This sermon was delivered on the Twelvth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday June 24, 2007 at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas.
1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a
Psalm 42
Galatians 3:23-29
Luke 8:26-39
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Summer is the time of year when the big action films make it into the theaters with the hopes of trading big bangs in for big bucks. This tendency is older than drive in movies, but it really took off on Independence Day weekend 1996 when Will Smith starred in “Independence Day.” The next summer it became a trend when Will Smith starred in “Men in Black” with Tommy Lee Jones. Two years later, Warner Brothers Pictures hoped they had a summer juggernaut on their hands when Will Smith starred in “Wild Wild West.” Well, you can’t win ’em all. Considering the critical and box office response this film got, it goes to show you can go to the well one too many times.
This was also a time when Hollywood thought that everything old can be new again. “Men in Black” was originally a comic book and “Wild Wild West” was based on a TV show from 1965. It seems that if writers and producers could not come up with new ideas, they could transform the old.
In the spirit of adapting and transforming old things and making them new again, this Independence Day weekend, movie theaters will be filled with children of all ages going to see “Transformers.” Transformers is a story of the good Autobots and the evil Decepticons, two races of robots from the metal world of Cybertron, and how their battle continues on planet Earth. What’s amazing is how many transformations the Transformers have made. They have made so many transformations that it is tough to know which came first anymore. In the spirit of transformation, this is not the first Transformers movie, there was an animated feature produced in 1986, before that the animated children’s cartoons began in 1984. Before that were comic books, and before that the life of the Transformers began with a line of action figures, toys.[1] This line has been recycled and transformed so many times that it began as toys and to bring the line full circle, one of the most significant revenue streams for this summer’s production will again be the toys. I keep saying this, but every thing that’s old is new again.
We begin as Jesus crosses the Sea from his home in Galilee to the country of the Gerasenes. Big deal, right; why did Jesus cross the Sea? To get to the other side. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Crossing the big lake is nothing to us. Shoot, the Duck Boat attraction at Branson travels about the same distance Jesus did. So what’s so transformational about a boat ride? In Luke’s gospel, this is Jesus’ first trip from his people, the Jews, to the Gentiles. This was a very big transition. This is the ultimate trip to the other side of the tracks. Jesus has left all that is clean and holy, and went to the land of impurity and pork.
But of course, the major transformation in this story belongs to a man. This story is commonly called “The Gerasene Demoniac.” I thought being called the “fat kid” was crushing; being called the local demoniac would have been so much worse. Imagine his parents, and I don’t believe for a minute that people didn’t know who his family was, “Sal, where’s your boy?” “Oh, he’s still shackled in the tombs, oh wait, there he goes, naked as a jaybird.” Frankly, this man would have been the town terror and a shame to his family. And he is the one who finds Jesus.
As soon as Jesus reaches the shore, the man met him. Even though the verses do not go in this order, the grammar shows that as soon as Jesus saw the man, he commanded the unclean spirit to come out. After Jesus commands the spirits, the man cries, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” The man recognizes that Jesus has power, the power to torment, the power to torture him. The man recognizes that Jesus has the power to prosecute him, judge him, find him guilty, and execute a horrendous sentence as a Son of the Most High God. But he doesn’t realize one very important point.
He knows Jesus is Son of the Most High God, but that phrase didn’t mean the same thing to the man it means to us. The gentile man knew his pagan religions; he knew there were many, many gods to be worshipped. Yes, he knew Jesus is the Son of the most powerful God in the cosmos, but he did not know the Lord. We read the phrase Most High God to mean the Lord because the early Christians adopted and adapted this term to refer to the Lord, but the Gerasene Demoniac did not use the term the same way.[2] So yes, the man knew Jesus was a powerful man, but he had no idea how powerful. He thought Jesus was powerful as say the son of Zeus or maybe Baal, or any other ancient most high god, but he did not know the Lord.
You know, this isn’t so different from today. People know Jesus is powerful. People also know Jesus is a wise Rabbi. People also know Jesus is a wonderful, generous soul. But not everybody knows Jesus is God. For many that’s all right, the difference can be made and it’s no sweat off their backs. But one 20th Century theologian disagrees with the sensibility of separating Jesus’ humanity from his divinity.[3] C. S. Lewis counters that we have two choices, either Jesus is God, or he is as crazy as a loon. There is no way that it is possible to say that Jesus is wonderful and wise without saying he is also the Son of the Lord God because he says he is the Son of the Lord God. When people choose to separate Jesus’ humanity from his divinity, the effect is that we try to transform Jesus. Instead, we have to let Jesus transform us.
The community of the Gerasenes didn’t try to transform Jesus; in fact, they hoped to transport Jesus, back onto his boat and across the sea from where he came. They were frightened, as well they should have been. Imagine the swineherds seeing what was happening with their livestock. They would not have been able to hear the conversation between Jesus and the man. They would have had no idea Jesus was exercising the legion of demons. All they know is that suddenly their pigs would have perked up like someone had smacked them on the ham hock and they rushed headlong off a steep bank and into the lake to drown.
They had every reason to be afraid. The swine that were just chased down the bank were important livestock to them. They were important to commerce. They were important as food. And perhaps most of all, in ancient societies, since the butchers were also the priests, they were important religiously. We talk about “preparing the burnt offering” often without thinking about the skill needed to render an animal ready for the offering. Leviticus and Deuteronomy show that many of the Levite’s responsibilities revolved around livestock and butchering. It was the same for the Gerasenes, but they lost the source of their religious offerings when the swine did a full gainer with two and a half twists down the bluff and into the lake. No wonder the people were afraid. Almost no one wanted to be transformed, but one did.
Jesus hastens the man to change. In one fell swoop, the man is transformed from demon possessed to calm. Luke tells us he was in his right mind. He went from a wild man to a man who had control of his faculties. He was possessed by a legion of demons, now he is filled with the grace and peace of Jesus Christ. This man is a new creation, a new creation in Jesus. This scares the people too. By the end of our reading, the people were still afraid of Jesus. They were so afraid of Jesus that they asked him to leave. And he obliged them.
The Gerasenes were filled with great fear now at what Jesus had done. And they were probably still afraid of the formerly demon possessed man, but now for a completely different reason. He had gone from an object of fear, shame and pity to the source of the loss of a big piece of their way of life. They could easily send Jesus away; he was a stranger who had no status in the community. The demoniac on the other hand was one of their own, and now that he had switched sides and started playing for the team, he was also an object of real fear. For this reason, he was probably afraid of the people who he had not called his neighbors too.
Jesus hastens us to change too. In Galatians, Paul writes, “Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.” The man in our Gospel reading knew Jesus was the Son of a powerful god, though he did not know he was the Son of the Lord God. He knew Jesus had power and authority over him and his life. But as Paul teaches, in Christ we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian. Instead we are subjects of the Lord God as sons and daughters are subjects to generous, loving, grace filled parents. Parents the way we can never know our earthly parents. Parents the way we will never be parents.
Paul continues, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.”
As the children of God, we are transformed by the waters of our baptism into the community of the Lord our God. We are transformed, we are changed. And as we are changed we are no longer separated by what makes us different on earth, we are connected by the one who makes us holy sets us aside to do holy work. We are connected by the promise as old as the ages.
Jesus transforms us. And as we are changed by the word of God we are called to take that word that changes life into the world and share it. Often we fear this means becoming a missionary to some dark corner of the world. But rest assured, Jesus commissions the first Christian missionary in this passage. And as badly as the man wants to follow Jesus, Jesus commissions him to a new mission and a new mission field. Jesus tells him to “return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he does. And he does this proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus has done for him. He has made the transformation. He now knows Jesus is God, and tells all of the Gerasenes.
“Transformers” opens in theaters nation-wide on July 3rd. I wonder if they will be using the old 80’s theme song, “Transformers, more than meets the eyes.” What we see in Jesus Christ and his transforming work is more than meets the eyes. We are baptized in water and sealed in the Spirit. Jesus has made us heirs of the salvation and for this we must be grateful. Like the man in the gospel, Jesus calls us to take the word into the world, whether the world be across the globe or on the other side of the tracks.
[1] Wikipedia links to all Transformer sites can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformers, accessed June 21, 2007.
[2] God Most High entry, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. 21st Printing. Buttrick, George Arthur, Dictionary Editor. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1962
[3] This is found in Mere Christianity by C S. Lewis, but I do not have the precise quote.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Appalling Behavior
1 Kings 21:1-10, 15-21
Psalm 5:1-8
Galatians 2:15-21
Luke 7:36-8:3
May the words of my mouth and the mediations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Those of you who watch too much television, like I have been known to do, may know a show called “Girls Behaving Badly.” The show’s official website describes it as “Sex in the City” meets “Candid Camera.”[1] For those of you who are too young for “Candid Camera,” think Ashton Kutcher’s MTV show “Punk’d” and you’ll know what I’m talking about. For those of you who don’t know “Sex in the City,” catch the reruns, I can’t help.
What’s different about “Girls Behaving Badly” is that it features four women behind the practical jokes. One example is a skit called “Definitely Mail Order Bride” where cast member Melissa Howard would be delivered by package express in a box just barely big enough to hold a nineteen inch television. When the delivery person dropped her off at her final destination, she would pop out of the box—in full wedding gown and veil.[2] That’s one response to the UPS slogan “What can Brown do for you?”
Pardon my sexist observation, but the pranks they play on people are not very lady-like, and that’s what sets this show apart. Not only are their hoaxes audacious, but they are being pulled off by women you would never think would do and say such obnoxious things. Pulling stunts like that just isn’t the kind of thing “young ladies do.”
Luke’s story of the anointing of Jesus starts with a woman who doesn’t behave like much of a lady either.
Our reading begins when Simon the Pharisee invites Jesus to his home for dinner. Dinners of this sort were held in semi-public areas of the home, so it was more like a banquet held at a street fair than in someone’s dining room. This public access allowed people who were not invited to come and go and scope out the host and the guests. Between who was invited, who wasn’t invited, and the seating arrangements; folks would be able to see who’s who and what’s what without buying this week’s edition of People magazine.
But this woman did not fit in with Simon’s dinner plans. She was a woman of the city, a sinner to boot. Luke does not give us any indication of what her “sin” is, but the one thing we can tell is that the wages of sin must have paid pretty well. She was able to afford an alabaster jar of costly ointment. These items would not have been cheap, so whatever her sin was, mismanaging money was not one of them.
While anyone would be able to drop in on the dinner party, she was not welcome. It is obvious by Simon’s reaction to her that she was a gate crasher, a woman flying solo who was not welcome at the party. And by the way, flying solo, not being accompanied by either a husband or male relative was definitely a cultural no-no.
As the old saying goes, “In for a penny, in for a pound.” As long as her behavior was causing such a scandal, she went all the way. She wept so much that she was able to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears. Did she wail, did she sob; we aren’t told but I can’t imagine she was silent. Having no towel she washed his feet with her hair, then she anointed them with the costly perfume. The laundry list of cultural taboos she was breaking now included touching a man she is not related to and letting her hair down in public. Simon had enough of her appalling behavior. This was his party, and this sinner was not about to upstage the host.
So Simon says to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” If this Jesus was worth half of what everyone said about him, he would not allow himself to be defiled like this by this woman. This doesn’t get past Jesus though.
So Jesus tells Simon and the guests the one about the moneylender and the debtors. Stop me if you’ve heard this one. That’s right; we read it just a few minutes ago. Well, we’ll come back to this story shortly.
So after the story, Jesus returns us to Simon’s internal narrative about the woman and against Jesus. Yes, I said that in the right order. Simon is no fan of the little gate crasher, but his thoughts accuse Jesus. Simon asks himself “What kind of prophet can this man be? I have heard such wondrous things about the great Jesus of Nazareth, but he allows himself to be handled by a sinful woman. What a fool, what appalling behavior.”
But in Jesus’ style, he turns the table on his host. As important as table manners and banquet etiquette were in ancient Israel, hospitality codes that were older than Abraham were infinitely more important. When a guest is invited into the home, it is traditional to offer water to wash the feet. In a time and place where people wore sandals and horses and livestock shared the roads, washing the feet became a ritual. It was also proper to offer oil. In a time when Ivory soap was still 1850 years on the horizon[3] oil was used like soap. And the welcoming kiss was as ordinary as a handshake to us today. Simon could not be bothered to offer Jesus any of these things.
So what was Simon doing? He may have been gossiping with the other guests, bragging about the coup of getting Jesus to come over for dinner. He may have been too busy showing off for the other guests to care for the guest who should have received the most honor. And here’s a question left unanswered by the text—was Jesus the guest of honor? Was Jesus afforded the place of an honored guest or was he treated like a ragamuffin prophet from Nazareth, and after all, nothing good has ever come out of Nazareth. Frankly for a host, between what we know and what we might guess, Simon’s behavior is appalling.
But for all of this appalling behavior, let’s not let Jesus off the hook. The one who is fully human and fully divine was acting very human during this meal. First, if Jesus read Simon’s mind, it was a very, very rude thing to do. But in my opinion, whether Jesus could read Simon’s mind is unimportant. I am sure Simon’s facial expression gave away his contempt for what was happening between Jesus and the woman.
Then the story of the moneylender and the debtors is in very poor taste, especially in the house of a religious leader. You see, money lending and charging interest violates Levitical law.[4] The characters in the story alone are scandalous. The amounts in the story are extreme as well. The denarius was worth one day’s pay, so one of the debtors owed nearly two months wages and the other nearly twenty months. It would be impossible for a common worker to pay off either of these debts. Telling this story is appalling behavior.
Jesus’ next appalling act was to give Simon enough rope to hang himself. “Which debtor loved the moneylender more?” As if anyone really loves a money lender. Simon answers, “I suppose it’s the one with the larger debt.” Kind of obvious, but Jesus isn’t trying to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes. The wool is firmly in place; Jesus is hoping to take it away. Simon has judged wisely, but that doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t about to take his answer and show everyone how appalling his hospitality has been. It’s poor manners to show up a host at his dinner party and that’s what Jesus does. Jesus tells Simon and everyone else what a lousy host he is—and how the sinful woman picked up the slack. Simon deserves it, but that doesn’t make Jesus’ behavior less deplorable.
But here’s the biggy, here’s the most appalling behavior in this piece of scripture. Jesus takes Simon’s words and tells all who will listen, “Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little. Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” This is the most appalling thing Jesus does at this banquet. He tells her that her sins are forgiven. But it’s not just Jesus saying her sins are forgiven, his most appalling behavior is using the word “hence.”
Consider the order of events. The way we see it, the sinful woman performs a great act of penance and generosity and then Jesus says “you are forgiven.” But that’s not what Jesus says. Look at verse 47 again: “Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven.” She has sinned and her sins have been forgiven. Her actions at the banquet have nothing to do with gaining forgiveness. Jesus continues: “Hence she has shown great love.” She anoints and kisses his feet not to receive some great reward but because she has received the greatest gift of all, forgiveness of sins.
How’s that for appalling behavior. We spend most of our lives trying to be good enough for God. We work, and work, and work; but even before we can consider what we might try to do to please God and win the prize, it is all ready offered to us. How’s that for appalling? We do and we go and we work for a prize that has all ready been freely given. It pierces our ego like a balloon; we do stuff to earn God’s grace which we have all ready been given through Jesus Christ. So then if we can’t earn the love of God, should we work so hard?
Jesus’ answer follows, “But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.” Our love and the actions that follow from our love are the product of God’s love, not their cause. She has shown great love through performing Simon’s hosting duties at the expense of her own safety and reputation. She has lived a sin-soaked sin-sickened life, but she had faith that the source of her salvation was found in Jesus. And to use an old expression, she showed an attitude of gratitude to the Lord.
Sure, everybody is guilty of some appalling behavior in this passage. Simon’s appalling behavior is in the guise of a holy man who could not see the sin of his own poor hospitality. Jesus’ appalling behavior is in the way of a prophet and a teacher showing little tact. As for the sinful woman, her appalling behavior was in gratitude for the grace and peace received in the forgiveness given by the Lord her God.
So here’s the most appalling behavior of all, the Lord God who created the earth and all that dwells in it, after it was defiled by humanity, returned to earth to reclaim it and all who dwell in it. Through the incarnation of God in the body and person of Jesus of Nazareth, God reconciles humanity and all of creation to the fullness of new life in the Good News. Beginning with the first Adam and ending with the second—Jesus the Christ—the history of humanity plays out in a constant ebb and flow of sin and redemption.
Hence we are called to accept and respond to the love and redemption freely given. We know Jesus’ saying, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.”[5] We also need to know this saying: “To whom much is forgiven, much love is required.” By love, we return to God the love we show to others and we demonstrate our own forgiveness.[6]
Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” Rest in the assurance that through the love of God in Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven. And respond to the wondrous love of the Lord our God with appalling gratitude.
[1] Girls Behaving Badly, http://www.girlsbehavingbadlytv.com/, accessed June 14, 2007.
[2] Ibid. Girls Behaving badly, Cast Bios, Melissa Howard, accessed June 15, 2007.
[3] Ivory soap was first sold in 1879, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory_soap, accessed June 15, 2007
[4] Leviticus 25:37
[5] Luke 12:48b
[6] Nearly a direct quote from “Much Love,” Published June 14, 1998, found at http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/printer_friendly_installment.asp?installment_id=2709, accessed June 10, 2007.
Psalm 5:1-8
Galatians 2:15-21
Luke 7:36-8:3
May the words of my mouth and the mediations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Those of you who watch too much television, like I have been known to do, may know a show called “Girls Behaving Badly.” The show’s official website describes it as “Sex in the City” meets “Candid Camera.”[1] For those of you who are too young for “Candid Camera,” think Ashton Kutcher’s MTV show “Punk’d” and you’ll know what I’m talking about. For those of you who don’t know “Sex in the City,” catch the reruns, I can’t help.
What’s different about “Girls Behaving Badly” is that it features four women behind the practical jokes. One example is a skit called “Definitely Mail Order Bride” where cast member Melissa Howard would be delivered by package express in a box just barely big enough to hold a nineteen inch television. When the delivery person dropped her off at her final destination, she would pop out of the box—in full wedding gown and veil.[2] That’s one response to the UPS slogan “What can Brown do for you?”
Pardon my sexist observation, but the pranks they play on people are not very lady-like, and that’s what sets this show apart. Not only are their hoaxes audacious, but they are being pulled off by women you would never think would do and say such obnoxious things. Pulling stunts like that just isn’t the kind of thing “young ladies do.”
Luke’s story of the anointing of Jesus starts with a woman who doesn’t behave like much of a lady either.
Our reading begins when Simon the Pharisee invites Jesus to his home for dinner. Dinners of this sort were held in semi-public areas of the home, so it was more like a banquet held at a street fair than in someone’s dining room. This public access allowed people who were not invited to come and go and scope out the host and the guests. Between who was invited, who wasn’t invited, and the seating arrangements; folks would be able to see who’s who and what’s what without buying this week’s edition of People magazine.
But this woman did not fit in with Simon’s dinner plans. She was a woman of the city, a sinner to boot. Luke does not give us any indication of what her “sin” is, but the one thing we can tell is that the wages of sin must have paid pretty well. She was able to afford an alabaster jar of costly ointment. These items would not have been cheap, so whatever her sin was, mismanaging money was not one of them.
While anyone would be able to drop in on the dinner party, she was not welcome. It is obvious by Simon’s reaction to her that she was a gate crasher, a woman flying solo who was not welcome at the party. And by the way, flying solo, not being accompanied by either a husband or male relative was definitely a cultural no-no.
As the old saying goes, “In for a penny, in for a pound.” As long as her behavior was causing such a scandal, she went all the way. She wept so much that she was able to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears. Did she wail, did she sob; we aren’t told but I can’t imagine she was silent. Having no towel she washed his feet with her hair, then she anointed them with the costly perfume. The laundry list of cultural taboos she was breaking now included touching a man she is not related to and letting her hair down in public. Simon had enough of her appalling behavior. This was his party, and this sinner was not about to upstage the host.
So Simon says to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him—that she is a sinner.” If this Jesus was worth half of what everyone said about him, he would not allow himself to be defiled like this by this woman. This doesn’t get past Jesus though.
So Jesus tells Simon and the guests the one about the moneylender and the debtors. Stop me if you’ve heard this one. That’s right; we read it just a few minutes ago. Well, we’ll come back to this story shortly.
So after the story, Jesus returns us to Simon’s internal narrative about the woman and against Jesus. Yes, I said that in the right order. Simon is no fan of the little gate crasher, but his thoughts accuse Jesus. Simon asks himself “What kind of prophet can this man be? I have heard such wondrous things about the great Jesus of Nazareth, but he allows himself to be handled by a sinful woman. What a fool, what appalling behavior.”
But in Jesus’ style, he turns the table on his host. As important as table manners and banquet etiquette were in ancient Israel, hospitality codes that were older than Abraham were infinitely more important. When a guest is invited into the home, it is traditional to offer water to wash the feet. In a time and place where people wore sandals and horses and livestock shared the roads, washing the feet became a ritual. It was also proper to offer oil. In a time when Ivory soap was still 1850 years on the horizon[3] oil was used like soap. And the welcoming kiss was as ordinary as a handshake to us today. Simon could not be bothered to offer Jesus any of these things.
So what was Simon doing? He may have been gossiping with the other guests, bragging about the coup of getting Jesus to come over for dinner. He may have been too busy showing off for the other guests to care for the guest who should have received the most honor. And here’s a question left unanswered by the text—was Jesus the guest of honor? Was Jesus afforded the place of an honored guest or was he treated like a ragamuffin prophet from Nazareth, and after all, nothing good has ever come out of Nazareth. Frankly for a host, between what we know and what we might guess, Simon’s behavior is appalling.
But for all of this appalling behavior, let’s not let Jesus off the hook. The one who is fully human and fully divine was acting very human during this meal. First, if Jesus read Simon’s mind, it was a very, very rude thing to do. But in my opinion, whether Jesus could read Simon’s mind is unimportant. I am sure Simon’s facial expression gave away his contempt for what was happening between Jesus and the woman.
Then the story of the moneylender and the debtors is in very poor taste, especially in the house of a religious leader. You see, money lending and charging interest violates Levitical law.[4] The characters in the story alone are scandalous. The amounts in the story are extreme as well. The denarius was worth one day’s pay, so one of the debtors owed nearly two months wages and the other nearly twenty months. It would be impossible for a common worker to pay off either of these debts. Telling this story is appalling behavior.
Jesus’ next appalling act was to give Simon enough rope to hang himself. “Which debtor loved the moneylender more?” As if anyone really loves a money lender. Simon answers, “I suppose it’s the one with the larger debt.” Kind of obvious, but Jesus isn’t trying to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes. The wool is firmly in place; Jesus is hoping to take it away. Simon has judged wisely, but that doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t about to take his answer and show everyone how appalling his hospitality has been. It’s poor manners to show up a host at his dinner party and that’s what Jesus does. Jesus tells Simon and everyone else what a lousy host he is—and how the sinful woman picked up the slack. Simon deserves it, but that doesn’t make Jesus’ behavior less deplorable.
But here’s the biggy, here’s the most appalling behavior in this piece of scripture. Jesus takes Simon’s words and tells all who will listen, “Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little. Then he said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” This is the most appalling thing Jesus does at this banquet. He tells her that her sins are forgiven. But it’s not just Jesus saying her sins are forgiven, his most appalling behavior is using the word “hence.”
Consider the order of events. The way we see it, the sinful woman performs a great act of penance and generosity and then Jesus says “you are forgiven.” But that’s not what Jesus says. Look at verse 47 again: “Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven.” She has sinned and her sins have been forgiven. Her actions at the banquet have nothing to do with gaining forgiveness. Jesus continues: “Hence she has shown great love.” She anoints and kisses his feet not to receive some great reward but because she has received the greatest gift of all, forgiveness of sins.
How’s that for appalling behavior. We spend most of our lives trying to be good enough for God. We work, and work, and work; but even before we can consider what we might try to do to please God and win the prize, it is all ready offered to us. How’s that for appalling? We do and we go and we work for a prize that has all ready been freely given. It pierces our ego like a balloon; we do stuff to earn God’s grace which we have all ready been given through Jesus Christ. So then if we can’t earn the love of God, should we work so hard?
Jesus’ answer follows, “But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.” Our love and the actions that follow from our love are the product of God’s love, not their cause. She has shown great love through performing Simon’s hosting duties at the expense of her own safety and reputation. She has lived a sin-soaked sin-sickened life, but she had faith that the source of her salvation was found in Jesus. And to use an old expression, she showed an attitude of gratitude to the Lord.
Sure, everybody is guilty of some appalling behavior in this passage. Simon’s appalling behavior is in the guise of a holy man who could not see the sin of his own poor hospitality. Jesus’ appalling behavior is in the way of a prophet and a teacher showing little tact. As for the sinful woman, her appalling behavior was in gratitude for the grace and peace received in the forgiveness given by the Lord her God.
So here’s the most appalling behavior of all, the Lord God who created the earth and all that dwells in it, after it was defiled by humanity, returned to earth to reclaim it and all who dwell in it. Through the incarnation of God in the body and person of Jesus of Nazareth, God reconciles humanity and all of creation to the fullness of new life in the Good News. Beginning with the first Adam and ending with the second—Jesus the Christ—the history of humanity plays out in a constant ebb and flow of sin and redemption.
Hence we are called to accept and respond to the love and redemption freely given. We know Jesus’ saying, “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded.”[5] We also need to know this saying: “To whom much is forgiven, much love is required.” By love, we return to God the love we show to others and we demonstrate our own forgiveness.[6]
Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’” Rest in the assurance that through the love of God in Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven. And respond to the wondrous love of the Lord our God with appalling gratitude.
[1] Girls Behaving Badly, http://www.girlsbehavingbadlytv.com/, accessed June 14, 2007.
[2] Ibid. Girls Behaving badly, Cast Bios, Melissa Howard, accessed June 15, 2007.
[3] Ivory soap was first sold in 1879, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory_soap, accessed June 15, 2007
[4] Leviticus 25:37
[5] Luke 12:48b
[6] Nearly a direct quote from “Much Love,” Published June 14, 1998, found at http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/printer_friendly_installment.asp?installment_id=2709, accessed June 10, 2007.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Reach Out and Touch Someone
This sermon was delivered at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on the Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sunday June 10, 2007.
1 Kings 17:8-16
Psalm 146
Galatians 1:11-24
Luke 7:11-17
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
On September 17th, “The Nation’s Newspaper,” USA Today celebrates its 25th anniversary. Has it been that long all ready? I was still in college when “McPaper” published its first issue. To celebrate their 25th anniversary, their web site is running a series of lists “big things” that have happened during the life of the paper. In a list called “The Long Goodbye” the editors mourn things that existed when the paper began that don’t anymore.[1] These things include indoor smoking, typewriters, phone booths, service stations, Michael Jackson, and civility. I included these last two items because listing “Michael Jackson” in the same breath as indoor smoking and typewriters helps demonstrate the end of civility. One of the things that missed the list by nine months is the original AT&T.[2]
American Telephone & Telegraph was born in 1885 when the Bell Telephone Company and several other telephone providers merged. In the day, “Ma Bell” as it came to be known, became the juggernaut in the communications industry. AT&T became so big that competitors argued their size and power had created a monopoly in the telephone communications industry, which is illegal under federal anti-trust laws. So in January 1982 AT&T and the Justice Department agreed that AT&T would spin off the seven regional phone companies, the “Baby Bells,” into seven new separate companies and AT&T would maintain long distance service and their technology unit.
Seven years after the breakup, AT&T began using “Reach Out and Touch Someone” as an advertising jingle to promote their long distance phone service. “Reach out and touch someone. Reach out, reach out and just say ‘hi!’” Given the competition that companies like Sprint and MCI had been giving AT&T since the early 80’s, AT&T was trying to get a little bit more market share by having folks just “Reach Out and Touch Someone.” This may not seem like a big deal to us now, but this was long before prepaid calling cards, nickel or dime-a-minute long distance, and free weekends on the cell phone.
“Reach out and touch someone, reach out, reach out and just say ‘hi!’” was meant to be more than just a plea to call Aunt Deegee and Uncle Bob in California; it was a call to a generation to expand its view of community. Before the advent of technology as we know it, it was a chore to get in touch with people who have moved across the country. Suddenly, it was as easy as “reach out and touch someone.”
But why do we reach out and touch someone? Surely it’s not to make AT&T a little more money. In truth, we are called by God to reach out and touch someone. We are called to live and work and be together in the community with other people. We are called to reach out and share coffee and doughnuts with each other. We are called to reach out and share the important events of life. We are called to reach out in the joy of new marriages, fresh relationships, long standing friendships. We are called to reach out and mourn the loss of friends and loved ones. We are called to reach out and share the bounty of the life the Lord has given us. We are called to reach out and share the joy and peace of the life the Lord shared with his disciples. We are called to reach out and share the joy and peace of the life the Lord continues to share with us. We are called to reach out and touch the lives of others.
Our Gospel reading shows a wonderful example of “reach out and touch someone.” But as it is with our Lord, there is more to this story than the miraculous healing of the woman’s son. Christ’s gracious action shows us how we are to treat each other.
Consider the setting of this scene. Jesus is traveling by a village called Nain. It’s a nondescript little town in the mountains about fifteen miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee, only about five miles southeast of Nazareth.[3] It’s not an unattractive village, there is a view of the Plain of Esdraelon. A nearby spring makes attractive groves of olives and figs possible.[4] But there is no major industry, no strategic importance, and only a couple hundred inhabitants and figs. It’s a nothing little town, the only reason it has any New Testament notoriety is because of this story. And as Jesus, his disciples, and a large crowd pass, they pass a funeral.
Jesus sees the situation and is able to size it up in a moment. With compassion and with authority he says, “Do not weep.”
So he touches the bier, a kind of stretcher carrying the body of the dead man, and says, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”
The dead man sits up and begins to speak. Then Jesus gives the man back to his mother.
The crowd is gripped with fear, and gives glory to God. A great prophet has risen among us, God looks favorably on the people, and the good news spreads throughout Judea and the surrounding country side.
What a miracle this is! Jesus reaches out and touches a man and brings him back to life. There is joy in Nain. This would be enough, the sharing of a wonderful miracle of glory and authority, but Jesus was always more subtle than flashy. The flash is good stuff, there’s more substance than style here, but this is more than just a story about a man being healed.
What a heart wrenching sight this funeral must have been. The procession was heading out of town through the city gate toward the cave that would be his final resting place. His body was probably going to be entombed with the remains of his father. In the procession was the widow who had just lost her son, the bearers of the stretcher with the body of the deceased young man, and a crowd from Nain. The widow was weeping, her family was now gone.
The death of her son caused her to become disconnected from the community. Her family had been destroyed, first with the death of her husband and then by the death of her only son. Without their support she was destitute; socially, emotionally, and economically; and she was undoubtedly too grief stricken to care about the horror tomorrow would bring, today was horrible enough.
But Jesus ends her separation from the community. In restoring her son to life and returning him to her, Jesus is able to fully restore the widowed mother to life. In this act, Jesus uses his power and authority not just to bring a man back to life, but to mend the relationship between a mother and her son and a woman and her community. Healing separation caused by death, Jesus mends relationships.
And there’s more. Here’s a touchy thing we learn about Jesus in this passage, Jesus isn’t above breaking the law to do his work. The Levitical code says that it is unlawful to touch the dead. If someone comes into contact with the dead they will be unclean until the evening.[5] Beside that, whatever things come in contact with a dead body are unclean until they are washed in water.[6] So by proxy, anyone who comes in contact with anything touched by a dead body will be unclean until evening. So as Jesus reaches out to touch the bier, he makes himself unclean.
Adding another violation of Levitical code, priests were not allowed touch the dead, not even the dead from their own family.[7] The Lord was very specific about this with Moses. So while Jesus was not a member of the priestly class, he was considered a rabbi and prophet among the people. Even if the priestly law didn’t apply to him directly, as far as many were concerned these laws still applied to Jesus.
So even considering the legal and cultural taboos he would be breaking, Jesus chooses to reach out and touch the bier. Jesus was willing to do something very risky in order to reconcile the relationship between mother and son and between a woman and her community. Jesus is willing to make himself unclean in the eyes of the people to do his work and he is willing to face the consequences of making himself unclean in the eyes of the world to do his work.
Now, I am not recommending anyone go out and rob a bank to provide food for the poor for the Glory of God. Robin Hood is a great story, but that’s not what we are talking about here. When Jesus brushes aside the Levitical codes, he does it to bring glory to the Father, not to himself. In fact, all that Jesus does points to the Father. In the Father, there is only life, there is no death. In the Father, the earthly codes fall away to reveal the peace and joy of new life, a life of love and relationship in God almighty. Where robbing banks and violence against others violate the command to love the Lord our God and our neighbors as ourselves, touching the bier does nothing to separate one from another. As our gospel reading shows us, it does the opposite, it reconciles humanity rather than divide it.
This passage shows when Jesus reaches out and touches someone, something great happens. This greatness is more than just the healing, in this glorious action Jesus brings to life more than just one man, he brings an entire community into new life through the word of God, living in Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is the miracle we are called to remember and celebrate today; Jesus came to earth the Living Word of God, a man of power and authority who came to restore us to life and new relationship with himself and with one.
Nain is not unlike any one of a hundred other villages in Judea; it’s not unlike a dozen villages in Carroll County or any one of a million villages in the world. The only thing special about Nain is that Jesus is there, this is the only thing that is special about anyplace on earth. And as the church, we are called to continue the reconciling work of the Lord in the world.
Jesus comes with compassion and with the power and authority of the Father to make a difference in the lives of those he was sent to redeem. And as the church, we are called to use his power and authority to continue his reconciling work.
And as Jesus breaks the rules to reconcile mother and son, we are called to consider our call and when it intersects earthly barriers, we are called to do the work of God. And then face the consequences of breaking the law if so be.
Today, our ability to “reach out and touch someone” is so much broader than it was when AT&T invited us to reach out. We can now reach out overseas almost as easily as we can call next door. Electronic Mail allows us to drop a quick note with the touch of a few keystrokes. Texting usually uses even fewer keystrokes to send a message. MySpace and FaceBook help people connect with old friends and make ones around the world. Blogging invites people into our most private thoughts, thoughts that we choose to put up for the world to see on the internet.[8] There is a high tech community surrounding us. But as we rest in the community created by technology, we are also called to leave our monk’s cells, our keyboards, and our cell phones and reach out and touch someone, reach out and make a difference in the community.
Reaching out to one another with the love of God shown to us through the work of the Son Jesus Christ we are given a model of how to live and to be with one another in life and beyond death. So reach out, reach out and touch someone. Reach out, reach out and just say “hi.”
[1] The Long Goodbye, USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/news/top25-disappear.htm, accessed June 5, 2007.
[2] SBC, the artist formerly known as Southwestern Bell, has recently reconsolidated the major Baby Bells and purchased AT&T. This new company has been rebranded AT&T and acquired Cingular Wireless to expand its cellular holdings. Every thing that’s old is new again.
[3] Distances are approximate from the BibleWorks Map Module, BibleWorks, LLC. BibleWorks for Windows, Windows 98/XP Release. Version 7.0.018x.8. Norfolk, VA. CD-ROM. 2007.
[4] General information from the entry for Nain, Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. 21st Printing, 1992, Buttrick, George A., Editor. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962 by 21st Printing 1992.
[5] Leviticus 11:31
[6] Leviticus 11:32
[7] Leviticus 21:1, 11
[8] My personal blog is available at http://blog.myspace.com/timelovesahero and my sermon blog is available here.
1 Kings 17:8-16
Psalm 146
Galatians 1:11-24
Luke 7:11-17
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
On September 17th, “The Nation’s Newspaper,” USA Today celebrates its 25th anniversary. Has it been that long all ready? I was still in college when “McPaper” published its first issue. To celebrate their 25th anniversary, their web site is running a series of lists “big things” that have happened during the life of the paper. In a list called “The Long Goodbye” the editors mourn things that existed when the paper began that don’t anymore.[1] These things include indoor smoking, typewriters, phone booths, service stations, Michael Jackson, and civility. I included these last two items because listing “Michael Jackson” in the same breath as indoor smoking and typewriters helps demonstrate the end of civility. One of the things that missed the list by nine months is the original AT&T.[2]
American Telephone & Telegraph was born in 1885 when the Bell Telephone Company and several other telephone providers merged. In the day, “Ma Bell” as it came to be known, became the juggernaut in the communications industry. AT&T became so big that competitors argued their size and power had created a monopoly in the telephone communications industry, which is illegal under federal anti-trust laws. So in January 1982 AT&T and the Justice Department agreed that AT&T would spin off the seven regional phone companies, the “Baby Bells,” into seven new separate companies and AT&T would maintain long distance service and their technology unit.
Seven years after the breakup, AT&T began using “Reach Out and Touch Someone” as an advertising jingle to promote their long distance phone service. “Reach out and touch someone. Reach out, reach out and just say ‘hi!’” Given the competition that companies like Sprint and MCI had been giving AT&T since the early 80’s, AT&T was trying to get a little bit more market share by having folks just “Reach Out and Touch Someone.” This may not seem like a big deal to us now, but this was long before prepaid calling cards, nickel or dime-a-minute long distance, and free weekends on the cell phone.
“Reach out and touch someone, reach out, reach out and just say ‘hi!’” was meant to be more than just a plea to call Aunt Deegee and Uncle Bob in California; it was a call to a generation to expand its view of community. Before the advent of technology as we know it, it was a chore to get in touch with people who have moved across the country. Suddenly, it was as easy as “reach out and touch someone.”
But why do we reach out and touch someone? Surely it’s not to make AT&T a little more money. In truth, we are called by God to reach out and touch someone. We are called to live and work and be together in the community with other people. We are called to reach out and share coffee and doughnuts with each other. We are called to reach out and share the important events of life. We are called to reach out in the joy of new marriages, fresh relationships, long standing friendships. We are called to reach out and mourn the loss of friends and loved ones. We are called to reach out and share the bounty of the life the Lord has given us. We are called to reach out and share the joy and peace of the life the Lord shared with his disciples. We are called to reach out and share the joy and peace of the life the Lord continues to share with us. We are called to reach out and touch the lives of others.
Our Gospel reading shows a wonderful example of “reach out and touch someone.” But as it is with our Lord, there is more to this story than the miraculous healing of the woman’s son. Christ’s gracious action shows us how we are to treat each other.
Consider the setting of this scene. Jesus is traveling by a village called Nain. It’s a nondescript little town in the mountains about fifteen miles southwest of the Sea of Galilee, only about five miles southeast of Nazareth.[3] It’s not an unattractive village, there is a view of the Plain of Esdraelon. A nearby spring makes attractive groves of olives and figs possible.[4] But there is no major industry, no strategic importance, and only a couple hundred inhabitants and figs. It’s a nothing little town, the only reason it has any New Testament notoriety is because of this story. And as Jesus, his disciples, and a large crowd pass, they pass a funeral.
Jesus sees the situation and is able to size it up in a moment. With compassion and with authority he says, “Do not weep.”
So he touches the bier, a kind of stretcher carrying the body of the dead man, and says, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”
The dead man sits up and begins to speak. Then Jesus gives the man back to his mother.
The crowd is gripped with fear, and gives glory to God. A great prophet has risen among us, God looks favorably on the people, and the good news spreads throughout Judea and the surrounding country side.
What a miracle this is! Jesus reaches out and touches a man and brings him back to life. There is joy in Nain. This would be enough, the sharing of a wonderful miracle of glory and authority, but Jesus was always more subtle than flashy. The flash is good stuff, there’s more substance than style here, but this is more than just a story about a man being healed.
What a heart wrenching sight this funeral must have been. The procession was heading out of town through the city gate toward the cave that would be his final resting place. His body was probably going to be entombed with the remains of his father. In the procession was the widow who had just lost her son, the bearers of the stretcher with the body of the deceased young man, and a crowd from Nain. The widow was weeping, her family was now gone.
The death of her son caused her to become disconnected from the community. Her family had been destroyed, first with the death of her husband and then by the death of her only son. Without their support she was destitute; socially, emotionally, and economically; and she was undoubtedly too grief stricken to care about the horror tomorrow would bring, today was horrible enough.
But Jesus ends her separation from the community. In restoring her son to life and returning him to her, Jesus is able to fully restore the widowed mother to life. In this act, Jesus uses his power and authority not just to bring a man back to life, but to mend the relationship between a mother and her son and a woman and her community. Healing separation caused by death, Jesus mends relationships.
And there’s more. Here’s a touchy thing we learn about Jesus in this passage, Jesus isn’t above breaking the law to do his work. The Levitical code says that it is unlawful to touch the dead. If someone comes into contact with the dead they will be unclean until the evening.[5] Beside that, whatever things come in contact with a dead body are unclean until they are washed in water.[6] So by proxy, anyone who comes in contact with anything touched by a dead body will be unclean until evening. So as Jesus reaches out to touch the bier, he makes himself unclean.
Adding another violation of Levitical code, priests were not allowed touch the dead, not even the dead from their own family.[7] The Lord was very specific about this with Moses. So while Jesus was not a member of the priestly class, he was considered a rabbi and prophet among the people. Even if the priestly law didn’t apply to him directly, as far as many were concerned these laws still applied to Jesus.
So even considering the legal and cultural taboos he would be breaking, Jesus chooses to reach out and touch the bier. Jesus was willing to do something very risky in order to reconcile the relationship between mother and son and between a woman and her community. Jesus is willing to make himself unclean in the eyes of the people to do his work and he is willing to face the consequences of making himself unclean in the eyes of the world to do his work.
Now, I am not recommending anyone go out and rob a bank to provide food for the poor for the Glory of God. Robin Hood is a great story, but that’s not what we are talking about here. When Jesus brushes aside the Levitical codes, he does it to bring glory to the Father, not to himself. In fact, all that Jesus does points to the Father. In the Father, there is only life, there is no death. In the Father, the earthly codes fall away to reveal the peace and joy of new life, a life of love and relationship in God almighty. Where robbing banks and violence against others violate the command to love the Lord our God and our neighbors as ourselves, touching the bier does nothing to separate one from another. As our gospel reading shows us, it does the opposite, it reconciles humanity rather than divide it.
This passage shows when Jesus reaches out and touches someone, something great happens. This greatness is more than just the healing, in this glorious action Jesus brings to life more than just one man, he brings an entire community into new life through the word of God, living in Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is the miracle we are called to remember and celebrate today; Jesus came to earth the Living Word of God, a man of power and authority who came to restore us to life and new relationship with himself and with one.
Nain is not unlike any one of a hundred other villages in Judea; it’s not unlike a dozen villages in Carroll County or any one of a million villages in the world. The only thing special about Nain is that Jesus is there, this is the only thing that is special about anyplace on earth. And as the church, we are called to continue the reconciling work of the Lord in the world.
Jesus comes with compassion and with the power and authority of the Father to make a difference in the lives of those he was sent to redeem. And as the church, we are called to use his power and authority to continue his reconciling work.
And as Jesus breaks the rules to reconcile mother and son, we are called to consider our call and when it intersects earthly barriers, we are called to do the work of God. And then face the consequences of breaking the law if so be.
Today, our ability to “reach out and touch someone” is so much broader than it was when AT&T invited us to reach out. We can now reach out overseas almost as easily as we can call next door. Electronic Mail allows us to drop a quick note with the touch of a few keystrokes. Texting usually uses even fewer keystrokes to send a message. MySpace and FaceBook help people connect with old friends and make ones around the world. Blogging invites people into our most private thoughts, thoughts that we choose to put up for the world to see on the internet.[8] There is a high tech community surrounding us. But as we rest in the community created by technology, we are also called to leave our monk’s cells, our keyboards, and our cell phones and reach out and touch someone, reach out and make a difference in the community.
Reaching out to one another with the love of God shown to us through the work of the Son Jesus Christ we are given a model of how to live and to be with one another in life and beyond death. So reach out, reach out and touch someone. Reach out, reach out and just say “hi.”
[1] The Long Goodbye, USA Today, http://www.usatoday.com/news/top25-disappear.htm, accessed June 5, 2007.
[2] SBC, the artist formerly known as Southwestern Bell, has recently reconsolidated the major Baby Bells and purchased AT&T. This new company has been rebranded AT&T and acquired Cingular Wireless to expand its cellular holdings. Every thing that’s old is new again.
[3] Distances are approximate from the BibleWorks Map Module, BibleWorks, LLC. BibleWorks for Windows, Windows 98/XP Release. Version 7.0.018x.8. Norfolk, VA. CD-ROM. 2007.
[4] General information from the entry for Nain, Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. 21st Printing, 1992, Buttrick, George A., Editor. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962 by 21st Printing 1992.
[5] Leviticus 11:31
[6] Leviticus 11:32
[7] Leviticus 21:1, 11
[8] My personal blog is available at http://blog.myspace.com/timelovesahero and my sermon blog is available here.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Team Player
This sermon was delivered at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Trinity Sunday, June 3, 2007.
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Psalm 8
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
For those of you who don’t like sports analogies, you will find this tedious, but it makes my point. The other day I was reading an article[1] that says the superstars of today would rather be famous than great. In this scathing indictment, the writer compared Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of the 1980’s and 90’s—and arguably of all time—with the greatest basketball player of today, LeBron James. The author’s contention is while Jordan was willing to carry his team on his back to become basketball champions; James is satisfied with his reputation and his paycheck, both of which are sizable. Jordan was a star not just by getting his points, but by making his teammates better where it is said James is just happy putting up numbers. The sports writer said that to take his game to the next level. LeBron has to make the tough choices, take the important shots, and put his team on his back. That’s the only way he will be able to lead his team into the Promised Land, the NBA finals. Many sports pundits said the best example of this was at the end of game two of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. With seconds to go, LeBron could have sent the game into overtime if he had gone to the hoop. Instead, he kicked the ball out to the perimeter where a teammate missed the potential game winning shot. Some approved of LeBron passing the ball saying it was unselfish play. Others said that as the best player in the league, he needed to take the shot. As Gene Hackman once said, “Winners always want the ball when the game is on the line.”[2]
Of course, this can go to extremes, Keyshawn Johnson, an NFL wide receiver who wrote a memoir called “Just Give Me the Damn[3] Ball,” raised some eyebrows with his ability, and a few more with his attitude. It was often said that regardless of how talented he is as a receiver, all of the other things he brought to the field overshadowed his ability. Where Michael Jordan carried his team and his league on his broad shoulders, Keyshawn Johnson always seemed to carry his like baggage. Where Jordan was the consummate teammate, Keyshawn always had the attitude that what he could do was the only thing that could help the team. So, who would you want as a teammate?
Today the church celebrates Trinity Sunday. This is the day we give thanks and glory to God in three persons, the Blessed Trinity. But here’s an interesting fact, never in scripture is the word “trinity” used to describe the Holy Triumvirate. The Old Testament, the portion of scripture predating Jesus, certainly doesn’t mention the Trinity. The Gospels don’t talk about the three distinct yet inseparable persons of God. The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles don’t make the leap from the individual persons of God to the Trinity either. Revelation features each of the three persons prominently, but never is the concept of the Trinity used or defined.
The concept of the Trinity comes from biblical interpretation and theology instead of coming directly from scripture. In a way the Trinity is revealed through scripture instead of in scripture. The word Trinity was coined by the great theologian Tertullian late in the second century. But Tertullian couldn’t refer to a book or scroll that looked like what we call a bible. The collection of scripture we call the bible wasn’t assembled and standardized until early in the fourth century. So here’s a dilemma, how do we as bible believing Christians celebrate something that isn’t in our bible, a bible that didn’t exist as we know it until a hundred years after the concept was first mentioned?
The answer is not only are we called to read and study scripture; we are also called to interpret scripture. And today’s readings are a great place to start.
When I was in school, the English teachers in my district quit teaching how to diagram sentences. I don’t know if mine was an isolated example or if schools have quit teaching diagramming all together. One of the goals of diagramming sentences is to organize clauses and phrases to help identify the grammatical elements of a sentence and how they relate to one another. If I have learned one thing about John’s gospel over the past couple of months it’s that being able to diagram sentences would have come in handy, very handy.
In our gospel reading this morning, Jesus gives us a picture of how the three persons of the Trinity interact with one another, and then how they interact with us. Jesus tells us that the Spirit of Truth comes to guide us into all truth. The Spirit does not speak on its own, but speaks what is heard and then declares to us what is to come. The Spirit does this to glorify Jesus, and as we recall from last week’s scripture reading,[4] what the Son does he does to glorify the Father. What belongs to Jesus, the Spirit will take and declare to us. Finally, all that the Father has belongs to Jesus. So all that one of the persons of the Trinity has—is shared with each of the others –and then is declared to us.
This belonging and giving is difficult for us to understand. But then our reading begins with Jesus saying that he has many things to tell us, things we cannot bear now. Jesus knows we will never be able to fully understand the eternal relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit on this side of Glory. So if we don’t understand, don’t be afraid, don’t mourn, don’t be anxious. Jesus says we can’t bear all of what he has to say, so he doesn’t expect us to know everything. Not understanding is fine; in fact, it’s the way of things.
But what we can’t know in our heads, through faith we can know in our very beings. Through faith we are justified. Through faith we have the peace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We can celebrate the Trinity, God who scripture unfolds as the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit because God calls the church, calls us to take the grace and the peace of Jesus Christ that the Spirit reveals to us into the world as ambassadors.
Team players. When involved in a team sport it is important to be a team player. As for LeBron James, he answered his critics by taking the last shot in the third game of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. James took the last shot which finally won that game after making the shots that sent the game into overtime and then into double overtime. Since the end of the second game of the series he literally put his team on his back and carried them. The exception was last night when he did not lead his team in points, but he led his team every other statistical category making his teammates better. Through his dominating play and his unselfish efforts, LeBron James led his team past the Detroit Pistons last night and into the NBA finals.
As for Keyshawn Johnson, as a member of the Carolina Panthers and an analyst for ESPN television’s coverage of the NFL College Player Draft six weeks ago, he was excited to learn his team drafted a wide receiver from his alma mater. Keyshawn couldn’t wait to show him the ropes, until Carolina showed Keyshawn the door. Since getting cut from the team, Keyshawn has retired from playing and is now a full time football analyst for ESPN.
Being a team player means knowing your role, knowing your role is important, and knowing your role will change. Sometimes it will mean putting the team on your back and carrying them to victory. Other times it means doing everything you can to make teammates better. In their own way, the three persons of God are one team. The three persons of the Trinity exist in perfect relationship with one another. Their dance is eternal, the way it has been since before the beginning. And God in three persons invites us to join that dance. God invites us to be a team player, a player on God’s team. We are invited through the free gift of God’s grace. We receive this gift of grace through faith and by faith we are justified. Hope will never disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. As the people of the Triune God, we are called to respond to this hope sharing the bounty of grace we have been given with the world. This way we will be great, instead of just famous.
[1] I am unable to find the source again, I wish I was able to so that I could cite the original author and so I could make sure I got the thought completely right.
[2] “The Replacements” Bel Air Entertainment, 2000
[3] I mumbled this word in the church.
[4] John 14:8-17, 25-27
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Psalm 8
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
For those of you who don’t like sports analogies, you will find this tedious, but it makes my point. The other day I was reading an article[1] that says the superstars of today would rather be famous than great. In this scathing indictment, the writer compared Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of the 1980’s and 90’s—and arguably of all time—with the greatest basketball player of today, LeBron James. The author’s contention is while Jordan was willing to carry his team on his back to become basketball champions; James is satisfied with his reputation and his paycheck, both of which are sizable. Jordan was a star not just by getting his points, but by making his teammates better where it is said James is just happy putting up numbers. The sports writer said that to take his game to the next level. LeBron has to make the tough choices, take the important shots, and put his team on his back. That’s the only way he will be able to lead his team into the Promised Land, the NBA finals. Many sports pundits said the best example of this was at the end of game two of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. With seconds to go, LeBron could have sent the game into overtime if he had gone to the hoop. Instead, he kicked the ball out to the perimeter where a teammate missed the potential game winning shot. Some approved of LeBron passing the ball saying it was unselfish play. Others said that as the best player in the league, he needed to take the shot. As Gene Hackman once said, “Winners always want the ball when the game is on the line.”[2]
Of course, this can go to extremes, Keyshawn Johnson, an NFL wide receiver who wrote a memoir called “Just Give Me the Damn[3] Ball,” raised some eyebrows with his ability, and a few more with his attitude. It was often said that regardless of how talented he is as a receiver, all of the other things he brought to the field overshadowed his ability. Where Michael Jordan carried his team and his league on his broad shoulders, Keyshawn Johnson always seemed to carry his like baggage. Where Jordan was the consummate teammate, Keyshawn always had the attitude that what he could do was the only thing that could help the team. So, who would you want as a teammate?
Today the church celebrates Trinity Sunday. This is the day we give thanks and glory to God in three persons, the Blessed Trinity. But here’s an interesting fact, never in scripture is the word “trinity” used to describe the Holy Triumvirate. The Old Testament, the portion of scripture predating Jesus, certainly doesn’t mention the Trinity. The Gospels don’t talk about the three distinct yet inseparable persons of God. The Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles don’t make the leap from the individual persons of God to the Trinity either. Revelation features each of the three persons prominently, but never is the concept of the Trinity used or defined.
The concept of the Trinity comes from biblical interpretation and theology instead of coming directly from scripture. In a way the Trinity is revealed through scripture instead of in scripture. The word Trinity was coined by the great theologian Tertullian late in the second century. But Tertullian couldn’t refer to a book or scroll that looked like what we call a bible. The collection of scripture we call the bible wasn’t assembled and standardized until early in the fourth century. So here’s a dilemma, how do we as bible believing Christians celebrate something that isn’t in our bible, a bible that didn’t exist as we know it until a hundred years after the concept was first mentioned?
The answer is not only are we called to read and study scripture; we are also called to interpret scripture. And today’s readings are a great place to start.
When I was in school, the English teachers in my district quit teaching how to diagram sentences. I don’t know if mine was an isolated example or if schools have quit teaching diagramming all together. One of the goals of diagramming sentences is to organize clauses and phrases to help identify the grammatical elements of a sentence and how they relate to one another. If I have learned one thing about John’s gospel over the past couple of months it’s that being able to diagram sentences would have come in handy, very handy.
In our gospel reading this morning, Jesus gives us a picture of how the three persons of the Trinity interact with one another, and then how they interact with us. Jesus tells us that the Spirit of Truth comes to guide us into all truth. The Spirit does not speak on its own, but speaks what is heard and then declares to us what is to come. The Spirit does this to glorify Jesus, and as we recall from last week’s scripture reading,[4] what the Son does he does to glorify the Father. What belongs to Jesus, the Spirit will take and declare to us. Finally, all that the Father has belongs to Jesus. So all that one of the persons of the Trinity has—is shared with each of the others –and then is declared to us.
This belonging and giving is difficult for us to understand. But then our reading begins with Jesus saying that he has many things to tell us, things we cannot bear now. Jesus knows we will never be able to fully understand the eternal relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit on this side of Glory. So if we don’t understand, don’t be afraid, don’t mourn, don’t be anxious. Jesus says we can’t bear all of what he has to say, so he doesn’t expect us to know everything. Not understanding is fine; in fact, it’s the way of things.
But what we can’t know in our heads, through faith we can know in our very beings. Through faith we are justified. Through faith we have the peace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We can celebrate the Trinity, God who scripture unfolds as the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit because God calls the church, calls us to take the grace and the peace of Jesus Christ that the Spirit reveals to us into the world as ambassadors.
Team players. When involved in a team sport it is important to be a team player. As for LeBron James, he answered his critics by taking the last shot in the third game of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. James took the last shot which finally won that game after making the shots that sent the game into overtime and then into double overtime. Since the end of the second game of the series he literally put his team on his back and carried them. The exception was last night when he did not lead his team in points, but he led his team every other statistical category making his teammates better. Through his dominating play and his unselfish efforts, LeBron James led his team past the Detroit Pistons last night and into the NBA finals.
As for Keyshawn Johnson, as a member of the Carolina Panthers and an analyst for ESPN television’s coverage of the NFL College Player Draft six weeks ago, he was excited to learn his team drafted a wide receiver from his alma mater. Keyshawn couldn’t wait to show him the ropes, until Carolina showed Keyshawn the door. Since getting cut from the team, Keyshawn has retired from playing and is now a full time football analyst for ESPN.
Being a team player means knowing your role, knowing your role is important, and knowing your role will change. Sometimes it will mean putting the team on your back and carrying them to victory. Other times it means doing everything you can to make teammates better. In their own way, the three persons of God are one team. The three persons of the Trinity exist in perfect relationship with one another. Their dance is eternal, the way it has been since before the beginning. And God in three persons invites us to join that dance. God invites us to be a team player, a player on God’s team. We are invited through the free gift of God’s grace. We receive this gift of grace through faith and by faith we are justified. Hope will never disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. As the people of the Triune God, we are called to respond to this hope sharing the bounty of grace we have been given with the world. This way we will be great, instead of just famous.
[1] I am unable to find the source again, I wish I was able to so that I could cite the original author and so I could make sure I got the thought completely right.
[2] “The Replacements” Bel Air Entertainment, 2000
[3] I mumbled this word in the church.
[4] John 14:8-17, 25-27
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