Now I've Seen Everything

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday December 28, 2008, the First Sunday After Christmas.

Isaiah 61:10-62:3
Psalm 148
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:22-40
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

Rick Reilly is a columnist for ESPN the Magazine. In this week’s edition, he tells the story of what he calls the “oddest game in high school football history.”[1] Faith High School in Grapevine, Texas played the Gainesville State School on Grapevine’s home turf, but after these facts, everything else was the Texas High School Football equivalent of The Twilight Zone.

The team from Gainesville hit the field running a 40-yard spirit line before crashing through a banner that said “Go Tornadoes.” This is nothing unusual. It’s like many other high school football games until you learn that the fans who filled the spirit line and made the banner were from Grapevine.

Yes, visiting team’s fans and banner were courtesy of the home team. More than 200 Faith fans sat in the Gainesville stands cheering on the kids from Gainesville. The visitors were cheered by name and there were even cheerleaders from the home team rooting on the visitors.

This sounds so very odd, especially in Texas where high school football is not only its own religion but has temples in every corner of the state. Still, there is one thing I haven’t told you about Gainesville State; it’s one of the Texas Youth Commission’s twelve secure institutions. The TYC is the Texas juvenile corrections agency and Gainesville State is a maximum security youth facility.

According to their literature, “The [Texas Youth Commission] provides for the care, custody, rehabilitation, and reestablishment in society of Texas’ most chronically delinquent or serious juvenile offenders. Texas judges commit these youth to TYC for felony-level offenses committed when they were at least age 10 and less than age 17.”[2] Yes, the Texas Youth Commission has maximum security facilities and they play football against Texas high schools.

Talking about the game against Grapevine Faith, Gainesville’s QB and middle linebacker, Isaiah recalled, “I never in my life thought I’d hear people cheering for us to hit their kids. I wouldn't expect another parent to tell somebody to hit their kids. But they wanted us to!”[3]

Our Gospel reading begins as Mary and Joseph went to the temple in Jerusalem to present their son as required by the Law. The temple had its regulars and its residents, one named Simeon. Simeon was a righteous and devout man “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” This could be translated that he was “looking forward to the exhortation of Israel,” but the New Living Translation takes a different tack. It says that he “was eagerly waiting for the messiah to come and rescue Israel.”

I often say all translation is interpretation, and this one is a little far out as interpretation of the language goes, but it is spot-on as an interpretation of the situation.

Scripture continues, “Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

Again, the New Living Translation puts this a bit differently. It begins, “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised.”

Simeon had seen what God had promised him. He was promised that he would see the Lord’s Messiah, the Christ, and he has. He wasn’t promised that he would see great deeds. He wasn’t promised that he would see the final redemption of Israel. He wasn’t promised that he would see the end of Roman oppression, the end of poverty or freedom in justice.

He was promised that he would see the Lord’s Messiah, he did, and he was overjoyed to see the baby who would fulfill far more than he could ever hope or imagine. It was as if he told the Lord, “Now I’ve seen everything, now let your servant die in peace as you have promised.” Simeon was ready to die once he had seen everything. We have everything too, but the Lord does not want us to die, the Lord wants us to live.

Returning to Reilly’s story:

The thought of providing a cheering section for Gainesville State started when Grapevine Faith’s head coach, Kris Hogan, “wanted to do something kind for the Gainesville team.” I think it’s important to note that Coach Hogan wanted to do something “kind.” He didn’t pity the boys in jail. He didn’t fear them either. He wanted them to receive kindness.

“Faith had never played Gainesville, but Coach Hogan already knew the score. Faith was 7-2 going into the game, Gainesville 0-8 with 2 [touchdowns] all year. Faith has 70 kids, 11 coaches, the latest equipment and involved parents. Gainesville has a lot of kids with convictions for drugs, assault and robbery—many of whose families had disowned them—wearing seven-year-old shoulder pads and ancient helmets.

“So Hogan had this idea. What if half of our fans—for one night only—cheered for the other team? He sent out an email asking the [Faith high school] faithful to do just that. ‘Here's the message I want you to send:’ Hogan wrote. ‘You are just as valuable as any other person on planet Earth.’

“Some people were naturally confused. One Faith player walked into Hogan's office and asked, ‘Coach, why are we doing this?’

And Hogan said, ‘Imagine if you didn't have a home life. Imagine if everybody had pretty much given up on you. Now imagine what it would mean for hundreds of people to suddenly believe in you.’”

There were fourteen kids being shipped by bus from the Red River to a spot just north of DFW to play football. In eight games they were winless and had scored just two touchdowns. They planned on getting beat again by a well coached, well supplied suburban team; and that was the least of their worries.

Imagine what these young men were used to being called from the stands. Imagine what they had to look forward to on the long bus ride back to Gainesville, in cuffs. This is what Coach Hogan did, and he imagined what would happen if this experience would be turned on its ear.

Let me continue using Reilly’s words:

“So for the first time ever, supported by a couple hundred real fans and cheerleaders, maybe it figures that Gainesville played better than it had all season, scoring the game’s last two touchdowns. Sure Hogan put his third-string nose guard at safety and his third-string cornerback at defensive end, but still.”

After the game, both teams gathered in the middle of the field to pray. Everyone was taken aback when Isaiah asked to lead the prayer, but this is what happens when the Holy Spirit gets in the way of our expectations. “Isaiah said this: ‘Lord, I don’t know how this happened, so I don’t know how to say thank You, but I never would’ve known there was so many people in the world that cared about us.’”

Reilly wrote, “And it was a good thing everybody’s heads were bowed because they might’ve seen Hogan wiping away tears.”

“The Gainesville coach saw Hogan, grabbed him hard by the shoulders and said, ‘You'll never know what your people did for these kids tonight. You’ll never, ever know.’

“And as the bus pulled away, all the Gainesville players crammed to one side and pressed their hands to the window, staring at these people they’d never met before, watching their waves and smiles disappearing into the night.”

Luke’s gospel and Reilly’s story remind us that we will be shown everything God promises we’ll see, it’s how we respond to what we see that is important. These stories show that we have two choices about what comes after we see everything, we can live or we can die.

Simeon was promised that he would see the Lord’s Messiah before he died. God’s promise fulfilled, it was Simeon’s time to be dismissed because his eyes had seen the salvation that comes from the Lord. This was Simeon’s promise, but it’s not the promise the Lord makes us.

We are given the promise of the Lord’s Messiah as a light of revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of God’s people Israel. We have been shown this glorious sight. And receiving this vision, we are called to continue taking it into the world. We are called to do more than die happy. We are called to live as the continuing light of God’s revelation.

It is amazing what Coach Hogan and the good people of Grapevine did for a small group of teens that need encouragement. They gave the most valuable gift they could; they gave them the message that they are “just as valuable as any other person on the planet Earth.”

What do we give? Where does the Spirit guide us? Or do we just wait to die happy?

Riley ends his article this way:

“Anyway, with the economy six feet under and Christmas running on about three and a half reindeer, it's nice to know that one of the best presents you can give is still absolutely free.

“Hope.”

I end his article saying Amen.

[1] Reilly, Rick, Life of Reilly, ESPN the Magazine, cited from ESPN.com, http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?section=magazine&id=3789373, retrieved December 24, 2008. Quotes from Reilly’s article are found in quotation marks throughout this sermon. Thanks to Rick Reilly, Glory to God!
[2] Overview of the Juvenile Corrections System in Texas, http://www.tyc.state.tx.us/about/overview.html, retrieved December 27, 2008.
[3] Reilly notes the TYC only releases first names.

Lessons and Carols 2008

This service of Lessons and Carols was celebrated on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2008 at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas.

The Presbyterian Church Book of Common Worship does not have a version of this service. Since there are many different versions , I compared several different services and selected these passages and songs for the service. Because of suggestions from our Worship Leader, I have changed some of the songs from the 2007 service.

Anyone who would like to use this service is welcome, the prayers come from the Presbyterian Church Book of Common Worship or are things I have picked up from other pastors through the years. The homily is a personal composition. While I am happy with this service, I welcome anyone considering using this service to do as I did, find several, compare, and see where the theology of the service takes you, then arrange your own.

The soloist, Mr. Ken Kinser, is the Worship Leader at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas.

Prelude

Welcome

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all.

Good evening and welcome to this very special worship service of Lessons and Carols. All who come in the name of the Lord are welcome on this special, special evening.

Let us begin with the lighting of the Advent Candles...We light this candle as a sign of the coming light of Christ.

Advent means coming.
We are preparing ourselves for the days
when the nations shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,
and rejoice with joy and singing.

The Lord will give you a sign.
Look, the young woman is with child
and shall bear a son,
and shall name him Immanuel (God is with us).

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness,
on them light has shined.

Let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Call to Worship
Pastor: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.

Let us pray...Holy Child, born of Mary in a barn, you identify with us in object humanity. You move among us with announcements of Good News when things look bleak; you give us a star on dark, lonely nights. Sing to us once more that, assured of your presence among us, we may forget our fear and embrace your gift of newborn life, to the glory of your holy name we pray. Amen.

Offering

During worship, we usually respond to the word of God through our offerings. Our offering this evening is taken to benefit the ministry of the Loaves and Fishes Food Bank of the Ozarks.

So do good and share what you have for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
The love of God multiplies and blesses all that we have, and all that we give.

Doxology

Prayer of Dedication

Your Word is made flesh and dwells among us, O God, full of grace and truth. For that gift and all you bestow, we say Alleluia and Amen! As we behold your glory, we commit ourselves to Christ's work. Make of us the body of Christ and dwell in us by your Spirit for the sake of the world that you love.

Prayer of Illumination

O Lord our God,
your Word is a lamp to our feet
and a light to our path.
Give us grace to receive your truth in faith and love,
the story of the coming of your son Jesus Christ,
that we may be obedient to your will
and live always for your glory;
by his birth in Bethlehem and his death on Calvary,
We pray in His holy name. Amen.

Homily--The Story--Rev. Paul Andresen

It is customary that when the word of God is read in Christian churches, it is followed by interpretation. 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 Presbyterian Church (USA) 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 will 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
Hymn: It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Isaiah 11:1-4a, 6-9
Hymn: O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Micah 5:2-5a
Hymn: O Little Town of Bethlehem

Luke 1:26-35, 38
Solo: Mary Did You Know, Ken Kinser Soloist

Luke 2:1-7
Hymn: Away in a Manger

Luke 2:8-20
Hymn: Angels We Have Heard On High

Luke 2:21-33
Solo: Bethlehem, Ken Kinser Soloist

Matthew 2:1-11
Hymn: We Three Kings of Orient Are

John 1:1-14
Hymn: Silent Night, Holy Night

Charge and Benediction

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
As we celebrate His birth,
Let us celebrate new life in Him.

And may the blessing of triune God almighty,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
remain with you always.
Amen.

Hymn: Joy to the World!

She Said Yes

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday December 21, 2008, the 4th Sunday in Advent.

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16
Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

Brett Leonhardt is the Web Producer for the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals. Born and raised in Canada, Leonhardt is a 6-foot-7-inch former Division III goalie at Oswego State and Neumann College. He would occasionally get on the ice with the Capitals in practice if someone was injured or needed a day off.

Last weekend, the Associated Press reported Leonhardt dressed as the team's backup goalie for their Friday night game against the Ottawa Senators in Washington because of an injury to the Cap’s reserve goalie Jose Theodore.[1]

The Cap’s were bringing up a reserve goalie from the minor leagues to cover for Theodore, but because of flight schedules, there was a chance the new reserve wouldn’t make it in time for the game. Leonhardt found out the team might activate him that morning. During the day he got updates about every two hours until it was confirmed, he would be suiting up. Literally, a team rep came into Leonhardt’s cubicle and tapped him to be the Cap’s temporary back up goalie.

The team knew he could skate, they knew he had played in college, but putting on the sweater under the bright lights of the Verizon Center in DC was not what Leonhardt or the team ever expected. And if something, anything happened to the starter, Leonhardt would be called into the game. At the ten minute mark in the first period, the reserve goalie got in from the airport and onto the bench so Leonhardt was never put into the game; but he was called, and he was willing to do what needed to be done for the team.

Mary is the queen of “There I Was Minding My Own Business…” when the angel of the Lord came to her saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Mary got the call. In her way, the coach came in and tapped her to bear God into the world. It is natural to assume that she would know the lingo the angel used. She would be familiar with phrases like “the Son of the Most High,” “the throne of his ancestor David,” “He will reign over the house of Jacob forever,” and “of his kingdom there will be no end.” She knew what the angel was asking, and what it meant.

So she asked “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” Pretty good logistical question, isn’t it? The Greek translates a bit more coyly, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?” At face value, this seems to be a very straight forward question. But I am not so sure that this was the case.

Have you ever been asked something; and come up with an excuse that gets put in the form of a question? If you answer that question with, “What makes you think I could ever do something like that?” you have just made my point. Here is the angel of God, telling Mary she has found favor with God and she is throwing up a barrier. It’s not that uncommon, it doesn’t get much more human than that.

We can hardly blame Mary for pointing out what the angel suggests is not possible given current conditions, but there would have been other worries. Bearing a child, she would have been an unwed mother. Further, the father of her son would not be her betrothed. If she were lucky she would be shunned by her family and the community. Certainly her fiancé would not become her husband. If she wasn’t lucky, stoning was an option.

Mary also knew that her son’s life would be difficult because of this status too. He would be shunned. He would have no social standing. It would be difficult for him to make a living; meaning there would be no way he could take care of her in her old age. At the time, in this place, their lives would be harsh.

Knowing what we do know about the life of Jesus of Nazareth, we know that his life and trials were far more difficult than what polite society would have imagined for them. We know that her son would be executed like a common criminal. The governor would mockingly call him “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudæorum;” in English “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” He would be strung from a tree and left to die in the harsh Judean sun atop a garbage heap. She could imagine how difficult her life would be, but she could have no idea how difficult her son’s life would be.

With these visions of sugar plums dancing in her head; Mary learns from the angel of the great things will happen by the Spirit of the Lord. She also learns of the great things that are all ready happening through the work of the Spirit in the life of her relative Elizabeth. At her advanced age, she will soon bear a child. This is happening for one and only one special reason, “for nothing will be impossible with God.”

Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

We’re a process people, and this is a glorious process. The messenger, the angel comes bringing the good news of God’s favor, God’s grace. Mary is informed of her call, her vocation, to bear God into the world. She puts up some resistance too. Not token resistance either; this is an honest challenge to the word from the angel. The angel of the Lord then lifts her, showing her that God is all ready at work in the world. This is when she voluntarily accepts her vocation; and then the angel leaves.

Mission, reservation, affirmation, acceptance; these are the steps behind what we call “The Annunciation of the Birth of Jesus.”

So, here is either the dumbest question of all time or the question that will open a thousand doors. Did Gabriel know Mary would respond to the angelic message saying, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word”?

This leads to another question, did Gabriel approach any other maidens betrothed to a man from the line of David with this vocation, or was Mary the first? Did someone somewhere say to the messenger of the Lord, “Sorry, I’ve just washed my hair and I can’t do a thing with it” before getting to Mary? What if Mary had said no for that matter?

In a way, we know the answer to those question, we really do. If someone had told the angel “no,” and on that matter scripture is silent, this information, this refusal was not important enough to mention. What if there were a dozen women who said “no,” what if there were hundreds? Any who said “no” were not important enough to make a dent in the history of God’s work in creation. They were not even worthy of mention; and if Mary had said no, we would not have known her either.

“Gabriel’s annunciation would not have been complete without Mary’s trusting, obedient response.”[2] Only when Mary says yes does the annunciation have any power.

These questions may seem cavalier, but there is a point. The point here is “Are we willing to allow the Lord God to shape our lives in ways we never expected, wanted, or imagined?” Are we willing to say to the messenger “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

Are we willing to allow the plans of our lives to be interrupted for the messenger from the Lord? Mary said yes. Only by saying yes does Mary make a difference. Because of this yes, Mary’s song[3] is heard and revered.

What is God asking you to do? What is your call, your vocation? Are you willing to let God upset the apple cart of your life?

Don’t worry about asking questions, even asking God is fine as Mary discovered. Asking questions is not bad, not listening to the answers is.

And the Lord will not put us into places we do not belong. The story of the annunciation shows that the Lord supports those who respond to God’s call with encouragement and power.

It is said that history is made by people who show up. Brett Leonhardt made ten minutes of history on an NHL bench just by saying yes and suiting up. By showing up, by saying yes, Mary not only made history, but by the fruit of her womb she made the future. By willingly, voluntarily participating in the joy of creation, Mary brings into the world the one of power and majesty, the one who sits on David’s throne forever.

Jesus has come. Jesus is here now. Jesus will come again. Will you say yes when he asks if you are coming too?

[1] “Capitals dress Web site producer as backup and win” http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gysKr8DzM3-bgmha-l6ZuCinKd8wD951NOT80 and Turcotte, Sarah, “Ten Minutes of Fame”, http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3770097 retrieved December 15, 2008.
[2] New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. IX. Leander Keck, General Editor. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995 page 52.
[3] Luke 1:46-56

Men We Don't Know

This sermon will be heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday December 14, 2008, the 3rd Sunday in Advent.

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Psalm 126
1Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28

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 Tuesday, “The Dark Knight” was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. This movie introduces the viewer to the Batman’s first encounter with his archenemy, Joker. One of the hallmarks of the Batman series from its beginnings was the secret identities of its main players. In the current cinematic incarnation, the only person who knows that Bruce Wayne is the Batman is his butler, Alfred Pennyworth. As for Joker, we never learn his given name. We only come to know him as a severely twisted, wicked character bent on chaos and destruction.

Two men the residents of Gotham don’t know, but will soon enough. Two men the residents of Gotham will come to know through their deeds. One man a dark yet heroic figure and the other an even darker sociopath.

Our gospel reading is silent about the reasons the priests and Levites were sent to see the man sent from God named John. But by the way we meet him; we can assume that when reports about him made their way to the home office in Jerusalem they were not welcomed.

So the leaders of the temple, the intelligentsia, the leadership corps; the people our reading calls “the Jews” were wondering exactly what in the name of all that’s holy was going on in the Judean countryside. When the priests and Levites come upon John, they knew they had found who they were seeking. Then the priests and Levites asked the obvious question, “Who are you?”

What they got was either the most obvious or the least obvious answer, “Well, I am not the Messiah.” Tell me, who starts there? When people ask me who I am the first thing I say is “Well, I am not the Messiah.” Don’t you?

Separating themselves from what they probably assumed was the obvious, they ask “Who then? Are you Elijah?” “I am not” John answers. All righty then, not Elijah, they ask if he is the prophet cast in the mold of Moses.[1] “Nope” John says.

So you’re not the Messiah (as if), not Elijah, not the prophet; check, check, and check. In the minds of the priests, the Levites, and the Temple leaders who sent them; John is a nobody. He has no temple or synagogue status and acts like, well, like a guy who wants to get in trouble with the big-boys.

“Look guy, there are some very important people who have sent us to find out who you are and what you have to say for yourself, you’re wasting our time so let’s have it.” So John lets them have it:

“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’”[2]
as the prophet Isaiah said.

Yep, trouble maker.

It is important to point out two things; the first is that this gospel refers to the man at the Jordan as John; just plain John. This gospel doesn’t call him “John the Baptist” or “John the Apostle” or “John the Revelator” either. He’s just John. And in this writing, he doesn’t even share his name with the priests and Levites. The narration lets us know who he is, but the dialogue is silent. He gives no one his name. To the priests and Levites, he is simply that guy they were sent to see and find out what he was doing.

The second thing I want to point out is the way that he told the priests and Levites that he is not the Messiah. Our translations say “I am not the Messiah,” but sometimes huge things get lost in little translations. In this case, what got lost is that John invoked the negative of the Greek version of the Holy Name. Theologically, he said “I am not the I AM.” When asked whether he was Elijah or the prophet, he didn’t say “no” the same way. Answering these questions, he did not use the Holy Name.

You can just imagine the priests and Levites were at a loss. We have not the Messiah, not Elijah, and not the prophet. He evokes the spirit of Isaiah without quoting the prophet directly. This odd fellow tells the world who he isn’t, effectively telling them that he is nobody of any importance.

The priests and Levites had been sent by the Pharisees, so they had to get a straight answer. “Look, if you’re nobody, why then are you baptizing?”

John answers, “I baptize with water.”

“I baptize with water.” Isn’t that what the priests and Levites just said? They had gotten past “what are you doing?” They asked him “Why are you doing it?” John says “I baptize with water.” Imagine the stupefied looks screwing their faces in all sorts of weird directions. Yeah, well thanks, baptism—and at the time there was a Jewish baptism—baptism is done with water, we had that part figured out.

John continues, “Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” Tell me, how does that answer the question “Why are you baptizing?” These guys, emissaries of high temple officials want to know what’s happening in the wilderness and the only answers they get are so far from what they were expecting that they’re left speechless.

That’s when John gives them the meat and potatoes of this reading. I paraphrase, “Look, you don’t know who I am, you ask what I’m doing when you all ready know what I’m doing. So guess what, if you are having trouble with me you ain’t seen nothing yet. And if you just wait a little longer you will.”

So a guy the priests and the Levites don’t know tells them that somewhere in the community of humanity is someone else whom they don’t know. The mischief maker then says that he isn’t worthy to untie the sandal of this other guy they don’t know. And this is the Gospel of the Lord. (Thanks be to God.)

If this is confusing, imagine being in their sandals. The priests and Levites were getting an earful and couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Their questions were pretty straight forward, if not self-incriminating, and John’s answers were bizarre.

If this isn’t confusing, it is because we have all ready filled in the blanks. This gospel only says John baptizes in water. We need Mark’s version to tell us John comes proclaiming a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins. When we hear “I baptize in water,” we also hear the echo of Mark’s gospel continue, “but the one who is more powerful than I will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

So whether you are confused by this reading or not, I believe we need to put ourselves in the place of the priests and Levites; we need to hear this again for the first time just like it was heard 2,000 years ago. What John presents is a mystery bigger than all creation.

Listen to John’s cry: “I am not the Messiah, I am not Elijah, I am not the prophet. I have no special status. I am a child of the One True God. I am a child of the one who is coming, the one whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. I am the child who has been called to come to the wilderness and make straight the way of the Lord. That is who I am.”

There is a glory to the mystery that surrounds these statements. They seem so definitive, yet they are so very mysterious. They are concrete, but they come from the man we don’t know about the man we don’t fully know, not yet.

It is to our joy and God’s glory that we know this story; and that we know what comes next. But because of that, we tend to fill in the blanks left in John’s gospel. Today, let’s not fill in the blanks. Let’s listen with the awe and wonder, and yes the confusion, the priests and Levites shared as they heard John’s testimony. John testifies to the true light, and begs us to see the it again in the fresh eyes of one who sees it for the first time.

Advent is the coming of Jesus Christ. We wait and we wait upon others in this season of preparation. In its own peculiar way, John’s gospel reminds us that we don’t really, can’t fully know whom we wait for, whom we wait upon. God is so completely different that on this side of glory we won’t fully know who God is, even God who walked the earth.

This gospel’s description of John delights us with strange answers to straight-forward questions, reminding us that questions we take for granted need answers that aren’t obvious. Still rejoice in what we know for sure, the man we don’t know will have his secret identity revealed. It will be revealed in a manger. It will be revealed on the cross. It will be revealed again coming in glory. Jesus has come. Jesus is here now. Jesus will come again.

[1] “The New Interpreter’s Bible.” Vol. IX. Leander Keck, General Editor. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995, pages 527-528.
[2] This is a paraphrase of Isaiah 40:3, not a direct quote.

Waiting Expectantly

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday December 7, 2008, the 2nd Sunday in Advent.

Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
2Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8

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 have a problem when reading this lesson, and I wonder if you don’t share the same problem. When I read it, I immediately go to verse nine, “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” I mean I immediately go there. There is precedent for this; the Greek word for “immediately” is found fifty-one times in the New Testament. Mark’s gospel uses it forty-one of those times. In Mark’s gospel, so much happens immediately that it’s hard for us not to do the same thing.

It’s also not so uncommon because we know what comes next. We know that immediately after we meet John, Jesus appears. Of course we jump to what’s next; we do it because we know what comes next. No waiting, just go ahead.

As for me, I know what comes next so I don’t particularly want to wait. Do you? I’ve used the “royal we” a few times and it may just be me and the mouse in my pocket, but I don’t think so. There is evidence to show it’s more than just me.

Waiting is something we don’t do well as a culture. Wal-Mart opened the Christmas Store on November 1st, All Saint’s Day, the moment after Halloween. While kids were smashing pumpkins and tee-peeing houses, the Wally-World Elves were busy hiding the garden center for two months. Sure enough, on Boxing Day, December 26th, the garden stuff will begin to come out again. Say what you will, that’s amazing. Time waits for no man, and neither does Wal-Mart.

Advent is coming, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Still, there is always a big hurry to celebrate Christmas, and Advent is overwhelmed by a wave of Christmas music and Christmas mercantile. Gregg Easterbrook, who writes a column for ESPN.com, has been warning readers about “Christmas Creep” for years. This year, his readers report several examples of Christmas merchandise on shelves in a column dated September 1, 2008.[1] Yes, Christmas stuff was hitting the shelves in Sam’s Club and Hobby Lobby in late August. Advent is coming, but when Christmas starts before Labor Day, it doesn’t stand much of a chance.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Celebrating Advent means being able to wait. Waiting however is an art that our impatient age has forgotten…We must wait for the greatest, most profound, most gentle things in the world; nothing happens in a rush, but only according to divine laws of germination and growth and becoming.”[2]

Last week, the seed was planted. This week, John the Baptist tends the soil with the waters of baptism. This watering will lead to germination, growth, and becoming. No one knows this better than farmers and ranchers. People who live by the soils and the skies know this waiting better than anyone else. So by this, the Christian is called to learn the lesson of the farmer and the rancher, the lesson of Bonhoeffer, and wait. So we wait, we wait expectantly.

Living in Austin, Marie was admitted to the hospital on several occasions. There was nothing worse than waiting. When she was in surgery, I waited for the doctor to come with news of the procedure. The one thing that made the waiting easier was that I knew if my wait was short, it was because something dreadfully wrong had happened. Then if the wait seemed too long, I would fear something dreadfully wrong had happened. So I waited expectantly.

She and I would also wait expectantly for her to be discharged. It was a glorious moment when the doctor would come in and say, “Yes, I will be discharging you today. You can go as soon as the orders are processed.” Now that was waiting expectantly! Any minute I would get to take Marie home. Hooray, any minute now, and hours later it would still be any minute now.

As a hospital chaplain, I get to see the joy in the faces of those who are discharged, and the impatience of those waiting for the orders to come. It usually takes only about twenty minutes for the joy to become impatience; and it usually takes longer than that for the orders to come. So we wait, we wait expectantly.

We are reminded to wait in our reading today from Mark. Jesus doesn’t appear immediately in this gospel. He is the second player. We have to wait for him because John was ordained to be the first, the one who would baptize the man simply referred to as Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee. We even have to wait one more verse for the Spirit to descend upon him like a dove.

So we wait. We wait another eighteen days for Christmas. We wait seventeen days to sing Christmas carols because we wait to sing them until Advent passes and Jesus comes. We wait expectantly because we know what comes next. We wait because Jesus will come, Jesus has come and Jesus will come again. And as the old song goes, “The waiting is the hardest part.”[3]

We want so badly to see the work of God’s hands. We hope and desire it so badly that it makes us hurt in anticipation. We see the injustice in the world against the sick and the poor and those who are pushed to the margins. We want to see the hand of the Lord in action in our lives and in all creation.

We wait expectantly, but that doesn’t mean we are to wait passively. You see, there are at least two ways “to wait.” Waiting can mean staying, lingering, or remaining. This is one way we wait; we are to wait for the coming of the Lord. Still, to wait also means to serve or to work or to care for others. As we stay, we are also to serve. As we await the coming of the Lord, we minister to one another so that God’s work will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

We are called by God to wait, and as we wait we are to wait on others. We are not just called to wait for the hand of the Lord; we are to be the hands of the Lord. How? Drop your change in the Salvation Army kettle the next time you go shopping at Wal-Mart. The Salvation Army’s slogan this year is “Expect Change.”[4] Isn’t that a great reference to putting change into the kettle? Yet it is also a reminder that only by being the agents of change can we ever expect anything to change.

This year, the Session asks you give toys to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. Local donations are being accepted at Dollar General and Wal-Mart in Berryville and Huntsville.[5] The Session has also directed us to collect the PC (USA) Christmas Joy Offering[6] in a couple of weeks. This offering supports retired church workers and the Presbyterian Racial Ethnic Schools and Colleges.

As these are wonderful and glorious ways of giving, we must give from all of the gifts we receive from the Lord, not just treasure, but also time and talent. So thanks to you who serve on the Session. Thanks to you who came and decorated last weekend. Thanks to you who clean the church. Thanks to you who helped at Vacation Bible School last summer. Thanks to you who work at the Food Bank. Thanks to you who lead worship. Thanks to you who worship at the Berryville Alliance of Churches services. Thanks to you who visit those in the hospital and those who are home bound. Thanks to you who call and write notes to those who need a pick-me-up.

And all praise to God who empowers us to wait on others.

We wait because it is how we prepare for the coming of the Lord. We wait in service because it is how the Lord wants us to wait. We wait and we reflect on the season, especially on the days when we read the gospel anticipating the Lord’s arrival. We wait expectantly as we wait for the Lord to come again.

We wait together because that is how the Lord wants us to wait. We wait because Jesus has come. We wait because Jesus is here now. We wait because Jesus will come again.

When we read this part of Gospel, it is oh so tempting to go immediately onto the next verse, but we mustn’t. We mustn’t go past today’s reading without waiting. So we wait—remaining and serving the Lord because there is no other way.

To quote the old song again, “You take it on faith, you take it to the heart/The waiting is the hardest part.”[7] Advent teaches us to wait for the coming of the Lord and to wait on the coming of the Lord. Let us wait together, let us wait expectantly, but let us not wait passively.

[1] Easterbrook, Gregg, “TMQ, 2008 NFC Preview” http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/080826, retrieved December 6, 2008.
[2] Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, “Christmas with Dietrich Bonhoeffer.” Manfred Weber, Editor. Minneapolis: Augsburg Books.
[3] Petty, Tom, “The Waiting.” Found on “Hard Promises” Gone Gator Music, 1981. From LyricWiki, http://lyricwiki.org/Tom_Petty_And_The_Heartbreakers:The_Waiting, retrieved December 6, 2008
[4] Image found at http://salvationarmyusa.org/ retrieved December 4, 2008. You can follow this link to give online to the Salvation Army too.
[5] For more locations, check out http://www.toysfortots.org/, retrieved December 6, 2008.
[6] For more information and a link to give, go to http://www.pcusa.org/cjoffering/, retrieved December 6, 2008.
[7] Ibid, Petty.

The Sky Is Falling

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday November 30, 2008, the 1st Sunday in Advent.

Isaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:24-37

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

If you’ve watched the news, read the paper, checked out a magazine, or surfed the web lately, you will have all of the evidence you need to think that the sky is falling.

Let’s start right here at home where David Davis Chevrolet has closed. Because of personal tragedy and a harsh economy, our local GM dealer has closed laying off twenty people. This isn’t a Yugo dealer; this is a Chevy dealer closing its doors.

Another victim of the economy is DHL Shipping which is closing its American operations. How bad does the economy have to be for a company to decide to close its American subsidiary and focus overseas? This may sound biased, but that’s not how I intend it. When a company decides every market it serves on earth is better than America, something’s happening.

A quick trip to the mall shows a bunch of stores in trouble. The stock price of Little Rock’s very own Dillard’s has dropped from just over $23 per share to under $4 in less than a year because their revolving credit line has dried up with JP Morgan. Other stores like Talbots, Pier 1, and Eddie Bauer are taking it hard too.[1]

Just to make all things seem even more wrong, Rite Aid pharmacy is on its way down the financial tubes. When a pharmacy is losing money, it’s no wonder financial pundits are crying like the sky is falling.

And to put the cherry on the ice cream sundae of disaster, a meteorite, estimated to be ten feet in diameter, fell on Alberta last week. One writer said that if it had been ten times bigger it could have wiped out Edmonton.[2] So literally, the sky is falling.

Speaking of Rite Aid, I don’t blame you for wondering if I haven’t gone off of my medication. The same thought crossed my mind. If nothing else, it may be time to get my meds adjusted.

Of course, we aren’t the first to suffer woes. In the time that Mark’s gospel was written, the church was facing difficulty. By this time, there were obvious differences between Jews and Christians.

Christians were being blamed for the woes of the Empire. Christians were made the scapegoats for Rome’s burning during the reign of Nero.[3] Leaders of the Church, including Peter and Paul, were being jailed and crucified. So it was no wonder that toward the end of this Gospel, there is significant attention to pain and suffering.

The siege of Jerusalem was just around the corner. About this time, the Jews had captured the Roman garrison complex at Masada. War and rumor of war were brewing. To the faithful, it must have seemed that creation was hanging on by a thread. Life as they knew it had changed upon recognizing the Christ and their responsibility to Him and His reign on earth. As their leaders were being beaten, tortured, and killed; turmoil was the order of the day.

I imagine to them it looked like the sky was falling. It’s no wonder bible editors call this passage “the Little Apocalypse.”

Many in this world are in situations not unlike the Christians of Mark’s day. We are at the end of our ropes. We are hanging over the abyss. Christians are facing loss of life and liberty across the planet. The name of Christ is being misrepresented in the name of war and in the name of commerce.

Mark describes this well, whether he intended his situation in 65 AD or ours today when he wrote,

“But in those days, after that suffering,
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from heaven,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”

These images weren’t lost on the people. They are from Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Joel. There would be suffering and then the world will be in darkness. The laws of physics are suspended as all that we know as right is gone and even the powers in the heavens will be shaken. The sky is falling and we are at the end of our ropes; what shall we do?

What we should do is the scariest thing a 21st Century American can imagine. I say let go of the rope.

That’s right, let go of the rope.

You might well be thinking right now it would be an even better time for me to check my meds, and you may well be right. But before you think me cruel in my suggestion, let me make one more, we need to release all of the presumed control we have over our lives and the lives of others and release it right now. We need to fall into are the arms of the loving God.

Our reading from Isaiah confesses to the Lord “There is no one who calls on your name or attempts to take a hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us.”[4] “The Lord has delivered us into the power of our own iniquities.”[5] After this confession, Isaiah continues “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”[6]

Isaiah confesses the Lord hides from us because we have been delivered into our own iniquities, our own sins. Yet, we also confess that the Lord is in control and molds us as a potter molds the clay. When we drop into the arms of the Lord, the Lord will catch us and mold us.

Our reading from the Psalms is a cry for restoration;

“Restore us, O God of hosts;
Show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.

The psalm makes this plea three times. We beg for light from the face of God that we be saved. And surely this is true when we release our own concerns and take up the ones we are commanded to accept from God.

Paul’s writings in 1Corinthians go on to remind us that it is all right to let go of our ropes because what the Lord provides is so much better than whatever we scratch and claw. In Christ Jesus we are enriched in every way. We do not lack in any spiritual gift as we wait for the Lord to be revealed. In Christ we are strong so that we will be blameless on the day of the Lord.

Alfred Delp expresses these sentiments saying:

We must let go of all our mistaken dreams, our conceited poses and arrogant gestures, all the pretenses with which we hope to deceive ourselves and others. If we fail to do this, stark reality may take hold of us and rouse us forcibly in a way that will entail both anxiety and suffering.[7]

When we hang onto the ropes of our concerns, worrying about falling into the abyss that is both the known and unknown terrors of our lives, we cling to nothing but fear and dread that one day we may fall.

We fear that we may become victims of what our lives have in store for us. And this is surely why we are called to release our expectations and be molded into the life the Lord intends. We are to use the gifts God has given us. We are to use them seeking restoration of God’s good creation. To do this, we are called to be aware.

We are called to be aware because we do not know when the time will come. So as we drop from our ropes, we are called to keep alert because Jesus is coming. And as we read last week, we know the Lord is here now. We fall into the arms of the ever-loving God when we serve the poor which we do today in our tithes and next week in the Two-Cents-a-Meal offering.[8]

We read from Matthew’s gospel last week, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Walter J. Burghardt said, “Here is your Advent: Make the Christ who has come a reality, a living light, in your life and in some other life. Give of yourself… to one dark soul… with no conditions”[9]

The Advent of the Lord is coming, literally. You see, Advent comes from the Latin for “coming.” Jesus has come. Jesus is here now. Jesus will come again.

Given the way the sky is falling, this is our only hope, the hope of all Christians. In the words of William Sloane Coffin, “hope is what’s still there when all your worst fears have been realized.”[10] So be hopeful; and take heed, keep on the alert; for we do not know when the appointed time will come.

[1] AOL Money and Finance, “Big Retailers Which May Close or Downsize,” http://money.aol.com/investing/big-retailers-which-may-close-or-downsize?photo=1, retrieved November 27, 2008
[2] Easterbrook, Gregg, http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/081125&campaign=rsssrch&source=page2, retrieved November 28, 2008.
[3] New Interpreter’s Study Bible, vol. viii. Leander Keck, General Editor, Nashville, TN: Abingdon, 1995, pages 514-515,
[4] Isaiah 64:7a New Revised Standard Version
[5] Isaiah 64:7b, New American Standard Bible
[6] Isaiah 64:8
[7] Delp, Alfred, The Prison Meditation of Alfred Delp. Herder and Herder, 1968, published with permission of The Crossroad Publishing Company in “An Advent Sourcebook.” Thomas J. O’Gorman, Editor. Chicago: Archdiocese of Chicago, Liturgy Training Publications, 1988, page 9.
[8] The Two-Cents-a-Meal offering, also known as the Cents-Ability offering is taken by the First Presbyterian Church on behalf of three hunger relief missions and collected by the Presbytery of Arkansas. A portion of our regular tithes and offerings also go to support the Salvation Army and the Loaves and Fishes Food Bank of the Ozarks.
[9] Burghardt, Walter J., “Sir, We Would Like to See Jesus.” Paulist Press, 1982 in “An Advent Sourcebook.” Thomas J. O’Gorman, Editor. Chicago: Archdiocese of Chicago, Liturgy Training Publications, 1988, page 9.
[10] Coffin, William Sloane, The Collected Sermons of William Sloane Coffin, The Riverside Years, Volume 1, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008, page 137.

Rabbit Trails

This sermon that was heard at the First Presbyterian Church on Sunday November 23, 2008, Christ the King/Reign of Christ Sunday, the 34th and last Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Psalm 100
Ephesians 1:15-23
Matthew 25:31-46

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

In geometry, a line that intersects a curve at only one point is called a tangent line, a tangent for short. The single point where they touch is the tangent point. The most common way of drawing a tangent line is to draw a circle and then draw a straight line that touches the circle just once. Look out though, if the line intersects the curve at two points, it’s not a tangent anymore, it’s a secant.

Of course this is the easy way to describe a tangent. There are tangents in three dimensions, like where a ball touches the floor, that’s a tangent plane with its single tangent point. Actually, the line doesn’t have to be straight; a tangent point exists even when two circles touch at only one point. The curve doesn’t even have to be a circle, but that’s most familiar. It could be an ellipse, or a parabola, or a cone, or whatever other curved geometric figure you have in mind.

This is just the middle school geometry description of a tangent. This doesn’t include the tangent in trigonometry. In trig functions, on a triangle, the tangent of an angle is the ratio of the length of the opposite side to the length of the adjacent side. In fact, there is even a secant in trigonometry. That’s the ratio of the length of the hypotenuse to the length of the adjacent side, which is the reciprocal of the equation used to find the cosine.

If you are wondering just what in the name of all that’s holy I’m doing reading from an ACT/SAT prep manual you have every right. I am trying to make a point. The point being that in rhetoric, a tangent is a line of reasoning that goes off of the main thought. Sure, it touches at one point, but from there it’s off into the wild blue yonder, just like how a tangent line touches the curve.

Notice I started with one description of a tangent, a very simple one, and then took it all over the place. So not only did I explain two types of mathematical tangents, I used my description of mathematical tangents to create a description of a rhetorical tangent. That’s going off on a tangent. So let me get back to the main thought.

When reading this passage from Matthew’s gospel, one of the things that grabs me and demands my attention is the wonderful imagery. The pictures drawn by the mind’s eye are bold and vivid. Who doesn’t imagine something that Cecil B. De Mille couldn’t put on screen in “The Ten Commandments”? I see a valley, like the one off of the highway by the Bluebird outside of Eureka Springs. I imagine the throne of glory in the field, a fog settling around on a cool crisp morning. Like ants marching across the plain, I imagine the procession of sheep and goats making their joyful way to the Lord in his glory.

This may be the image most commonly associated with this passage, the sheep and the goats. The people of the church often see this part of the passage envisioning themselves as the sheep, with concern and even pity for those goats who will go away into eternal punishment. The weeping and gnashing of teeth thing we read last week has new urgency when we read about eternal punishment. It’s very, very scary.

We hear from the Lord who sits upon the throne of his glory that he will put the sheep at his right hand where they are blessed by the Father and will inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world for they fed the Son of Man when hungry, gave drink when thirsty, welcomed him when a stranger. They gave him clothing when naked, took care of him when ill, and visited while in prison. In very real ways, they carried the Lord when the Lord needed carrying.

“When, oh when did we do this?” the sheep ask. “When you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family.” the Lord answers.

It is impossible not to feel a glow right now. The sheep of the fold, the Church of the Lord, not any individual denomination or sect, but the entire universal church is blessed by the word and hand of the God through the work done on behalf of the Son of Man. We inherit the kingdom by the work we do for God.

This is the tangent. This isn’t the whole circle; this is the one point that touches the circle before going off into Euclidian eternity. This isn’t the main point; this is just one of many.

The point of doing good works, the point of helping the poor is not to earn the kingdom. We can’t do enough to earn this reward. We can’t hope to do enough for a “passing grade” letting Mother Teresa and Billy Graham get the A-plusses. We are called to follow the path of justice not for a holy reward but because that is where the Son of Man is now.

There’s always a lot of talk in the church about eternal salvation and the heavenly reward. These things are wonderful and glorious, but this glimpse of tomorrow must not become a barrier stopping us from going and working where our Lord is today. We live for tomorrow, but we must live today. Today there is pain and suffering, and where pain and suffering exists, the Son of Man is there, and the Son wants his children to be there too.

Another diversion from helping the sick, the poor, and the incarcerated is actually rooted in the vision of watching the sheep and the goats on their way across the valley floor. Sheep have been the symbol of God’s people since the days of the prophet Isaiah. We have become sheep as the adopted children of God at the foot of the cross through the blood of the Son of Man.

So when we sheep look at the goats wandering across the floor of the valley, sitting at the left hand of the throne of glory, we look upon them with compassion and with pity. This is dangerous. This judgment upon the goats is not for you us make.

It is not up to us to separate the sheep from the goats, even in our mind’s eye. This is the job of the sovereign God who comes to judge the nations. We are not worthy to make the final judgment about who is a sheep and who is a goat. Our sight is flawed; it is colored by the shroud of sin that covers all humanity.

Yet we make judgments and in our world we must. While the final judgment of the nations is not ours, we are called to make some judgments. This passage teaches us our vocation is to follow the call of the Lord to serve the distressed. If we did not make any judgments, we would not follow where the Lord leads. This sort of judgment is not of other’s personal or religious values, but of our vocational discernment. We are to follow what is good, what is right, what is just, what is Godly. But the judgment we make is provisional. The final judgment belongs to the One who actually separates the sheep from the goats.

I have sent us down some rabbit trails; I have hopped us from one subject to another jumping all around the point. I have done it quite intentionally because these two items, inheriting the kingdom and separating the sheep from the goats, seem like big things in this part of Matthew’s gospel. For us, they aren’t.

Today we celebrate Christ the King Sunday, the Sunday of the Reign of God. Today we celebrate that God is in charge and we are not. Christ is King and we are the humble subjects. We are not to separate the sheep from the goats. We are not to wait for the coming kingdom like we are waiting on a bus. We are to follow our Lord, and the Son of Man makes it clear that he is with the poor, the sick, and the naked.

We are to start giving praise with the word that begins this passage: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory.” The word is “when,” not “if.” This is the wonderful and glorious reassurance that the Son of Man comes. His coming is not conditional. This isn’t a maybe; it’s a someday. It is the assurance that the Son of Man will come in his glory, and with all of his angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.

Until he comes again in his glory, we are to come to him in his anguish. Not because it is good for us, not because we will enter into the kingdom, we are to do this because it is as our Christ the King commands. Serving those who need, we serve the one who will come in glory.

Faithful-Good and Trustworthy

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday November 16, 2008, the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time.

Judges 4:1-7
Psalm 123
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Matthew 25:14-30

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and redeemer. Amen

Last week, I promised you this would be the second of two stewardship sermons. As any faithful follower of November sermons is well aware, the stewardship sermon ends with the plea for faithfulness to the Lord through tithes and offerings throughout the year. I would say that the request is usually more subtle than that, but sometimes it isn’t. We all know it’s coming. We all know I will make the plea for increased offerings, so that part of the sermon is almost out of the way.

Let me now say thank you and praise God for your financial faithfulness. Many members of this part of the Body of Christ give very generously in their abundance. Many members of this part of the Body of Christ give as generously in their poverty. All members give generously as a faithful response to the glory of God by the grace they have received through Jesus Christ our Lord by the Holy Spirit. I rejoice and I give thanks that you are so very generous.

I have spoken of financial stewardship the past three Novembers, and this November is no different. I have written about stewardship and the financial needs of this part of the Body of Christ in the newsletter several times over the past three years. The last newsletter even had an emotional plea that could be titled “one nickel toward a million.” Just to add one more piece to the pie of asking, I am sure everyone has all ready found a copy of the “Estimate of Giving” form in the bulletin. You will be asked to fill it out and put it in the offering plate in about twenty minutes.

Let me also point out that we use “estimates” rather than “pledges” because it is more pastoral, especially after the way the economy has gone over the past twelve months.

So as I say this, I put these two thoughts together —you are very generous and the economy is tumultuous. I ask for more and if you can give more—then praise God, but I also know that many of you give all that you can, and even more than that. Many are like the widow from Mark 12[1] who gives her two pennies and can not afford to give that. Like her, you give in response not to my request but to God’s faithfulness. I could try to squeeze another penny out of you, but I know how hard you are squeezed.

As Forrest Gump often said, “That’s all I have to say about that.”

Matthew’s version of the Parable of the Talents is found every three years and always in the heart of Stewardship season. As I was thinking about the story, stewardship, and this part of the body of Christ; I have found five truths I want to share about this parable. Keeping with the parable’s common interpretation, God is represented by “the Master.”

First, each of the three servants received according to their ability. The Master goes on a journey and leaves behind eight talents in the care of three slaves. He doesn’t split them up so that each of them receives two-and-two-thirds talents apiece. He could have. There is no biblical reason why he could not have split them apart. So like the disciples hearing Jesus tell this story; we learn that there is meritocracy, people being rewarded according to their abilities. The Master trusts his slaves in proportion with what they have proven they can handle. Not everyone gets the same piece of the pie just because that’s the democratic way.

This doesn’t seem quite right to our sensibilities. We wonder how God gives to each of us differently especially since God loves us all equally. This passage does not change that at all. God loves us all equally and to a depth and breadth we will not begin to understand on this side of glory. God knows us and empowers us differently with the multitude of the spiritual gifts. So like the slaves in the parable we receive God’s gifts differently. Then we are called to serve the Lord uniquely.

The next thing that I want to share is that while it is true that the slaves received according to their ability, even the one who received least received an extravagant amount. Based on the price of silver on Wednesday morning, a single talent is worth just a little over $6,500.00.[2] While this is nothing to sneeze at, in the day of the parable this amount was even more valuable than it is today. This amount, one talent, $6,500.00, was the equivalent of twenty years wages to the average laborer.[3] (Inflation is a thing no matter how long ago you lived.) So while each of the slaves received different amounts, the amounts they received were more than they could ever imagine.

The lesson we take from this is that our God is just as extravagant with gifts. We are given more than we could ever hope or imagine. Our talents don’t always come in silver or gold, but they are given by the one who gives best, and they are wonderful and glorious.

So next, while what they receive is outrageously generous, in the words of the Master, what the slaves have received are “just a few things.” Based on twenty years of wages, the slave who received five talents was given well over $1.5 million. This amount is based on Berryville average wages. The national average would make the amount rise up to nearly $2.16 million.[4] This is an impressive sum. Give me the amount given the least capable slave, between $300,000 and $432,000, even I think I could pay off my student loans.

Yet, yet this is what the Master calls “just a few things.” From this piece of the parable we learn that as much as we think we have, to God this is just a start. What to us seems to be extravagant is a sample of the bounty of the Lord. We are often bound by our perceptions of what the Lord can do; limiting God by what we think God can or should do. This lesson is, trying as we might to put restrictions on God; the Lord blows through the limits of our expectations and experiences beyond what we can even dream.

We are told next that those slaves who made gains with the Master's assets were put in charge of many things and invited to enter into the joy of their Master. There is no telling what this meant, but if the Master’s idea of joy is anything like the master’s “few things” it would be outrageously extravagant.

In our Master’s world, we are given glimpses of the joy of God—shimmers of the bounty of God’s good gifts. These are a foretaste of the joy promised the faithful slaves of the sovereign Lord—the good and trustworthy servants. As God’s children, we are invited to come into the messianic banquet where in the presence of our Lord; we will rejoice and share fully in the Master’s joy.

Finally, in a strange sort of way, the servant's reactions to the Master reflect the Master's reactions to the servants; a form of self-fulfilling prophecy. While only the third slave said so, based on what the master said, I suspect he is a harsh man, reaping where he did not sow and gathering where he did not scatter seed; and all of them knew this to be the Master’s way.

Yet, in this fear, the first two responded to their master through diligent work, both of them doubling the amounts they were entrusted. The third was so afraid he simply chose to hide the assets, possibly hoping never to be bothered by them or the master ever again. Two worked and were rewarded with praise as good and trustworthy servants. The third, wicked and lazy, was punished; their prophecies fulfilled.

This portion of the parable is a walking, talking affirmation of the first Proverb, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”[5] All three feared the master as all of us should rightly fear the Lord. Yet the example we are to follow is that two responded beyond their fear while one cowered. The Lord is all powerful, and there is much we are called to do with what God gives us. We are to respect the Lord and fear the power. We are also to trust in the love, faithfully following where it leads us to work with what has been given us to increase the kingdom.

There is a wonder and glory in this parable along with deep shadows of darkness and despair. There is great joy and there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. There is judgment of how we work with the talents we receive. Yet as so much as knowledge begins with fear of the Lord, when we focus on the fear alone we become too frightened to move.

Yes, fear is one response, but at the traffic signal of life, fear is the yellow light, not the red. Caution is warranted, but focusing on the joy and plenty of God’s kingdom, instead of the harshness, we grow in faithfulness. We grow to be called good and trustworthy.

We receive all of these gifts and we are called to use them to increase them in the service of the Lord in God’s good creation. We all receive gifts and we are called to use them to increase them in the service of the Lord in God’s good creation.

While not a pun in ancient Greek, the cleverness of the English word talent is there for us. Whether the talent is financial or some kind of skill; we know that these talents are more than the gold and silver. They are also the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and faith; the working of miracles, healing, and prophecy; discernment of spirits, and speaking and interpreting tongues.[6] These are the gifts of ministry, teaching in wisdom; exhortation, giving in generosity; leadership, and compassion in cheerfulness. [7]

Given the financial aspect of the parable of the talents, it is easy for us to slip into the possibility of seeing the gospel of prosperity, a “be faithful/get rich quick” scheme. This is not true. When they were judged, the slaves who used the Master’s talents and worked to increase them were welcome into the Master’s joy. Because we are gifted differently, this is true whether we begin with millions of dollars or two copper coins.

Looking at this parable through the glasses of stewardship, this parable tells us that stewardship isn’t so much about what we give—it’s about what we do with what we are given. It’s about taking the talents God gives us, English pun intended, and faithfully using them to the glory of the kingdom.

It is a call to us to look forward, see that we are given much, and see that the reward of faithful discipleship is more than we could ever hope or imagine. It is to recognize the gifts we receive and offer them to others. While we know that God’s judgment can be harsh, it is in trust that as the Master’s faithful disciples that we will be judged “good and trustworthy.”

Yes, this is where I ask you to fill out the “Estimate of Giving” sheets in your bulletin. If you haven’t done so yet, there is still time during the hymn. And as we discern what we are called to give, let us remember that what we are to give are from all of the talents our Lord endows upon us—not just silver and gold.

That’s all I have to say about that.

[1] Mark 12:41-44
[2] Actually $6,519.45. This figure presumes a mass of 20.4 kilograms of silver per talent (according to the New Interpreter’s Study Bible, page 382) and the kilogram has a mass of 655.88 ounces troy. The spot open for Silver in New York on November 12, 2008 is $9.94 according to http://www.thebulliondesk.com/ (retrieved November 11, 2008).
[3] Hare, Douglas R. A. “Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching.” Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1993, page 286.
[4] Computations taken from per capita income information for Berryville, Arkansas found at the US Census internet site, http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/SAFFFacts?_event=Search&geo_id=&_geoContext=&_street=&_county=72616&_cityTown=72616&_state=&_zip=72616&_lang=en&_sse=on&pctxt=fph&pgsl=010&show_2003_tab=&redirect=Y retrieved November 15, 2008.
[5] Proverb 1:7 (NRSV)
[6] 1Corinthians 12:7-10
[7] Romans 12:7-8

Bring Light into the World

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday November 9, 2008, the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Psalm 78:1-7
1Thessalonians 4:13-18
Matt 25:1-18

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

Last weekend, Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels was the guest on Mike Huckabee’s Fox News TV show. They were discussing political humor during a campaign year. One of the things they agreed on is that all satire, particularly political satire, isn’t funny unless there is some truth inside the joke.

Every year I say that stewardship is about more than money. This is a very biblical interpretation of stewardship. I very strongly believe as the psalmist teaches, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.”[1] Yes, there is a focus on cash. Cash can be measured easily. Cash has to be reported to the Presbytery annually. Cash is one of the many ways humans, and particularly Americans, keep score. I have even spoken and written about that quite a bit lately. But in a turn away from the cash call, I have said that more than anything we can take to the bank, proper tithing must start with a change of attitude.

Still if your first responses to these thoughts on stewardship are “Circle the wagons! Grab your wallets! Hide the women and children!” I couldn’t blame you. I could even see this as a satirical skit on Saturday Night Live, the pastor drones on about stewardship as voiceovers of the congregation’s thoughts take center stage over the words of the preacher.

Well, as is so often the case, fools go where angels fear to tread and this year I am going to preach not one, but two stewardship sermons. This week we will explore stewardship through the parable of the twelve bridesmaids, or virgins depending on your translation, and next week it’s onto the parable of the talents.

As with all of the parables Jesus shares with his disciples, there are two things happening, the first is an artistic aspect. We read “the kingdom of heaven will be like this.” This means that the kingdom will be comparable to this description; it does not mean that the kingdom of heaven will be identical to this. We are not supposed to take this description literally.

There is a mythical quality to the artistic element of the parable. The tale Jesus shares with his disciples allows them to think, ponder, and dream beyond the limits they impose upon themselves. It shows us not just the vision of the words, it gives us something to consider beyond the words.

The second thing is that the parable’s situation is one that the people who originally heard this story would know. The disciples themselves would never have been bridesmaids, but they would have all been members of wedding parties at one time or another.

Several were married; Peter we know was married because Jesus healed his mother-in-law. I am reasonably sure all of them had been to a wedding banquet. John’s gospel even has Jesus’ first public miracle at a wedding in Cana. The disciples would have known the lay of the land of the wedding banquet.

Now there was one thing they would have had no problem with that I did. What exactly did Jesus mean when he said that they trimmed their lamps? If you are my age, “trimming the lamp” is as complicated as hoping the proper light bulb is in the cupboard. It’s as easy as making sure the flashlight has batteries.

It seems easy enough to all of us, trim the lamps means trim the lamps; it means to cut the wicks so that the burned stuff is gone and the wick is even. Marie Bolerjack told me that if the lamp is not trimmed properly, it will smoke when it burns and soot builds on the globe. If not trimmed properly, not only will the amount of light the lamp emits be dimmed, the lamp will probably burn more oil and could be dangerous.

Oddly though, the Greek word translated “trimmed” means more than just preparing a wick for burning.[2] Everywhere else in the New Testament, this word means to adorn or to put in order. Since I don’t think any of the bridesmaids were using the bedazzler on their lamps, I don’t think adorn is a proper translation. A more appropriate translation choice could have been to put their lamps in order before the bridegroom arrives. Trimming the wicks as we understand it would be a part of putting the lamps in order, but there is more than that. Another part of trimming the lamps would be filling them with oil.

This is where we separate the wise bridesmaids from the foolish. Nobody wise would have traveled with their lamps filled with oil. The lamp of the day was open at the top. The oil would not be in a closed oil well like globe or hurricane style lanterns. Sloshing and spilling would have emptied the lamp long before they reached the door where they waited. A wise bridesmaid would have carried her oil in a separate sealed container and added it when the time was right. This would have been wise.

Perhaps this is the foolish bridesmaids’ foolishness. Maybe they carried their oil in their lamps, spilling along the way to guarantee that there would be nothing left in their lamps by the time they reached their destination.

Only the wise five that remained, the five that carried the light, were invited to enter the wedding banquet. The other foolish five were waking shopkeepers; maybe one at a time, maybe five at a time; seeking oil for their lamps.

Only the five that had put their lamps in order before reaching the bridegroom’s door were invited to enter the banquet. When the other five arrived with their lamps burning they were denied entrance to the banquet. The master saying, “Truly I tell you, I do not know you.” To me, this describes the element of stewardship we must acknowledge today, what does it mean to put our lamps in order?

The obvious place to look at this is in the last verse of our gospel reading where Jesus gave his disciples this warning: “Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” Some ancient authorities go as far as to say “you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” This translation bugs me though. Whether the bridesmaids entered the banquet or not had nothing to do with them being awake or asleep. All of them slept, all of them were awake when the bridegroom arrived. The difference was not whether one was awake or not, it was whether they were prepared or not. So simply being awake doesn’t seem to describe the difference well enough.

But another way this can be translated is that Jesus warned his disciples not just to be awake, but to be alive, to be fully alive.[3] Jesus wants more than warm bodies. He wants the church to be filled with people who are more than just awake. Awake is a threshold; alive, truly alive is what he wants the church to be.

Our Lord calls us to aspire to and to work toward the life He gives us and calls us to live; to be good stewards of the life, the world, and the gifts we have been given. Our goal, our call, our vocation is be the light of God in the world and to bring light into the world.

The most common way we bring the light is by doing good works. Praise God this part of the body of Christ does many good works in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the last year, we delivered 360 backpacks filled with school supplies to the Loaves and Fishes Food Bank for needy children in Carroll County. Some members also contribute their time and their vehicle to the Food Bank.

We have opened our doors for community worship services and for civic organizations. We contribute time and money to Presbyterian seminaries and Hispanic ministry in northwest Arkansas.

We work to fight hunger and do the work of the greater church, including Presbyterian Disaster Relief, through contributions to the Presbytery. We give time and energy to many good causes for the glory of our Father who is in heaven. But there is more, oh so much more we can do and need to do.

One thing we all need to do more of is to share worship. Here’s an uncomfortable question, “When was the last time you invited someone to come and worship with this part of the body of Christ?” Mike Nelson tells this story about this:

When I was interning at a Lutheran Church in north Minneapolis, I had the privilege of sharing an office with Bob Evans, a retired pastor who served our congregation as voluntary “evangelism consultant.”

One week he had an insert run off for the Sunday worship bulletin that simply stated, “Surveys show that the average Lutheran invites someone to church once every 14 years.”

At the bottom he asked the tongue-in-cheek question: “How many of you are past due?”[4]

This is just one way we can trim the lamps of our lives. Don’t misunderstand me, I know that inviting someone to worship may cost more than we will ever find in our bank accounts. Inviting others puts us individually and corporately on display. It puts us on the line to show that we worship and work for the glory of God in the world. What could cost us more than that?

This parable is loaded with many symbols. When this gospel was written these elements would have been important to all of its listeners. Jesus is known far and wide as the bridegroom. While not mentioned by name in this parable, the church is called the Bride of Christ. The wedding banquet refers to the anticipated Messianic Banquet; a great feast for the faithful in the age to come that was a feature in Jewish and Christian speculation about the end time.[5] Oil is often used in scripture and in worship to represent the Holy Spirit. But frankly, there isn’t a scriptural parabolic use of bridesmaids. Interpreters instead liken them to the members of the church who will be sorted like the sheep and the goats in the end times.[6]

The symbols are glorious and illuminating, but there is still that same old problem of reading parables like watching “The Da Vinci Code” filling in scriptural allusions like watching Tom Hanks fill in the blanks of Dan Brown’s prose.

What we can say is that the kingdom of heaven will be like a great banquet. A banquet the Lord our God hosts when all of creation is put into order. When through the Holy Spirit we work to do God’s will to put creation into order.

Another interesting thing about the word English bibles translate as trimmed is that it comes from the same root word as the words for world, earth, and ultimately creation; the sum of everything here and now, all of the cosmos. In the common use of the word, it pointed to an orderly creation, a universe where all is beautiful.[7] So as the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, all of what is good and ordered and created is from and for the Lord. As we trim the lamps of our lives, we participate in making the orderly creation which God envisions. As we trim the lamps of our lives, we work to bring back toward Eden the creation our Lord began.

So this is our goal, this is our endeavor; this is how we serve as good stewards over God’s creation. We let our light shine before others, that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven.[8]

[1] Psalm 24:1, NRSV
[2] Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Gerhard Kittel, editor. Vol. III. Grand Rapids, MI, Eerdmans, 1965, page 867.
[3] gragorew, “A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature.” Revised and edited by Frederick William Danker, Editor, based on Walter Bauer's Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und der frühchristlichen Literatur, sixth edition, ed. Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, with Viktor Reichmann and on previous English editions by W.F.Arndt, F.W.Gingrich, and F.W.Danker. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, electronic edition 2000
[4] HomileticsOnline.com, Timothy F. Merrill, Executive Editor, http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search.asp?keywords=invite , retrieved November 8, 2008.
[5] Messianic Banquet, Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible
[6] New Interpreter’s Bible, v. viii, Leander Keck, General Editor. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995, page 450 and HomileticsOnline.com, http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93000101, retrieved November 5, 2008.
[7] Kittel, page 868-880
[8] From The Second Helvetic Confession, Chapter XVI - Of Faith and Good Works, and of Their Reward, and of Man's Merit, paragraph 6..