This homily was delivered in the chapel of St. John's Hospital Berryville, Arkansas on Christmas Day, 2006
John 1:1-14
Today as I was doing my rounds, I went into a room where the shades were drawn and the lights were turned off. It was pretty dark. The next room I went into didn’t have the lights on either, but the shades were open. And the open shades allowed the light to pour into the room. Have you ever noticed that? Of course you have! But note that the darkness doesn’t spill into the room—the light goes to the dark. Our gospel reading deals with the true light in a dark place.
In this gospel reading, there are two principles in this passage. The first is God; God in Word, as God the Father, in the light, and in the flesh. The second is the witness.
On this Christmas Day we come and we testify as the witness to the birth of the Lord in the flesh. God has chosen to come among us and walk as we walk, hope as we hope, and pray as we pray. Fully human and fully divine, Jesus came as a babe, swaddled by his mother and laid in an animal’s pen.
Yes, God could have come in honor and triumph, but instead he came as we come into the world in the stench of a sty to experience life, joy, and pain just like we do.
Just as we do, Jesus lives and works with his people. The hospital is a place where the healing ministry of Jesus extends through your hands. Regardless of your responsibilities, you extend the healing ministry of Jesus in this place. Our Savior came as a child, and experienced a painful and humiliating death. Our patients come the same way, and in every way in between.
And we are the witnesses. We are the witnesses that as our Lord came to heal, he heals as one who experienced the same ailments and afflictions we do. He shares our joys and our sorrows as God and as a man, a man born of a woman in a barn in Bethlehem. Let us witness the ministry of God as we participate in his healing ministry. Let us bear witness to the Light of the world. Shine, reflecting his light in this world and in this hospital.
Jesus is the light of the world and we are the witnesses. Let us bear witness to the joy of the light that the darkest corners may be lit.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Lessons and Carols 2006
Lessons and Carols is a Christmastime worship service begun in England in the late 1800's. While the Cambridge version was first, there are several different versions of the service. This is my take on Lessons and Carols.
This is the homily with the Order of Worship from the service of Lessons and Carols celebrated at First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on the evening of December 24, 2006.
Homily, The Story
It is customary that when the word of God is read in Christian churches, it is interpreted. Usually this is done through a message from the pastor. Sometimes it is done in drama or in dance.
Tonight, we do something special. Tonight, we interpret the written word of God through song.
The Directory for Worship tells us “Song is a response which engages the whole self in prayer. Song unites the faithful in common prayer wherever they gather for worship whether in church, home, or other special place.”
So tonight, in this holy place, we hear the story of the birth of our Lord told in Lessons and Carols.
Let us hear the word of God and let us respond in prayer and in song.
This is the homily with the Order of Worship from the service of Lessons and Carols celebrated at First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on the evening of December 24, 2006.
Homily, The Story
It is customary that when the word of God is read in Christian churches, it is interpreted. Usually this is done through a message from the pastor. Sometimes it is done in drama or in dance.
Tonight, we do something special. Tonight, we interpret the written word of God through song.
The Directory for Worship tells us “Song is a response which engages the whole self in prayer. Song unites the faithful in common prayer wherever they gather for worship whether in church, home, or other special place.”
So tonight, in this holy place, we hear the story of the birth of our Lord told in Lessons and Carols.
Let us hear the word of God and let us respond in prayer and in song.
Isaiah 9:2, 6 7
Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Isaiah 11:1 4a, 6 9
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Micah 5:2 5a
Hark the Herald, Angels Sing
Luke 1:26 35, 38
Mary, Did You Know
Luke 2:1 7
Come Thou, Long Expected Jesus
Luke 2:8 20
Angels We Have Heard On High
Luke 2:21 33
King of Glory
Matthew 2:1 11
O Come, All Ye Faithful
John 1:1 14
Silent Night, Holy Night
Charge and Benediction
Joy to the World!
Rejoice, Rejoice Believers
This sermon was preached at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on the morning of December 24, 2006.
Micah 5:2-5a
Psalm 80:1-7
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
People often ask why we read the passages we do in worship. I follow a scripture schedule called the “Revised Common Lectionary.” The lectionary is a discipline. When followed over the course of three years; the congregation hears passages from every book of the bible, with significant attention to the Psalms and the Gospels. The lectionary also pays attention to the church season, so appropriate passages are read during Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. The special days of the church, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Epiphany, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and so on are also accounted for in the lectionary. I follow the lectionary because it is the best way for me to be disciplined in reading and preaching a wide variety of scripture. We would all regret it if I picked my favorite passages and themes to preach over and over again.
Today, the creators of the lectionary throw us a curve ball. This is the third of three Advent pieces featuring John the Baptist. But who would have thought that this reading would feature him in-utero? He doesn’t speak a word in this reading, but when he speaks, he speaks volumes. And certainly, while this reading is appropriate for the fourth Sunday of Advent, it hardly seems appropriate for Christmas Eve. But what John says, and what this passage says, speaks volumes.
Let’s begin by setting the scene of our reading.
Earlier in the first chapter of Luke, Zechariah, while serving in the temple offering sacrifices to the Lord, hears the announcement about the pending birth of his son. Shocked, Zechariah asks the angel of the Lord “how in the world this is going to happen?” After all, scripture tells us he is old and his wife is getting on in years. (Kind of generous of Zechariah isn’t it? He is old but his wife’s age is best expressed in a euphemism.) Just for that, the angel strikes him mute; for the question that is, not the euphemism. Leaving the temple he could not speak and everyone knew he had seen a vision.
Let me ask, how did everyone know? Charades? Pictionary? Did he glow? At any rate, everyone knew he had seen a vision. He finished his duties at the temple and returned home.
After Zechariah returns home, Elizabeth becomes pregnant with John. For reasons Luke does not explore, Elizabeth spends the first five month of her pregnancy in the seclusion of her home. Imagine if she had ventured out…the old mute guy and his pregnant wife who is getting on in years. We may have “The National Inquirer” and the Internet, but the grapevine worked just as well then as it does now.
Mary learns about her cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy at the same time she learns of her own. By this time, Elizabeth is six months pregnant. While Luke doesn’t say whether or not Elizabeth left the house between the fifth and sixth month of her pregnancy; I suspect she stayed around the house. First, if Elizabeth had gone out, Mary would not have needed the Holy Spirit to give her the news about her cousin’s pregnancy; it would be the talk of the town. Second, if Elizabeth’s gradually showing pregnancy would have been a shock and source of gossip for the neighbors; imagine how after five months of house rest, the sudden appearance of a very pregnant Elizabeth would have shocked everyone. My guess is that she stayed around the house.
Let’s face it; this is a time ripe with surprises.
So as we enter today’s gospel reading Mary has gone to see her cousin Elizabeth. Mary knows Elizabeth’s secret, but nobody knows Mary’s. So Mary sets out with haste to a Judean town in the hill country where she enters the house of Zechariah.
In 1961, the Grammy for “Album of the Year” did not go to any of the usual suspects. Elvis Presley didn’t win. Perry Como didn’t win. John Coltrane didn’t win. Bill Haley and His Comets didn’t win either. All had released new albums, all were eligible, and none had won the Grammy. The “Album of the Year” was The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart. Newhart also won “Best New Artist” that year. He even won the Grammy for “Best Comedy Performance—Spoken Word” for his follow-up album, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back.
Newhart was a simple, unassuming man from the suburbs of Chicago. In the 1950’s he was drafted into the army and spent the Korean War stateside until he was discharged in 1954. He soon went into accounting where his motto, “that's close enough” never really caught on. If you just saw Wayne shudder, you would have guessed it still hasn’t caught on yet.
He became an advertising copywriter for a major independent film and television producer in Chicago where he and a coworker would entertain each other in long telephone calls which they would record then send to radio stations as audition tapes. When his coworker dropped out of the act, Newhart continued on his own. But instead of recording both sides of the conversation, he recorded only one. [1] Newhart’s demeanor and delivery allowed the audience to imagine the other half of the conversation. Acting as the straight man, Newhart sets up the jokes and the audience creates their own punch lines.
In the late 1970’s, Newhart was one of a handful of comics who guest hosted the Tonight Show. On one of these evenings, he did one of his half-dialogue skits titled “Twins in the Womb.” It began something like this:
Hey, hey, wake up. Do you know what would be funny?
(Silence)
Yeah, fake labor pains! Okay, you ready? One, two three, PUSH!
(Silence)
Is he awake yet?
(Silence)
Okay, one more time. One, two three, PUSH!
(Silence)
Yeah! He’s up now!
I mention this because this skit seems reminiscent of the first half of verse 41, “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb.”
In a way, in a way, this conversation between Jesus and John is like the conversation between Newhart’s twins. Our gospel reading has a conversation between two womb bound boys. Yes, they are in separate wombs, but since there is conversation, this separation doesn’t matter as much as it ordinarily would. Also, we only get to hear one from one of the two of them: John leaps. How Jesus makes himself known is not known to us. Somehow, Jesus announces his arrival through his mother’s voice and John, through his mother’s ears responds. Literally these boys in the womb have a conversation and we are only privy to half.
Elizabeth then gives the world a praise that our Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters pray today: “Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” Elizabeth asks why she should be so honored as to have a visit from the mother of the Lord. Elizabeth ends her greeting by praising: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
Elizabeth greets and praises Mary for her obedience to the Lord. Blessed is she, blessed is the young she carries, blessed is she who believes. Mary is blessed, and because of the blessings she receives from the Lord we are all blessed—blessed by the birth of our Lord and Savior.
Today we come to the end of our journey though Advent. So far this season, the scripture has called us to wait, prepare, and respond.
Advent means coming, and the Lord is coming.
Jesus calls the church to seek him and follow him and follow his lead in miraculous work. It is wonderful and glorious that such majesty comes from one as small and delicate as an unborn babe. But with all of the excitement of the season, it is tempting to behave like retailers and jump the gun—beginning Christmas long before Advent. So we are called to wait for the Lord. Then we are called to wait on the Lord. We are to wait on the leadership of the babe swaddled in an animal’s pen.
We are called to prepare like John prepared—making straight the ways of the Lord. John prepared the nation of Israel by offering a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. John called the people of Israel to turn from the world as they knew it and prepare for the world to come. John called us to wait on the one whose origin according to the prophet Micah is from of old, from ancient days. John asks us if we are willing to stand out in a crowd. John calls us to prepare for the coming of the Lord.
By the words of John again, we are called to respond to the way and the work of the Lord. John teaches us that we are to respond to the work of the Lord by giving and by treating each other fairly. In a world that takes an eye for an eye, we are to walk the extra mile. In a world that is dog-eat-dog, we are called to give a dog a bone. In a world that tells us to do unto others, we are called to do unto others as we would have others do unto us.
Finally, in today’s reading we are called again to be like John—even John in the womb. Even before we can see the Lord our God, even before we can hear his voice without our mother’s ears, we are called to hear and rejoice. We are in the presence of the Lord and in his presence we are to leap for joy. Rejoice, rejoice believers!
Friends, like Mary, and Elizabeth, and John, we are in the presence of the Lord.
As with John, we hear the voice of God all around us. Like in this passage, we may not know exactly what is said, but God’s presence is enough to rejoice about.
The blessings of Mary are available to us all through the fruit of her womb, and blessed are all who believe that there is a fulfillment of what the Lord speaks. These blessings are given to us through a maiden two thousand years ago. These blessings are for us today. These blessings will be for all of us until this earth is no more.
I thought this passage was a bit out of place for Christmas Eve. Yeah, a passage that tells us to rejoice the Lord is here is certainly appropriate on Christmas Eve.
Advent calls us to wait, prepare, respond, and now to rejoice. Rejoice, rejoice believers. The time is at hand. Rejoice the Lord is King. The birth of our Lord is near.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Newhart, accessed on December 18, 2006.
Micah 5:2-5a
Psalm 80:1-7
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45 (46-55)
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
People often ask why we read the passages we do in worship. I follow a scripture schedule called the “Revised Common Lectionary.” The lectionary is a discipline. When followed over the course of three years; the congregation hears passages from every book of the bible, with significant attention to the Psalms and the Gospels. The lectionary also pays attention to the church season, so appropriate passages are read during Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Easter. The special days of the church, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Epiphany, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and so on are also accounted for in the lectionary. I follow the lectionary because it is the best way for me to be disciplined in reading and preaching a wide variety of scripture. We would all regret it if I picked my favorite passages and themes to preach over and over again.
Today, the creators of the lectionary throw us a curve ball. This is the third of three Advent pieces featuring John the Baptist. But who would have thought that this reading would feature him in-utero? He doesn’t speak a word in this reading, but when he speaks, he speaks volumes. And certainly, while this reading is appropriate for the fourth Sunday of Advent, it hardly seems appropriate for Christmas Eve. But what John says, and what this passage says, speaks volumes.
Let’s begin by setting the scene of our reading.
Earlier in the first chapter of Luke, Zechariah, while serving in the temple offering sacrifices to the Lord, hears the announcement about the pending birth of his son. Shocked, Zechariah asks the angel of the Lord “how in the world this is going to happen?” After all, scripture tells us he is old and his wife is getting on in years. (Kind of generous of Zechariah isn’t it? He is old but his wife’s age is best expressed in a euphemism.) Just for that, the angel strikes him mute; for the question that is, not the euphemism. Leaving the temple he could not speak and everyone knew he had seen a vision.
Let me ask, how did everyone know? Charades? Pictionary? Did he glow? At any rate, everyone knew he had seen a vision. He finished his duties at the temple and returned home.
After Zechariah returns home, Elizabeth becomes pregnant with John. For reasons Luke does not explore, Elizabeth spends the first five month of her pregnancy in the seclusion of her home. Imagine if she had ventured out…the old mute guy and his pregnant wife who is getting on in years. We may have “The National Inquirer” and the Internet, but the grapevine worked just as well then as it does now.
Mary learns about her cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy at the same time she learns of her own. By this time, Elizabeth is six months pregnant. While Luke doesn’t say whether or not Elizabeth left the house between the fifth and sixth month of her pregnancy; I suspect she stayed around the house. First, if Elizabeth had gone out, Mary would not have needed the Holy Spirit to give her the news about her cousin’s pregnancy; it would be the talk of the town. Second, if Elizabeth’s gradually showing pregnancy would have been a shock and source of gossip for the neighbors; imagine how after five months of house rest, the sudden appearance of a very pregnant Elizabeth would have shocked everyone. My guess is that she stayed around the house.
Let’s face it; this is a time ripe with surprises.
So as we enter today’s gospel reading Mary has gone to see her cousin Elizabeth. Mary knows Elizabeth’s secret, but nobody knows Mary’s. So Mary sets out with haste to a Judean town in the hill country where she enters the house of Zechariah.
In 1961, the Grammy for “Album of the Year” did not go to any of the usual suspects. Elvis Presley didn’t win. Perry Como didn’t win. John Coltrane didn’t win. Bill Haley and His Comets didn’t win either. All had released new albums, all were eligible, and none had won the Grammy. The “Album of the Year” was The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart. Newhart also won “Best New Artist” that year. He even won the Grammy for “Best Comedy Performance—Spoken Word” for his follow-up album, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back.
Newhart was a simple, unassuming man from the suburbs of Chicago. In the 1950’s he was drafted into the army and spent the Korean War stateside until he was discharged in 1954. He soon went into accounting where his motto, “that's close enough” never really caught on. If you just saw Wayne shudder, you would have guessed it still hasn’t caught on yet.
He became an advertising copywriter for a major independent film and television producer in Chicago where he and a coworker would entertain each other in long telephone calls which they would record then send to radio stations as audition tapes. When his coworker dropped out of the act, Newhart continued on his own. But instead of recording both sides of the conversation, he recorded only one. [1] Newhart’s demeanor and delivery allowed the audience to imagine the other half of the conversation. Acting as the straight man, Newhart sets up the jokes and the audience creates their own punch lines.
In the late 1970’s, Newhart was one of a handful of comics who guest hosted the Tonight Show. On one of these evenings, he did one of his half-dialogue skits titled “Twins in the Womb.” It began something like this:
Hey, hey, wake up. Do you know what would be funny?
(Silence)
Yeah, fake labor pains! Okay, you ready? One, two three, PUSH!
(Silence)
Is he awake yet?
(Silence)
Okay, one more time. One, two three, PUSH!
(Silence)
Yeah! He’s up now!
I mention this because this skit seems reminiscent of the first half of verse 41, “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb.”
In a way, in a way, this conversation between Jesus and John is like the conversation between Newhart’s twins. Our gospel reading has a conversation between two womb bound boys. Yes, they are in separate wombs, but since there is conversation, this separation doesn’t matter as much as it ordinarily would. Also, we only get to hear one from one of the two of them: John leaps. How Jesus makes himself known is not known to us. Somehow, Jesus announces his arrival through his mother’s voice and John, through his mother’s ears responds. Literally these boys in the womb have a conversation and we are only privy to half.
Elizabeth then gives the world a praise that our Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters pray today: “Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.” Elizabeth asks why she should be so honored as to have a visit from the mother of the Lord. Elizabeth ends her greeting by praising: “Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”
Elizabeth greets and praises Mary for her obedience to the Lord. Blessed is she, blessed is the young she carries, blessed is she who believes. Mary is blessed, and because of the blessings she receives from the Lord we are all blessed—blessed by the birth of our Lord and Savior.
Today we come to the end of our journey though Advent. So far this season, the scripture has called us to wait, prepare, and respond.
Advent means coming, and the Lord is coming.
Jesus calls the church to seek him and follow him and follow his lead in miraculous work. It is wonderful and glorious that such majesty comes from one as small and delicate as an unborn babe. But with all of the excitement of the season, it is tempting to behave like retailers and jump the gun—beginning Christmas long before Advent. So we are called to wait for the Lord. Then we are called to wait on the Lord. We are to wait on the leadership of the babe swaddled in an animal’s pen.
We are called to prepare like John prepared—making straight the ways of the Lord. John prepared the nation of Israel by offering a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. John called the people of Israel to turn from the world as they knew it and prepare for the world to come. John called us to wait on the one whose origin according to the prophet Micah is from of old, from ancient days. John asks us if we are willing to stand out in a crowd. John calls us to prepare for the coming of the Lord.
By the words of John again, we are called to respond to the way and the work of the Lord. John teaches us that we are to respond to the work of the Lord by giving and by treating each other fairly. In a world that takes an eye for an eye, we are to walk the extra mile. In a world that is dog-eat-dog, we are called to give a dog a bone. In a world that tells us to do unto others, we are called to do unto others as we would have others do unto us.
Finally, in today’s reading we are called again to be like John—even John in the womb. Even before we can see the Lord our God, even before we can hear his voice without our mother’s ears, we are called to hear and rejoice. We are in the presence of the Lord and in his presence we are to leap for joy. Rejoice, rejoice believers!
Friends, like Mary, and Elizabeth, and John, we are in the presence of the Lord.
As with John, we hear the voice of God all around us. Like in this passage, we may not know exactly what is said, but God’s presence is enough to rejoice about.
The blessings of Mary are available to us all through the fruit of her womb, and blessed are all who believe that there is a fulfillment of what the Lord speaks. These blessings are given to us through a maiden two thousand years ago. These blessings are for us today. These blessings will be for all of us until this earth is no more.
I thought this passage was a bit out of place for Christmas Eve. Yeah, a passage that tells us to rejoice the Lord is here is certainly appropriate on Christmas Eve.
Advent calls us to wait, prepare, respond, and now to rejoice. Rejoice, rejoice believers. The time is at hand. Rejoice the Lord is King. The birth of our Lord is near.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Newhart, accessed on December 18, 2006.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Who We Are Vs. What We Do
Zephaniah 3:14-20
Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Few people have changed the course of history more than the Wright Brothers. One hundred and three years ago today, these bicycle-making brothers soared into space on the wings of a small bi-wing airplane, achieving an altitude of perhaps 30 feet. In the process, they developed steering techniques that are still being used today in airplanes, spacecraft, submarines and robots.
On December 17, 1903, Orville took off from the Outer Banks of North Carolina, near Kitty Hawk, and flew the gasoline-powered Wright Flyer for 12 seconds. That same day, Wilbur piloted the plane for 59 seconds, covering a grand total of 852 feet. And thus, too, the advent of the age of aeronautics had begun.[1]
On that day, people started to think differently. What had been impossible was now possible. Worlds that before that day were inaccessible were now accessible. Bill Gates puts it in perspective when he says “The Wright Brothers created the single greatest cultural force since the invention of writing. The airplane became the first World Wide Web, bringing people, languages ideas, and values together.”[2]
Not many such days come along in history when people from a particular moment start to think differently. The day a baby was born in Bethlehem was such a day. With his birth, everything changed. We still discuss the meaning and impact of the life which came into the world one night 2,000 years later.
Today we continue the journey through Advent toward the birth of Jesus with the second part of the introduction of the ministry of John the Baptist. But this part of the story is not easy to hear.
It begins with John addressing the crowds that came out to be baptized by him. Now, the crowds were made up of Jewish the sons and daughters of Abraham who had come hearing John’s cry, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” There is no reason to doubt the sincerity of the people who had come. I trust that all who come to be baptized come by the love of God and the call to be a member of the covenant community, whether two thousand years ago or next week. John has something else to say.
He calls those who have come, the entire crowd, a brood of vipers. He wonders who had warned them of the wrath to come. He blasts these baptism-seekers, comparing them to a nest of poisonous snakes slithering away from a fiery doom. Like the prophets before him, John speaks of divine judgment and the wrath of God, predicting that an overpowering force from heaven will come to destroy the wicked of the world.
We read on to discover that there are tax collectors in the crowd and soldiers too; neither of these groups is very highly regarded. Both tax collectors and soldiers were known for exacting more than they were due from the impoverished and the weak. Exploit is a good word. So it is easy for us to say, “Ah! John is speaking to these folks, not to the regular people in the crowd. Not the people like you and me.” It is easy to say this; it lets us off the hook. But it is a hook we can’t wriggle off of so easily.
John spoke to the crowds that came out to be baptized. These are devout people. These are God fearing people. They have heard of John’s baptism and want to learn more. They have heard of John’s baptism and they want to participate in it. They are honest and sincere; I have no reason to believe anyone in the crowd is beyond redemption. And here it is, “You brood of vipers.”
Let’s just say if I had greeted Ken with these words at the font last week, I expect we would not have celebrated his joining the congregation. This is not what you would call a “seeker-sensitive” worship experience.[3]
John is here to shake up the world, not to make the masses feel good about themselves. John warns the crowd not to rest on the laurels of their ancestry. He reminds them yes, you are the children of Abraham. You are the children of the covenant the Lord made with Abraham. You are the children of the one the Lord chose. This is a very special status. It is to be honored and revered by the people. And God is able to raise children of Abraham from these stones if so inclined. God is able to raise children of the covenant from the Gentiles if so inclined.
The passage tells us that even as the people of the nation of Israel are the trees in the grove of the Lord, the trees which are barren will be removed. The trees that do not bear good fruit will be cut down.
Yes, who they are is important, it is very important, but alone it is nothing.
You know, I just don’t see John being invited to fill the pulpit when Joel Osteen goes on vacation.
So far during Advent we have been told by scripture to wait and to prepare. It is apt that we should now ask the question asked by the crowds in verse 10, “What then should we do?”
John answers very simply: share and treat one another fairly.
“Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” John calls those who have plenty to give to those who have nothing. John realizes that there are those who are not able to give, so he does not call everyone to give. There are widows and orphans who are not protected. They have no advocate. They live on the edge of every society. They are not burdened to support others because they do not have the resources to support themselves. Instead, those who are blessed are called to extend their blessings to those who have none.
The other instruction John gives is to treat one another fairly. I believe this is what lies at the root of John’s call to “be satisfied with your wages.” More than “be satisfied,” John tells these groups to treat their charges fairly. He is not telling the workers of the world to quit complaining and be happy with their lot.
In a day when tax collectors could demand whatever they want, returning only a specific portion to Roman authorities, shaking down the people for an extra coin or two was a lucrative way of making money. So too soldiers would threaten people with arrest or worse if they did not receive what they wanted. John told these people to treat others fairly, not to take more than was due and not to extort extra money from anyone. In our way of speaking, he was saying ask the boss for a raise; don’t take it from those you serve. He was not saying be satisfied because you are getting what you are worth.
Earlier I said that who the nation of Israel is is important, it is important to God. But alone, it is nothing. John tells the nation that along with who they are, what they do is important. Only when these two things come together is the covenant full. Like our Call to Worship, though our praise and thanksgiving, the love and promises of God reach their fullest through the call of God and the response of the congregation. We are called by the Lord, John makes this clear. But he also makes it just as clear that we must respond, and our response must bear fruit, to become partners in the blessings of God.
Elie Wiesel tells this Hasidic tale:
When the great Rabbi Israel Bal Shem-Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and misfortune averted.
Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magrid of Mezritch had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: “Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayers.” And again the miracle would be accomplished.
Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say: “I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient.” It was sufficient and the miracle was accomplished.
Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God: “I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer; I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story and that must be sufficient.” And it was sufficient. God made humankind because God loves stories.[4]
The thought that God loves stories is in line with Judaism. Rabbis have been telling stories since the dawn of dawn. And today’s gospel reading gives us quite a story. Like Luke’s gospel, this story tells us that who we are is important. Each of the characters in it is a Rabbi, a leader of the synagogue, the assembly. But what they do is also important. Whether by long ritual or simple prayer, they lift the concerns of the nation before the Lord. Through their actions, the Lord averts tragedy. Their actions were sufficient and the miracle is accomplished.
During Advent, we come with the story; the story of the coming of a baby who is the Christ. And this story makes us think differently, it makes us different. This is what Advent is about. Meeting the Center of the Universe. Meeting the Christ. Changing our thinking. Finding a new source of power, and then turning it into the mighty wind that God has blown across the landscape of human life.
Power and wind. Sounds like the formula for flying, doesn’t it?
Jesus the Messiah baptizes us with Spirit and with fire, and invites us to soar with him into a life of repentance and righteousness. With his mighty wind beneath our wings, we can ascend to a whole new level of living, one in which we are right with God and with one another.
John cries out with the voice of the prophets. The voices that call us to wait, prepare, and respond. Today we respond.
[1] “The Wright story,” Wright Brothers Web Site, First-to-fly.com/History/. Retrieved May 19, 2003.
[2] Gates, Bill. Wright Brothers Web Site, First-to-fly.com/. Retrieved May 19, 2003.
[3] Kaylor, Bob, Park City Methodist Church in Homiletics Magazine, http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/printer_friendly_installment.asp?_id=3214, accessed Nov. 6, 2006.
[4] Hasidic tale told by Elie Wiesel, from The Gates of the Forest, Schoken Books, 1982 in An Advent Sourcebook, O’Gorman, Thomas J., Ed. Archdiocese of Chicago, Liturgical Training Publications, 1988, page 82-83.
Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-7
Luke 3:7-18
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Few people have changed the course of history more than the Wright Brothers. One hundred and three years ago today, these bicycle-making brothers soared into space on the wings of a small bi-wing airplane, achieving an altitude of perhaps 30 feet. In the process, they developed steering techniques that are still being used today in airplanes, spacecraft, submarines and robots.
On December 17, 1903, Orville took off from the Outer Banks of North Carolina, near Kitty Hawk, and flew the gasoline-powered Wright Flyer for 12 seconds. That same day, Wilbur piloted the plane for 59 seconds, covering a grand total of 852 feet. And thus, too, the advent of the age of aeronautics had begun.[1]
On that day, people started to think differently. What had been impossible was now possible. Worlds that before that day were inaccessible were now accessible. Bill Gates puts it in perspective when he says “The Wright Brothers created the single greatest cultural force since the invention of writing. The airplane became the first World Wide Web, bringing people, languages ideas, and values together.”[2]
Not many such days come along in history when people from a particular moment start to think differently. The day a baby was born in Bethlehem was such a day. With his birth, everything changed. We still discuss the meaning and impact of the life which came into the world one night 2,000 years later.
Today we continue the journey through Advent toward the birth of Jesus with the second part of the introduction of the ministry of John the Baptist. But this part of the story is not easy to hear.
It begins with John addressing the crowds that came out to be baptized by him. Now, the crowds were made up of Jewish the sons and daughters of Abraham who had come hearing John’s cry, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” There is no reason to doubt the sincerity of the people who had come. I trust that all who come to be baptized come by the love of God and the call to be a member of the covenant community, whether two thousand years ago or next week. John has something else to say.
He calls those who have come, the entire crowd, a brood of vipers. He wonders who had warned them of the wrath to come. He blasts these baptism-seekers, comparing them to a nest of poisonous snakes slithering away from a fiery doom. Like the prophets before him, John speaks of divine judgment and the wrath of God, predicting that an overpowering force from heaven will come to destroy the wicked of the world.
We read on to discover that there are tax collectors in the crowd and soldiers too; neither of these groups is very highly regarded. Both tax collectors and soldiers were known for exacting more than they were due from the impoverished and the weak. Exploit is a good word. So it is easy for us to say, “Ah! John is speaking to these folks, not to the regular people in the crowd. Not the people like you and me.” It is easy to say this; it lets us off the hook. But it is a hook we can’t wriggle off of so easily.
John spoke to the crowds that came out to be baptized. These are devout people. These are God fearing people. They have heard of John’s baptism and want to learn more. They have heard of John’s baptism and they want to participate in it. They are honest and sincere; I have no reason to believe anyone in the crowd is beyond redemption. And here it is, “You brood of vipers.”
Let’s just say if I had greeted Ken with these words at the font last week, I expect we would not have celebrated his joining the congregation. This is not what you would call a “seeker-sensitive” worship experience.[3]
John is here to shake up the world, not to make the masses feel good about themselves. John warns the crowd not to rest on the laurels of their ancestry. He reminds them yes, you are the children of Abraham. You are the children of the covenant the Lord made with Abraham. You are the children of the one the Lord chose. This is a very special status. It is to be honored and revered by the people. And God is able to raise children of Abraham from these stones if so inclined. God is able to raise children of the covenant from the Gentiles if so inclined.
The passage tells us that even as the people of the nation of Israel are the trees in the grove of the Lord, the trees which are barren will be removed. The trees that do not bear good fruit will be cut down.
Yes, who they are is important, it is very important, but alone it is nothing.
You know, I just don’t see John being invited to fill the pulpit when Joel Osteen goes on vacation.
So far during Advent we have been told by scripture to wait and to prepare. It is apt that we should now ask the question asked by the crowds in verse 10, “What then should we do?”
John answers very simply: share and treat one another fairly.
“Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” John calls those who have plenty to give to those who have nothing. John realizes that there are those who are not able to give, so he does not call everyone to give. There are widows and orphans who are not protected. They have no advocate. They live on the edge of every society. They are not burdened to support others because they do not have the resources to support themselves. Instead, those who are blessed are called to extend their blessings to those who have none.
The other instruction John gives is to treat one another fairly. I believe this is what lies at the root of John’s call to “be satisfied with your wages.” More than “be satisfied,” John tells these groups to treat their charges fairly. He is not telling the workers of the world to quit complaining and be happy with their lot.
In a day when tax collectors could demand whatever they want, returning only a specific portion to Roman authorities, shaking down the people for an extra coin or two was a lucrative way of making money. So too soldiers would threaten people with arrest or worse if they did not receive what they wanted. John told these people to treat others fairly, not to take more than was due and not to extort extra money from anyone. In our way of speaking, he was saying ask the boss for a raise; don’t take it from those you serve. He was not saying be satisfied because you are getting what you are worth.
Earlier I said that who the nation of Israel is is important, it is important to God. But alone, it is nothing. John tells the nation that along with who they are, what they do is important. Only when these two things come together is the covenant full. Like our Call to Worship, though our praise and thanksgiving, the love and promises of God reach their fullest through the call of God and the response of the congregation. We are called by the Lord, John makes this clear. But he also makes it just as clear that we must respond, and our response must bear fruit, to become partners in the blessings of God.
Elie Wiesel tells this Hasidic tale:
When the great Rabbi Israel Bal Shem-Tov saw misfortune threatening the Jews it was his custom to go into a certain part of the forest to meditate. There he would light a fire, say a special prayer, and the miracle would be accomplished and misfortune averted.
Later, when his disciple, the celebrated Magrid of Mezritch had occasion, for the same reason, to intercede with heaven, he would go to the same place in the forest and say: “Master of the Universe, listen! I do not know how to light the fire, but I am still able to say the prayers.” And again the miracle would be accomplished.
Still later, Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sasov, in order to save his people once more, would go into the forest and say: “I do not know how to light the fire, I do not know the prayer, but I know the place and this must be sufficient.” It was sufficient and the miracle was accomplished.
Then it fell to Rabbi Israel of Rizhyn to overcome misfortune. Sitting in his armchair, his head in his hands, he spoke to God: “I am unable to light the fire and I do not know the prayer; I cannot even find the place in the forest. All I can do is to tell the story and that must be sufficient.” And it was sufficient. God made humankind because God loves stories.[4]
The thought that God loves stories is in line with Judaism. Rabbis have been telling stories since the dawn of dawn. And today’s gospel reading gives us quite a story. Like Luke’s gospel, this story tells us that who we are is important. Each of the characters in it is a Rabbi, a leader of the synagogue, the assembly. But what they do is also important. Whether by long ritual or simple prayer, they lift the concerns of the nation before the Lord. Through their actions, the Lord averts tragedy. Their actions were sufficient and the miracle is accomplished.
During Advent, we come with the story; the story of the coming of a baby who is the Christ. And this story makes us think differently, it makes us different. This is what Advent is about. Meeting the Center of the Universe. Meeting the Christ. Changing our thinking. Finding a new source of power, and then turning it into the mighty wind that God has blown across the landscape of human life.
Power and wind. Sounds like the formula for flying, doesn’t it?
Jesus the Messiah baptizes us with Spirit and with fire, and invites us to soar with him into a life of repentance and righteousness. With his mighty wind beneath our wings, we can ascend to a whole new level of living, one in which we are right with God and with one another.
John cries out with the voice of the prophets. The voices that call us to wait, prepare, and respond. Today we respond.
[1] “The Wright story,” Wright Brothers Web Site, First-to-fly.com/History/. Retrieved May 19, 2003.
[2] Gates, Bill. Wright Brothers Web Site, First-to-fly.com/. Retrieved May 19, 2003.
[3] Kaylor, Bob, Park City Methodist Church in Homiletics Magazine, http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/printer_friendly_installment.asp?_id=3214, accessed Nov. 6, 2006.
[4] Hasidic tale told by Elie Wiesel, from The Gates of the Forest, Schoken Books, 1982 in An Advent Sourcebook, O’Gorman, Thomas J., Ed. Archdiocese of Chicago, Liturgical Training Publications, 1988, page 82-83.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
I Wanna Be Like John
This sermon was delivered at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on December 10, 2006.
Malachi 3:1-4
Luke 1:68-79
Philippians 1:3-11
Luke 3:1-6
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Have you ever wondered about the origins of products or their trademarks? (Just me? Oh well, I was a business major in college.) One America’s best known brands is a sports drink called “Gatorade.” This drink replaces fluids and electrolytes helping rejuvenate and restore the body after physical exertion. It was invented in the mid 1960's by scientists at the University of Florida at the request of the athletic department, particularly the football coaches. The mascot of the University of Florida is the Gators, thus, Gatorade.[1]
In the early 1990's, Gatorade faced serious competition for domination of the sports drink market from Coca Cola’s PowerAde. Since Coke has the resources to be the 800 pound gorilla in any room it enters, the folks at Gatorade had to get serious about their marketing, lest everything they had built be lost.[2]
So in the third year of the presidency of George Bush the elder, when Bill Clinton had served as Governor of Arkansas for thirteen years (the last nine consecutively), and in the twelfth year of the papacy of John Paul II; Gatorade secured the services of Michael Jordan as their advertising spokesman. At the time, Jordan was the shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls and probably the best basketball player ever to walk the face of the earth. The first ad featuring Jordan showed him playing ball and having a wonderful life featuring this little ditty: For just one day if I could/Be that way/I dream I move/I dream I groove/Like Mike/If I could Be Like Mike.[3] The campaign was called, “I Wanna Be Like Mike.”
Yeah, I wanna be like Mike. By most standards, Michael Jordan had it made. He was then, and probably still is, the most talented basketball player ever. He was named “the greatest athlete of the 20th century” by ESPN, and was second only to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press list of top athletes of the 20th century.[4] Also between his basketball and endorsement contracts, he was making obscene amounts of money. He was happily married, had two sons and was about to star in his own feature film with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck called “Space Jam.” Who didn’t want to be like Mike?
Today our readings take us into the life and work of John the Baptist, the Son of Zechariah. John is venerated by his faith, and today we read Luke’s introduction to John and his work. So, who is John the Baptist?
When we read the first verse from chapter three, we learn all we need to know about the powerful people of the day. Tiberius was the emperor in Rome, Pilate was Governor of Judea, and Herod ruled Galilee. In the Temple, Annas and Caiphas were the high priests. John, the son of Zechariah was in the wilderness. John was what we would call a “nobody.” He was such a madman that he wore camelhair in an arid climate. He ate grasshoppers and wild honey. He was nobody, he was poor, he was far, far off his rocker; and the Word of God came to him. So John is nobody in the eyes of the world, especially the powerful people. And the Word of God came to him. John is important to God.
The next important thing about John is found in his proclamation. Also found in the book of the prophet Isaiah, John cries, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” The next important thing we need to know about John is that his importance is only defined in the life and work of Jesus.
This is difficult for us. Society teaches us that we are to be valued for what we do or who we are. But John is only important in the light of who he is in relation to Jesus. Zechariah’s canticle, our call to worship this morning, points to this while outlining the pathway of salvation for the nation of Israel. Beginning with Abraham, moving to David, onto John, and finally finding perfection in Jesus, John’s role in the salvation history of Israel is transitory. He is a link in the chain. He is vitally important to that chain, but no more so than anyone else. John is only important for his work in the Kingdom of God, but this is what makes him important.
Finally, as odd as John is compared to the norms of his day, or ours for that matter, his message is just as unusual. John proclaims a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Repent has an interesting history in our language. Literally it means turn around. History has been full of very specific ways people have been called to turn their lives, but I want us to be general. John is a sober model for discipleship. John has turned from the world to serve the creator of the world; and he calls us to turn from our earthly lives to a life more directed by God. Our focus is not to be toward ourselves, we are to turn from our world to life in Christ.
So, are we willing to stand out like John? Are we willing to ruffle feathers like he did? Are we willing to speak out against the conventions of society like John?
Over the last thirty years or so, there has been a shift from greeting people at stores with “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays.” Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart where I am often greeted by a man who offers me a shopping cart and invites me to fill it to the top. I was surrounded by an animatronic singing polar bear and his penguin back up singers, plastic lighted crèche, six foot high inflatable snow globes, and the dulcet sounds of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” from the Redneck Christmas CD.
Recently, a group has fought to get stores to stop wishing their customers “Happy Holidays” and return to “Merry Christmas.” Their battle cry: It’s time to put Christmas back into the holidays!
Are we willing to stand out like John? John would stand in the middle of this and cry, “You want to put Christmas back into the holidays? Well I say it’s time to put Christ back into Christmas!” Thank God for the Salvation Army bell ringer at the door. This is someone who stands in front of the doors that guard the altar of commerce crying “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his pathways straight.”
So, what’s it like to be Mike. Yeah, he had it made back in the 90’s. Today, Michael Jordan is still acclaimed as the greatest basketball player ever. He still has endorsement contracts. His family has added a daughter since Bush the elder was president. But constantly looking for the juice that lifted him to new heights on the basketball court caused his gambling to reach new lows. Because of this, he has lost much. Gambling, infidelity, and other factors nearly cost him his marriage. As venerated as he is, he has proven himself to be human, all too human.
Being John looks to be a lot tougher. John was an outsider. To the world he was a no account rebel rouser pointing in a direction he was shown, but had not yet seen. Last weeks readings told us to wait, this week’s tell us to prepare. John is human, all too human, just like the rest of us. But John shows us a way of living we talk about today. He tells and shows us how to prepare for the coming of the Lord. As for me, I wanna be like John.
[1] http://www.gatorade.com/history/born_in_the_lab/
[2] http://authorviews.com/authors/rovell/rovell-obd.htm
[3] Pitzel, Bernie, “I Wanna Be Like Mike”, Bayer Bess Vanderwarker, Advertising, 1991.
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_jordan#Personal_life
Malachi 3:1-4
Luke 1:68-79
Philippians 1:3-11
Luke 3:1-6
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Have you ever wondered about the origins of products or their trademarks? (Just me? Oh well, I was a business major in college.) One America’s best known brands is a sports drink called “Gatorade.” This drink replaces fluids and electrolytes helping rejuvenate and restore the body after physical exertion. It was invented in the mid 1960's by scientists at the University of Florida at the request of the athletic department, particularly the football coaches. The mascot of the University of Florida is the Gators, thus, Gatorade.[1]
In the early 1990's, Gatorade faced serious competition for domination of the sports drink market from Coca Cola’s PowerAde. Since Coke has the resources to be the 800 pound gorilla in any room it enters, the folks at Gatorade had to get serious about their marketing, lest everything they had built be lost.[2]
So in the third year of the presidency of George Bush the elder, when Bill Clinton had served as Governor of Arkansas for thirteen years (the last nine consecutively), and in the twelfth year of the papacy of John Paul II; Gatorade secured the services of Michael Jordan as their advertising spokesman. At the time, Jordan was the shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls and probably the best basketball player ever to walk the face of the earth. The first ad featuring Jordan showed him playing ball and having a wonderful life featuring this little ditty: For just one day if I could/Be that way/I dream I move/I dream I groove/Like Mike/If I could Be Like Mike.[3] The campaign was called, “I Wanna Be Like Mike.”
Yeah, I wanna be like Mike. By most standards, Michael Jordan had it made. He was then, and probably still is, the most talented basketball player ever. He was named “the greatest athlete of the 20th century” by ESPN, and was second only to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press list of top athletes of the 20th century.[4] Also between his basketball and endorsement contracts, he was making obscene amounts of money. He was happily married, had two sons and was about to star in his own feature film with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck called “Space Jam.” Who didn’t want to be like Mike?
Today our readings take us into the life and work of John the Baptist, the Son of Zechariah. John is venerated by his faith, and today we read Luke’s introduction to John and his work. So, who is John the Baptist?
When we read the first verse from chapter three, we learn all we need to know about the powerful people of the day. Tiberius was the emperor in Rome, Pilate was Governor of Judea, and Herod ruled Galilee. In the Temple, Annas and Caiphas were the high priests. John, the son of Zechariah was in the wilderness. John was what we would call a “nobody.” He was such a madman that he wore camelhair in an arid climate. He ate grasshoppers and wild honey. He was nobody, he was poor, he was far, far off his rocker; and the Word of God came to him. So John is nobody in the eyes of the world, especially the powerful people. And the Word of God came to him. John is important to God.
The next important thing about John is found in his proclamation. Also found in the book of the prophet Isaiah, John cries, “Prepare the way of the Lord!” The next important thing we need to know about John is that his importance is only defined in the life and work of Jesus.
This is difficult for us. Society teaches us that we are to be valued for what we do or who we are. But John is only important in the light of who he is in relation to Jesus. Zechariah’s canticle, our call to worship this morning, points to this while outlining the pathway of salvation for the nation of Israel. Beginning with Abraham, moving to David, onto John, and finally finding perfection in Jesus, John’s role in the salvation history of Israel is transitory. He is a link in the chain. He is vitally important to that chain, but no more so than anyone else. John is only important for his work in the Kingdom of God, but this is what makes him important.
Finally, as odd as John is compared to the norms of his day, or ours for that matter, his message is just as unusual. John proclaims a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Repent has an interesting history in our language. Literally it means turn around. History has been full of very specific ways people have been called to turn their lives, but I want us to be general. John is a sober model for discipleship. John has turned from the world to serve the creator of the world; and he calls us to turn from our earthly lives to a life more directed by God. Our focus is not to be toward ourselves, we are to turn from our world to life in Christ.
So, are we willing to stand out like John? Are we willing to ruffle feathers like he did? Are we willing to speak out against the conventions of society like John?
Over the last thirty years or so, there has been a shift from greeting people at stores with “Merry Christmas” to “Happy Holidays.” Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart where I am often greeted by a man who offers me a shopping cart and invites me to fill it to the top. I was surrounded by an animatronic singing polar bear and his penguin back up singers, plastic lighted crèche, six foot high inflatable snow globes, and the dulcet sounds of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” from the Redneck Christmas CD.
Recently, a group has fought to get stores to stop wishing their customers “Happy Holidays” and return to “Merry Christmas.” Their battle cry: It’s time to put Christmas back into the holidays!
Are we willing to stand out like John? John would stand in the middle of this and cry, “You want to put Christmas back into the holidays? Well I say it’s time to put Christ back into Christmas!” Thank God for the Salvation Army bell ringer at the door. This is someone who stands in front of the doors that guard the altar of commerce crying “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his pathways straight.”
So, what’s it like to be Mike. Yeah, he had it made back in the 90’s. Today, Michael Jordan is still acclaimed as the greatest basketball player ever. He still has endorsement contracts. His family has added a daughter since Bush the elder was president. But constantly looking for the juice that lifted him to new heights on the basketball court caused his gambling to reach new lows. Because of this, he has lost much. Gambling, infidelity, and other factors nearly cost him his marriage. As venerated as he is, he has proven himself to be human, all too human.
Being John looks to be a lot tougher. John was an outsider. To the world he was a no account rebel rouser pointing in a direction he was shown, but had not yet seen. Last weeks readings told us to wait, this week’s tell us to prepare. John is human, all too human, just like the rest of us. But John shows us a way of living we talk about today. He tells and shows us how to prepare for the coming of the Lord. As for me, I wanna be like John.
[1] http://www.gatorade.com/history/born_in_the_lab/
[2] http://authorviews.com/authors/rovell/rovell-obd.htm
[3] Pitzel, Bernie, “I Wanna Be Like Mike”, Bayer Bess Vanderwarker, Advertising, 1991.
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_jordan#Personal_life
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Memory Tree Homily
This homily was delivered at the St. John's Hospice Memory Tree Service in Berryville, Arkansas on December 5, 2006.
Let us pray…May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Listen to the word of the Lord from the Prophet Isaiah 40:1-8, 11 and 28-31[1]
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
"In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
A voice says, "Cry out!"
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
I haven’t been a minister long. In fact, I only recently graduated from seminary. In seminary I had a friend named Rick who plays piano wonderfully. During a particularly stressful time in his first year, another classmate, Dana, asked Rick to come with her to the chapel and play so she could sing. Singing is how she blew off steam and refreshed herself. She had hoped Rick would be willing to help her rejuvenate and prepare for the next round of tests. Rick was gracious and agreed to go with her. Now, everyone in our circle of friends knew Rick had played professionally, so Rick had heard his share of singers. More to the point— Rick had heard his share of wannabe divas who wanted his opinion of their singing voice.
Well, Rick was gracious and played. He didn’t put his whole heart into it because he wasn’t expecting much. Then she began to sing. She put all of her uncertainty, all of her frustration, and all of her pain into song, singing a great hymn of the church. She wasn’t but about three notes in when Rick knew he had to play his heart out if he was going to keep up with her. When they finished, they were both in a better humor, they had gotten rid of some of the stress from classes. For a brief shining moment, all was well and they were ready to face the world.[2]
They felt tossed and turned by what life was throwing at them. Together, through music, they were able to find something familiar, a spot of joy and praise. Together, they found solace in the worship of God through song. The song she sang? Horatio Spafford’s “It Is Well with My Soul.”
The circumstances behind this song are traumatic.[3] Spafford’s business had faced huge set backs because of the Chicago fire of 1871. Scarlet fever claimed his son’s life a year earlier. In 1873, Spafford, his wife Anna, and four daughters were scheduled to take a trip to England, partially for holiday and partially to help D. L. Moody with his mission work in Europe. Mr. Spafford was delayed due to business, but he convinced his wife and family to precede him across the Atlantic. On the trip, their ship, the Ville de Havre collided with the English vessel Lochearn causing it to sink in only twelve minutes. Anna Spafford was the only member of the family to survive.
After getting word of the disaster, Mr. Spafford left as soon as he could book passage. During his voyage, the captain of the ship called Spafford to the bridge and showed him the site of the wreck. The Ville de Havre was laying three miles below them on the ocean floor. Then, Spafford retired to his cabin and wrote the hymn “It Is Well with My Soul.”
In the book of the Prophet Isaiah it is written:
A voice says, "Cry out!"
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
What shall I cry indeed.
This sanctuary is filled with people who have asked that very question. Some cry out like Abraham. After learning of the death of his son Joseph, Abraham ripped his clothes and covered himself in ashes. Some react like Naomi after the deaths of her husband and sons. She tells her friends, “Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.” Others, in their pain and grief write hymns trying to find reassurance in the words and images of the faith.
In a broken world, each of these people was precisely in tune with their brokenness. Their lives had been tossed tea kettle over spout. Their feelings of brokenness were raw and exposed like a nerve.
As the wind turns cold in the Ozarks, the grass withers and the flower fades just as Isaiah prophesies. The exposed nerves have begun to be dulled, maybe even begun to heal. This then is when we begin to hear the voice crying out on the wind:
"In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
Advent is the season of the coming of the Lord when we make straight the highways, lift the valleys, and make low the hills and mountains. The way is prepared in our homes, in our churches and in our selves. This is difficult for those who mourn. Joy and glee seem to have no purchase in the heart of one covered in sackcloth and ash. Times like this, it is easy to feel out of place with what our society proposes we should feel and say.
Yet give thanks that our mourning, our brokenness is shared by our Lord and Messiah. With thanks and praise, I offer again the words of Isaiah saying:
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid.
God takes our brokenness. God takes our mourning. God takes what we offer. Somehow, in ways I cannot hope to understand or even imagine, God takes our grief and lifts us up. Yes, we still feel sorrow. Yes, there is still grief. Yes, we mourn. And it is with these offerings that the Lord lifts up the valleys and makes low the mountains. Through the Advent, the coming of Jesus Christ, our trials, sorrow, and pain are made glorious by the one who came to earth.
Our reading from Isaiah concludes:
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
In the Lord is our strength. With and through the strength of God, our brokenness becomes praise. Mourning becomes a blessed state. When Horatio Spafford wrote, “It Is Well with My Soul,” he was surely in the throes of grief. But through the healing power of the Lord, God has the last word on the day when we are able to see of our faith, the day when the clouds roll back, the trumpet resounds and the Lord descends. Then as Spafford reminds us, even so, even through this pain, because the Lord is coming in power and great glory, it is well with my soul. As Isaiah reminds us, the Lord will gather his lambs in his arms, carrying us in his bosom.
[1] New Revised Standard Version
[2] Rick Brooks is now an ordained minister in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dana Boes, is now an ordained minister in Las Vegas, Nevada.
[3] Mackey, Rev. Dr. Jeffrey A., “The Reality of My Brokenness,” Sharing—A Journal of Christian Healing. January 2006, San Antonio: The International Order of St. Luke the Physician, pages 1-4.
Let us pray…May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Listen to the word of the Lord from the Prophet Isaiah 40:1-8, 11 and 28-31[1]
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
"In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
A voice says, "Cry out!"
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand forever.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
I haven’t been a minister long. In fact, I only recently graduated from seminary. In seminary I had a friend named Rick who plays piano wonderfully. During a particularly stressful time in his first year, another classmate, Dana, asked Rick to come with her to the chapel and play so she could sing. Singing is how she blew off steam and refreshed herself. She had hoped Rick would be willing to help her rejuvenate and prepare for the next round of tests. Rick was gracious and agreed to go with her. Now, everyone in our circle of friends knew Rick had played professionally, so Rick had heard his share of singers. More to the point— Rick had heard his share of wannabe divas who wanted his opinion of their singing voice.
Well, Rick was gracious and played. He didn’t put his whole heart into it because he wasn’t expecting much. Then she began to sing. She put all of her uncertainty, all of her frustration, and all of her pain into song, singing a great hymn of the church. She wasn’t but about three notes in when Rick knew he had to play his heart out if he was going to keep up with her. When they finished, they were both in a better humor, they had gotten rid of some of the stress from classes. For a brief shining moment, all was well and they were ready to face the world.[2]
They felt tossed and turned by what life was throwing at them. Together, through music, they were able to find something familiar, a spot of joy and praise. Together, they found solace in the worship of God through song. The song she sang? Horatio Spafford’s “It Is Well with My Soul.”
The circumstances behind this song are traumatic.[3] Spafford’s business had faced huge set backs because of the Chicago fire of 1871. Scarlet fever claimed his son’s life a year earlier. In 1873, Spafford, his wife Anna, and four daughters were scheduled to take a trip to England, partially for holiday and partially to help D. L. Moody with his mission work in Europe. Mr. Spafford was delayed due to business, but he convinced his wife and family to precede him across the Atlantic. On the trip, their ship, the Ville de Havre collided with the English vessel Lochearn causing it to sink in only twelve minutes. Anna Spafford was the only member of the family to survive.
After getting word of the disaster, Mr. Spafford left as soon as he could book passage. During his voyage, the captain of the ship called Spafford to the bridge and showed him the site of the wreck. The Ville de Havre was laying three miles below them on the ocean floor. Then, Spafford retired to his cabin and wrote the hymn “It Is Well with My Soul.”
In the book of the Prophet Isaiah it is written:
A voice says, "Cry out!"
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
What shall I cry indeed.
This sanctuary is filled with people who have asked that very question. Some cry out like Abraham. After learning of the death of his son Joseph, Abraham ripped his clothes and covered himself in ashes. Some react like Naomi after the deaths of her husband and sons. She tells her friends, “Call me no longer Naomi, call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.” Others, in their pain and grief write hymns trying to find reassurance in the words and images of the faith.
In a broken world, each of these people was precisely in tune with their brokenness. Their lives had been tossed tea kettle over spout. Their feelings of brokenness were raw and exposed like a nerve.
As the wind turns cold in the Ozarks, the grass withers and the flower fades just as Isaiah prophesies. The exposed nerves have begun to be dulled, maybe even begun to heal. This then is when we begin to hear the voice crying out on the wind:
"In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
Advent is the season of the coming of the Lord when we make straight the highways, lift the valleys, and make low the hills and mountains. The way is prepared in our homes, in our churches and in our selves. This is difficult for those who mourn. Joy and glee seem to have no purchase in the heart of one covered in sackcloth and ash. Times like this, it is easy to feel out of place with what our society proposes we should feel and say.
Yet give thanks that our mourning, our brokenness is shared by our Lord and Messiah. With thanks and praise, I offer again the words of Isaiah saying:
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid.
God takes our brokenness. God takes our mourning. God takes what we offer. Somehow, in ways I cannot hope to understand or even imagine, God takes our grief and lifts us up. Yes, we still feel sorrow. Yes, there is still grief. Yes, we mourn. And it is with these offerings that the Lord lifts up the valleys and makes low the mountains. Through the Advent, the coming of Jesus Christ, our trials, sorrow, and pain are made glorious by the one who came to earth.
Our reading from Isaiah concludes:
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
In the Lord is our strength. With and through the strength of God, our brokenness becomes praise. Mourning becomes a blessed state. When Horatio Spafford wrote, “It Is Well with My Soul,” he was surely in the throes of grief. But through the healing power of the Lord, God has the last word on the day when we are able to see of our faith, the day when the clouds roll back, the trumpet resounds and the Lord descends. Then as Spafford reminds us, even so, even through this pain, because the Lord is coming in power and great glory, it is well with my soul. As Isaiah reminds us, the Lord will gather his lambs in his arms, carrying us in his bosom.
[1] New Revised Standard Version
[2] Rick Brooks is now an ordained minister in Charlotte, North Carolina. Dana Boes, is now an ordained minister in Las Vegas, Nevada.
[3] Mackey, Rev. Dr. Jeffrey A., “The Reality of My Brokenness,” Sharing—A Journal of Christian Healing. January 2006, San Antonio: The International Order of St. Luke the Physician, pages 1-4.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Mixed Signals
This sermon was preached at First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on December 3, 2006, the first Sunday in Advent.
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Psalm 25:1-10
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Luke 21:25-36
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
There is a common expression from sports that I suspect all of us are familiar with, “Heads up!” When you hear this yelled on a playing field, it generally means that there is a ball in the air and the players should be alert to where it’s falling. It’s not uncommon to hear this call from the stands of a ball game either. Fly balls are as likely to hit a spectator as they are a fielder. So if you are at the ball game, sitting in the sun, enjoying the warmth of the day, and you hear someone yell, “Heads up!” you can be sure that the ball is coming, maybe even into your section. Golfers have a different version of this warning. It is their time honored tradition to yell “Fore” when an errant shot approaches another group.
Growing up I had a friend named Keith Manies[1]. We played baseball together in the Cub Scouts. Keith and I often played in the outfield. At the time, we thought that our coach must have been a religious man because when Keith and I were in the outfield, we could hear him pray to God that nobody would hit a ball anywhere near either of us. Anyway, it seemed that every week a ball would be hit toward Keith in the outfield. Of course, everyone would yell, “Heads up!” and just as naturally, Keith would take one to the melon. Now, I know this didn’t happen every week, it just seemed that way, especially the way the story has grown over time. Our parents would tell this story as if Keith got beaned every game. My point is that yelling “Heads up!” wasn’t particularly effective because every time Keith looked up, it was just in time to take a fly ball to the noggin.
So really, in this case, “heads up” meant something closer to “duck and cover.” Mixed signals, it seems that there are mixed signals everywhere. This gospel reading, a description of the coming of the Son of Man and an exhortation to watch, contains what we could consider mixed signals.
The first part of today’s gospel reading I want to consider is from verses 25 through 28, the warnings Jesus gives his disciples. This begins with “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” This is extraordinary. But at the same time, these warnings are in line with others found in Luke 21. This chapter contains warnings for the disciples about the destruction of the temple (which we looked at two weeks ago in Mark’s gospel) and the destruction of Jerusalem. All in all, this chapter of Luke contains some dire warnings. They begin with the temple, expand to the city, and end here with the powers of the heavens being shaken.
So, the disciples have been warned: the temple will fall, Jerusalem will fall, and the heavens, earth, and seas will be upturned to the point that people will faint from fear. But Jesus is not all gloom and doom. Jesus offers the disciples this encouragement, “Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads.” Literally, Jesus says when these things begin to happen, “heads up!” The Lord is coming in glory.
Now, this is wonderful and glorious. It is the event the church has waited for since before there was the church. But please pardon me, because this also sounds a little like my Cub Scout baseball experience and Keith Manies is about to get hit in the head…with the cosmos.
Yes, the Lord comes with power and great glory, but is still terrifying. Let’s begin with the signs of Jesus’ coming, they are very frightening—scripture tells us so. But let’s add one more thing to this—The Lord is coming—coming—and as glorious as this is for Christ and the body of his believers, we can’t homogenize his return so that our reaction to it is to bask in it like the glow of a warm summer day. The things that foretell Jesus’ arrival are terrifying. And Jesus riding in on this wave to conquer it all will probably be pretty frightening too. We cannot and we must not forget this. When we get the “heads up” we had better take it as the warning it is intended to be.
But we must also not forget we are to look up because our redemption is drawing near. This is again a mixed signal, when Jesus comes again he and we will be surrounded by terrifying things. And this is when our redemption is drawing near. This is the redemption which the disciples so longingly and painfully awaited. This redemption will mean release from afflictions and persecutions. But this reference it not just to liberation from sin or payment of a ransom, it is “rooted in the Jewish hope of the kingdom of heaven and given new depth in the word and destiny of Jesus.”[2]
We must not be so grounded in the fearsome earthly signs of the coming of the Lord that we forget our redemption is near, and we must not be so blinded by the light of the Lord that we are blind to the strife around us.
The mixed signal is here. We cannot afford to miss either half of the signal. When these things happen, there will be much to fear, and much to rejoice.
When these things happen…or to ask this as a question, when will these things happen? This next mixed signal is a very difficult one. In verse 32, Jesus tells the disciples: “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place.” Well, the triumphant return of Jesus has not been seen on this earth, and more than one generation has passed since Jesus made this statement. This is where I would usually tell you about some quirky little context of the Greek that is missing from our English translations. Well, no body is more disappointed than me to say that isn’t going to happen.
The word used here for generation means just that, generation. It means what we understand as a generation the way Tom Brokaw wrote about The Greatest Generation. The generation here means a group of contemporaries like the World War II generation, Baby Boomers, Gen Xer’s, Millennials, and so on. Jesus is aiming at the whole people, not just a small subset of the population.[3] He said to his disciples that you and your peers will not pass before these things happen.
This must have been a very stressful thing to hear back in the day. But there is more. Scholars tell us that Luke’s gospel was written in about 75 AD. Jerusalem fell to Rome in 70 AD, five years earlier. These warnings, these signs, this encouragement came five years after the fall. I could be glib and say that it is easy to prophesy the fall of a city five years after its destruction. But consider too that Jesus died about 30 AD. About 45 years had passed since Jesus said “this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place.” It may be glib to prophesy events that have all ready happened, but what is it called when events are prophesied that did not and could not happen? The disciples are told that their generation will not pass away until these things happen, but that generation had passed by the time this was written. As far as I am concerned, the signals don’t get much more mixed than that.
To me, the key rests in the last part of our reading, “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Yes, these horrendous things will happen, they will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. There will be worries and there will be danger. These things cannot be avoided and they will not be avoided. Take heart, be courageous, pray for the strength to escape these things and stand before the Son of Man. We are to pray for the strength to escape these things and stand before the Son of Man.
There is only one way to do this, just one. We say that the church is the body of Christ on earth. This is the same as saying that through us, our heads, hands, and hearts, we are called to do the work of Christ until he returns. We are to spread the good news of his presence: then, now, and in the future. Scripture tells us we do this by sharing what we have, visiting those who are ill, lifting the sick of heart. We are to give like the widow whose story is told at the beginning of Luke 21, the widow who gave all that she had so that she may have even more.
Mixed signals. Advent means coming, to us it means the coming of our Lord Jesus. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth as a baby born to an unwed mother. He was born in the squalor of an animal pen. He was and is God incarnate (and that verb tense is enough of a mixed signal). He called the church universal to seek him and follow him and follow his lead in miraculous work. And he promises his return in power and great glory. Such might and majesty from something so small and delicate; something so frightening and still so encouraging; one who has passed from the earth and continues to live today on earth as he does in heaven.
The church was created as a model of the life and work of Christ. And because of this, in its own way, the church is—is—the coming of Jesus on earth. Our work in Christ is for the redemption of the world. Though we cannot redeem the world, we have a role in this redemption, the role given the church by our Lord. Make no mistake; while the church is the body of Christ, it is no substitute for the real thing. When the Lord returns in his glory and majesty there will be no mistaking that the church pales in comparison. But the church is how our Lord walks among his people today.
The church rides on the wake of the tragedy and travesty of the world. And as the church riding in the wake of destruction we are called to respond to that destruction, the brokenness of humanity and creation. We are called as representatives, emissaries of the Lord our God in this broken world. It is frightening and it is glorious. Yes, we will be like Keith Manies and take one to the gourd every now and then. But you know what, Keith caught his fair share of balls hit his way too. Heads up, the ball is coming. The Lord is coming in power and great glory.
As God comes, let us reflect the light of God in the world.
[1] Not his real name.
[2] Kittel, TDNT, v. IV, page 351.
[3] Ibid, v. I, page 663.
Jeremiah 33:14-16
Psalm 25:1-10
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
Luke 21:25-36
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
There is a common expression from sports that I suspect all of us are familiar with, “Heads up!” When you hear this yelled on a playing field, it generally means that there is a ball in the air and the players should be alert to where it’s falling. It’s not uncommon to hear this call from the stands of a ball game either. Fly balls are as likely to hit a spectator as they are a fielder. So if you are at the ball game, sitting in the sun, enjoying the warmth of the day, and you hear someone yell, “Heads up!” you can be sure that the ball is coming, maybe even into your section. Golfers have a different version of this warning. It is their time honored tradition to yell “Fore” when an errant shot approaches another group.
Growing up I had a friend named Keith Manies[1]. We played baseball together in the Cub Scouts. Keith and I often played in the outfield. At the time, we thought that our coach must have been a religious man because when Keith and I were in the outfield, we could hear him pray to God that nobody would hit a ball anywhere near either of us. Anyway, it seemed that every week a ball would be hit toward Keith in the outfield. Of course, everyone would yell, “Heads up!” and just as naturally, Keith would take one to the melon. Now, I know this didn’t happen every week, it just seemed that way, especially the way the story has grown over time. Our parents would tell this story as if Keith got beaned every game. My point is that yelling “Heads up!” wasn’t particularly effective because every time Keith looked up, it was just in time to take a fly ball to the noggin.
So really, in this case, “heads up” meant something closer to “duck and cover.” Mixed signals, it seems that there are mixed signals everywhere. This gospel reading, a description of the coming of the Son of Man and an exhortation to watch, contains what we could consider mixed signals.
The first part of today’s gospel reading I want to consider is from verses 25 through 28, the warnings Jesus gives his disciples. This begins with “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” This is extraordinary. But at the same time, these warnings are in line with others found in Luke 21. This chapter contains warnings for the disciples about the destruction of the temple (which we looked at two weeks ago in Mark’s gospel) and the destruction of Jerusalem. All in all, this chapter of Luke contains some dire warnings. They begin with the temple, expand to the city, and end here with the powers of the heavens being shaken.
So, the disciples have been warned: the temple will fall, Jerusalem will fall, and the heavens, earth, and seas will be upturned to the point that people will faint from fear. But Jesus is not all gloom and doom. Jesus offers the disciples this encouragement, “Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads.” Literally, Jesus says when these things begin to happen, “heads up!” The Lord is coming in glory.
Now, this is wonderful and glorious. It is the event the church has waited for since before there was the church. But please pardon me, because this also sounds a little like my Cub Scout baseball experience and Keith Manies is about to get hit in the head…with the cosmos.
Yes, the Lord comes with power and great glory, but is still terrifying. Let’s begin with the signs of Jesus’ coming, they are very frightening—scripture tells us so. But let’s add one more thing to this—The Lord is coming—coming—and as glorious as this is for Christ and the body of his believers, we can’t homogenize his return so that our reaction to it is to bask in it like the glow of a warm summer day. The things that foretell Jesus’ arrival are terrifying. And Jesus riding in on this wave to conquer it all will probably be pretty frightening too. We cannot and we must not forget this. When we get the “heads up” we had better take it as the warning it is intended to be.
But we must also not forget we are to look up because our redemption is drawing near. This is again a mixed signal, when Jesus comes again he and we will be surrounded by terrifying things. And this is when our redemption is drawing near. This is the redemption which the disciples so longingly and painfully awaited. This redemption will mean release from afflictions and persecutions. But this reference it not just to liberation from sin or payment of a ransom, it is “rooted in the Jewish hope of the kingdom of heaven and given new depth in the word and destiny of Jesus.”[2]
We must not be so grounded in the fearsome earthly signs of the coming of the Lord that we forget our redemption is near, and we must not be so blinded by the light of the Lord that we are blind to the strife around us.
The mixed signal is here. We cannot afford to miss either half of the signal. When these things happen, there will be much to fear, and much to rejoice.
When these things happen…or to ask this as a question, when will these things happen? This next mixed signal is a very difficult one. In verse 32, Jesus tells the disciples: “Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place.” Well, the triumphant return of Jesus has not been seen on this earth, and more than one generation has passed since Jesus made this statement. This is where I would usually tell you about some quirky little context of the Greek that is missing from our English translations. Well, no body is more disappointed than me to say that isn’t going to happen.
The word used here for generation means just that, generation. It means what we understand as a generation the way Tom Brokaw wrote about The Greatest Generation. The generation here means a group of contemporaries like the World War II generation, Baby Boomers, Gen Xer’s, Millennials, and so on. Jesus is aiming at the whole people, not just a small subset of the population.[3] He said to his disciples that you and your peers will not pass before these things happen.
This must have been a very stressful thing to hear back in the day. But there is more. Scholars tell us that Luke’s gospel was written in about 75 AD. Jerusalem fell to Rome in 70 AD, five years earlier. These warnings, these signs, this encouragement came five years after the fall. I could be glib and say that it is easy to prophesy the fall of a city five years after its destruction. But consider too that Jesus died about 30 AD. About 45 years had passed since Jesus said “this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place.” It may be glib to prophesy events that have all ready happened, but what is it called when events are prophesied that did not and could not happen? The disciples are told that their generation will not pass away until these things happen, but that generation had passed by the time this was written. As far as I am concerned, the signals don’t get much more mixed than that.
To me, the key rests in the last part of our reading, “Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Yes, these horrendous things will happen, they will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. There will be worries and there will be danger. These things cannot be avoided and they will not be avoided. Take heart, be courageous, pray for the strength to escape these things and stand before the Son of Man. We are to pray for the strength to escape these things and stand before the Son of Man.
There is only one way to do this, just one. We say that the church is the body of Christ on earth. This is the same as saying that through us, our heads, hands, and hearts, we are called to do the work of Christ until he returns. We are to spread the good news of his presence: then, now, and in the future. Scripture tells us we do this by sharing what we have, visiting those who are ill, lifting the sick of heart. We are to give like the widow whose story is told at the beginning of Luke 21, the widow who gave all that she had so that she may have even more.
Mixed signals. Advent means coming, to us it means the coming of our Lord Jesus. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to earth as a baby born to an unwed mother. He was born in the squalor of an animal pen. He was and is God incarnate (and that verb tense is enough of a mixed signal). He called the church universal to seek him and follow him and follow his lead in miraculous work. And he promises his return in power and great glory. Such might and majesty from something so small and delicate; something so frightening and still so encouraging; one who has passed from the earth and continues to live today on earth as he does in heaven.
The church was created as a model of the life and work of Christ. And because of this, in its own way, the church is—is—the coming of Jesus on earth. Our work in Christ is for the redemption of the world. Though we cannot redeem the world, we have a role in this redemption, the role given the church by our Lord. Make no mistake; while the church is the body of Christ, it is no substitute for the real thing. When the Lord returns in his glory and majesty there will be no mistaking that the church pales in comparison. But the church is how our Lord walks among his people today.
The church rides on the wake of the tragedy and travesty of the world. And as the church riding in the wake of destruction we are called to respond to that destruction, the brokenness of humanity and creation. We are called as representatives, emissaries of the Lord our God in this broken world. It is frightening and it is glorious. Yes, we will be like Keith Manies and take one to the gourd every now and then. But you know what, Keith caught his fair share of balls hit his way too. Heads up, the ball is coming. The Lord is coming in power and great glory.
As God comes, let us reflect the light of God in the world.
[1] Not his real name.
[2] Kittel, TDNT, v. IV, page 351.
[3] Ibid, v. I, page 663.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Kingdom Come
This sermon was preached at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Christ the King Sunday, November 26, 2006.
2 Samuel 23:1-7
Psalm 132:1-12
Revelation 1:4b-8
John 18:33-37
May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
In 1972, a man named David McCall noticed that his sons could remember the lyrics to songs on the radio, but could not remember their multiplication tables. So he wrote a song about multiplying by threes called “Three Is a Magic Number.” It tested well with kids and ended up on a children’s album. At the same time, a man named Tom Yohe heard the song and began making doodles that fit the music.[1] This is how Multiplication Rock! began. With the addition of Grammar Rock! in 1974, Multiplication Rock! evolved into Schoolhouse Rock! In 1975 America Rock! was born with the coming of the American Bicentennial celebration.
From 1973-1986, these three minute educational programs were shown on Saturday mornings after cartoons on ABC. As people my age became parents, a nostalgia kick began and the entire Schoolhouse Rock! collection became available on CD, VHS, and now on a Collector’s edition DVD.
All of the Rock! series exposed kids to more than Super Friends, Scooby Doo, and commercials for sugary cereal. It exposed them to multiplication, grammar, science, government and more. If you are around my age, you can probably sing one or two of these songs. Some of us may be able to rattle off the hits like “I’m Just a Bill” and “Conjunction Junction” today.
One of the songs from America Rock! was called “No More Kings.” It was a ditty about American Independence from the English Monarchy. It was overly simplistic, but in three minutes it tried to chronicle American History from the pilgrim landing of 1620 through the Boston Tea Party of 1773. It portrayed King George first as a benevolent protector of the colonies and later as an uncaring, oppressive tyrant. The clarion call of the song was found in its final verses:
They wanted no more Mother England.
They knew the time had comeFor them to take command.
It's very clear you're being unfair, King,
No matter what you say, we won't obey.
Gonna hold a revolution now, King,
And we're gonna run it all our way
With no more kings...
We're gonna elect a president! (No more kings)
He's gonna do what the people want! (No more kings)
We're gonna run things our way! (No more kings)
Nobody's gonna tell us what to do![2]
No more kings, has been our call for over 230 years. No more kings! We are very serious about this, and we should be. We don’t want a government that doesn’t respond to the people. As the song says, “[The President]'s gonna do what the people want!” With over 230 years without a king, monarchy is little more than a concept to us. This doesn’t upset me, but it doesn’t leave me with much of a context for what a king or kingdom is. And that is important in today’s gospel reading. It is important on this, Christ the King Sunday.
Today we enter the drama between Pilate and Jesus. It begins as the Sanhedrin, the temple leadership, has finally been able to bring Jesus before the Roman Governor Pilate. The Scribes and the Pharisees accuse Jesus of calling himself a King. In the Roman Empire this is a treasonous offence; because there is no other King aside from Caesar. Debate raged between the leaders of the temple and the governor of the state. “Why do you bring him to me?” Pilate asks. “Because he’s guilty!” they answer. Realizing that the temple leaders would see Jesus killed, Pilate goes to Jesus himself and asks “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Pilate asks Jesus a political question, “Are you their King?” It is the question Pilate needs answered if he is going to execute Jesus. If Jesus is a rival king, then he is guilty of treason and subject to execution by the hand of the empire he rebels against. It’s the law of the land. If Jesus is of no earthly political threat, there is no reason that he should be held by Rome. If he is a threat to the temple, that is a matter for the Sanhedrin, not Pilate. Oh and how I imagine Pilate hoped this would be their matter instead of his.
Pilate asks, “Are you their King?”
As with most tests, Jesus does not answer directly. He answers by asking, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate confirms that no Roman authority delivers Jesus to Roman law; it is his own nation and the chief priests. Then Pilate asks the question of all questions: “What have you done?”
What have you done? What have you done to deserve this fate? What have you done to cause such an uproar? What have you done that the chief priests of your own people will bring you to me to be executed?
So Jesus answers, “My kingdom is not from this world.”
In a back handed way, Jesus affirms the rule of Caesar over the earth, over the kingdom of the world. After all we are told if Jesus’ kingdom were from here, on this earth, his followers would be fighting to keep him from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, his kingdom is not from here.
This is Pilate’s “A-ha!” moment. “So you are a king?” But Pilate doesn’t declare this; he asks it as a question. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king.” This too is less a statement of fact than it is prophecy, one that comes true when Pilate ratifies the crucifixion of Jesus. One that is affirmed with the sign Pilate places over Jesus’ head; “This is the king of the Jews.” Yes Jesus is a king, and even Pilate says so.
We have no concept of kings, kingship, and kingdoms. To the Greeks, the king was the lawful and usually priestly ruler of the people, in a good sense[3] (whatever that means). In the Old Testament, it represented the national or civil monarchy.[4] The books of Kings and Chronicles show the varying success of these earthly kingdoms. The word is also used for the Redeemer King.[5] These are the kings of the Psalms. While this king points to the civil kings, it is also the fertile soil of the Messiah to come. This is the king we speak of when we speak of Christ the King.
Every week we pray “thy kingdom come.” Scripture tells us Jesus’ kingdom is not from this world, his is the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of a world lost in the fall. He is the king, the regent of the world we see dimly as in a mirror. So what does it mean for us to pray “thy kingdom come?”
The Presbyterian confessions speak about this. The Heidelberg Catechism tells us when we pray “thy kingdom come” we pray that “we may be governed by the Word and the Spirit of God so that we may submit ourselves more and more unto God.”[6] We pray that we may be governed by the Lord that we may submit ourselves to his kingship. This is real kingdom language. We say this with reverence giving glory to God, but this is a foreign concept to us. Our political and cultural climate does not honor kingship or submission to anybody. The way we want our government is more like the song:
We're gonna elect a president!
He's gonna do what the people want!
We're gonna run things our way!
Nobody's gonna tell us what to do!
This is true and all well and good, but it does not prepare us for Christ as King.
We need to be refocused about our polity and governance. We need to be aware that when we say “thy kingdom come” we pray to “uphold and increase the church.”[7] The church is a signpost, a marker of the inbreaking of the Kingdom of heaven to come here on earth. By that token, Christ is the king of the church. It’s not me, the pastor at the pulpit. It’s not the Session, though they administer the work of the church. Christ is the king, the sovereign, and over him there is no other ruler. Contrary to our best earthly intentions, we have a king, a king to honor and celebrate.
As Americans, democracy, the voice of the people, and self governance are ingrained upon us. This kingship is foreign to us, and a little frightening. We are called to give up control over our destiny to someone else and that doesn’t always set well. We know the slogan “God is my co-pilot.” Unfortunately while this keeps our personal sense of control in order, it is a poor substitute for the kingdom to come. It affirms our self control and denies the Kingship of Christ. Honestly, if God is not our pilot we are going the wrong way. God is sovereign, God is in control, and this is the way of the kingdom to come.
To paraphrase again, Pilate asks: What have you done? What have you done to deserve this fate? What have you done to cause such an uproar? What have you done that the chief priests of your own faith will bring you to me to be executed?
The joy of the gospel is that the answers are before us. They are found in the scripture we read and the gospel we live. Jesus is God; He is the way, the truth, and the light. John 21:25 gives us the most wonderful answer to these questions. “There are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”
What has Jesus done? What is Jesus doing! We are called to live the answer to these questions everyday. We are called to live as the subjects of Christ the King writing new chapters of the book of the kingdom every day. We are called to live as subjects in the kingdom of Christ as the church and in the world. May the exploits of our King be written by the works of our hands in his service now and forever.
[1] Schoolhouse Rock, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoolhouse_Rock
[2] Ahern, Lynn, “No More Kings.” Lyrics found at http://www.schoolhouserock.tv/No.html
[3] Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. I, page 564.
[4] Ibid. page 565.
[5] Ibid. page 566.
[6] The Book of Confessions, Part One of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Heidelberg Catechism, Question and Answer 123.
[7] Ibid.
2 Samuel 23:1-7
Psalm 132:1-12
Revelation 1:4b-8
John 18:33-37
May the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
In 1972, a man named David McCall noticed that his sons could remember the lyrics to songs on the radio, but could not remember their multiplication tables. So he wrote a song about multiplying by threes called “Three Is a Magic Number.” It tested well with kids and ended up on a children’s album. At the same time, a man named Tom Yohe heard the song and began making doodles that fit the music.[1] This is how Multiplication Rock! began. With the addition of Grammar Rock! in 1974, Multiplication Rock! evolved into Schoolhouse Rock! In 1975 America Rock! was born with the coming of the American Bicentennial celebration.
From 1973-1986, these three minute educational programs were shown on Saturday mornings after cartoons on ABC. As people my age became parents, a nostalgia kick began and the entire Schoolhouse Rock! collection became available on CD, VHS, and now on a Collector’s edition DVD.
All of the Rock! series exposed kids to more than Super Friends, Scooby Doo, and commercials for sugary cereal. It exposed them to multiplication, grammar, science, government and more. If you are around my age, you can probably sing one or two of these songs. Some of us may be able to rattle off the hits like “I’m Just a Bill” and “Conjunction Junction” today.
One of the songs from America Rock! was called “No More Kings.” It was a ditty about American Independence from the English Monarchy. It was overly simplistic, but in three minutes it tried to chronicle American History from the pilgrim landing of 1620 through the Boston Tea Party of 1773. It portrayed King George first as a benevolent protector of the colonies and later as an uncaring, oppressive tyrant. The clarion call of the song was found in its final verses:
They wanted no more Mother England.
They knew the time had comeFor them to take command.
It's very clear you're being unfair, King,
No matter what you say, we won't obey.
Gonna hold a revolution now, King,
And we're gonna run it all our way
With no more kings...
We're gonna elect a president! (No more kings)
He's gonna do what the people want! (No more kings)
We're gonna run things our way! (No more kings)
Nobody's gonna tell us what to do![2]
No more kings, has been our call for over 230 years. No more kings! We are very serious about this, and we should be. We don’t want a government that doesn’t respond to the people. As the song says, “[The President]'s gonna do what the people want!” With over 230 years without a king, monarchy is little more than a concept to us. This doesn’t upset me, but it doesn’t leave me with much of a context for what a king or kingdom is. And that is important in today’s gospel reading. It is important on this, Christ the King Sunday.
Today we enter the drama between Pilate and Jesus. It begins as the Sanhedrin, the temple leadership, has finally been able to bring Jesus before the Roman Governor Pilate. The Scribes and the Pharisees accuse Jesus of calling himself a King. In the Roman Empire this is a treasonous offence; because there is no other King aside from Caesar. Debate raged between the leaders of the temple and the governor of the state. “Why do you bring him to me?” Pilate asks. “Because he’s guilty!” they answer. Realizing that the temple leaders would see Jesus killed, Pilate goes to Jesus himself and asks “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Pilate asks Jesus a political question, “Are you their King?” It is the question Pilate needs answered if he is going to execute Jesus. If Jesus is a rival king, then he is guilty of treason and subject to execution by the hand of the empire he rebels against. It’s the law of the land. If Jesus is of no earthly political threat, there is no reason that he should be held by Rome. If he is a threat to the temple, that is a matter for the Sanhedrin, not Pilate. Oh and how I imagine Pilate hoped this would be their matter instead of his.
Pilate asks, “Are you their King?”
As with most tests, Jesus does not answer directly. He answers by asking, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate confirms that no Roman authority delivers Jesus to Roman law; it is his own nation and the chief priests. Then Pilate asks the question of all questions: “What have you done?”
What have you done? What have you done to deserve this fate? What have you done to cause such an uproar? What have you done that the chief priests of your own people will bring you to me to be executed?
So Jesus answers, “My kingdom is not from this world.”
In a back handed way, Jesus affirms the rule of Caesar over the earth, over the kingdom of the world. After all we are told if Jesus’ kingdom were from here, on this earth, his followers would be fighting to keep him from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, his kingdom is not from here.
This is Pilate’s “A-ha!” moment. “So you are a king?” But Pilate doesn’t declare this; he asks it as a question. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king.” This too is less a statement of fact than it is prophecy, one that comes true when Pilate ratifies the crucifixion of Jesus. One that is affirmed with the sign Pilate places over Jesus’ head; “This is the king of the Jews.” Yes Jesus is a king, and even Pilate says so.
We have no concept of kings, kingship, and kingdoms. To the Greeks, the king was the lawful and usually priestly ruler of the people, in a good sense[3] (whatever that means). In the Old Testament, it represented the national or civil monarchy.[4] The books of Kings and Chronicles show the varying success of these earthly kingdoms. The word is also used for the Redeemer King.[5] These are the kings of the Psalms. While this king points to the civil kings, it is also the fertile soil of the Messiah to come. This is the king we speak of when we speak of Christ the King.
Every week we pray “thy kingdom come.” Scripture tells us Jesus’ kingdom is not from this world, his is the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of a world lost in the fall. He is the king, the regent of the world we see dimly as in a mirror. So what does it mean for us to pray “thy kingdom come?”
The Presbyterian confessions speak about this. The Heidelberg Catechism tells us when we pray “thy kingdom come” we pray that “we may be governed by the Word and the Spirit of God so that we may submit ourselves more and more unto God.”[6] We pray that we may be governed by the Lord that we may submit ourselves to his kingship. This is real kingdom language. We say this with reverence giving glory to God, but this is a foreign concept to us. Our political and cultural climate does not honor kingship or submission to anybody. The way we want our government is more like the song:
We're gonna elect a president!
He's gonna do what the people want!
We're gonna run things our way!
Nobody's gonna tell us what to do!
This is true and all well and good, but it does not prepare us for Christ as King.
We need to be refocused about our polity and governance. We need to be aware that when we say “thy kingdom come” we pray to “uphold and increase the church.”[7] The church is a signpost, a marker of the inbreaking of the Kingdom of heaven to come here on earth. By that token, Christ is the king of the church. It’s not me, the pastor at the pulpit. It’s not the Session, though they administer the work of the church. Christ is the king, the sovereign, and over him there is no other ruler. Contrary to our best earthly intentions, we have a king, a king to honor and celebrate.
As Americans, democracy, the voice of the people, and self governance are ingrained upon us. This kingship is foreign to us, and a little frightening. We are called to give up control over our destiny to someone else and that doesn’t always set well. We know the slogan “God is my co-pilot.” Unfortunately while this keeps our personal sense of control in order, it is a poor substitute for the kingdom to come. It affirms our self control and denies the Kingship of Christ. Honestly, if God is not our pilot we are going the wrong way. God is sovereign, God is in control, and this is the way of the kingdom to come.
To paraphrase again, Pilate asks: What have you done? What have you done to deserve this fate? What have you done to cause such an uproar? What have you done that the chief priests of your own faith will bring you to me to be executed?
The joy of the gospel is that the answers are before us. They are found in the scripture we read and the gospel we live. Jesus is God; He is the way, the truth, and the light. John 21:25 gives us the most wonderful answer to these questions. “There are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”
What has Jesus done? What is Jesus doing! We are called to live the answer to these questions everyday. We are called to live as the subjects of Christ the King writing new chapters of the book of the kingdom every day. We are called to live as subjects in the kingdom of Christ as the church and in the world. May the exploits of our King be written by the works of our hands in his service now and forever.
[1] Schoolhouse Rock, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoolhouse_Rock
[2] Ahern, Lynn, “No More Kings.” Lyrics found at http://www.schoolhouserock.tv/No.html
[3] Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. I, page 564.
[4] Ibid. page 565.
[5] Ibid. page 566.
[6] The Book of Confessions, Part One of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Heidelberg Catechism, Question and Answer 123.
[7] Ibid.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Look at What We've Done!
This sermon was preached at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on November 19, 2006
1 Samuel 1:4-20
1 Samuel 2:1-10
Hebrews 10:11-14; 19-25
Mark 13:1-8
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
I enjoy studying the book of Hebrews. To me, it’s like the Cliff Notes version of Old Testament events, people, and theology. Because of its probable roots, this isn’t surprising. Written in the style of the Rabbinical Midrash, a style of theological commentary developed by Rabbis; Hebrews was probably written as a theological bridge for Jewish Christians. Many first and second century Jewish Christians were in difficult religious and social situations. Many were tempted, even threatened, to return to temple worship. So Hebrews was probably written for a group of Jewish Christians to bolster their faith.[1] And then it became more widely circulated among the churches from Palestine through Asia to Rome. There is nothing in the text that says that the intended readers had to be Jewish Christians, but because of the writing style and the people lifted up in the text it is very possible. Regardless, this does not lessen the usefulness of Hebrews to the universal church.
The first half of our reading from Hebrews compares the sacrifices of the temple Priests and that of Jesus the Christ. The priests of the Temple would stand day after day offering the same sacrifices again and again on behalf of the people. Our reading from Hebrews notes these sacrifices are found lacking compared to the finality of Christ’s sacrifice. As mentioned in chapter 10 verses 12 and 14, Christ’s work is a single sacrifice, a single offering for all time. The constant offerings made by the priests could not compare. It wasn’t that the Priest’s offerings were bad; it’s just that the Priest’s many daily offerings could never accomplish what Christ’s single offering could.
As most of you know before entering seminary, I worked in higher education at a small community college in rural Southeast Colorado. Every year began with excitement as the new crop of first year students came to the college. Many were fresh out of high school, some were entering college after some years of working at home, and still others were gearing up for the next stage in their careers. The week before classes began with a fanfare of welcomes and presentations, picnics and entertainment, placement testing and registration. It was a time of expectation and anticipation; a time to say good bye to old ways and to become immersed in academe. It was a time to meet new people and be exposed to new ideas. And for many, this was happening in a new place.
As a part of New Student Orientation, the State of Colorado required all incoming students to receive information about alcohol abuse and communicable diseases. Colorado determined that these issues are a concern for new students, so all colleges were required to provide information. Our college used presenters supplemented with brochures and handouts. I was in charge of developing these presentations. Every year I would review the latest information, update handouts, order new pamphlets, arrange for speakers, and check out new video tapes.
And every year, people abused alcohol. Every year, people got communicable diseases. I could not prevent this. I was wholly unable to prevent this. Yet I arranged the presentations as required. I was glad to do it too; I knew that what I did was important for the life of the community.
In a sense, I was making an offering like the Priests. The Priests made offerings to purify the People of Israel. I made an offering of information to educate the new students. The Priests knew they would make the offerings again the next day because one, they were directed to in the Law, and two, because the transgressions of the community would continue. Their work was never the last word in sanctification of the people so they continued the offerings. I knew I would made my offering because one, I was directed to in the law and two, because I knew that transgressions of the community would continue. As new students came through our doors, there were always more people who needed the information we provided. So in a way, this is not so different from the sacrifices made by the priests in Old Testament times.
These sacrifices were made by the priests over and over again. Their sacrifices were offered to make amends between the community and the Lord. The sacrifices they made were on behalf of the community, the priests themselves, and sins that were not atoned for by the other sacrifices. From the very beginning, the sacrifices were imperfect; they had to be made over and over again.
This is the point of the first part of our reading from Hebrews 10; whatever we do, it can never be enough to fill the gulf between humanity and the Almighty. Offerings were made for generations and if it were not for the destruction of the temple they still would be made today.
But Hebrews also reminds us of the ultimate sacrifice, the one sacrifice made now and forever on our behalf, a single sacrifice; a single offering; for all time. God comes to earth in Jesus the Christ, fully human and fully divine, and God is offered as a sacrifice for those who are set aside. There is nothing else we can do, it is done. There is no thing more we can offer for atonement of sin. The Lamb of God is the only perfect and unblemished sacrifice.
Often, small children will cry out to their parents, “come and look at what I’ve done!” In most children there is a pride and a joy that come with achievement. It is wanting to share that pride and joy that offers the invitation to look at what I’ve done... usually. It isn’t even always the case that the cry is made by children. Our reading from Mark points out that adults even like to cry out “look at what we’ve done!”
By this time in Mark’s gospel, Jesus has made his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem. Jesus has entered Jerusalem on a colt, not a war horse, disappointing those who are looking for Jesus to be a political messiah. He has cleansed the temple of the money changers, but he has declared it legal to pay taxes to Caesar. He has taught in parables and he has spoken plainly. He has worshipped with his disciples and now he and his disciples leave worship in the temple. So now, as we barrel head long into the season of Advent and move toward the season of Jesus’ birth, we read of our Lord moving precariously through the week of the Passion.
And as Jesus comes out of the temple with his disciples, one of them says to Jesus, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” It is as if the unnamed disciple is saying, “Look at the great stones, look at the great buildings, behold the glory, look at what our ancestors have done!” After the time they spent together, after everything they have shared, someone says, “Hey, look at what we’ve done did for God, isn’t it wonderful.” Jesus’ response is a short, sharp shock: “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” I don’t think Jesus intends to be rude to the disciple, but the response is direct and matter of fact. Jesus tells him that what their ancestors so wonderfully created will one day be dust.
Still the closest of Jesus’ disciples want more information, the facts, the inside scoop. They want to know how to recognize when the time comes; they want to know so they can react when it happens. Given the dire prediction Jesus has just given them, it might be presumptuous to ask, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good thinking.
Jesus does not give an answer they expect. I suspect they are asking for a date and time. Instead he warns them, beware that no one leads you astray. They are warned there are some who will say “I am he.”
When this phrase, “I am he,” is used in the Old Testament, it is the invocation of the Lord’s name. The “he” Jesus refers to is the Lord our God. To rephrase, there are some who will come to earth and claim to be the messiah. The ones who make this claim will lead the people astray. There will be war, and rumors of war, nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and principality against principality. There will be earthquakes, hunger, famine, and this is the beginning. This is the beginning. This is the work that has to be done, as scripture says, it is necessary.
If this had been my question, I would not have been happy with the answer. I would be looking for something more specific. And if this is the beginning, the events of the end would be even more frightening. Jesus knew that there was nothing that the disciples could do with or about these signs. Nothing they did would enable them to divine these signs in the events of the next week or the next two thousand years.
But through his earthly ministry, Jesus made clear to them what he wants. He wants them to be apostles, followers, envoys, messengers. He wants them to share their experience of ministry together with him and after he leaves. He wants them to enjoy the water, and the bread, and the wine, and know that this is what is important, being in community with the triune God and with one another. They are emissaries and they are to share this experience with the world.
And this is exactly what the Lord Jesus wants for us. He wants us to continue being his followers, envoys, and messengers. He wants us to share the experience of ministry in his name, in his power, on behalf of those in need. He wants us to enjoy the waters of our baptism and be nourished by the plate and cup of the table. He wants us to enjoy the eternal community begun in the persons of the triune God. He wants us serve one another in his name with his power as followers, envoys, and messengers.
Yes, there is work to do and Jesus compares the work we begin with birth pangs. But the term “birth pangs” does not just refer to the pain of child birth. Jesus is also referring to the work involved in giving birth—the physical exertion, not just the pain.[2] And while the work of bringing a child into the world is strenuous and painful, it is just the beginning. After giving birth, there is much to be done.
This is a scary time, friends. Watching the news is enough to sow the seeds of an ulcer. There is war and rumor of war. There are those who claim they do the will of God, whether by holy war or some other things. We are told not to be alarmed because this is necessary. Still, I am familiar with the Kingston Trio song lyric, “It takes a worried man to sing a worried song.”[3]
This is why we need to go back to the second half of our reading from Hebrews. This later half of the reading then tells us to have confidence. We are to hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering because he who has promised, Jesus Christ, is faithful. We are to have confidence to approach the throne of grace through the sacrifice of Jesus, the single sacrifice; the single offering; made for all time. Just like the Priests of the temple, our offerings will never be enough. This is why we need the grace and peace of Jesus Christ. This is why Christ offers his grace. This is why we must accept it and live in it.
When we say look at what we’ve done, we are in peril. Just like the temple, what we make will become dust. It is the nature of our offerings; they will pass through the sands of time. But we are called to offer ourselves to serve as conduits, for the glory of God through the power of God. When we give of ourselves to others through the name and the power of Jesus Christ, we receive and give the gift that lasts. Let us be followers, envoys, and messengers of the Lord our God, receiving and giving in his power and name.
[1] Hebrews introductory notes, New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2003.
[2] Kittle, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume IX.
[3] Guard, David and Glazer, Tom, Worried Man, A. The Kingston Trio, Capitol single 4271, 1959.
1 Samuel 1:4-20
1 Samuel 2:1-10
Hebrews 10:11-14; 19-25
Mark 13:1-8
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
I enjoy studying the book of Hebrews. To me, it’s like the Cliff Notes version of Old Testament events, people, and theology. Because of its probable roots, this isn’t surprising. Written in the style of the Rabbinical Midrash, a style of theological commentary developed by Rabbis; Hebrews was probably written as a theological bridge for Jewish Christians. Many first and second century Jewish Christians were in difficult religious and social situations. Many were tempted, even threatened, to return to temple worship. So Hebrews was probably written for a group of Jewish Christians to bolster their faith.[1] And then it became more widely circulated among the churches from Palestine through Asia to Rome. There is nothing in the text that says that the intended readers had to be Jewish Christians, but because of the writing style and the people lifted up in the text it is very possible. Regardless, this does not lessen the usefulness of Hebrews to the universal church.
The first half of our reading from Hebrews compares the sacrifices of the temple Priests and that of Jesus the Christ. The priests of the Temple would stand day after day offering the same sacrifices again and again on behalf of the people. Our reading from Hebrews notes these sacrifices are found lacking compared to the finality of Christ’s sacrifice. As mentioned in chapter 10 verses 12 and 14, Christ’s work is a single sacrifice, a single offering for all time. The constant offerings made by the priests could not compare. It wasn’t that the Priest’s offerings were bad; it’s just that the Priest’s many daily offerings could never accomplish what Christ’s single offering could.
As most of you know before entering seminary, I worked in higher education at a small community college in rural Southeast Colorado. Every year began with excitement as the new crop of first year students came to the college. Many were fresh out of high school, some were entering college after some years of working at home, and still others were gearing up for the next stage in their careers. The week before classes began with a fanfare of welcomes and presentations, picnics and entertainment, placement testing and registration. It was a time of expectation and anticipation; a time to say good bye to old ways and to become immersed in academe. It was a time to meet new people and be exposed to new ideas. And for many, this was happening in a new place.
As a part of New Student Orientation, the State of Colorado required all incoming students to receive information about alcohol abuse and communicable diseases. Colorado determined that these issues are a concern for new students, so all colleges were required to provide information. Our college used presenters supplemented with brochures and handouts. I was in charge of developing these presentations. Every year I would review the latest information, update handouts, order new pamphlets, arrange for speakers, and check out new video tapes.
And every year, people abused alcohol. Every year, people got communicable diseases. I could not prevent this. I was wholly unable to prevent this. Yet I arranged the presentations as required. I was glad to do it too; I knew that what I did was important for the life of the community.
In a sense, I was making an offering like the Priests. The Priests made offerings to purify the People of Israel. I made an offering of information to educate the new students. The Priests knew they would make the offerings again the next day because one, they were directed to in the Law, and two, because the transgressions of the community would continue. Their work was never the last word in sanctification of the people so they continued the offerings. I knew I would made my offering because one, I was directed to in the law and two, because I knew that transgressions of the community would continue. As new students came through our doors, there were always more people who needed the information we provided. So in a way, this is not so different from the sacrifices made by the priests in Old Testament times.
These sacrifices were made by the priests over and over again. Their sacrifices were offered to make amends between the community and the Lord. The sacrifices they made were on behalf of the community, the priests themselves, and sins that were not atoned for by the other sacrifices. From the very beginning, the sacrifices were imperfect; they had to be made over and over again.
This is the point of the first part of our reading from Hebrews 10; whatever we do, it can never be enough to fill the gulf between humanity and the Almighty. Offerings were made for generations and if it were not for the destruction of the temple they still would be made today.
But Hebrews also reminds us of the ultimate sacrifice, the one sacrifice made now and forever on our behalf, a single sacrifice; a single offering; for all time. God comes to earth in Jesus the Christ, fully human and fully divine, and God is offered as a sacrifice for those who are set aside. There is nothing else we can do, it is done. There is no thing more we can offer for atonement of sin. The Lamb of God is the only perfect and unblemished sacrifice.
Often, small children will cry out to their parents, “come and look at what I’ve done!” In most children there is a pride and a joy that come with achievement. It is wanting to share that pride and joy that offers the invitation to look at what I’ve done... usually. It isn’t even always the case that the cry is made by children. Our reading from Mark points out that adults even like to cry out “look at what we’ve done!”
By this time in Mark’s gospel, Jesus has made his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem. Jesus has entered Jerusalem on a colt, not a war horse, disappointing those who are looking for Jesus to be a political messiah. He has cleansed the temple of the money changers, but he has declared it legal to pay taxes to Caesar. He has taught in parables and he has spoken plainly. He has worshipped with his disciples and now he and his disciples leave worship in the temple. So now, as we barrel head long into the season of Advent and move toward the season of Jesus’ birth, we read of our Lord moving precariously through the week of the Passion.
And as Jesus comes out of the temple with his disciples, one of them says to Jesus, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” It is as if the unnamed disciple is saying, “Look at the great stones, look at the great buildings, behold the glory, look at what our ancestors have done!” After the time they spent together, after everything they have shared, someone says, “Hey, look at what we’ve done did for God, isn’t it wonderful.” Jesus’ response is a short, sharp shock: “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” I don’t think Jesus intends to be rude to the disciple, but the response is direct and matter of fact. Jesus tells him that what their ancestors so wonderfully created will one day be dust.
Still the closest of Jesus’ disciples want more information, the facts, the inside scoop. They want to know how to recognize when the time comes; they want to know so they can react when it happens. Given the dire prediction Jesus has just given them, it might be presumptuous to ask, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good thinking.
Jesus does not give an answer they expect. I suspect they are asking for a date and time. Instead he warns them, beware that no one leads you astray. They are warned there are some who will say “I am he.”
When this phrase, “I am he,” is used in the Old Testament, it is the invocation of the Lord’s name. The “he” Jesus refers to is the Lord our God. To rephrase, there are some who will come to earth and claim to be the messiah. The ones who make this claim will lead the people astray. There will be war, and rumors of war, nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and principality against principality. There will be earthquakes, hunger, famine, and this is the beginning. This is the beginning. This is the work that has to be done, as scripture says, it is necessary.
If this had been my question, I would not have been happy with the answer. I would be looking for something more specific. And if this is the beginning, the events of the end would be even more frightening. Jesus knew that there was nothing that the disciples could do with or about these signs. Nothing they did would enable them to divine these signs in the events of the next week or the next two thousand years.
But through his earthly ministry, Jesus made clear to them what he wants. He wants them to be apostles, followers, envoys, messengers. He wants them to share their experience of ministry together with him and after he leaves. He wants them to enjoy the water, and the bread, and the wine, and know that this is what is important, being in community with the triune God and with one another. They are emissaries and they are to share this experience with the world.
And this is exactly what the Lord Jesus wants for us. He wants us to continue being his followers, envoys, and messengers. He wants us to share the experience of ministry in his name, in his power, on behalf of those in need. He wants us to enjoy the waters of our baptism and be nourished by the plate and cup of the table. He wants us to enjoy the eternal community begun in the persons of the triune God. He wants us serve one another in his name with his power as followers, envoys, and messengers.
Yes, there is work to do and Jesus compares the work we begin with birth pangs. But the term “birth pangs” does not just refer to the pain of child birth. Jesus is also referring to the work involved in giving birth—the physical exertion, not just the pain.[2] And while the work of bringing a child into the world is strenuous and painful, it is just the beginning. After giving birth, there is much to be done.
This is a scary time, friends. Watching the news is enough to sow the seeds of an ulcer. There is war and rumor of war. There are those who claim they do the will of God, whether by holy war or some other things. We are told not to be alarmed because this is necessary. Still, I am familiar with the Kingston Trio song lyric, “It takes a worried man to sing a worried song.”[3]
This is why we need to go back to the second half of our reading from Hebrews. This later half of the reading then tells us to have confidence. We are to hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering because he who has promised, Jesus Christ, is faithful. We are to have confidence to approach the throne of grace through the sacrifice of Jesus, the single sacrifice; the single offering; made for all time. Just like the Priests of the temple, our offerings will never be enough. This is why we need the grace and peace of Jesus Christ. This is why Christ offers his grace. This is why we must accept it and live in it.
When we say look at what we’ve done, we are in peril. Just like the temple, what we make will become dust. It is the nature of our offerings; they will pass through the sands of time. But we are called to offer ourselves to serve as conduits, for the glory of God through the power of God. When we give of ourselves to others through the name and the power of Jesus Christ, we receive and give the gift that lasts. Let us be followers, envoys, and messengers of the Lord our God, receiving and giving in his power and name.
[1] Hebrews introductory notes, New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2003.
[2] Kittle, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Volume IX.
[3] Guard, David and Glazer, Tom, Worried Man, A. The Kingston Trio, Capitol single 4271, 1959.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Two Bits
This sermon was preached on Sunday November 12, 2006 at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas.
Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17
Psalm 127
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Last week, I ended the sermon with this:
God has offered us everything, and that is what the Lord our God expects in return from us, everything. These are the first thing. Hear, O Church of Jesus Christ, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is what God expects of us…everything.[1]
Today’s gospel reading covers two different stories, the first is called “The Warning About the Scribes” and the second “The Widow’s Offering.”[2] The first contains a warning, the second; depending on how it is interpreted is either a condemnation of the system or a blessing upon the woman.
“Beware the scribes,” warns Jesus, “who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets!” Beware those who walk around like they are someone more special than you are and more important than they are. They like to eat the upper crust,[3] especially when someone else is buying dinner. Beware of those who are attracted to the things they do not deserve.
Beware them because they will take you for all you are worth. Sure, they will do what they are supposed to do; they will recite their prayers and even recite them in public. After all, it is impossible to attract attention for doing good works if they are done in private. But beware, the Scribes eat well, but they eat like a plague of locusts. “They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers.”
This part of today’s reading could not be more straight forward. Jesus is speaking plainly; there are no figures of speech used here. Jesus shows us how ludicrous the Scribes look, pointing out their absurdity. To see a Scribe walking around the marketplace in long robes would be exactly like me walking around the square or WalMart in my robe and stole. How presumptuous.
As straight forward as this passage is, we need to ask “are the Scribes the only people Jesus is warning us about?” The Scribes were the “Doctors of Law” of the day. They were Pharisees in training. They were the assistants of those who interpret the law. Some were lay members of the Sanhedrin.[4] In the day, they were politicians and legal clerks. As Jesus was warning us about church professionals, he was also warning us about others in powerful positions.
Long ago, I worked in a program to help current and future poverty-stricken and first generation college students get a college education. It was a federally funded TRIO program, part of President Johnson's War on Poverty.
Every year, programs take TRIO students to DC to meet local congressmen. It helps give students a look at government and the government a look at the poor.
In the 80's, when the Democrats held the Congress and the Republicans held the White House, TRIO people heard the same rhetoric every trip up Capital Hill.
The Democrats would tell the visiting students how important their work was and how important it was that TRIO Programs be fully funded. “There should be more programs and the current programs should have more funding.”
The Republicans would always say that they had their own funding priorities, and while TRIO Programs were important, they weren't on top of the list.
This ended in 1992 when Governor Bill Clinton was elected President.
The TRIO people returned to Capitol Hill with all of the markers they had received over the years and this is what they heard:
The Democrats told them that they had their own funding priorities, and while TRIO Programs were important, they weren't on top of the list.
The Republicans told them how important their work was and how important it was that TRIO Programs be fully funded. “There should be more programs and the current programs should have better funding.”[5]
The day I heard this story was the day I decided that there weren't too many Republicans in DC and there weren't too many Democrats.
This was the day I decided there are too many politicians.[6]
Given the results of the last election, please don’t blame me if I don’t get too excited. We still probably elected too many politicians.
There isn’t so much difference between politicos and Scribes. They are people in powerful positions who use their position and status to rule—sometimes well and sometimes not. We are called by Jesus to beware of them because they devour the widow’s home (Social Security and Prescription Drug Benefits anyone?) and for the sake of appearance make great speeches; or rather they say long prayers.
But we do not pass from the temple without another example, the tale of the widow’s offering.
Many rich people were putting large sums of money into the treasury. The way the treasury was set up, there were large horn shaped funnels that led to metal boxes where the worshipper placed their offering. When someone put a large offering into the horn, it caused a great racket. To our ears it would sound more like a Vegas slot machine paying off than the offering. But with a flourish, everyone within earshot would be able to discern who the rich folks are, and how extravagant their gift is. So when the widow placed two small copper coins in the treasury, hardly anyone took notice at all.
In relative terms, she did not give much, but she was not able to give much. Scripture tells us that she gave all she had to live on.
Now, let me take a pause here. She gave all she had to live on…so was Jesus praising her for her faith or was Jesus condemning a system which demanded every last cent from the weak members of the community?
It would be consistent with the first half of the reading if Jesus is condemning the system. Jesus lambastes the Scribes for being holier than thou. He takes them to task for flaunting their roles in the society and taking advantage of their status for personal gain.
They would be able to give extravagantly because they have received extravagantly. And don’t confuse extravagance with generosity. You can make more noise dropping thousands of pennies into the treasury box than you can putting a check in the offering plate; but where the first is extravagant, the second is more likely to be generous. I would not be surprised if this is what Jesus was pointing to; he had a habit of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. Perhaps he was pointing to something else.
Jesus could have also been showing the disciples that the widow is a model to be followed. Another way to translate this phrase is that by her offering, “she gave all her life.” Literally, she gave her entire self to the temple and to the Lord. This is similar to what I said at the end of last week’s sermon, Jesus demands everything from us.
So, how should we interpret this? Both interpretations have merit. If you can give, give generously. And for you who do give generously, praise God. Praise God! If you are impoverished, if you are living on a minimal fixed income, if you are working class and taking care of children, and you hear me saying “forget your earthly responsibilities, pay the treasury!” then you should be suspicious. You should ask yourself (or shoot, ask me) are you demanding every cent from my purse? I hope the answer you hear is that you must care for yourself and your children, and you must also care for the work of the body of Christ.
An example of how both of these interpretations meet is found in the Paramount Pictures release Leap of Faith[7] starring Steve Martin as the Reverend Jonas Nightengale, an “evangelist” who is far more con man than man of God. When one of the Kenworth trucks in his caravan breaks down in Rustwater, Kansas, he makes the choice to turn lemons into lemonade by holding his revival there, instead of in Topeka.
Like any good con man, he finds the greatest need in town and exploits it. Rustwater is in a five year drought and if it doesn’t rain this weekend, the crop will be ruined again this year. On the first day of the revival, before the meeting, Jonas walks around town inviting everyone, promising miracles and wonders.
At the end of the movie, the sick are healed and the lame walk in Rustwater. Everyone praises God and says halleluiah. They have seen the signs and wonders and they give glory to God. But these healings are not the miracles.
As Jonas leaves the revival tent for the last time, he is met with the vision of a tent city on the revival grounds. People are camping, and sharing food. In their poverty, they share the abundance of God. A community founded in Christ rises out of the ash of Jonas’ deception. This is a miracle.
As Jonas hitchhikes out of town leaving his old life behind, it begins to rain. The people of Rustwater declare it a miracle, rain heaven sent. But this is not the miracle either.
The miracle is the redemption of a man in Jesus Christ. The miracle is in the relationship God initiates with creation and humanity. The miracle is Jonas’ response to the Almighty God.
Jonas Nightengale comes to town as the Scribe demanding the last two bits from every body in Rustwater, Kansas. Jonas leaves a believer, seeing the wonders of the Lord at work in the work of God’s people.
If you are able to give out of abundance, then by all means, give generously. Remember the Lord who has blessed you and return that blessing so that it may do God’s work through the church. And yes, hold the church accountable. For all of us, give in humility; don’t sound a ruckus with the treasury. Give whether it is from your wealth or your poverty.
This story is told in the introduction to one of my favorite books:
In a recent class discussion, a student mentioned a workshop she had attended in which an “image consultant” spoke to the gathered ministers (or church professionals as they referred to themselves). The consultant pointed up to the need for clergy to project a positive professional image. She told them that, because they are made in the image of God, they should buy only the best clothes, jewelry and accessories, and should make every effort to look as chic and smart as possible. After the student related her (all too true) story, I paused for a very long time. I was frankly appalled and, momentarily at a loss for words.
The students sat as the silence hung heavy around us. Finally, I said: “I guess what I’m trying to picture in my mind is this: how should we look if we are supposed to reflect the image of the God who has revealed himself to us in the tormented shape of a Jewish man named Jesus, crucified on a city dump and discarded by the powers of his world?”[8]
I am sure that this image consultant had the best interests of church professionals in mind when she gave this piece of advice to those who paid good money to attend her workshop.
Unfortunately, one way to interpret her advice is that church professionals are to behave like the Scribes of two millennia ago wearing expensive suits, walking around the square, and being greeted with the adoration of the little people.
As the children of God and the body of Christ, that is not our vocation. Our call is not to be like or even dress like the Scribes who seek the best seats in town. We are to give our time, talent and treasure in the service of God and to the people of God. We are to give in humility. We are warned; regardless of the era to beware the Scribes. Scripture reminds us that the Scribes will receive greater condemnation. Our vocation is to do as the widow, and give all our lives to the Lord. We are to be humble, and live like the widow who was willing to give her life for the body of Christ.
[1] “These Are the First Thing,” accessed from http://timelovesahero.blogspot.com/2006/11/these-are-first-thing.html preached at First Presbyterian Church, Berryville, Arkansas, November 5, 2006
[2] Heading titles in the New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Mark 12:38-40 and 12:41-44 respectively.
[3] The first draft said “high on the hog,” but that just wasn’t kosher.
[4] The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, “Scribe” entry.
[5] This story was told to a workshop at an ASPIRE meeting by Dr. Paul Thayer, then Director of TRIO Programs (The Center for Educational Access and Outreach) and Talent Search at Colorado State University, 1994. Dr. Thayer is now the Executive Director of Center for Advising and Student Achievement at Colorado State.
[6] A version of this story was originally published in my MySpace.com blog, http://blog.myspace.com/timelovesahero
[7] Paramount Pictures presents a Michael Manheim/David V. Picker production of a Richard Pearce film, Leap of Faith, 1992.
[8] Jinkins, Michael, Transformational Ministry, Church Leadership and the Way of the Cross. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2002, page xi.
Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17
Psalm 127
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Last week, I ended the sermon with this:
God has offered us everything, and that is what the Lord our God expects in return from us, everything. These are the first thing. Hear, O Church of Jesus Christ, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is what God expects of us…everything.[1]
Today’s gospel reading covers two different stories, the first is called “The Warning About the Scribes” and the second “The Widow’s Offering.”[2] The first contains a warning, the second; depending on how it is interpreted is either a condemnation of the system or a blessing upon the woman.
“Beware the scribes,” warns Jesus, “who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets!” Beware those who walk around like they are someone more special than you are and more important than they are. They like to eat the upper crust,[3] especially when someone else is buying dinner. Beware of those who are attracted to the things they do not deserve.
Beware them because they will take you for all you are worth. Sure, they will do what they are supposed to do; they will recite their prayers and even recite them in public. After all, it is impossible to attract attention for doing good works if they are done in private. But beware, the Scribes eat well, but they eat like a plague of locusts. “They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers.”
This part of today’s reading could not be more straight forward. Jesus is speaking plainly; there are no figures of speech used here. Jesus shows us how ludicrous the Scribes look, pointing out their absurdity. To see a Scribe walking around the marketplace in long robes would be exactly like me walking around the square or WalMart in my robe and stole. How presumptuous.
As straight forward as this passage is, we need to ask “are the Scribes the only people Jesus is warning us about?” The Scribes were the “Doctors of Law” of the day. They were Pharisees in training. They were the assistants of those who interpret the law. Some were lay members of the Sanhedrin.[4] In the day, they were politicians and legal clerks. As Jesus was warning us about church professionals, he was also warning us about others in powerful positions.
Long ago, I worked in a program to help current and future poverty-stricken and first generation college students get a college education. It was a federally funded TRIO program, part of President Johnson's War on Poverty.
Every year, programs take TRIO students to DC to meet local congressmen. It helps give students a look at government and the government a look at the poor.
In the 80's, when the Democrats held the Congress and the Republicans held the White House, TRIO people heard the same rhetoric every trip up Capital Hill.
The Democrats would tell the visiting students how important their work was and how important it was that TRIO Programs be fully funded. “There should be more programs and the current programs should have more funding.”
The Republicans would always say that they had their own funding priorities, and while TRIO Programs were important, they weren't on top of the list.
This ended in 1992 when Governor Bill Clinton was elected President.
The TRIO people returned to Capitol Hill with all of the markers they had received over the years and this is what they heard:
The Democrats told them that they had their own funding priorities, and while TRIO Programs were important, they weren't on top of the list.
The Republicans told them how important their work was and how important it was that TRIO Programs be fully funded. “There should be more programs and the current programs should have better funding.”[5]
The day I heard this story was the day I decided that there weren't too many Republicans in DC and there weren't too many Democrats.
This was the day I decided there are too many politicians.[6]
Given the results of the last election, please don’t blame me if I don’t get too excited. We still probably elected too many politicians.
There isn’t so much difference between politicos and Scribes. They are people in powerful positions who use their position and status to rule—sometimes well and sometimes not. We are called by Jesus to beware of them because they devour the widow’s home (Social Security and Prescription Drug Benefits anyone?) and for the sake of appearance make great speeches; or rather they say long prayers.
But we do not pass from the temple without another example, the tale of the widow’s offering.
Many rich people were putting large sums of money into the treasury. The way the treasury was set up, there were large horn shaped funnels that led to metal boxes where the worshipper placed their offering. When someone put a large offering into the horn, it caused a great racket. To our ears it would sound more like a Vegas slot machine paying off than the offering. But with a flourish, everyone within earshot would be able to discern who the rich folks are, and how extravagant their gift is. So when the widow placed two small copper coins in the treasury, hardly anyone took notice at all.
In relative terms, she did not give much, but she was not able to give much. Scripture tells us that she gave all she had to live on.
Now, let me take a pause here. She gave all she had to live on…so was Jesus praising her for her faith or was Jesus condemning a system which demanded every last cent from the weak members of the community?
It would be consistent with the first half of the reading if Jesus is condemning the system. Jesus lambastes the Scribes for being holier than thou. He takes them to task for flaunting their roles in the society and taking advantage of their status for personal gain.
They would be able to give extravagantly because they have received extravagantly. And don’t confuse extravagance with generosity. You can make more noise dropping thousands of pennies into the treasury box than you can putting a check in the offering plate; but where the first is extravagant, the second is more likely to be generous. I would not be surprised if this is what Jesus was pointing to; he had a habit of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. Perhaps he was pointing to something else.
Jesus could have also been showing the disciples that the widow is a model to be followed. Another way to translate this phrase is that by her offering, “she gave all her life.” Literally, she gave her entire self to the temple and to the Lord. This is similar to what I said at the end of last week’s sermon, Jesus demands everything from us.
So, how should we interpret this? Both interpretations have merit. If you can give, give generously. And for you who do give generously, praise God. Praise God! If you are impoverished, if you are living on a minimal fixed income, if you are working class and taking care of children, and you hear me saying “forget your earthly responsibilities, pay the treasury!” then you should be suspicious. You should ask yourself (or shoot, ask me) are you demanding every cent from my purse? I hope the answer you hear is that you must care for yourself and your children, and you must also care for the work of the body of Christ.
An example of how both of these interpretations meet is found in the Paramount Pictures release Leap of Faith[7] starring Steve Martin as the Reverend Jonas Nightengale, an “evangelist” who is far more con man than man of God. When one of the Kenworth trucks in his caravan breaks down in Rustwater, Kansas, he makes the choice to turn lemons into lemonade by holding his revival there, instead of in Topeka.
Like any good con man, he finds the greatest need in town and exploits it. Rustwater is in a five year drought and if it doesn’t rain this weekend, the crop will be ruined again this year. On the first day of the revival, before the meeting, Jonas walks around town inviting everyone, promising miracles and wonders.
At the end of the movie, the sick are healed and the lame walk in Rustwater. Everyone praises God and says halleluiah. They have seen the signs and wonders and they give glory to God. But these healings are not the miracles.
As Jonas leaves the revival tent for the last time, he is met with the vision of a tent city on the revival grounds. People are camping, and sharing food. In their poverty, they share the abundance of God. A community founded in Christ rises out of the ash of Jonas’ deception. This is a miracle.
As Jonas hitchhikes out of town leaving his old life behind, it begins to rain. The people of Rustwater declare it a miracle, rain heaven sent. But this is not the miracle either.
The miracle is the redemption of a man in Jesus Christ. The miracle is in the relationship God initiates with creation and humanity. The miracle is Jonas’ response to the Almighty God.
Jonas Nightengale comes to town as the Scribe demanding the last two bits from every body in Rustwater, Kansas. Jonas leaves a believer, seeing the wonders of the Lord at work in the work of God’s people.
If you are able to give out of abundance, then by all means, give generously. Remember the Lord who has blessed you and return that blessing so that it may do God’s work through the church. And yes, hold the church accountable. For all of us, give in humility; don’t sound a ruckus with the treasury. Give whether it is from your wealth or your poverty.
This story is told in the introduction to one of my favorite books:
In a recent class discussion, a student mentioned a workshop she had attended in which an “image consultant” spoke to the gathered ministers (or church professionals as they referred to themselves). The consultant pointed up to the need for clergy to project a positive professional image. She told them that, because they are made in the image of God, they should buy only the best clothes, jewelry and accessories, and should make every effort to look as chic and smart as possible. After the student related her (all too true) story, I paused for a very long time. I was frankly appalled and, momentarily at a loss for words.
The students sat as the silence hung heavy around us. Finally, I said: “I guess what I’m trying to picture in my mind is this: how should we look if we are supposed to reflect the image of the God who has revealed himself to us in the tormented shape of a Jewish man named Jesus, crucified on a city dump and discarded by the powers of his world?”[8]
I am sure that this image consultant had the best interests of church professionals in mind when she gave this piece of advice to those who paid good money to attend her workshop.
Unfortunately, one way to interpret her advice is that church professionals are to behave like the Scribes of two millennia ago wearing expensive suits, walking around the square, and being greeted with the adoration of the little people.
As the children of God and the body of Christ, that is not our vocation. Our call is not to be like or even dress like the Scribes who seek the best seats in town. We are to give our time, talent and treasure in the service of God and to the people of God. We are to give in humility. We are warned; regardless of the era to beware the Scribes. Scripture reminds us that the Scribes will receive greater condemnation. Our vocation is to do as the widow, and give all our lives to the Lord. We are to be humble, and live like the widow who was willing to give her life for the body of Christ.
[1] “These Are the First Thing,” accessed from http://timelovesahero.blogspot.com/2006/11/these-are-first-thing.html preached at First Presbyterian Church, Berryville, Arkansas, November 5, 2006
[2] Heading titles in the New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Mark 12:38-40 and 12:41-44 respectively.
[3] The first draft said “high on the hog,” but that just wasn’t kosher.
[4] The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, “Scribe” entry.
[5] This story was told to a workshop at an ASPIRE meeting by Dr. Paul Thayer, then Director of TRIO Programs (The Center for Educational Access and Outreach) and Talent Search at Colorado State University, 1994. Dr. Thayer is now the Executive Director of Center for Advising and Student Achievement at Colorado State.
[6] A version of this story was originally published in my MySpace.com blog, http://blog.myspace.com/timelovesahero
[7] Paramount Pictures presents a Michael Manheim/David V. Picker production of a Richard Pearce film, Leap of Faith, 1992.
[8] Jinkins, Michael, Transformational Ministry, Church Leadership and the Way of the Cross. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2002, page xi.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
These Are the First Thing
This sermon was preached at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on November 5, 2006
Ruth 1:1-18
Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:11-14
Mark 12:28-34
May the words of my mouth and the words of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
How many of us have ever heard someone say, “The first thing you need to know is…” In seminary, it happened pretty often. During the course of a semester, many professors would say that their classes—their disciplines—are the most important. The first couple of times I heard this, it was confusing, after a while, it was amusing. My Old Testament professor said that the New Testament was for people who didn’t get it the first time. The battles between the Bible and Theology departments played like the chicken and the egg. “Theology is faith seeking understanding!” “Well, without scripture, there is no faith to understand!” The Preaching professors remind us that the Word of God is the word written, incarnate, and living—so the living, the proclamation of the Word had better be worthy of its place. My Mission and Evangelism professor said his discipline was the most important. In a recent Austin Seminary publication, this professor says, “Teaching about the non-western church is sometimes a hard sell, but I am convinced it is the most important task in theological education today.”[1] The Stewardship professor was in line with the Mission professor, to a degree. He said people give when they know the church is doing mission, but believe me, mission was a function of stewardship, not the other way around.
You can hardly blame these professors. After working at a community college and at the University of Arkansas, it is the way of the professor to believe that what they study is the center of academe. Professors have dedicated themselves to years of study and research and writing and if they thought for a moment their specialty was unimportant, their lives would fall like a house of cards. Sure, maybe some take it a step too far. I can think of some professors who thought their work was the center of known and unknown universe. Some see themselves as gatekeepers to the University or a professional field. But a certain level of honor for the specialty is not only to be expected, it can be healthy.
Well, we have established that in seminary, everything is the first thing of all things to be learned. And surviving—thriving after being asked questions designed to trap him; Jesus is asked one more question. What commandment is the first of all?
Jesus gives his answer in three parts.
The first part: Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
This is a prayer known as the Shema. This prayer is said by Jews in the morning prayers and in the evening prayers. It is one of the first things a Jew thinks on in the morning and one of the last things in the evening. Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Found in Deuteronomy 6:4, this is one of the primary affirmations of the Nation of Israel. It is the benchmark of the faith.
The Lord is our God. The first part affirms not just that the Lord is God. But the Lord is our God. This is not an issue of ownership. The Lord is not our God like a possession. The Lord is not our God like this is my cup and this is my water.[2] The Lord is our God as we are the church. We are the church only when we are in relationship with one another. The Lord is our God because the Lord chooses to be in relationship with us.
The Lord is One. In the time when the Shema was recorded, the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Moabites, and so on had a pantheon of Gods to choose from. There were gods of rain, gods of harvest, gods of fertility; gods of everything imaginable. So with a plethora of gods, the devout would be able to pray a particular prayer to an appropriate God. Not Israel. For Israel there was only one God, the Lord. Idolatry in the Old Testament was not so much about worshipping gods that do not exist as it was about worshipping useless gods.
The second part of the prayer is: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This statement follows the Shema in Deuteronomy. It’s a little different in the Old Testament, but for a reason. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” So why does the New Testament include the phrase “all your mind”? Simply because in the Hebrew, this addition is unnecessary; in the Old Testament the heart and mind were taken together because the Hebrew concept of heart included both the emotional and the intellectual centers.[3] Without exception, both versions of this prayer demand that we love the Lord our God with our entire beings. By this command, the Lord demands not that we give all that we have, but that we give all that we are.
The last part is from Leviticus 19:18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is such an important concept that this command is the reason the parable of the Good Samaritan exists in Luke’s gospel. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We must be conscious that we are to love ourselves and love our neighbors not because of who we are or what we have done. We are to love one another as the children of the Lord our God. We are to love as God sees us, not as we see ourselves.
While in a Nazi prison, the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was writing an outline for a book. Two sentences in the outline stand out. The first, “The church is the church only when it exists for others.” The second is, “The church must tell persons of every calling (and life situation) what it means to live in Christ, to exist for others.”[4] Living day to day, not knowing whether he would live or die at the hands of the Third Reich, Bonhoeffer translates the command of loving our neighbors into the work of the church.
Then Jesus tells this scribe—and all who have ears—there is no other commandment greater than these. In English grammar, there is a concept known as subject/verb agreement. If a subject is singular, the verb is singular. With verbs of being, the noun in the predicate needs to agree with subject. Here the subject is singular and the predicate noun is plural—but bad grammar makes good theology. We have several things—but together they are one thing, the first thing. Considered separately, these statements are important. But separately they are not perfect. When one or another of these statements is overemphasized, its value is reduced. Piety without love of neighbor hides the gift of God like a light is hidden under a bushel. Good works without giving thanks to the One who makes these works possible, the One who calls us to do these works, is building a good home on a poor foundation.
Each statement twists together with the others like three cords are braided together to form a rope. The strands are strong separately, but together they form a cable that is stronger than the sum of the individual parts. Together they form the first commandment.
The question remains, why did Jesus combine these three statements, from two different pieces of the Old Testament? It returns us to the relational element of the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4. The Lord is our God and we whether in this sanctuary or this city or this world—we are our neighbors. It returns us to Deuteronomy 6:5, we must love the Lord our God as he loves us—fully, completely, and without reservation. And it returns us to Leviticus; we must love one another as we love ourselves as children of God.
I love good church signs. You know the ones, things like “Sign Broken, Message Inside” or “Prayer Conditioned.” I haven’t been very good about changing the sign over the last year. I wish I was witty enough to come up with new and fresh sayings more often. Sure, we’ve used the sign to promote the Thanksgiving service last year and the Easter Service earlier this year. At Easter we even posted the traditional Pascal greeting, “He is risen, He is risen indeed.” We’ve used it to promote Vacation Bible School too. As for witty sayings, the sign has said, “First Pedestrian Church—Walk the Walk” and “Serving the Lord for over 150 years.” I thought these were pretty good, nothing over the top, but fresh and witty. Well, about six weeks ago, I was trying to decide what to put on the sign, so I put up a paraphrase of today’s gospel passage, “You shall love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself.” It’s a solid message and I thought it was the kind of thing that everyone should read before going into the courthouse. I believe when we take this seriously, we become better and treat one another better.
The writers of the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, thought the same thing. They thought this is the sort of thing people need to be reminded of early and often. This is why this event appears in each of the first three gospels.
When asked to consider how we are to respond to this reading, it is straight forward. The doxology in our Call to Confession, Psalm 146 reminds us of the Shema. We are called to give glory to the God who calls us into relationship, the Lord our God. The call to love God is reinforced in the reading from Hebrews where we are reminded that the sacrificial love of God is greater than the sacrifices made by priests. And we are to love our neighbor as Ruth loved Naomi—with devotion, grace, and peace.[5]
We continue to talk about stewardship; it’s that time of the year. We talk about tithes and we talk about offerings. We talk about time and talent and treasure. But this passage teaches us something more important about stewardship. God has offered us everything, and that is what the Lord our God expects in return from us, everything. These are the first thing. Hear, O Church of Jesus Christ, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is what God expects of us…everything.
[1] Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, "for the record, the faculty of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary." Austin, TX, 2006, page 11.
[2] I keep a PC(USA) coffee cup with water on the pulpit
[3] Homiletics Magazine, http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/printer_friendly_installment .asp?installment_id=2994, accessed October 30, 2006.
[4] Foote, Jr, Ted V. and Thronburg, P. Alex, Being Disciples of Jesus in a Dot.Com World, A theological Survival Guide for Youth, Adults, and Other Confused Christians. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2003, page 117.
[5] Bruggeman, Walter, et. Al., Texts for Preaching, A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV—Year B. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993, page 566ff.
Ruth 1:1-18
Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:11-14
Mark 12:28-34
May the words of my mouth and the words of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
How many of us have ever heard someone say, “The first thing you need to know is…” In seminary, it happened pretty often. During the course of a semester, many professors would say that their classes—their disciplines—are the most important. The first couple of times I heard this, it was confusing, after a while, it was amusing. My Old Testament professor said that the New Testament was for people who didn’t get it the first time. The battles between the Bible and Theology departments played like the chicken and the egg. “Theology is faith seeking understanding!” “Well, without scripture, there is no faith to understand!” The Preaching professors remind us that the Word of God is the word written, incarnate, and living—so the living, the proclamation of the Word had better be worthy of its place. My Mission and Evangelism professor said his discipline was the most important. In a recent Austin Seminary publication, this professor says, “Teaching about the non-western church is sometimes a hard sell, but I am convinced it is the most important task in theological education today.”[1] The Stewardship professor was in line with the Mission professor, to a degree. He said people give when they know the church is doing mission, but believe me, mission was a function of stewardship, not the other way around.
You can hardly blame these professors. After working at a community college and at the University of Arkansas, it is the way of the professor to believe that what they study is the center of academe. Professors have dedicated themselves to years of study and research and writing and if they thought for a moment their specialty was unimportant, their lives would fall like a house of cards. Sure, maybe some take it a step too far. I can think of some professors who thought their work was the center of known and unknown universe. Some see themselves as gatekeepers to the University or a professional field. But a certain level of honor for the specialty is not only to be expected, it can be healthy.
Well, we have established that in seminary, everything is the first thing of all things to be learned. And surviving—thriving after being asked questions designed to trap him; Jesus is asked one more question. What commandment is the first of all?
Jesus gives his answer in three parts.
The first part: Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.
This is a prayer known as the Shema. This prayer is said by Jews in the morning prayers and in the evening prayers. It is one of the first things a Jew thinks on in the morning and one of the last things in the evening. Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Found in Deuteronomy 6:4, this is one of the primary affirmations of the Nation of Israel. It is the benchmark of the faith.
The Lord is our God. The first part affirms not just that the Lord is God. But the Lord is our God. This is not an issue of ownership. The Lord is not our God like a possession. The Lord is not our God like this is my cup and this is my water.[2] The Lord is our God as we are the church. We are the church only when we are in relationship with one another. The Lord is our God because the Lord chooses to be in relationship with us.
The Lord is One. In the time when the Shema was recorded, the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Moabites, and so on had a pantheon of Gods to choose from. There were gods of rain, gods of harvest, gods of fertility; gods of everything imaginable. So with a plethora of gods, the devout would be able to pray a particular prayer to an appropriate God. Not Israel. For Israel there was only one God, the Lord. Idolatry in the Old Testament was not so much about worshipping gods that do not exist as it was about worshipping useless gods.
The second part of the prayer is: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This statement follows the Shema in Deuteronomy. It’s a little different in the Old Testament, but for a reason. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” So why does the New Testament include the phrase “all your mind”? Simply because in the Hebrew, this addition is unnecessary; in the Old Testament the heart and mind were taken together because the Hebrew concept of heart included both the emotional and the intellectual centers.[3] Without exception, both versions of this prayer demand that we love the Lord our God with our entire beings. By this command, the Lord demands not that we give all that we have, but that we give all that we are.
The last part is from Leviticus 19:18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is such an important concept that this command is the reason the parable of the Good Samaritan exists in Luke’s gospel. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” We must be conscious that we are to love ourselves and love our neighbors not because of who we are or what we have done. We are to love one another as the children of the Lord our God. We are to love as God sees us, not as we see ourselves.
While in a Nazi prison, the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was writing an outline for a book. Two sentences in the outline stand out. The first, “The church is the church only when it exists for others.” The second is, “The church must tell persons of every calling (and life situation) what it means to live in Christ, to exist for others.”[4] Living day to day, not knowing whether he would live or die at the hands of the Third Reich, Bonhoeffer translates the command of loving our neighbors into the work of the church.
Then Jesus tells this scribe—and all who have ears—there is no other commandment greater than these. In English grammar, there is a concept known as subject/verb agreement. If a subject is singular, the verb is singular. With verbs of being, the noun in the predicate needs to agree with subject. Here the subject is singular and the predicate noun is plural—but bad grammar makes good theology. We have several things—but together they are one thing, the first thing. Considered separately, these statements are important. But separately they are not perfect. When one or another of these statements is overemphasized, its value is reduced. Piety without love of neighbor hides the gift of God like a light is hidden under a bushel. Good works without giving thanks to the One who makes these works possible, the One who calls us to do these works, is building a good home on a poor foundation.
Each statement twists together with the others like three cords are braided together to form a rope. The strands are strong separately, but together they form a cable that is stronger than the sum of the individual parts. Together they form the first commandment.
The question remains, why did Jesus combine these three statements, from two different pieces of the Old Testament? It returns us to the relational element of the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:4. The Lord is our God and we whether in this sanctuary or this city or this world—we are our neighbors. It returns us to Deuteronomy 6:5, we must love the Lord our God as he loves us—fully, completely, and without reservation. And it returns us to Leviticus; we must love one another as we love ourselves as children of God.
I love good church signs. You know the ones, things like “Sign Broken, Message Inside” or “Prayer Conditioned.” I haven’t been very good about changing the sign over the last year. I wish I was witty enough to come up with new and fresh sayings more often. Sure, we’ve used the sign to promote the Thanksgiving service last year and the Easter Service earlier this year. At Easter we even posted the traditional Pascal greeting, “He is risen, He is risen indeed.” We’ve used it to promote Vacation Bible School too. As for witty sayings, the sign has said, “First Pedestrian Church—Walk the Walk” and “Serving the Lord for over 150 years.” I thought these were pretty good, nothing over the top, but fresh and witty. Well, about six weeks ago, I was trying to decide what to put on the sign, so I put up a paraphrase of today’s gospel passage, “You shall love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself.” It’s a solid message and I thought it was the kind of thing that everyone should read before going into the courthouse. I believe when we take this seriously, we become better and treat one another better.
The writers of the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, thought the same thing. They thought this is the sort of thing people need to be reminded of early and often. This is why this event appears in each of the first three gospels.
When asked to consider how we are to respond to this reading, it is straight forward. The doxology in our Call to Confession, Psalm 146 reminds us of the Shema. We are called to give glory to the God who calls us into relationship, the Lord our God. The call to love God is reinforced in the reading from Hebrews where we are reminded that the sacrificial love of God is greater than the sacrifices made by priests. And we are to love our neighbor as Ruth loved Naomi—with devotion, grace, and peace.[5]
We continue to talk about stewardship; it’s that time of the year. We talk about tithes and we talk about offerings. We talk about time and talent and treasure. But this passage teaches us something more important about stewardship. God has offered us everything, and that is what the Lord our God expects in return from us, everything. These are the first thing. Hear, O Church of Jesus Christ, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is what God expects of us…everything.
[1] Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, "for the record, the faculty of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary." Austin, TX, 2006, page 11.
[2] I keep a PC(USA) coffee cup with water on the pulpit
[3] Homiletics Magazine, http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/printer_friendly_installment .asp?installment_id=2994, accessed October 30, 2006.
[4] Foote, Jr, Ted V. and Thronburg, P. Alex, Being Disciples of Jesus in a Dot.Com World, A theological Survival Guide for Youth, Adults, and Other Confused Christians. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2003, page 117.
[5] Bruggeman, Walter, et. Al., Texts for Preaching, A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV—Year B. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993, page 566ff.
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