Sharing the Music that Is In Us

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
March 17, 2024
5 Lent, Year B
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 51:1-13
John 12:20-33

Sharing the Music that Is in Us

Jesus’ response to the news that some Greeks were looking for him seems odd. Really, most of Jesus’ responses to people in John’s Gospel seem odd. In this case, his disciples tell him some Greeks are looking for him, and he says, “The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified.” 

Just before this, Jesus had come into Jerusalem, and huge crowds had been cheering for him. While he was riding into town, the Pharisees looked to one another and said, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the whole world has gone after him.” The fact that some Greeks had come to speak to Jesus seems to confirm what the Pharisees said. “The whole world has gone after [Jesus].” As much as they’d wanted to keep the whole Jesus movement from spreading, the cat was officially out of the bag and there was no stopping it now.

They were right. Early church had no buildings or organized support. They could not worship in the synagogues, nor in the Roman temples, and yet the church, spread like wildfire. People believed in Jesus. They trusted him. They found healing in Jesus. They found love. So, they ministered to others out of that same love, offering that same healing. 

As God had said through the prophet Jeremiah, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God. I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.” People were loved, forgiven, and healed, and God’s law, God’s love, was written on their hearts. 

See, there’s hearing and learning about the way of God’s love, and then there’s living the way of God’s love. As a musician, I think about the practice that goes into playing songs, getting them fully under your fingers and into your voice. You practice, and practice, and practice, and eventually, you leave the practice room, and you play the songs for others. There’s risk in that, risk in offering that music to be received by others, but it’s also a beautiful offering. When you’ve worked at it so the music is written in your heart, then it’s a beautiful offering and sharing of song and story. 

I saw Guy Forsyth play a show last week, and boy does he play. He practices a lot, and then he risks the stage. He plays those songs written in his heart, and his risk is worth it. His connection to the audience is beautiful. The stories he tells through his music, the human connection he brings, receiving his offering of music is healing.

When the music is written in your heart, then you can play, you can risk, and that brings healing and love to the world.

That healing and love is what happens when the Gospel of Jesus is written in our hearts. We leave the practice room, we risk, we play, and that brings healing and love to the world. 

Jesus talked about the risk of playing the Gospel. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,” he said, “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.”

Early followers of Jesus risked for the sake of the healing and love of the Gospel. They risked being kicked out of their synagogues, and they were kicked out of their synagogues. Gentiles risked being ostracized, and they were. 

The Gospel of Jesus demands risk. It demands being booed off stage, and if we are, ok. We practice some more, we allow the love and healing of Jesus to be written even more fully in our hearts, and we risk again. We risk not only for our sake, but for the sake of others.

We risk being peacemakers. We risk connection with one another. We risk offering the faith that is in us. We risk trusting in Jesus and following in his ways, rather than holding on so tightly to our lives out of fear of loss, that we end up hurting others and ourselves in the process. 

Our futures are uncertain. Jesus told us they would be. Following Jesus means risking that uncertainty. Jesus risked everything for our sake, for the sake of all people. “’Now is the judgment of this world;” Jesus said, “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.” (John 12:33)

How did Jesus know that he would be raised and lifted up from the earth after he was crucified? My guess is he didn’t know it. He believed it. How did Jesus know that he would draw all people to himself? My guess is he didn’t know it. He believed it. How did he know that people wouldn’t simply forget, not believe, or ignore his life, message, and resurrection? My guess is he didn’t know it. He believed it. Jesus believed that people would receive his offering, receive his way of love and forgiveness. Jesus believed that people would receive the healing he offered and that they would then risk as he did to offer that same healing of forgiveness and love to others. 

Jesus believed in God, in forgiveness and love, and because of that belief, he risked everything for the sake of all humanity. He invites us, then to risk as well, for the sake of his Gospel and for the sake of humanity. Jesus invites us to risk for the sake of people who may hear, receive, and live the forgiveness and love of Jesus through the risks we take. Jesus invites us to risk forgiveness and love of others.

If we just talk about Jesus’ forgiveness and love to others, just tell people about it, then we’re really still in the practice room. If we mostly talk about Jesus’ Gospel, then I’m not sure it’s truly written on our hearts yet. When we live Jesus’ forgiveness and love, that’s when Jesus is written on our hearts. When we truly forgive and love others, that’s when we’re risking. Living Jesus’ forgiveness and love is when we’re out of the practice room and on stage, offering our music to others, making that connection, sharing the beauty and healing of the music that is in us.

A Serpent to Kill the Lizard Brain

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
March 3, 2024
4 Lent, Year B
Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
John 3:14-21

A Serpent to Kill the Lizard Brain

So, imagine you are in a desert, the wilderness, with a few hundred thousand of your closest friends. You get to spend most of your day not hunting or growing crops, or really having to do too much work at all. You’re not worried about what you’re going to have to eat each day because food falls from Heaven each morning and settles on the ground like dew. You’ve worked on some housing and shelter, but otherwise, if you want to spend the day playing the lute or pipe and singing and dancing, you pretty much get to because God has taken care of your needs. 

Then, you start to cry. “We don’t like this food! We’re gonna die!” That’s what was going on with the people of Israel in our story from Numbers today. “We don’t like this food (that you give us every day, God)!  We’re gonna die!”

I think of children on a long car ride, kinda hungry, pretty bored, rather uncomfortable. They probably don’t actually think they are going to die of hunger, boredom, thirst, etc. If they were to think long and hard enough about how they’re actually doing, they might admit that really, they’re just uncomfortable. Listening to the anguished cries of those moderately hungry, bored, and uncomfortable children, however, it sounds like they are indeed in the last throws of starvation and death.  

To be fair to such overly dramatic children, I’ve heard plenty of adults make similar anguished cries of, “This is terrible; we’re all gonna die,” when really they were just uncomfortable or not overly happy with how things were going.  

So, back to the people of Israel, how did they go from being uncomfortable and bored to “We don’t like this food! We’re going to die!”? 

Well, it has to do with the way our brains work. There’s the thinking part of our brain, the frontal lobe, which realizes, “Yeah, no I guess I’m really not about to die; I just need a snack; I’m good.” There’s also a lower part of our brain, which I call “Lizard Brain” which has your basic fight or flight function. Lizard Brain sees a threat or a perceived threat, and it starts getting us a little more anxious, a little more agitated. Lizard Brain doesn’t know that the hunger we feel isn’t actually life threatening. Lizard Brain just knows “hunger bad!” As we go, if Lizard Brain starts to get really scared, it initiates lockdown, a fight or flight response to the real or perceived threat. The thinking part of our brains is actually shut down, and we begin acting and even making decisions based on this lowest lizard part of our brain which simply says, “There’s a threat: Eliminate or Run?”

We see this all the time with road rage, with people screaming at a cashier, with family members shouting at each other. When people say something in the heat of an argument that they instantly regret and don’t really mean, or when they’re in an argument and start making stupid arguments that they later realize they don’t even believe, that’s when Lizard Brain has taken over.  

That’s the condition of our brains. We really don’t like being uncomfortable, we’re not overly fond of anxiety, and we absolutely hate uncertainty. Our brains want resolutions to problems quickly so our world makes sense and we feel safe. 

When situations or things register in our brains as uncomfortable or possibly threatening, Lizard Brain starts to raise its little lizard head. For the children, uncomfortable in the car on the long drive, the lack of comfort brings Lizard Brain to the fore, the fight or flight response kicks in, and you get the anguished cries of children who have just had a snack and yet are starving…to death.  

So, we have the situation in Numbers in which the people of Israel were railing against God for bringing them out of Egypt just to die of hunger in the wilderness. They were in the desert, they were nomadic, and they were really tired of the miserable food God kept giving them every day, which, by the way, tasted awesome. The people of Israel were dying of hunger because they were tired of the food. Israel was not afraid of dying, even though they claimed they were. Israel was on a long car ride: uncomfortable, anxious, and full of uncertainty about the future: three things which Lizard Brain hates.  

As a response, God sent serpents among the people. That seems a bit much as a response to complaining, and certainly not something I would recommend parents do on the car ride. So, other than God being angry and wanting to hurt the people who had slandered him with lies about his mistreatment of them and them being near the point of death, what might have been going on with this serpent attack?

I had this idea that what if the serpents were a little less literally poisoning and killing people and a little more poisoning the people’s minds as the serpent did in the garden of Eden? With that idea in mind, I checked with my favorite Rabbi, and one of the coolest people I know, Annie Belford. She pointed me to commentary by 11th century Rabbi Rashi who wrote about this passage from Numbers: 

God said, as it were: Let the serpent which was punished for slanderous statements come and exact punishment from those who utter slander. — Let the serpent to which all kinds of food have one taste (that of earth; cf. Genesis 3:14 and Yoma 75a) come and exact punishment from these ingrates to whom one thing (the manna) had the taste of many different dainties (see Rashi 11:8) (Midrash Tanchuma, Chukat 19).  

Like the serpent in Eden, the people of Israel in the wilderness were telling slanderous lies against God, that he was killing them, making them starve to death.  In fact, God had cared for them and sheltered them and kept them safe and well fed, but Lizard Brain was taking over in the people and so they made their anguished cry of, “We’re gonna die.”

Then, whether God sent serpents which actually killed them with literal venom, or if the serpents were killing them with more deceit and lies, God had Moses set up a bronze serpent for the people who were bitten to look upon and be healed.  

Now, this bronze serpent was not like Medusa in reverse. It wasn’t magic, as though if it happened to cross into someone’s line of sight, suddenly they were all better. It wasn’t an idol or a god to bring healing. The bronze serpent worked as people looked upon it and realized, “That’s what I’ve become. I’ve become as the father of lies, trusting my own anxiety and Lizard Brain rather that trusting in God who has freed us and kept us safe.” They would look upon the bronze serpent with true repentance, let Lizard Brain quiet down for a few moments, and the serpent would kill the lizard.

“Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so [was] the Son of Man [lifted] up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Part of why Jesus was lifted up is to help us silence Lizard Brain when it rears its little lizard head and then help us return to trust in God and peace in our hearts. Rather than becoming the father of lies, trusting in the darkness of all our anxieties and fears, we look to Jesus, and we believe again that we are children of light. 

Of course, like the serpent which Moses raised, looking to Jesus is more than a passing thought of, “Yeah, yeah, Jesus…” whenever we’re freaking out. Looking to Jesus is a practice, a habit, that transforms our whole way of life. We believe that in Jesus, God has become one with us, one with every aspect of us, including our sins, so that no matter what, we are one with God. We believe that this life is not the end, but even after our bodies die, we continue on, alive, in union with God and one another. We let that belief change how we live, how we approach life, how we approach adversity, times when we are uncomfortable, anxious, and uncertain.

We develop habits and practices of prayer and meditation, of scripture reading, of silence and breathing, of daily turning our wills and our lives over to God. Looking to Jesus in all we do, meditating on the light and life of Jesus, trusting in our unending union with God, we practice these habits over and over and over, trusting in God for our lives and our deaths. Then, when Lizard Brain does take over, because Lizard Brain will still take over sometimes, we use our well-established practices to call us back from the lies of the lizard, the lies of the serpent, and we find peace to trust in Jesus once again, to trust that we are God’s, and no matter what, we are one with God in this life and in the life to come.

Removing the Marketplaces from Our Bodies

The Rev. Brad Sullivan
Lord of the Streets
March 3, 2024
3 Lent, Year B
Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 19
John 2:13-22 

Removing the Marketplaces from Our Bodies

So, what was the deal with the animals and the moneychangers in the temple, and why did Jesus drive them out? Animals were supposed to be there as people brought them for sacrifices. Animal sacrifice was part of the religion of Israel since the time of Moses; people would offer many different kinds of sacrifices to God, many of which involved animals. Of course, originally, the animals were ones which you brought yourself, but, it seems that not everyone had animals. Society had changed in the centuries since Moses and the priests had first established animal sacrifice, so if people didn’t have animals of their own, they were available for purchase.

The moneychangers as well, were kind of a good thing. Israel was under Roman occupation, and people had to use Roman coins, but they couldn’t use those coins in the Temple. So, the people could change out their Roman coins for Jewish coins.

That all sounds pretty legit, so what was Jesus so upset about?

Well, perhaps it’s that they had all the trappings of Temple worship, but the Temple worship was kinda corrupted. For centuries, God had had problems with Israel’s worship. Their sacrifices were always before God, and yet true love and compassion for one another was often missing in those sacrifices. Dot every “I” and cross every “T” with your Temple worship, but if it doesn’t change your heart, then who cares. Just like when the Word of God spoke through the prophets, Jesus saw worship that was an end in and of itself, rather than a means to life of greater unity and love. Jesus wanted the Temple to be a house of prayer for all, a place of life and community. Jesus wanted the Temple to be a place like Eden, where people could walk together with God in the cool of the evening breeze.

Instead, the Temple had become a place where money that could have gone to help those in need was going to purchase animals to kill on an altar to supposedly make God happy. As the prophets wrote time and time again, sacrifices don’t make God happy. Supporting and caring for one another as we were created to do, as we did in Eden, that’s what makes God happy.

God becoming human as Jesus is meant to grant us a life more like Eden, where we walk together with God in the cool of the evening breeze. Healing and unity with God and one another is the Gospel. At various times and in various ways, has that Gospel of healing and unity with God and one another been corrupted, like Temple worship was? I’m gonna go with yes.

Last week I talked about name it and claim it preaching, a Christianity which promises power and riches through belief in Jesus. That turns God into a giant ATM. Insert faith here; receive power and riches here. That’s not real life. That’s not the Gospel; it’s a gospel corrupted.

Additionally, the Gospel of Jesus, who heales us and restores us to unity with God and one another, that Gospel of healing has often become known as a gospel of sin management. Do right, or else. Of course, we’re all gonna do wrong, but don’t do too wrong. Jesus loves you, but you better not mess up too much, or after you die, you’re going to be tortured, forever. Jesus loves you, but if you’re not quite sure and don’t quite put your faith in Jesus enough, then you’re going to be tortured, forever.

Yes, that is a gospel that has been corrupted. Believe in Jesus or be tortured forever is a faith that has gone radically off the rails and is full of money changers and animals that need to be driven out of the Temple. Never don’t be afraid, and be judgmental of people around you is a faith corrupted, full of money changers and animals which need to be driven out of the Temple.

Of course, the Temple we’re talking about here is the faith itself and the Temple of our bodies. Life is hard, and we carry all of those hardships in our bodies. Why do you think healing was such a part of Jesus’ ministry? Our bodies carry all of our hurts. Our minds carry every scar. Our hearts beat with every pain we’ve ever felt. Our bodies are temples of God’s presence, and for us fully to love and live God’s presence within our bodies and among one another, our bodies need healing. Our temples need cleansing.

That healing and that cleansing comes from love. Love drives out the moneychangers and the animals from our bodies so that we may walk with God and one another in the cool of the evening breeze.

And yet, our bodies are often a marketplace, aren’t they. Things are sold to us, increasingly marketed to our specific bodies. There’s plenty of good stuff out there, don’t get me wrong, but our bodies are more than places for people to hock their wares. Our bodies are sacred and beautiful even without those body enhancing whatevers are out there.

Our bodies also become marketplaces when we become transactional in one another’s eyes. What can you do for me? How can you, your body, serve my needs?

What about when we get into religion. My god doesn’t want this thing happening. Your body is doing that thing. Somehow, I need to control your body to make my god less angry.

Our bodies become marketplaces, ways for us to get what we want out of others.

Does this transactional approach to one another’s bodies displease God? Yes! Zeal for God’s temple will consume Jesus. Zeal for how we treat one another’s bodies will consume Jesus.

So, what needs to be driven out of our lives so that we no longer treat one another’s bodies like marketplaces? What needs to be driven out of our bodies to bring about healing for us? What needs to be driven out of our bodies so that we may help others heal?

To find out, we can ask, where do we cause hurt? Where do we cause harm? What hurt and harm within ourselves are we trying to soothe? Then we can seek healing for ourselves. That usually means help from others. Healing our hurts, healing our scars, healing the pain within. That also means seeking help from God. As Psalm 51:17 tells us, “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Seeking God’s help and healing of our hurting bodies and broken spirits, that is our bodies’ temple worship.

What needs to be driven out of the temples of our bodies so that our temple worship will be the worship that God desires? What hurt and brokenness do we need to offer to God so that we may find healing and walk with God and one another in the cool of the evening breeze?