A sermon based upon Mark 10:13-16.
Pentecost 18 Year B October 8, 2006
In the name of Jesus; amen.
September 27~ A drifter took 6 teenage girls hostage at their high school in the small mountain community of Bailey southwest of Denver. After sexually assaulting them he shot and killed one girl then turned the gun on himself.
September 29~ Congressman Mark Foley, Chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children resigns after ABC News reports that he had been sending sexually explicit email and instant messages to a 16 and 17 year old congressional pages.
October 2~ A milk truck delivery driver storms into a one room Amish school house, sends the boys and adults outside then opened fire on the dozen girls, killing 3 and fatally wounding several others before killing himself.
Two weeks ago~ up in this pulpit I read the following statistic from John and Sylvia Ronsvalle's book, Behind the Stained Glass Windows: Money Dynamics in the Church:
“We live in a world where it is estimated that thirty-five thousand children under the age of five die daily around the globe, most from preventable poverty conditions and many in areas where no church has been planted to tell them of Jesus' love. We can be confident that such conditions are not God's will: Perhaps one idea that would not be debatable in any part of the church is that Jesus loves the little children of the world. The financial cost to end most of these child deaths, it has been proposed, is about $2.5 billion a year, which is the amount Americans spend on chewing gum.”
And this is nothing. I could fill up the next hour with stories from in this country and around the world detailing horrors that occur in the lives of children and only scratch the surface. So I don’t find it all ironic or coincidental that (what I read of) the gospel from this morning reports a story about Jesus’ disciples speaking sternly to people who were bringing their children to be blessed by him.
I don’t find it at all ironic or coincidental that when Jesus sees this taking place he becomes indignant.
I have been downright angry by the news stories of the last two weeks. I have been angry and depressed and filled with sorrow. I’ve found myself crying, unable to listen anymore and unable to stop listening the way a parent listens when you hear things like this. Because as a parent you can only hear these reports so clearly before shutting down your emotions.
According to dictionary.com, Indignant is: -adjective… a feeling, characterized by, or expressing strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting, or base.
Jesus gets indignant only once in scripture and it happens when little children are prevented from being brought to him in order that they might be touched by him, the good kind of touch, the kind of touch which is blessing.
This Gospel couldn’t have come at a better time. This story of how Jesus cares for the little children of the world is a word of condemnation for the way children are treated and abused in this day and it’s a word of comfort assuring us that God does indeed care about what happens to children.
I don’t want you to get me wrong. There is forgiveness in the gospel for those who abuse and neglect and harm. God also loves the sinner and God loves those men who did these horrible things. God loves Mark Foley and God loves Charles Roberts. We need to know that because we are also sinners in need of God’s love and forgiveness.
You don’t believe me, talk Marie Roberts, Charles Robert’s wife, who has been embraced by the Amish community, whose children are being supported because the Amish Elders insisted that a fund be set up for them.
I don’t know if any of these crimes could have been prevented. How do you stop a person who has issues like these from doing the unthinkable? But I do know that this congregation cares about children. I do know that this congregation takes the indignation of Christ seriously when children are prevented from receiving blessing.
We said so in our mission statement: To proclaim Christ through worship, fellowship, and caring for our neighbor with an emphasis on families, children and youth, the elderly, and the poor.
We say so at the table, because no child is kept from the bread and the wine which are Christ’s own body and blood. We say so in our Sunday School where children are taught about God’s love throughout the entirety of time.
We say so in worship, because children are not made to sit silent, but encouraged to sing out and lead our praise and thanksgiving to God. We say so in the way we give to our camper-ship fund and our vacation bible school. We say so in the food we give to the food bank that services the families of this community.
We say so! But we need to say more. We need to say it in the way we vote, in the way we joke, in the way we interact with our friends, in the way we spend our money, in the way we do our jobs, in the way we raise our own children, and care for other people’s children.
We need to speak Christ’s indignation to a world which still sees children as throw-away property.
I want us to be indignant like Christ and continue to welcome the little children of the world into blessing. Not because they are innocent, or precious, or the future, but because Christ was innocent when he died for us, Christ is precious to us and because Christ is our future!
We can report a different story. We can proclaim this gospel to the world because the world needs it to be shouted from the mountaintops and throughout the valleys.
Jesus loves the little children!
Amen.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Welcome the Children
A sermon based upon Mark 9:30-37
Pentecost 16 Year B September 27, 2006
In the name of Jesus; amen.
Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."
I want to explain myself and something that I have been doing ever since I came to this church; actually, it is something that I have been doing ever since I became a pastor. I want to explain why I offer communion to small children who haven’t gone through First Communion Classes.
I want to do this because I know that some people have been wondering about it and it seems to me that today’s gospel provides as good a reason as any to talk about it as any other time.
Jesus was again traveling with his disciples and teaching them about his suffering and death in Jerusalem. On the way they were having an argument; the argument is about which one of them is considered the most important disciple. When they arrive at their destination that Jesus asks what it was they were talking about and none of them will say.
It sounds as if the disciples just didn’t get it, but I think they were beginning to. If Jesus was going to suffer and die then the disciples wanted to know who his number two guy was. Who was going to take over after he was gone?
What happens next may not seem like a big thing; in fact, it might seem rather sweet… the kind of thing one would paint in a picture.
Jesus says "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."
Jesus takes a little child and puts in the middle of them, then takes it into his arms.
Of course we have all seen pictures of Jesus doing exactly that sort of thing, but what you might not know is that things like that never happened in the first century world. According to the New Interpreters Bible…
... the child in antiquity was a non-person (cf. Gal 4:1-2 My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property; but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father). Children should have been with the women, not hanging around the teacher and his students. And in another commentary about Mark it says, “In ancient culture, children had no status. They were subject to the authority of their fathers, viewed as little more than property.”
What Jesus did in these simple actions was acknowledge that children had value far beyond what society believed. He did the same with women. Boundaries changed with Jesus, the value of each person changed each time he touched them, or healed them, or spoke to them. It turned the world around.
I want to read you another quote from John and Sylvia Ronsvalle's book, Behind the Stained Glass Windows: Money Dynamics in the Church:
“We live in a world where it is estimated that thirty-five thousand children under the age of five die daily around the globe, most from preventable poverty conditions and many in areas where no church has been planted to tell them of Jesus' love. We can be confident that such conditions are not God's will: Perhaps one idea that would not be debatable in any part of the church is that Jesus loves the little children of the world. The financial cost to end most of these child deaths, it has been proposed, is about $2.5 billion a year, which is the amount Americans spend on chewing gum.”
So why do I give communion to small children? I remember going through First Communion Instruction, I remember having to wait until I was all done learning everything my 4th grade mind could retain, I remember wearing a special dress and I remember feeling as though I had accomplished something that made me special enough to eat the Lord’s body and drink his blood.
In seminary I remember questioning congregations who had first communion instruction in 2nd grade; how on earth could a second grader understand Holy Communion enough to be able to take it?
And then I had my daughter, who last night informed me that the theme for today should be “Plans for Our Church.” I don’t know if she was even two years old when she went up for a blessing one Sunday and put her hand out for the bread. Suddenly I realized that there is nothing one can do to earn the right to take communion and the only special knowledge on has to have is this: “I want some too.”
It’s the thing about children, they often ask for things we adults don’t think they are ready for. And yet, in church, in God’s house everything is grace and we aren’t meant to be stingy about it, or choosy about who does and doesn’t get it.
Children are worth more than chewing gum and to Jesus they were of such great value that he would use one child to explain the point of greatness to his disciples.
And of all the things we do on a regular basis on Sunday morning, taking communion is jam packed with God’s grace. God’s table is the one place we go where we know, unequivocally, that we are all of us, of great value. It is meant to be that way. It is meant to be a place where we do not doubt God’s love for us or his immense and wonderful grace. And when we commune children, even the littlest of children, we say something about that love and about that grace: we say that it really is meant for everyone because everyone is of value to God.
Jesus took a little child into his arms to make a point about greatness and the value of his love; that it is meant for each of us. We are so loved, each one of us, young and old, that Jesus feeds us with his very own body and blood.
It is a thing to celebrate and be joyous about. And perhaps because children are so good at celebrating they will lead us in an even greater understanding of just what we do in this place.
And that’s a good plan…
Amen.
Pentecost 16 Year B September 27, 2006
In the name of Jesus; amen.
Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."
I want to explain myself and something that I have been doing ever since I came to this church; actually, it is something that I have been doing ever since I became a pastor. I want to explain why I offer communion to small children who haven’t gone through First Communion Classes.
I want to do this because I know that some people have been wondering about it and it seems to me that today’s gospel provides as good a reason as any to talk about it as any other time.
Jesus was again traveling with his disciples and teaching them about his suffering and death in Jerusalem. On the way they were having an argument; the argument is about which one of them is considered the most important disciple. When they arrive at their destination that Jesus asks what it was they were talking about and none of them will say.
It sounds as if the disciples just didn’t get it, but I think they were beginning to. If Jesus was going to suffer and die then the disciples wanted to know who his number two guy was. Who was going to take over after he was gone?
What happens next may not seem like a big thing; in fact, it might seem rather sweet… the kind of thing one would paint in a picture.
Jesus says "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me."
Jesus takes a little child and puts in the middle of them, then takes it into his arms.
Of course we have all seen pictures of Jesus doing exactly that sort of thing, but what you might not know is that things like that never happened in the first century world. According to the New Interpreters Bible…
... the child in antiquity was a non-person (cf. Gal 4:1-2 My point is this: heirs, as long as they are minors, are no better than slaves, though they are the owners of all the property; but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father). Children should have been with the women, not hanging around the teacher and his students. And in another commentary about Mark it says, “In ancient culture, children had no status. They were subject to the authority of their fathers, viewed as little more than property.”
What Jesus did in these simple actions was acknowledge that children had value far beyond what society believed. He did the same with women. Boundaries changed with Jesus, the value of each person changed each time he touched them, or healed them, or spoke to them. It turned the world around.
I want to read you another quote from John and Sylvia Ronsvalle's book, Behind the Stained Glass Windows: Money Dynamics in the Church:
“We live in a world where it is estimated that thirty-five thousand children under the age of five die daily around the globe, most from preventable poverty conditions and many in areas where no church has been planted to tell them of Jesus' love. We can be confident that such conditions are not God's will: Perhaps one idea that would not be debatable in any part of the church is that Jesus loves the little children of the world. The financial cost to end most of these child deaths, it has been proposed, is about $2.5 billion a year, which is the amount Americans spend on chewing gum.”
So why do I give communion to small children? I remember going through First Communion Instruction, I remember having to wait until I was all done learning everything my 4th grade mind could retain, I remember wearing a special dress and I remember feeling as though I had accomplished something that made me special enough to eat the Lord’s body and drink his blood.
In seminary I remember questioning congregations who had first communion instruction in 2nd grade; how on earth could a second grader understand Holy Communion enough to be able to take it?
And then I had my daughter, who last night informed me that the theme for today should be “Plans for Our Church.” I don’t know if she was even two years old when she went up for a blessing one Sunday and put her hand out for the bread. Suddenly I realized that there is nothing one can do to earn the right to take communion and the only special knowledge on has to have is this: “I want some too.”
It’s the thing about children, they often ask for things we adults don’t think they are ready for. And yet, in church, in God’s house everything is grace and we aren’t meant to be stingy about it, or choosy about who does and doesn’t get it.
Children are worth more than chewing gum and to Jesus they were of such great value that he would use one child to explain the point of greatness to his disciples.
And of all the things we do on a regular basis on Sunday morning, taking communion is jam packed with God’s grace. God’s table is the one place we go where we know, unequivocally, that we are all of us, of great value. It is meant to be that way. It is meant to be a place where we do not doubt God’s love for us or his immense and wonderful grace. And when we commune children, even the littlest of children, we say something about that love and about that grace: we say that it really is meant for everyone because everyone is of value to God.
Jesus took a little child into his arms to make a point about greatness and the value of his love; that it is meant for each of us. We are so loved, each one of us, young and old, that Jesus feeds us with his very own body and blood.
It is a thing to celebrate and be joyous about. And perhaps because children are so good at celebrating they will lead us in an even greater understanding of just what we do in this place.
And that’s a good plan…
Amen.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Ghosts
A Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter based upon Luke 24:36 - 48
In the name of Jesus; amen
I love a good ghost story. If I have a choice between seeing a romantic comedy or a scary movie, I will always choose the scary movie and if ghosts are involved all the better. I like to be frightened when I’m reading a book or seeing a movie; but I also like to be able to put the book away or turn the movie off or leave the theatre and reenter the world of reality where the make-believe is only the stuff of imagination.
There is a show on the Sci-fi Channel called Ghost Hunters. A team of people go around trying to scientifically prove or disprove hauntings. I catch it every once in awhile and I’m always fascinated by it because they go about their jobs as skeptics trying to be proven wrong.
They are lead by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, who are Roto-Rooter Plumbers by day and ghost hunters by night. They travel all over the country trying to determine if ghosts really do haunt places. And their web-site is now the most visited paranormal web-site in the world.
Most of the time very little happens and the stories that they have gone to investigate appear to be embellished or made-up entirely. But every once in awhile they find something strange. Noises that shouldn’t be heard or shadows that shouldn’t be seen. Cold spots, a sign of a ghostly presence, occur where it should be warm or, on one episode I saw, a lamp moves for no reason across a bed stand in a haunted hotel.
I have ghost stories too. Ask me about them later if you’d like. Typically when I’m asked if I believe in ghosts I will tell you that there are a lot of things in this world that can’t be explained. Scripture itself is filled with them: demons, possessions, astrology, precognition, and spirits all make appearances in the pages of the Bible. And while we are a modern day people, with modern day understandings of science, that doesn’t necessarily, mean that those things don’t exist.
Today’s gospel reading begins as a ghost story. It is late Sunday night and the eleven disciples together with their companions are hiding out until it is safe to leave Jerusalem. Earlier that day some of the women who were with them had gone to the tomb of Jesus to take spices to properly bury his body. But they had returned with a strange story, a story that they had quickly dismissed because it was illogical and impossible.
They had said that there were angels in the tomb and that the angels had said that Jesus was no longer dead. And when Peter and some of the other disciples had gone to check all they had found was an empty tomb and the linen cloths that had been Jesus’ burial shroud.
Then later two of those who had been with them set out to a town called Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem, in an attempt to escape the Roman and Jewish authorities. Their sense of fear was already heightened as they wondered if their friends would make it to safety.
It was now night-time and when the doors opened and it was Cleopas and his companion (perhaps his wife) with another story of Jesus not being dead… well, that’s a classic in the set-up for a good ghost story.
All the elements are there: tension, strange reports, danger. And don’t forget that someone has just died and died terribly. And they all watched it happen and did nothing to try and stop it.
There must have been a great deal of guilt in that room mixed with apprehension and fear. So when Jesus appears out of nowhere it doesn’t matter what he says… they are “startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.”
I love a good ghost story and if you ask me later I will tell you stories of some of the strange things that I have seen in my life, but this is not a ghost story.
It might have all the elements of a Stephen King novel and it might give you nightmares if Wes Craven (director of Nightmare on Elm Street and the Scream trilogy) directed a movie about it, but there is a twist in this story that takes it far out of the horror genre: Jesus isn’t a ghost.
“Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And to prove he’s real he asks for something to eat.
When asked if I believe in ghosts, I will often say that I have seen and experienced some strange things. I will even admit that they are possible, but I will also be clear that I don’t put my faith in them.
We are not a people who believe in an afterlife of spirits or ghosts. I might threaten my husband that if he does something I don’t like after I die that I will come back and haunt him, but I don’t believe that I will and to his credit he doesn’t either.
Instead, we are a resurrection people. That is something entirely different. It is a promise that death isn’t final, but that there is something more. And that “more” isn’t just spiritual… we won’t be ghosts or pieces of ourselves; but whole beings. And it’s not a promise of reincarnation where we keep coming back until we get it right.
The first words that Jesus speaks to his followers who are gathered together in fear and sorrow and guilt are “Shalom” that is: “Peace be with you.” There are implications to that word, Shalom. It implies blessing and wholeness… complete-ness.
We are made complete in the resurrection we have been promised through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
We will not be just spirits, but whole, physical beings made complete through the forgiveness and love of God.
I love a good ghost story, but I love a resurrection story even more because it isn’t a story that I can close up or walk out on like a book or a movie. I love a resurrection story because it includes me and it promises a happy ending that really isn’t an ending.
Jesus took the disciples from fear and terror to wholeness and made them witnesses of the promise that God has made to us and our stories.
Not a ghost story, but a promise of resurrection.
Not a horror story, but a promise of forgiveness and healing.
Not a tragic story, but a promise of victory over death.
Alleluia! Amen!
Darkness to Life
An Easter Sermon Based upon John 20:1-18
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Christ is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!
In the name of the risen Jesus; amen.
“While it was still dark…”
It was incredibly early in the morning, so early that it was still dark. One might even refer to the time that Mary Magdalene made her way to the tomb as night. My guess is she couldn’t sleep. The time in between the crucifixion and when it was appropriate to make her way to the tomb was excruciatingly long. He had died on a Friday and placed in a tomb before sundown began the Sabbath.
It was the way they counted time; from sundown to sundown and the Sabbath would have ended Saturday evening. For more than 24 hours, Mary waited to go to the place she had seen them lay the life-less body of this man whom she loved.
There were rules about the Sabbath and there were rules about death and the rules said that one needed to wait until after the Sabbath to tend to the dead. And it was Mary’s task, the task of a woman to anoint the dead, to make the burial proper, to ensure that the body and the spirit of the person were cared for.
She had tried to wait until the light came up, until sunshine would have lit her path, but the Gospel of John tells us that she couldn’t wait… “that while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.”
Her first thought was that someone had taken him and so she ran to find Peter and John to tell them. And they went, and they saw that what she said was true, but they didn’t offer her any comfort. After looking in the tomb, they went back home leaving her alone and weeping.
I can only imagine the thoughts that went through her head.
Did she curse herself for not doing more, for not coming sooner to make certain that Jesus was properly buried, to guard his grave to ensure that no one would take him away?
She had blown it, the one thing left that she could do for Jesus was to pour perfume on his corpse and say good-bye… and now her chance was gone.
At that moment the end of the story had come for her. She had watched him die and couldn’t do a thing about it and then she had waited too long to come to the tomb. She must have been overwhelmed by grief and anger; she must have forced herself to look into the hole where he was supposed to be so that when she saw the angels sitting there she didn’t recognize them for what they were.
And then that question: “Woman, why are you weeping?”
Obviously, they didn’t understand, so she explained it to them and then she explained it to the gardener: “They have taken him from me. If you know where he is, tell me and I will take him.”
Did the sun come up at just that moment? Maybe it was already daylight, but for Mary the response she was given created a brand new day.
And it wasn’t just for Mary… that next moment, the one after she begs for Jesus to be returned to her, is the moment when we are offered a brand new day.
She hears her name spoken and spoken by a familiar voice. It is the voice of the one who rid her of her demons. It is the voice of the one who loved her and cared for her. It is the voice of the one who asked her to follow him. It is the voice of the one who she had heard cry out two days before on the cross: “It is finished.”
It was the voice of her teacher and friend; it was the voice of Jesus.
The moment of Easter occurred for Mary when Jesus spoke her name.
It’s a funny thing really… we celebrate Christ’s resurrection on Sunday, but the resurrection most likely occurred on a Saturday. Jesus was gone from the tomb before Sunday morning happened, while it was still dark, still night-time, the way we figure time and the way John tells it.
So I would suggest that this is a day to celebrate more than Jesus rising from the tomb. Today isn’t just the day that we remember Jesus’ resurrection. It is the day when the one who was supposed to be dead calls our name: Easter is our brand new day. Easter is our resurrection day.
This is the day that the one who was supposed to be dead and buried stands in front of us and speaks our name in a familiar voice. The voice of the one who rids us of our sin. The voice of the one who loves us and cares for us. The voice of the one who asks us to follow him. The voice of the one who suffered and died for us on Good Friday.
The voice of our teacher and friend; the voice of Jesus!
Speaking our name!
That is our resurrection story. But the story doesn’t end there. It doesn’t end for Mary and it doesn’t end for us. The voice that spoke Mary’s name, that speaks our names, gives us a voice to use this brand new day.
It is a voice to shout Hallelujah! It is a voice to shout: Because he lives we live! It is a voice to proclaim: We have seen the Lord!
This isn’t a story meant to stay in the dark. Just as we aren’t meant to live in darkness or grief or sorrow, this is a story that is meant to be shared and brought to the light of a brand new day.
We are meant to tell our resurrection story, to share it like Mary Magdalene went and shared it with the disciples.
What happened that Easter day over 2,000 years ago will always be the most important moment in our story. The moment Jesus called Mary’s name is the moment that took us from weeping to rejoicing.
It changed everything for us.
Listen, God is calling your name now; proclaiming your resurrection and giving you a voice.
Use it to tell the story:
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amen!
Friday, April 14, 2006
I'm Thirsty
A Sermon based upon John 19:28-30; preached at the Community Good Friday Service 2006
Three verses. One paragraph of scripture. How long did this moment take? This moment of Jesus knowing that all was done… accomplished? This moment from thirst to death?
I’ve been told that by the time a person feels thirsty they are already dehydrated. We are supposed to avoid thirst, to keep hydrated. Drink 8 glasses of water everyday. And that’s 8 glasses of water, not 8 other drinks; not coffee or soda or beer. We are supposed to put into our bodies those things that are good for us; to avoid those things which will cause thirst and dehydration.
It’s not always easy though. If you are one of those people who actually drinks 8 glasses of water every day, I am impressed. I don’t do it. It’s more likely that I’ve drank 8 cups of coffee today than even 1 glass of water.
And I know it’s not good for me, but I do it anyway.
John’s gospel tells us that Jesus’ thirst is a fulfillment of scripture, a reference to Psalm 69:21: “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” But it’s hard to imagine that Jesus wasn’t actually thirsty.
Of the four gospels, my favorite has always been Luke, but I am in love with John’s gospel in a way that I do not feel about the other three. John is a theological writing, a book written to explain who God is. It was most likely written as an argument against other gospels that were circulating at the time.
These other gospels that John was concerned about were gnostic, what we consider to be a heresy. Gnosticism involved the belief in salvation through esoteric mystical knowledge by an initiated elite. As a rule, gnostics were extreme ascetics and believed the body to be evil. Gnosticism has been making a comeback with the highly popular book: The Da Vinci Code and the now with the emergence of the Gospel of Judas.
John wrote against the idea that one could attain a higher spiritual knowledge of God and because of that the Jesus of John’s gospel feels more human and real to me than the Jesus in Matthew, Mark, or Luke.
Jesus didn’t just say the words so that scripture could be fulfilled; Jesus really was thirsty and his thirst was a fulfillment of what was in scripture. Jesus didn’t just go through the motions of being crucified in order to make for an interesting story; Jesus really did get nailed to a cross, Jesus really did die.
There is a comfort in that. Death is a reality. It is not a higher spiritual existence or worse one that we can avoid by reaching a higher mystical knowledge of God.
What Jesus endured wasn’t esoteric… it was real.
I get thirsty and I’m sure you do too, even when we do our best to put all the right things into ourselves; we still get thirsty.
This past Sunday 49 year old, John Schettenhelm, a pastor in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in Orange was riding his motorcycle and turning into his driveway when he was struck from behind and killed.
Stories like that make me thirsty.
In an article in the New Haven Register Orange First Selectman James Zeoli said late (Palm) Sunday he was struck by the reality that Schettenhelm’s congregation could not have lost its leader at a worse time, just one week before Easter.
Can we agree that there is never a good time for someone to get struck and killed in a motorcycle accident? There is never a good time for someone to get sick. There is never a good time for someone to lose their job. There is never a good time for huge medical bills. There is never a good time for a car to break down. There is never a good time to get in a fight with your spouse or your kids. There is never a good time for things like this to happen.
There is never a good time for extra stress in our lives. There is never a good time for suffering or sorrow or pain.
But this is reality… bad things happen and they happen at indiscriminate times.
There’s something else about John’s gospel that makes me madly in love with it: timing. While life is filled with happenstance, John’s gospel is filled with purposeful timing. Everything that happens, happens when it is supposed to and this real, human, Jesus begins to reorder creation, to reset the clock of our existence.
Jesus’ thirst isn’t just a fulfillment of scripture; it is God getting into our suffering at just the right time.
29A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
This very real thirst, this fulfillment of scripture, was for us. It was purposeful and necessary so that God could be in our suffering. And that moment of Jesus’ refreshment with sour wine is God finding a way into our dehydration, into the arid places of our lives.
Jesus died at just the right time so that he could be in all the wrong times of our lives. And that action was done fully; it was completed, finished.
Jesus died and finished the thing that ensured our bad times would never be alone times. Jesus died and finished what was required for us not to be alone when we forget to put into us what is good for us and for those times that we can not seem to get enough.
Those 3 verses, barely one good paragraph of scripture and God did what was necessary to re-hydrate our lives.
Amen.
Three verses. One paragraph of scripture. How long did this moment take? This moment of Jesus knowing that all was done… accomplished? This moment from thirst to death?
I’ve been told that by the time a person feels thirsty they are already dehydrated. We are supposed to avoid thirst, to keep hydrated. Drink 8 glasses of water everyday. And that’s 8 glasses of water, not 8 other drinks; not coffee or soda or beer. We are supposed to put into our bodies those things that are good for us; to avoid those things which will cause thirst and dehydration.It’s not always easy though. If you are one of those people who actually drinks 8 glasses of water every day, I am impressed. I don’t do it. It’s more likely that I’ve drank 8 cups of coffee today than even 1 glass of water.
And I know it’s not good for me, but I do it anyway.
John’s gospel tells us that Jesus’ thirst is a fulfillment of scripture, a reference to Psalm 69:21: “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” But it’s hard to imagine that Jesus wasn’t actually thirsty.
Of the four gospels, my favorite has always been Luke, but I am in love with John’s gospel in a way that I do not feel about the other three. John is a theological writing, a book written to explain who God is. It was most likely written as an argument against other gospels that were circulating at the time.
These other gospels that John was concerned about were gnostic, what we consider to be a heresy. Gnosticism involved the belief in salvation through esoteric mystical knowledge by an initiated elite. As a rule, gnostics were extreme ascetics and believed the body to be evil. Gnosticism has been making a comeback with the highly popular book: The Da Vinci Code and the now with the emergence of the Gospel of Judas.
John wrote against the idea that one could attain a higher spiritual knowledge of God and because of that the Jesus of John’s gospel feels more human and real to me than the Jesus in Matthew, Mark, or Luke.
Jesus didn’t just say the words so that scripture could be fulfilled; Jesus really was thirsty and his thirst was a fulfillment of what was in scripture. Jesus didn’t just go through the motions of being crucified in order to make for an interesting story; Jesus really did get nailed to a cross, Jesus really did die.
There is a comfort in that. Death is a reality. It is not a higher spiritual existence or worse one that we can avoid by reaching a higher mystical knowledge of God.
What Jesus endured wasn’t esoteric… it was real.
I get thirsty and I’m sure you do too, even when we do our best to put all the right things into ourselves; we still get thirsty.
This past Sunday 49 year old, John Schettenhelm, a pastor in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod in Orange was riding his motorcycle and turning into his driveway when he was struck from behind and killed.
Stories like that make me thirsty.
In an article in the New Haven Register Orange First Selectman James Zeoli said late (Palm) Sunday he was struck by the reality that Schettenhelm’s congregation could not have lost its leader at a worse time, just one week before Easter.
Can we agree that there is never a good time for someone to get struck and killed in a motorcycle accident? There is never a good time for someone to get sick. There is never a good time for someone to lose their job. There is never a good time for huge medical bills. There is never a good time for a car to break down. There is never a good time to get in a fight with your spouse or your kids. There is never a good time for things like this to happen.
There is never a good time for extra stress in our lives. There is never a good time for suffering or sorrow or pain.
But this is reality… bad things happen and they happen at indiscriminate times.
There’s something else about John’s gospel that makes me madly in love with it: timing. While life is filled with happenstance, John’s gospel is filled with purposeful timing. Everything that happens, happens when it is supposed to and this real, human, Jesus begins to reorder creation, to reset the clock of our existence.
Jesus’ thirst isn’t just a fulfillment of scripture; it is God getting into our suffering at just the right time.
29A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
This very real thirst, this fulfillment of scripture, was for us. It was purposeful and necessary so that God could be in our suffering. And that moment of Jesus’ refreshment with sour wine is God finding a way into our dehydration, into the arid places of our lives.
Jesus died at just the right time so that he could be in all the wrong times of our lives. And that action was done fully; it was completed, finished.
Jesus died and finished the thing that ensured our bad times would never be alone times. Jesus died and finished what was required for us not to be alone when we forget to put into us what is good for us and for those times that we can not seem to get enough.
Those 3 verses, barely one good paragraph of scripture and God did what was necessary to re-hydrate our lives.
Amen.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Lent 3 Year B 2006
A sermon based upon John 2:13-22
In the name of Jesus; amen.
No more status quo.
The Temple was functioning at status quo. It was Passover and hundreds of thousands of people would have flocked to Jerusalem. It would have been like New Orleans on Mardi Gras or Times Square on New Year’s Eve. And they would have gone to the Temple to make necessary sacrifices.
But sacrifices cost money and the money that they would have had would have carried the image of human beings and couldn’t be used in the Temple. The money changers would have been necessary for the people to exchange the coins that they would have used to purchase the animals that would have been slaughtered.
Money changers were doing their job; they were status quo.
And in order to purchase an animal to have sacrificed, someone had to be there to sell them. The people who sold the cattle, sheep, and doves were doing their job; they were maintaining the status quo.
The fact is that there was little to get upset about with what was happening at the Temple. People were doing their jobs, pure and simple. There may have been corruption, but if so it was minor.
So why was Jesus so upset? What caused him to make a whip out of cords and drive these hard working people out of the Temple? What would have gotten him so mad that he would have turned over the money changer’s tables and spilled their coins?
Why wasn’t business as usual ok?
Last week I talked about being tested by all the things that are going on in the life of this congregation and yes, in my life too. I said it was time to tell Satan to get behind us, to go back to hell where he belonged.
Well, this week I want to tell you that sometimes God gets angry at the status quo, so angry in fact that he turns things upside down.
Last week I told you that we shouldn’t let what happens to us be the will of Satan, but the will of God. And I will say it again. Because Satan loves the status quo.
Last week I told you that the signs on the door of this church were demoralizing, this week I want to tell you that signs can change.
If Satan has been testing us, then God is turning things upside down and clearing away what wasn’t working in order for a new thing to happen.
This is the Christian story: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
It’s not an easy story; it’s not even always a happy story, but it is a story with a powerful ending.
It is the story of Lent; it’s a struggle through the wilderness where we are faced with wild animals, tempted by Satan, with nothing but rocks to eat and at the end of the wilderness is the cross where there is death.
But the story of Lent doesn’t end with the cross. It ends with Easter.
Jesus goes into the Temple, the place of worship at the most holiest of times and makes a BIG statement: No More Status Quo. And when the people want an explanation he tells them to “destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”
And the people didn’t understand that he was talking about the Temple of his body.
Well, we are the body of Christ. The temple is us and we are a resurrection people. We proclaim Christ crucified and it is a crazy proclamation; it is a turn things upside down kind of proclamation because it says that we believe that God’s foolishness is smarter, that God’s weakness is stronger than any other wisdom or strength.
We believe that God makes new things happen.
We believe that God creates life out of nothing.
We believe that God changes death into resurrection.
God is leading us out of Egypt and the only place to go is the Promised Land.
Because the wilderness is not the last word and the cross is not the end of the story.
Jesus knew this and because of his knowledge the status quo was not enough. Jesus knew of the awesome possibilities that God makes possible and it consumed him with zealous fervor… it consumed him with trust in God, the one God, the God of miracles and deliverance.
It consumed him with desire to take the Temple beyond the status quo and into a radical, wonderful, new thing.
No more status quo; we are a resurrection people, the body of Christ himself.
Amen.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
The First Sunday in Lent
Never Alone in the Wilderness; a sermon based upon Mark 1:9-15
The sermon begins with the Affirmation of Baptism
Renunciation of Evil
P Brothers and sisters in Christ: In Holy Baptism our Lord Jesus Christ received you and made you members of his Church. In the community of God's people, you have learned from his Word God's loving purpose for you and all creation. You have been [nourished at his holy table and] called to be witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, therefore, I ask you to profess your faith in Christ Jesus, reject sin, and confess the faith of the Church, the faith in which we baptize.
Do you renounce all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises?
R I do.
Profession of Faith
P Do you believe in God the Father?
C I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
P Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
C I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
P Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
C I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen
Commitment
P You have made public profession of your faith. Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in Holy Baptism: to live among God's faithful people, to hear his Word and share in his supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of our Lord Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?
R I do, and I ask God to help and guide me.
Prayer of Blessing
P Let us pray. Gracious Lord, through water and the Spirit you have made these men and women your own. You forgave them all their sins and brought them to newness of life. Continue to strengthen them with the Holy Spirit, and daily increase in them your gifts of grace: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
C Amen
Do you renounce all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises?
Of all the questions we are asked in this place shouldn’t we answer that one question with great conviction? Shouldn’t our answer be a loud and booming: “I DO”? Shouldn’t we be clearest about rejecting all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises?
In the early church, when there was a baptism, before the candidate for baptism was brought into the door of the church an exorcism was performed. Because baptism marks us as belonging to God and God alone.
The world tries to claim us… but we belong to God. You see, we are baptized and then sent out into the world: the wilderness and what we do we face in the wilderness? Temptations by Satan and wild beasts.
And there are plenty of temptations out there: money, expensive things, gossip, lies, adultery, sugar, drugs, prejudices, hatred, intolerance, slander, and the list goes on and on and on…
And there are plenty of wild beasts… waiting for opportune moments: those people who would abuse us, mock us, devour us.
We are baptized and then sent out into this wilderness of the world where too many things are out to get us.
“9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." 12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts…”
In those days, before Jesus’ ministry began, when John was in the wilderness proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, Jesus went to the Jordan River to be baptized. For centuries scholars have tried to answer the question why Jesus needed to be baptized. If he was free from sin, why did he need to undergo a baptism of repentance?
Whatever the reason, Mark tells us that Jesus hears a voice from heaven telling him, “You are my Son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.” God claims Jesus in that moment of baptism and affirms God’s love for his beloved son.
And then immediately the Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness. The same word for what the Spirit does in Greek is exorcism. Jesus is exorcised into the wilderness.
And in the wilderness Jesus is tempted by Satan. The other synoptic gospels (Matthew and Luke) tell us how, but Mark just gives us the fact that it happened; Jesus was “tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts.”
This is the hard reality about baptism. We are baptized and told we are God’s children. We think: Fantastic… now life is all good, no worries, I am protected by evil!
But that’s not what happens at all. We are baptized, claimed by God and sent immediately out into the wilderness… driven out… exorcised out into the world to face all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises. And it’s not always easy to say, “I do, I do renounce them.” Certainly it’s not easy to say that with great conviction when fear and doubt and uncertainty smack us in the face on a daily basis. Certainly it’s not easy when temptations of status, popularity, and power feed on us like wild animals.
So what good is baptism then? What good does it do us?
The world tries to claim us… but we belong to God.
Baptism means that no matter where we go, what trials we face, or what evil tries to eat us we belong to God.
Baptism means that no matter what situations we are sent into, or which temptations lure us, or what calamities, sorrows, or sufferings seek to devour us… Jesus has been there first.
Jesus was claimed by God, in baptism, so that we had assurances that we would also be claimed in baptism. Jesus was sent out into the wilderness because we are sent out into the wilderness. Jesus was tempted because we are tempted. And how could we say with any conviction that we renounce all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises if Jesus hadn’t already defeated the devil, if Jesus hadn’t already destroyed all the empty promises that are made to us?
How could any of us say, “I do” with any conviction if Jesus had not already defeated death and rescued us from hell and damnation?
And if that’s not enough, remember that Jesus was not alone in the wilderness with the wild beasts and Satan tempting him. God sent angels who waited on Jesus through his trials and tribulations. God did not leave Jesus alone. And if God didn’t leave Jesus alone, God won’t leave us alone either.
God sends his angels to wait on us, to keep us firm in our faith so that when you are asked: “Do you believe in God the Father? Do you believe in God the Son? Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?”
You can answer with conviction: I believe that God is my creator, I believe that Jesus was born and suffered and died for me. That he was willing to go anywhere, even hell, to save the lost and imprisoned. And he will come again.
God sends angels so that we can be firm in our conviction that we are made holy by the Spirit, that we are gathered and enlightened by the work of the whole Church. And that we are forgiven of our sins, and raised from the dead into life everlasting.
God sends us angels, and sometimes we are angels to others. Angels who are called to remind those what are lost in the wilderness to repent and believe in the good news of Jesus Christ. The good news that we are God’s beloved; the assurance that we are never left alone to fend for ourselves in the trials and temptations that face us. The good news that gives us the courage to answer the question:
Do you renounce all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises?
I DO!
Amen.
The sermon begins with the Affirmation of Baptism
Renunciation of Evil
P Brothers and sisters in Christ: In Holy Baptism our Lord Jesus Christ received you and made you members of his Church. In the community of God's people, you have learned from his Word God's loving purpose for you and all creation. You have been [nourished at his holy table and] called to be witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, therefore, I ask you to profess your faith in Christ Jesus, reject sin, and confess the faith of the Church, the faith in which we baptize.
Do you renounce all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises?
R I do.
Profession of Faith
P Do you believe in God the Father?
C I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
P Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
C I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
P Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
C I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen
Commitment
P You have made public profession of your faith. Do you intend to continue in the covenant God made with you in Holy Baptism: to live among God's faithful people, to hear his Word and share in his supper, to proclaim the good news of God in Christ through word and deed, to serve all people, following the example of our Lord Jesus, and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth?
R I do, and I ask God to help and guide me.
Prayer of Blessing
P Let us pray. Gracious Lord, through water and the Spirit you have made these men and women your own. You forgave them all their sins and brought them to newness of life. Continue to strengthen them with the Holy Spirit, and daily increase in them your gifts of grace: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
C Amen
Do you renounce all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises?
Of all the questions we are asked in this place shouldn’t we answer that one question with great conviction? Shouldn’t our answer be a loud and booming: “I DO”? Shouldn’t we be clearest about rejecting all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises?
In the early church, when there was a baptism, before the candidate for baptism was brought into the door of the church an exorcism was performed. Because baptism marks us as belonging to God and God alone.
The world tries to claim us… but we belong to God. You see, we are baptized and then sent out into the world: the wilderness and what we do we face in the wilderness? Temptations by Satan and wild beasts.
And there are plenty of temptations out there: money, expensive things, gossip, lies, adultery, sugar, drugs, prejudices, hatred, intolerance, slander, and the list goes on and on and on…
And there are plenty of wild beasts… waiting for opportune moments: those people who would abuse us, mock us, devour us.
We are baptized and then sent out into this wilderness of the world where too many things are out to get us.
“9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." 12 And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts…”
In those days, before Jesus’ ministry began, when John was in the wilderness proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, Jesus went to the Jordan River to be baptized. For centuries scholars have tried to answer the question why Jesus needed to be baptized. If he was free from sin, why did he need to undergo a baptism of repentance?
Whatever the reason, Mark tells us that Jesus hears a voice from heaven telling him, “You are my Son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.” God claims Jesus in that moment of baptism and affirms God’s love for his beloved son.
And then immediately the Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness. The same word for what the Spirit does in Greek is exorcism. Jesus is exorcised into the wilderness.
And in the wilderness Jesus is tempted by Satan. The other synoptic gospels (Matthew and Luke) tell us how, but Mark just gives us the fact that it happened; Jesus was “tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild beasts.”
This is the hard reality about baptism. We are baptized and told we are God’s children. We think: Fantastic… now life is all good, no worries, I am protected by evil!
But that’s not what happens at all. We are baptized, claimed by God and sent immediately out into the wilderness… driven out… exorcised out into the world to face all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises. And it’s not always easy to say, “I do, I do renounce them.” Certainly it’s not easy to say that with great conviction when fear and doubt and uncertainty smack us in the face on a daily basis. Certainly it’s not easy when temptations of status, popularity, and power feed on us like wild animals.
So what good is baptism then? What good does it do us?
The world tries to claim us… but we belong to God.
Baptism means that no matter where we go, what trials we face, or what evil tries to eat us we belong to God.
Baptism means that no matter what situations we are sent into, or which temptations lure us, or what calamities, sorrows, or sufferings seek to devour us… Jesus has been there first.
Jesus was claimed by God, in baptism, so that we had assurances that we would also be claimed in baptism. Jesus was sent out into the wilderness because we are sent out into the wilderness. Jesus was tempted because we are tempted. And how could we say with any conviction that we renounce all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises if Jesus hadn’t already defeated the devil, if Jesus hadn’t already destroyed all the empty promises that are made to us?
How could any of us say, “I do” with any conviction if Jesus had not already defeated death and rescued us from hell and damnation?
And if that’s not enough, remember that Jesus was not alone in the wilderness with the wild beasts and Satan tempting him. God sent angels who waited on Jesus through his trials and tribulations. God did not leave Jesus alone. And if God didn’t leave Jesus alone, God won’t leave us alone either.
God sends his angels to wait on us, to keep us firm in our faith so that when you are asked: “Do you believe in God the Father? Do you believe in God the Son? Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?”
You can answer with conviction: I believe that God is my creator, I believe that Jesus was born and suffered and died for me. That he was willing to go anywhere, even hell, to save the lost and imprisoned. And he will come again.
God sends angels so that we can be firm in our conviction that we are made holy by the Spirit, that we are gathered and enlightened by the work of the whole Church. And that we are forgiven of our sins, and raised from the dead into life everlasting.
God sends us angels, and sometimes we are angels to others. Angels who are called to remind those what are lost in the wilderness to repent and believe in the good news of Jesus Christ. The good news that we are God’s beloved; the assurance that we are never left alone to fend for ourselves in the trials and temptations that face us. The good news that gives us the courage to answer the question:
Do you renounce all the forces of evil, the devil, and all his empty promises?
I DO!
Amen.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Ash Wednesday March 1, 2006
A sermon based on 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
In the name of Jesus; amen.
Yesterday I went to visit a friend of mine who lives in Worcester. I’ve been trying to find a time to get away for the day and I finally took yesterday to do it.
It was a wonderful day, despite the drive and the short amount of time I actually had to spend with her. She spoiled me by taking me out to lunch and treating me to a wonderful meal including a piece of peanut butter pie for dessert. And then when we returned to her apartment she asked me if I wanted to take a nap. She put me in her bed, turned on her electric blanket and put her two dachshunds under the covers to cuddle with me. (I love her puppies.)
I needed it, a day like that where someone pampered me. I had been feeling deprived and weighed down by it. I realized that my situation with my son and his lead poisoning has been taking its toll on me and I needed to do something about it.
Now I’m not saying these things to ask for pity or to incur guilt feelings. I don’t want those things. I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of care and prayers that I have received and those are the things that I most desire right now. But I needed a day when the parts of me that felt most empty were filled up.
A few days ago I found this quote from and I want to share it with you today. It’s from the Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran.
“Then a woman said,
Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises
Was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper the sorrow carves into your being,
The more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the
Very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?”
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.
Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater."
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.
Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
Today we enter into my favorite time of the Church Year: Lent. It might seem strange that this is my favorite time of the year. It’s by far the busiest and the most solemn. It is a time of emptying out and repenting. We don’t say that “A” word, the word of rejoicing and praise.
I can guarantee that hymns won’t be upbeat, the kind where you see me dancing and pulling out the rhythm instruments that I so love. The readings in worship will point us to the cross; a place of pure and total emptiness, a place of sorrow.
You will hear the word repentance and you will be reminded over and over again about sin and I love this time.
Over the last few months I have heard the comment that things happen for a reason. I know that this is one of those things that people say to offer comfort when a person is going through a particularly difficult time. But I have never subscribed to that notion.
Bad things happen because bad things happen. Yes, sometimes bad things happen as a result of something else; we make a bad choice and as a result bad things happen. And sometimes things just happen outside of our control.
But I have trouble getting around the idea that bad things happen to us for a reason.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about being through a long-list of difficulties: afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonment, riots, labors, sleepless nights, and hunger. Paul lived through it all, experienced all sorts of bad things.
And those bad things were a result of how he was living his life for God. Once could say that they happened for a reason, but that implies that God wanted them to happen, that God made them happen and I just don’t agree with that.
See I believe that God gives purpose to the bad things. A God of grace and love doesn’t create reasons for bad things to happen. A God of grace and love looks at those bad things and creates a new purpose for our experience.
If we are emptied then God uses our emptiness for a purpose: to create a place for joy.
This is a time that God uses for a purpose. It is a purposeful time; to look at sin and sorrow so that we can see the joy that God has made for us.
And maybe it is all semantics, after all reason and purpose seem to be synonymous: words that mean the same thing, that are interchangeable with one another.
Sometimes knowing that there is a reason for why something bad happened can bring us comfort. But there is more to life than just explanations for why bad things happen.
And the gift that God gives us in remembering our sin is to give us new purpose in our lives. The gift that God gives us in our sorrows is to grant us new purpose in how we live.
The cross is coming and it has more than just a reason for being. The reason that Christ suffered and died was to ensure forgiveness our sin, but the purpose of the cross was to give us a new life despite our sin.
May you see the purpose that God has for you in this season of Lent and may the empty places in you be filled with the purpose of God through grace and his great love.
Amen.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Transformation Sunday February 26, 2006
The Face of God a Sermon on 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 and Mark 9:2-9.
In the name of Jesus; amen.
For it is God who said, “Let light shine out of the darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Have you ever wondered what Jesus looked like? Ever imagined the face of Christ? While we are used to pictures of a blonde haired, blue eyed Jesus most of us get the idea that Jesus probably had a much darker complexion.
What he looked like didn’t seem important enough to be mentioned by those who knew him and so we can only guess. It’s left lots of room for artists. Jesus has been portrayed as every different ethnic group and even as a woman by artists. Jesus has been tall and short, thin and muscular, clean shaven and with facial hair.
His actual physical appearance didn’t make it into scripture.
Was he ordinary looking? Was he beautiful? Was he attractive? People seemed to know him when they saw him; they were drawn to him and could pick him out in a crowd.
This morning is the last Sunday in Epiphany which we celebrate as Transfiguration Sunday. We just read the story of Jesus going up onto the mountain with Peter and James and John. And up on the mountain Jesus’ appearance is changed and his clothes become dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And Elijah, the greatest prophet and Moses, the lawgiver appear with him.
It is an awesome and terrifying experience for the disciples. This person who they knew was suddenly different and surrounded by the two most important persons they knew from scripture.
They thought they saw God in his face. Everything about the experience told them that what they were seeing was extraordinarily sacred stuff. And Peter wanted to build sacred buildings in which to house the things that they were seeing. “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He wanted to make temples for them, places of worship to house their appearance.
But before Jesus responds God himself speaks from a cloud saying: “This is my Son, the Beloved listen to him!” And when they look around Jesus is Jesus again.
I’ve always found it interesting that the one thing that God tells the disciples is that they should listen to his beloved son and that the very next thing that Jesus says is not to tell anyone what they saw.
They had just seen the remarkable and Jesus wanted them to keep quiet about it.
The transfiguration is about revelations. Jesus is revealed in all of God’s glory up on the mountain so much so that some theologians believe that this story actually took place after the resurrection.
Jesus is revealed with the two most important characters from the history of the Hebrew Scriptures: Elijah and Moses so that we can see how he is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.
Jesus is revealed as God’s beloved Son and as the one who God wishes for us to listen to. Jesus is revealed as God’s glory and the disciples are told to not tell anyone what they saw until after the Son of Man is raised from the dead.
I don’t really think it matters much what Jesus looked like, but the fact that Jesus’ face gives the light of knowledge of the glory of God is very important.
Jesus was meant to be God personified; it is why he was given the name Immanuel: God with us.
When God created us he made us in his image, not so that we would look like God, but so that we could be in relationship with God. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and were sent out of the garden we lost a piece of God’s image: the piece which allowed us to be with God personified.
But then Jesus was sent to us and God gave us the gift of a new kind of relationship, a second chance, that allowed us to remain as we were (as sinners love by God) but still in relationship with God.
Jesus came so that we could be with God.
Jesus came as a human being with human characteristics and looks so that we could have a relationship with God.
Jesus became human so that we would not have to be like God in order to be with God and what the disciples saw that day up on the mountain was Jesus being revealed as the God who made it possible.
The disciples saw the God of mystery who is veiled to us because of our sin and if Jesus had allowed Peter and James and John to build those dwellings, those holy temples, God would have remained a veiled, unapproachable, untouchable, mystery.
It makes sense that this is the last reading we encounter before the season of Lent when we prepare for the experience of Jesus’ death and resurrection. In it we are shown the glory of God and reminded at the same time that it is in the death and resurrection of Christ that we actually see God’s true light revealed.
It doesn’t matter what Christ looked like, only that his human face was made to return us to relationship with God.
Jesus’ human face returned our hearts to God. Jesus’ human face turned the light of God back on in our dark world of sin. Jesus’ human face revealed to us the true nature of the glory of God: that he is grace and forgiveness and love.
Jesus’ human face reflects the love of God for us in the garden and in the wilderness. Jesus’ human face reflects the love of God for us in the valleys and up on the mountaintops. Jesus’ human face reflects the love of God for us in joys and in sorrows.
Jesus’ human face reflects the love of God for us up on the cross and in the empty tomb.
Jesus’ human face is God revealed to us so that we might be transfigured and made holy, so that we might reflect God’s light to others.
On this last Sunday of Epiphany, the season of light and revelation may you glow with the knowledge of the glory of God’s love.
Amen.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
epiphany 5 yr b february 5, 2006
a sermon based on mark 1 :29-39
In the name of Jesus; amen.
It has been said that the purpose of the gospel is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
Jesus leaves the synagogue on the Sabbath, the day of rest and worship to spend the night at Simon Peter’s house. Once there he is informed that Simon’s mother-in-law is sick in bed with fever. And Jesus goes to her bedside, takes her hand, lifts her up and the fever leaves her.
It might seem to be a small miracle, but what Jesus does is quite big. Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever and a fever in those days could have been a symptom of a serious condition. Infections were often fatal without the antibiotics of today and fevers are symptoms of infection. But even without an infection, this woman could have been sick enough to die. But that’s not what makes what Jesus does big.
What makes this miracle big is what Jesus is willing to do in order to perform it.
In The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary Ben Witherington III writes:
“Though there are later stories of rabbis taking the hand of another man and healing him, there are no such stories of rabbis doing so for a woman, and especially not for a woman who was not a member of the healer's family. In addition, there is the fact that Jesus performed this act on the Sabbath. Thus, while touching a nonrelated woman was in itself an offense, and touching one that was sick and therefore unclean was doubly so, performing this act on the Sabbath only compounds the social offense. But this is not all.
The service of Peter's mother-in-law to Jesus (and the others) itself could have constituted work on the Sabbath, depending on what was done (.e.g., preparing food). In any case, later Jewish traditions suggest that women should not serve meals to male strangers. The important point about Jesus, however, is that he does not see the touch of a woman, even a sick woman, as any more defiling than the touch of the man with the skin disease. Jesus' attitudes about ritual purity differed from those of many of his fellow Jews.”
What Jesus did broke the rules. In order to cure a woman of a fever he broke laws about working on the Sabbath and ritual purity. And these weren’t little laws, they weren’t minor offenses; they were big deals.
Jesus begins his work of preaching the gospel by comforting the afflicted. He did it in the gospel reading last week by driving out a demon from a man; it’s actually the beginning of this story of Simon’s mother-in-law and occurs on the same day. Jesus begins is work by touching people and bringing them comfort.
And by evening the entire city was gathered around Simon’s home to have demons driven out or sickness cured. It was a long day of work and he went to bed late only to get up early, while it was still dark, in order to go off by himself and pray.
Jesus will do this often in the gospel of Mark; he’ll perform a miracle, become surrounded by crowds of people, then retreat to be by himself. There’s a whole sermon in just that practice; to find time to retreat and pray is essential to Jesus. He practiced what he preached.
But more so than that; he knew that the gospel was about to afflict the comfortable. It was going to make people nervous, uncomfortable, angry. It was going to challenge sensibilities and practices that we as old as time for the society around him.
One of my favorite celebrities ever is Bono, the lead singer for the band, U2. U2 was popular when I was in high school and they have continued to make popular music. I saw them in concert once and remember Bono saying that they weren’t a political band; they were a rock-n-roll band. But Bono has always had a flair for the political from growing up the child of a catholic mother and protestant father in Ireland.
He’s always be active and outspoken about AIDs and poverty and you might remember a song that was released in 1984 called “Do they know it’s Christmas?” It was done by several artists, who called themselves Band Aid, in an attempt to raise money for starving people in Africa. The refrain was, “Feed the world, let them know it’s Christmastime.” Bono’s solo was a simple, but accusing statement: “Well, tonight thank God it’s them, instead of you.”
Recently, at the National Prayer Breakfast, Bono was asked to speak, to offer the sermon for the day, if you will. Jim Wallis, the editor of Sojourners, a religious magazine explains the purpose of the pray breakfast this way:
“The National Prayer Breakfast is normally a time for reaffirming spiritual truths and testifying to the power of faith in people's individual lives, but not so much a moment for prophetic and controversial social utterances.”
But Bono seemed to get the point of the gospel. He seemed to get the point that the gospel is meant to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. I want to read to you some of what he said:
“Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.
Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.
I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor…
It's not a coincidence that in the scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It's not an accident. That's a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. (You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.)”
Bono then went on to speak about how good we are at charity, at giving to the poor, and how that was good news. But then he shared some bad news: “We aren’t very good at justice and equality.”
“Because there's no way we can look at what's happening in Africa and, if we're honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn't accept it. Look at what happened in South East Asia with the tsunami. 150,000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, "mother nature." In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it's a completely avoidable catastrophe.
“It's annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren't they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain.”
“A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it…. I have a family, please look after them…. I have this crazy idea...
“And this wise man said: stop.
“He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.
“Get involved in what God is doing - because it's already blessed.
“Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.
“And that is what he's calling us to do.”
Now none of us may have the resources that Bono has; the ability to preach to presidents and reach great crowds of people through his music. And none of us have the abilities to touch a person like Jesus did; to perform miracles of instantaneous healing or exorcism. But we all have the gospel; this amazing message of hope and love and grace.
We are meant to use it. We are meant to tell others about it. We are meant to give it to others whether it comforts them or afflicts them.
May we all be given the voices to do just that.
Amen.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Epiphany 2 Year B January 15, 2006
Do you see what I see?
A Sermon based upon 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 and John 1: 43-51
In the name of Jesus; amen.
I am a visual learner. This means that in order for me to really learn how to do something I have to be shown how to do it.
If I read it in a book there have to be pictures for me to understand how to do it.
If you want to give me directions to get somewhere don’t tell me write them down and draw a map. Even better… take me there once yourself and I’ll be able to get there later.
I have to see it in order to get it.
When I was a child one of my grandmothers taught me how to crochet. Years ago, on a whim, I decided to pick it back up again as a hobby. So I bought a book on how to crochet. I couldn’t understand the descriptions, but I could follow the pictures.
A few years ago I replaced and rebuilt a toilet all by myself because I could follow the pictures in the Time Life Do-It-Yourself book.
If you show me how to do something there is a good chance I can do it.
I am a visual learner, but if you really want me to be able to do something well: show me how to do it then let me try while you talk me through it, show me what I did wrong, then let me do it.
A dear friend got married several years ago at another friend’s house. Somehow I was recruited to help make 50,000 white bows and the men’s boutonnières for the ceremony at about 1:00am the night before. Michael had me watch him make a bow then I tried and he critiqued me as I did it.
It was that late night that taught me that if I want to really know how to do something I have to see it done then try it myself with someone there to show me what I’m doing right and what I’m doing wrong.
Most people are visual learners. This means that in order to learn we need to see it being done and then we need to be watched as we try it ourselves.
There are things I can figure out on my own, even things I can do well by making up the directions… but I had to be shown how to make my mother’s fudge before I could make real fudge. I had to be shown how to tie my shoes, pump my own gas, read a map, turn on a computer and then use it before I could do those things.
I am a visual learner. But not everything that I have been shown has taught me good things. In ninth grade my friend Erica showed me how to French inhale a cigarette. Not everything I’ve been shown, by others, has been for the best for me.
I have learned some pretty awful things by what I’ve been shown, by seeing what others do and then following their example. It’s made me careful as to what I show others.
Jesus had decided to go to Galilee and there he met up with Philip and invited him to become a disciple. Now this made some impression on Philip and so Philip found his friend Nathanael and told him about Jesus. But Nathanael was skeptical: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
And Philip’s response: “Come and see.”
Nathanael was a visual learner too. Philip had knowledge; important, useful knowledge and the only way he could teach his friend was to show him. Philip could have just decided to let Nathanael figure it out on his own, but instead he made an invitation to teach Nathanael.
And because Philip showed him Jesus, Nathanael was able to see, in Jesus’ own words, “greater things than these.”
It stands to reason that if we can learn by being shown that we can teach others by showing them.
This means two things to me: First, that we make the invitation to come and see. If we know something, something as important and life-changing as God’s love then we should make certain to invite others to be witnesses to it. Information like we have isn’t supposed to remain secret it’s supposed to be shared so that others know it too.
And this is knowledge that is taught by what is shown. All the theological books in the world can’t teach a person about God’s amazing grace the way it can be taught through the actions of coming in contact with God’s people.
And that’s the second thing. As God’s people we should show others the best of ourselves. And that doesn’t mean that we should fake it when we aren’t feeling our best or that we can’t make mistakes. But that it’s important to do things that are good and to do them not so we get praised for doing them, but so others can see good and want to learn how to do good too.
It means that people learn about God’s love for them from how we show love to others and how we present ourselves.
St Paul writes about how we should use our bodies in the second lesson today. Until now I couldn’t see the connection between that reading and the Gospel. But it is there.
How we use the bodies that God gave us also shows others what it means to be loved by God. Paul focuses on fornication, having sex with lots of people. But how we use the gifts that God has given us in our own selves goes beyond who we sleep with. It’s also about how often we put ourselves down on our knees and pray. It’s about how we put ourselves physically in other people’s lives through the time we spend with them and the time we give to them.
Other people see this. They see what we show them and what we show them should be about God’s love and God’s grace.
We don’t need to convert people, or judge others, or tell them what they should do. This isn’t the way to show others God.
Showing others God is living a life that is focused on God and God’s desires for us and doing that will be an example for others.
And then it means living with them as they struggle to figure it out.
Invite others to come and see and then give them something to see: that’s God’s love through Christ is a blessing and a miracle and a vision of great things.
Amen.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Epiphany / The Baptism of our Lord
A Sermon for Epiphany and The Baptism of Our Lord Year B 2006 based upon:
Matthew 2:9-12 and Mark1:4-11
In the name of Jesus; amen.
I received a really great gift from my husband for Christmas this year: a paraffin wax bath. Now for those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s a pot that looks a little like an oval shaped crock pot. You put paraffin wax inside and melt it then you dip your hands or feet inside until they have about 5 coats of wax on them. Then you place your hands in a plastic bag and cover them with warm mitts and wait until the wax solidifies and remove it.
The idea is that the wax has oils in it that soften your skin and make it feel like new. It is exactly what I asked for; I even pointed it out to my husband and told him that was what I wanted.
It’s one of those things that makes me glad I am a girl. It’s a wonderful experience, luxurious, and soothing. But it has personal and practical applications for me as well. In the winter-time the skin on my hands becomes very dry; it cracks and bleeds if I’m not careful, so while it seems like it’s a luxury it also helps my hands.
Mary and Joseph had found their way from the cave they had been in to a home in which to stay in Bethlehem with their new baby boy. They were trying to settle in when astrologers showed up at their door with gifts for the baby. Tradition calls them magi and kings, but they were astrologers who had seen a sign in the stars. Tradition also says that there were three, but there could have only been two or even more than three.
The gifts that they brought were extravagant; gifts meant for a king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. You gave gold to a king and anointed him with oils made with frankincense and myrrh. Mary and Joseph must have been surprised to be part of that baby shower.
Of course the gifts were extravagant; they were symbols of the baby’s kingship and it would have made anyone glad to be a king to receive such gifts.
But the gifts had a practical purpose as well. While gold, frankincense, and myrrh were symbolic they also provided financial stability to this new family because shortly after giving the baby these gifts the magi and Joseph were informed, through their dreams, that Jesus was in danger and the family had to flee to Egypt.
These gifts would have given them the means to travel and then make a home in a new place.
I like gifts that are extravagant, but when they are extravagant and serve a practical purpose… ooh… those are the best.
There’s a lesson here about gifts and the giving of them. How many of the gifts you received this year for Christmas are already broken or put away never to come out of storage again? One year my mother-in-law gave me a waffle iron for Christmas. I loved it; I even used it, but it’s been on one shelf or another collecting dust for some time now.
The gifts that have the most meaning are usually the ones that we wear all the time or that we take out and use on a regular basis.
I intend to put my paraffin wax bath to great use; I might even take it out later today.
We entered into the season of Epiphany two days ago; the season we remember the coming of the magi and their purposeful and extravagant gifts only to come to this Sunday’s Gospel reading of Jesus’ baptism. I don’t think there should be any mistaking the connection. Jesus’ baptism is a gift; an extravagant and purposeful gift. In Mark’s gospel Jesus’ baptism is the beginning of the story of what God has gifted to us.
At face value it might not seem extravagant, but there’s John the eccentric cousin to Jesus, out in the wilderness wearing funny clothes and eating strange food wading out into the Jordan River with Jesus, pouring water over him in an act that prompts God to tear open the heavens and come down in the form of a dove like a prophecy come true.
That’s pretty extravagant… something that doesn’t happen all the time, something excessive, something out of the ordinary.
And with Jesus’ baptism comes his ministry and with his ministry comes his teaching and healing, and with that comes the gift of his very life, an act that doesn’t simply fulfill our needs but actually changes our needs and then fulfills them.
Jesus’ baptism is an extravagant gift because it drives him into the wilderness and into our lives and our wildernesses. It’s excessive, to say the least, that God would go to such lengths and yet it is necessary and purposeful.
Jesus’ baptism becomes a connection to us in our baptisms, another gift of God, which makes us children of God. And in that way we are given another connection to Jesus in his death and resurrection.
And that is purposeful, useful, necessary for us because it means our salvation and because it means life with God.
Our baptism is an extravagant purposeful gift that God went to extremes to make sure we received. And like Joseph and Mary used the gifts of the magi to finance their flight to Egypt we are meant to use the gift that we’ve been given to finance our lives.
We aren’t supposed to put baptism up on a shelf and say things like: “Oh yes, I got that years ago but I only take it out for special occasions like Christmas or Easter.” Or “Oh I really do like it; I just never get a chance to use it.”
Baptism is meant to be practical, to be used every day, put on and worn even when company isn’t around.
Epiphany is supposed to be the season of light; the time of God’s light revealed to us.
In baptism we are given a part of that light: a part of that star that shone and led the magi to the baby Jesus and a part of Jesus himself. And once given that light we are called to let it shine so that others might be led to the place where Jesus is and then realize the light that has been given to them.
It is a gift that we have been given so that we can give it to others.
May your light so shine, in this season of Epiphany and throughout your lives, that others might see your love for Christ, and give glory to God in Heaven.
Amen
Matthew 2:9-12 and Mark1:4-11
In the name of Jesus; amen.
I received a really great gift from my husband for Christmas this year: a paraffin wax bath. Now for those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s a pot that looks a little like an oval shaped crock pot. You put paraffin wax inside and melt it then you dip your hands or feet inside until they have about 5 coats of wax on them. Then you place your hands in a plastic bag and cover them with warm mitts and wait until the wax solidifies and remove it.
The idea is that the wax has oils in it that soften your skin and make it feel like new. It is exactly what I asked for; I even pointed it out to my husband and told him that was what I wanted.
It’s one of those things that makes me glad I am a girl. It’s a wonderful experience, luxurious, and soothing. But it has personal and practical applications for me as well. In the winter-time the skin on my hands becomes very dry; it cracks and bleeds if I’m not careful, so while it seems like it’s a luxury it also helps my hands.
Mary and Joseph had found their way from the cave they had been in to a home in which to stay in Bethlehem with their new baby boy. They were trying to settle in when astrologers showed up at their door with gifts for the baby. Tradition calls them magi and kings, but they were astrologers who had seen a sign in the stars. Tradition also says that there were three, but there could have only been two or even more than three.
The gifts that they brought were extravagant; gifts meant for a king: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. You gave gold to a king and anointed him with oils made with frankincense and myrrh. Mary and Joseph must have been surprised to be part of that baby shower.
Of course the gifts were extravagant; they were symbols of the baby’s kingship and it would have made anyone glad to be a king to receive such gifts.
But the gifts had a practical purpose as well. While gold, frankincense, and myrrh were symbolic they also provided financial stability to this new family because shortly after giving the baby these gifts the magi and Joseph were informed, through their dreams, that Jesus was in danger and the family had to flee to Egypt.
These gifts would have given them the means to travel and then make a home in a new place.
I like gifts that are extravagant, but when they are extravagant and serve a practical purpose… ooh… those are the best.
There’s a lesson here about gifts and the giving of them. How many of the gifts you received this year for Christmas are already broken or put away never to come out of storage again? One year my mother-in-law gave me a waffle iron for Christmas. I loved it; I even used it, but it’s been on one shelf or another collecting dust for some time now.
The gifts that have the most meaning are usually the ones that we wear all the time or that we take out and use on a regular basis.
I intend to put my paraffin wax bath to great use; I might even take it out later today.
We entered into the season of Epiphany two days ago; the season we remember the coming of the magi and their purposeful and extravagant gifts only to come to this Sunday’s Gospel reading of Jesus’ baptism. I don’t think there should be any mistaking the connection. Jesus’ baptism is a gift; an extravagant and purposeful gift. In Mark’s gospel Jesus’ baptism is the beginning of the story of what God has gifted to us.
At face value it might not seem extravagant, but there’s John the eccentric cousin to Jesus, out in the wilderness wearing funny clothes and eating strange food wading out into the Jordan River with Jesus, pouring water over him in an act that prompts God to tear open the heavens and come down in the form of a dove like a prophecy come true.
That’s pretty extravagant… something that doesn’t happen all the time, something excessive, something out of the ordinary.
And with Jesus’ baptism comes his ministry and with his ministry comes his teaching and healing, and with that comes the gift of his very life, an act that doesn’t simply fulfill our needs but actually changes our needs and then fulfills them.
Jesus’ baptism is an extravagant gift because it drives him into the wilderness and into our lives and our wildernesses. It’s excessive, to say the least, that God would go to such lengths and yet it is necessary and purposeful.
Jesus’ baptism becomes a connection to us in our baptisms, another gift of God, which makes us children of God. And in that way we are given another connection to Jesus in his death and resurrection.
And that is purposeful, useful, necessary for us because it means our salvation and because it means life with God.
Our baptism is an extravagant purposeful gift that God went to extremes to make sure we received. And like Joseph and Mary used the gifts of the magi to finance their flight to Egypt we are meant to use the gift that we’ve been given to finance our lives.
We aren’t supposed to put baptism up on a shelf and say things like: “Oh yes, I got that years ago but I only take it out for special occasions like Christmas or Easter.” Or “Oh I really do like it; I just never get a chance to use it.”
Baptism is meant to be practical, to be used every day, put on and worn even when company isn’t around.
Epiphany is supposed to be the season of light; the time of God’s light revealed to us.
In baptism we are given a part of that light: a part of that star that shone and led the magi to the baby Jesus and a part of Jesus himself. And once given that light we are called to let it shine so that others might be led to the place where Jesus is and then realize the light that has been given to them.
It is a gift that we have been given so that we can give it to others.
May your light so shine, in this season of Epiphany and throughout your lives, that others might see your love for Christ, and give glory to God in Heaven.
Amen
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