Dear Lord Jesus, make me a faithful vehicle of your intent, and a

capable steward of this congregation’s faith.

Baaaaa! Baaaaaa!
How would you explain the image of Jesus as "the lamb of God" to a
child?
Too often it is weak and passive. As Sarah Dylan Breuer puts it:
“seriously, if I asked you to complete the phrase “like a lamb ... ," I
bet you'd be pretty likely to say, "to the slaughter." We think of
lambs as meek and mild little creatures who go with docility to their
fate (i.e., to become shish kebabs). “
What other phrases do we connect with lambs?
meek as a lamb, mild as a lamb
sacrificial lamb
silence of the lambs
Is this what the Gospel of John is telling us? Is this what the people
of Jesus’ time thought of lambs?
Bruce Malina and Richard Rohrbaugh have created a wonderful
series of books, The Social Science Commentaries on the gospels,
that re-create the consciousness people had around the time that
Jesus lived. Lambs were an essential part of life – providing much
of the protein people ate and the clothing that people wore, as well
as sacrifices. But they point out that the phrase “Lamb of God”
spoke volumes to the people of Jesus’ day.

Everyone back then was into the stars. The stars were alive and an
essential part of everyone’s lives: in Galilee, in Rome, in Babylon,
everywhere. They could be likened to our TV or Facebook today.
People made time by the stars, and read their lives in the stars.

Let’s see a show of hands – how many of you have EVER read a
horoscope?
Ever wonder why it always starts with Aries?

According to Malina and Rohrbaugh, “It is important to note that

Aries is the first created cosmic being, the first constellation in the
Zodiac, the center and head of the cosmos” (and)

“There is but a single lamb in all creation that merits the title
“Lamb of God”, and that is the constellation labeled Aries by the
Latins. In the book of Revelation, the constellation is directly
identified as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David”, that
is, the Messiah of Israel. The same is true here in John’s Gospel,
where John the prophet identifies Jesus as Lamb of God, and his
disciples conclude he is Israel’s Messiah.”

So lamb here is not a helpless baby lamb, but another name for a
powerful Ram, that leads the cosmos. And what was the function of
this “Lamb of God”? I like how Brian McGowan, a respected, retired
Anglican priest in Western Australia, sees it:
“As I see it, we need to make a clear distinction between :
(1) a God who, however 'lovingly' we may talk about it, sacrifices
his Son; and
(2) a Son who lovingly offers himself as sacrifice not to the
Father's love, but to exemplify it. There's a world of
difference. I can no longer live with the former interpretation. The
imagery & outworking of the old Hebrew sacrificial system is not a
useful tool in our armory as we proclaim God in Christ today. God is
maligned when we turn him into a Son Sacrificer - even for our
sins!”
[repeat this passage]
McGowan says that Jesus lovingly offers himself as a sacrifice -- to
exemplify God’s love. So how does this apply to us? How do we
sacrifice ourselves to exemplify God’s love?
Let’s look at this another way. Whenever a passage like (Matthew
5:39) comes up “But if anyone strikes you on the right
cheek, turn the other also,” and it doesn’t make sense, apply
that famous Episcopalian reason. Walter Winke, who is a professor
emeritus at Auburn Theological Seminary, in my estimation got this
one right. Slapping was an act of humiliation, and the right hand
was always used. But if after being slapped you turn the other
cheek, they'd have to hit with the left hand. This is a very different
thing, and you've put them on the spot! Jesus was a brilliant dude!
You could not “stop” the domination system, but you could at least
make people think, get them out of their rut, and consider what
they were doing.
This is how Walter sees (Matthew 5:41) “ If anyone forces you
to go one mile, go with them two miles.” Roman soldiers
were legally allowed to make someone carry their pack one mile,
and one mile only. So if you continued to carry the pack another
mile, it would freak them out. Here you are the slave of the
moment, and by continuing on, working a little harder and
smarter, you had them worried, scared. Not plodding along like
a lamb to slaughter, but butting them in their assumptions,
making people think about the nature of their world, and what
they are doing in it. Changing the world, one small step at a
time.

Jesus tried to break through a rigid social system that had

hundreds, thousands, of years behind it. He made great progress.
He gave us the tools, but that unthinking unfeeling rigidity is still all
about us (and within us) - the ego and the power-hungry, the
dominators, are still around us (and within us).
God invites us to finish his “makeover” of our society into a truly
loving one, guided by the Holy Spirit, and one small step at a time.

Two Sundays ago this somewhat shabby older man showed up at

the end of church. He and his diabetic wife needed help to get back
home. He was not here to worship with us at all, but our priest
Betsy, who had plenty of other things to do after a service, took him
aside, compassionately heard his story, and gave him, in her words,
“probably too much” to help get him home.

I gave her a hard time that night about this, but have come to
realize, that at that moment, for those reasons, he was the face of
Jesus, and she helped him on his way. And, once again, I am
shamed by my uncaring selfishness. Frequently, I tend to get more
concerned about being taken advantage of than about caring for
others. Bless Betsy for showing me the way with her caring heart.
Bless you all for constantly showing me the way with your caring
hearts. Every Sunday I am humbled when reminded of your many
ministries of service!
Do our acts of compassion “change society” and make our world a
better place? I do not know how, but I honestly think YES
it really, really does! Every act of mercy and care and forgiveness is
an essential step towards this goal.

Looking at us as a congregation, as a church, where are we going?

There are some good signs for this body of Christ, this democratic
body of Christ, this Total Ministry body of Christ. We were among
the first to send money to the diocese when our diocesan offices
burned down. At that terrible moment, they really really needed
that immediate outpouring of love and care! We just made major
donations to many charities and service organizations around town.
That is so wonderful!
As a church, though, we can do more, and should do more.

More to change how we live in this lovely valley of ours, more to

change how we think of each other.

There are plans afoot to create a demonstration and teaching herb

garden using our church grounds. Wow! What a great use of our
limited space. Our soil isn’t all that fertile, but that is great for
herbs, and they will be so publicly available for anyone to use! This
has caused a lot of excitement both within our congregation, and in
our Willits community. I really really hope we can pull that one off.

Continue to pray for our Donnalee Hart, who is away today, taking
the next step toward the possibility that she will be ordained as the
first Total Ministry deacon in our diocese. What a message of hope
and service that will be to our church, and all churches, if it comes
to pass! This is not just her effort, it has been through the support
and effort of all of us – continue those prayers, for all of us.

Turn the other cheek and dare them. Walk that extra mile. Please,
please keep me reminded about a better way, a more caring way, a
more merciful way.

Get your neighbors to start thinking about a better way, a more

caring way, a more merciful way,

and we too may be able to truly be “lambs of God”.

Baaaaaa