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.

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.

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.