had been leveled, more than 100 buildings had been damaged, and three people died.

Scott Ries was the only ER Doctor working at the local hospital that night. In a moving Facebook post, he set the scene. Before they knew all of what happened, 10 people were brought in: limping, bleeding, screaming, terror stricken. The Taco Bell across the street had just exploded. Within the hour, nearly 40 more patients arrived, overwhelming the hospital and this doctor.

Scott says, “but then, word spread... and I found myself surrounded by medical professionals ready to help. In less than an hour, 4 local physicians and 7 nurse practitioners,

nurses from all areas and even other hospitals, some of whom had just finished working 12 hours returned to the ER... respiratory therapists... xray techs... EMS personnel of all sorts... flooded to our side, with everyone asking one singular question in unity... "How can I help?"

Other hospitals called and said they would take patients, but all of the hospitals’ ambulances were too busy bringing people to this hospital.

Just at that time, the hospital CEO said, “Dr. Ries we have 21 ambulances lined up outside ready to take patients wherever you need them to go.” By the grace of God, no lives that passed through our ER were lost. While the long haul work of recovery for the community will now begin, I am so very proud of our extended team and how each member responded with such grace and willingness to serve.”

We don’t see Jesus in glory, or in the clouds, and certainly not in potato chips. We see and experience Jesus in stories like that, where service, suffering, and sacrifice happen for the benefit of others.

There, in the places we’d least expect to look, we see Jesus. Amen.

Game of Thrones - Job: The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors

Job 1:1-5, 13-22

There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.

His sons used to go and hold feasts in one another’s houses in turn; and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the feast days had run their course, Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” This is what Job always did.

One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.”

Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong-doing.

Mark 4:35-41

On that day, when evening had come, [Jesus] said to [the disciples], “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace!  Be s till!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?”  And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

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Today’s theme – the last in this whole “Game of Thrones” series – is inspired by a particular character in the “Game of Thrones” saga. Her name is Malisandre. She is a kind of priestess or evil witch, it seems to me, who does horribly creepy things like seducing men, giving birth to shadows, performing rituals with stolen blood and constantly warning and reminding people that “the night is dark and full of terrors.” She repeats it like a mantra - “the night is dark and full of terrors;” or like a promise - “the night is dark and full of terrors;” or as some kind of threat - “the night is dark and full of terrors;” and also as though it is just a matter of fact, an objective truth - “the night is dark and full of terrors.”

And just like all the other sermons in the series, I don’t believe you have to have seen a minute of the show to find meaning here. Because the night is dark and full of terrors – not just in the world of “Game of Thrones,” but in the real world, too. And that made me think about – and want to spend some time with – Job as part of all of this.

Job is no witch, of course, and he’s certainly not evil or sneaky or creepy in any way. He’s the opposite, actually: a model of faithfulness, a righteous man who gets caught up in a power-play between God and “the Satan,” as the story goes. And we are supposed to read Job as a story – as a parable – as a reflection on suffering; particularly the suffering of the innocent and righteous of humanity. It takes place in a mysterious land called Uz – an apparently made-up place you won’t find on any map – but with real, relevant lessons for us, still.

In the verses we heard this morning, we get just the beginning – and just a taste – of Job’s torment: the surprising, unwarranted loss of everything dear to him – the oxen and cattle and camels; even his servants and all of his beloved children, most significantly. Throughout the rest of the story Job – faithful, righteous, blameless Job – wrestles and argues and commiserates with his friends about the purpose of and the reason for his loss and his suffering. They try to rationalize that he must have done something to deserve it; that God wouldn’t allow the truly innocent, the truly blameless, the truly righteous to suffer like Job was suffering.

And one of the things we love about Job, is that he knows that’s not true – he’s living proof that the righteous, the innocent, the faithful of God do suffer on occasion – that the night is dark and full of terrors, sometimes. And one of the other things we love about Job is that he’s in such a loving, faithful relationship with God – he’s so darned righteous – that he has that conversation with his maker, boldly and without shame. Job challenges God with hard questions in the face of his grief. Job begs God to end his suffering, by any means, necessary. Job lets God know how broken and hurting and full of despair he’s become.

And ultimately, at the end of Job’s story, God shows up for Job. And, while God doesn’t give Job any easy answers, God reveals for Job the vastness of God’s power in creation – and of Job’s place and perspective in the midst of all God has made. God has made a world that is beautiful, for sure. But God leaves it – and all of us – to our own devices a lot of the time, so it’s broken, too, this world where we live.

The night – and the day, and our lives in this world – can, indeed, be dark and full of terrors.

So we empathize with Job, because we know where he’s coming from, don’t we? He’s not just some character… in a parable… from a galaxy, far, far away. Job is us. Job is you and me and all of humanity asking hard questions about the unfair, unreasonable, unbearable-at-times terrors and trials and suffering and pain that find us and threaten us more often than we’d like.

Job is every loved-one, still grieving in Dayton and El Paso.

Job is every parent who’s lost a child. Job is every child who’s lost a parent.

Job is anyone and everyone who’s lost everything – or who has ever felt like all is lost.

Job is any one of us at any time that we’ve questioned God’s love for us; or God’s love for the world; or God’s presence or providence or power in our lives.

I had Job on the brain this week, when I watched Anderson Cooper interview Stephen Colbert on CNN. The interview was full of all the politics and humor you’d expect. And if you know anything about Stephen Colbert, who seems as smart and faithful and Biblically literate as he is funny, the rest of the conversation might not have surprised you. I want to share a bit of it because – even though they never mention his name – it was pretty much a study in the theology and the lessons of Job, if you ask me.

The little back-story you need to know here is that Stephen Colbert lost his father and two of his older brothers when he was just 10 years old. They were killed in a plane crash. And, as you may also know, Anderson Cooper lost his own father when he was just10, as well. He lost his brother to suicide when they were both in their early twenties. And his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, died just this past June. So, like Job and his friends in the Old Testament story, these two men were commiserating about the nature and purpose of suffering – their own and the suffering in the lives of others.

Cooper: You told an interview that you have, in your words, “Love the thing that I most wish had not happened.” You went on to say, “What punishments of God are not gifts?” Do you really believe that?

Colbert: Yes. It’s a gift to exist. It’s a gift to exist. And with existence come suffering. There’s no escaping that. And I guess I’m either a Catholic or Buddhist when I say those things, because I’ve heard those from both traditions.

But I didn’t learn it - that I was grateful for the thing I most wish hadn’t happened, as that I realized it. Is that.. and it’s an oddly guilty feeling…

Cooper: Its doesn’t mean that you are happy that it happened.

Colbert: I don’t want it to have happened. I want it not to have happened. But, if you are grateful for your life, which I think is a positive thing to do… not everybody is… I’m not always… but it’s the most positive thing to do, then you have to be grateful for all of it. You can’t pick and choose what you’re grateful for.

And, then, so what do you get from loss? You get awareness of other people’s loss…

Cooper: Well that’s true. Empathy.

Colbert: …which allows you connect with that other person, which allows you to love more deeply and to understand what it means to be a human being, if it’s true that all human beings suffer.

So, at a young age, I suffered something so that by the time I was in serious relationships in my life, with friends or with my wife or with my children, is that I have some understanding that everyone is suffering and, however imperfectly, acknowledge their suffering, and to connect with them and to love them in a deep way, that not only accepts that all of us suffer, but also then makes you grateful for the fact that you have suffered, so that you can know that about other people. And that’s what I mean. It’s about the fullness of your humanity.

What’s the point of being here and being human if you can’t be the most human you can be? I’m not saying ‘best.’ ‘Cause you can be a bad person and most human. I want to be the most human I can be and that involves acknowledging and ultimately being grateful for the things that I wish didn’t happen because they gave me a gift.

Cooper: One of the things my mom would often say, she said that “I never ask, ‘Why me? Why did this happen to me?’” She would always say, “Why not me? Why would me be exempt from what has befallen everybody, countless others over the centuries?

And that’s another thing that has helped me think, “Yeah. Why not me? This is part of being alive. I mean, the suffering is, you know, sadness, suffering, these are all … you know … it’s … you can’t have happiness without having loss and suffered.

Colbert: And in my tradition, that’s the great gift of the sacrifice of Christ, is that God does it, too. That you’re really not alone, that God does it, too.

The thing about Job – and any lessons we stand to learn about our own suffering, from his – is that these lessons are hard to come by, in the moment, when we need them most. Just like Colbert said he didn’t “learn it” as much as he “realized it” [over time and through his faith and in experiences with others], Job couldn’t learn or see what he needed to learn in the depths of his suffering and despair, either.

It took time and patience and wrestling with his maker. It took a wider view of God’s creation and a realization that it wasn’t, ever, all or only about Job. Job realized that it was a gift to be just a part of all that God had so lovingly, carefully made. And, as hard as it is can be to abide, “the night is dark and full of terrors,” for sure. And never mind the “terrors,” the really big stuff that threatens to crush us. The night is dark and full of trials and tribulations that test our patience and cause us to stumble and challenge our faith, just the same – “storms” literal and figurative; cosmic and close-to-home.

It’s why I like this Gospel story of Jesus, in that storm-swamped boat with the disciples, paired with Job’s story. Much like Job wondered of God, the disciples are terrified and concerned that Jesus, asleep in the back of the boat, doesn’t care that they are perishing. And just like God did for Job, in the end, Jesus reveals the power of God over all of creation. Even the wind and the sea obey him!

This wasn’t a magic trick. This was Jesus showing the disciples – in the midst of their terror – the same thing God showed to Job in the midst of his – and something we’d do well to wrestle with whenever we can muster the faith: that trials and tragedies come; that fear and failure happen; that death and disease and suffering and sadness occur; that the night is dark and full of terrors; that God never promises us otherwise and that there’s not always anything we can do to avoid it.

But there is always hope.

Earlier in that same interview, Stephen Colbert told Anderson Cooper something he learned from his mother, about struggle and suffering, over the years, and that was “to see everything in the light of eternity.”  To see all things in the light of eternity.

None of what scares or saddens us most is any match for the love of a God who suffers for and with us, when we do. None of what breaks our hearts on this side of eternity is any match for the grace of God who already lives on the other side of heaven.

Our God suffers and survives, to let us know we will, too.

Our God silences the wind, to let us know love always gets the last word.

The night is dark and full of terrors, but our God’s light shines in the darkness, our God’s mercies are without limit, and our God’s faith, hope and love never end.

Amen