This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday August 31, 2008, the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time.
Exodus 3:1-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen
Coming into Omaha, Nebraska on US 75 there is a sign. I hope I remember it properly, “Beware. Do not be alarmed by the sound of jets overhead.” Believe me; that caught my attention. You see, just south of Omaha is Offutt Air Force Base. Offutt is the home of the 55th Wing Air Combat Command. It is also the home of the U.S. Strategic Command, the successor agency to the Strategic Air Command.[1] With credentials like these and suburban sprawl out of Omaha, it’s no wonder a highway passes close enough to the end of a runway to deserve a sign.
But as I read the sign, one thought crossed my mind, if a jet comes barreling off of a runway at an altitude of twenty feet screaming past at Mach 2, I’m going to be alarmed. It’s just as easy as that and the world better get used to it.
I first saw this sign on my way into Omaha in the summer of 1983. So if the noise and sight of a jet screaming by weren’t enough, the global political situation of the day didn’t help. It was early in the Reagan years; the Soviet Premier was Yuri Andropov; and the diplomatic phrase du jour was “escalation of the cold war.” Who knew what a jet leaping out of SAC Headquarters was carrying? Whatever it was had the capacity to be very, very scary.
And they didn’t want me to be alarmed? So sorry, if I had seen a jet coming off that runway I would have seriously considered becoming one of those guys with the sign that says “The End Is Near” as soon as I crawled from the wreckage of my Ford Granada.
Often, the response to “fear not” is the same as the response to “heads up.” When we hear “heads up” often we look up, and shouldn’t. When we hear “fear not” often we’re afraid. But being afraid doesn’t matter as much as how we react to being afraid.
As our reading from Exodus begins, Moses is tending the herds of his father-in-law on the piedmont of the mountain of God, Mount Horeb. There he sees a bush burning, but not being consumed. Aflame but not burning; is it a miracle? If it’s not it’s a good trick. Moses goes to take a better look.
When the Lord saw that Moses had turned toward the bush, God called out to him from the bush by name. Moses answered, “Here I am.”
Let’s give Moses a break, what are you going to say to a bush that calls you by name? Again, is it a miracle? If it’s not it’s a real good trick.
Then the Lord said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
A bush burns without burning, a bush talks without moving its lips, and the voice says, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” No wonder Moses was afraid to look.
Proverbs starts with the oft quoted “Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Moses picked that up quickly.
Moses was afraid to look at God. One of the heroes of the Judeo-Christian people was afraid. If I’m just a little bit frightened at the prospect of a jet buzzing my car at Mach 2, I can only imagine myself in Moses’ sandals.
The Lord continues by reviewing the recent history of the Israelites in Egypt. Surely Moses remembers what Egypt was like from when he was a young man, now the Lord is giving Moses the updates from the front lines. The Lord has heard their cries and will deliver the nation from Egypt.
The Lord directs Moses, “So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”
Moses answers God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
God says “I will send you.” Moses says, “Who am I that I should go?” God answers, “I will be with you.”
We have a bush that burns but doesn’t burn. We have a bush with a voice, and the voice identifies itself as the Lord. But dare I say these are not the miracles we should stake our faith upon.
Our reading from Matthew shows the Apostle Peter flexing his fear just like Moses.
“From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Now I ask, does that scare you? If it doesn’t, I think it’s only because we are used to looking at this from our side of Easter. When we read this, we say, “Amen” knowing this is exactly what happens, giving the glory to God. But at that time, in the moment, the disciples heard a tale that would make a horror movie director take note, ending with the most improbable finale of all.
Now, I’m willing to bash Peter, in the gospels his mouth is often engaged before his mind finds a gear. This case is a common example used to show Peter’s bluster. But I want us to reconsider Peter’s state for a second. What if Peter is not speaking out of bluster, what if he is speaking out of fear?
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” In fear, it seems more like he is recoiling in horror than denying the Lord. Maybe, just maybe Peter is shocked and terrified instead of pretentious.
Still Jesus knows his mission, his vocation. He knows his work is heavenly, not worldly. Jesus tells Peter “fear not the things of the earth” when he says, “You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
The Lord is Emmanuel, God with us. And this is where Moses and Peter must place their faith, in the Lord who is with them. Burning bushes are great, but the miracle of God with us is the only true miracle we have. We depend on this miracle. We depend on the faithfulness of God.
In 1992, Paramount Pictures released “Leap of Faith”[2] starring Steve Martin as the Reverend Jonas Nightengale, an “evangelist” who is more con man than man of God. When one of the Kenworth trucks in his caravan breaks down in Rustwater, Kansas, he makes the choice to turn lemons into lemonade by holding his revival there instead of Topeka.
Like any good con man, he finds the greatest need in town and exploits it. Rustwater is in a five year drought and if it doesn’t rain this weekend, the crop will be ruined again this year. On the first day of the revival, before the meeting, Jonas walks around town inviting everyone, promising miracles and wonders.
Roger Ebert’s review in the Chicago Sun-Times said: “‘Leap of Faith’… begins as an expose, develops into a social commentary, and ends… without really ending. I'm not talking about what happens just before the end, but about the way the screenplay never really develops that, never completes the arc of the preacher's character.
“Maybe the ending is seen as open; I see it as inconclusive, a cop-out.”[3]
I see the ending differently from Mr. Ebert. A theological look gives me a different perspective.
At the end of the movie, Jonas experiences an epiphany of God’s grace and mercy. The sick are healed and the lame walk in Rustwater. Everyone praises God and says halleluiah. They have seen the signs and wonders and they give glory to God. But these healings are not the miracles.
As Jonas leaves the revival tent for the last time, he is met with the vision of a tent city on the revival grounds. People are camping, and sharing food. In their poverty, they share the abundance of God. A community founded in Christ rises out of the ash of chicanery. This is a miracle.
As Jonas hitchhikes out of town leaving his old life behind, it begins to rain. The people of Rustwater declare it a miracle, rain heaven sent and the crop is saved. But this is not the miracle either.
The miracle is the redemption of a man in Jesus Christ. The miracle is in the relationship God initiates with creation and humanity. The miracle is Jonas’ response to the Almighty God.
Ebert calls this ending to the movie “inconclusive.” I agree that we don’t know how Jonas Nightengale will handle his redemption. We don’t know what shape it will take, but the movie gives us a clue to answering the question of Jonas’ redemption.
Early in the movie while Jonas is walking around town, he is asked if he is a fake. He answers, “Maybe I am, and maybe I’m not. But if I get the job done what difference does it make?” The difference is that Jonas doesn’t get the job done at all. Getting the job done was never up to Jonas.
The Lord takes Jonas’ earthly con and brings glory to God and redemption to a man who truly needs redeeming. We don’t know where Jonas will go from here, but with confidence we know God’s redeeming work has begun in Jonas through Jesus Christ.
We don’t know what shape redemption will take, but that’s what’s wonderful about movies. We don’t have to know how Jonas’ life ends because we can see how it begins. We see how new life begins in the light of redemption, and for me that is enough for a movie.
The sins of Moses, Peter, and Jonas Nightengale are not so woeful that they can overwhelm the sovereignty of God or the depth of God’s grace. What we are given in our readings from Exodus and Matthew are the beginnings of lives redeemed. We see how two simple human beings live in the presence of God.
We live in changing times with scary demands. Being afraid is a common reaction to change. One thing we take from our readings is that Moses and Paul were faced with fear. Even the heroes of the faith get frightened.
The other thing we take is that the Lord is ever faithful. Whether Moses at the bush or before Pharaoh, whether Peter at Caesarea Philippi or before the crowds at Pentecost; the Lord was with them giving them what they needed to complete the task they had been called to undertake. As heroes of the faith they are called to their God given vocation, so too are we. We are called to be the body of Christ on earth continuing the good work started in Christ Jesus.
Fear happens. It happened to Moses. It happened to Peter. It happens to us. But fear must never paralyze us. When fear paralyzes us, it is when we set our minds on human things instead of the divine. This is when we become stumbling blocks to the Lord. Fear must never be the red light on the highway of life. It should be like a flashing yellow light, we approach with caution, but when the way is clear we go. God leads the way, watch for the signs, slow down when necessary, keep an eye to heavenly things, and follow where God leads.
[1] Offutt Air Force Base, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offutt_Air_Force_Base, retrieved August 25, 2008.
[2] Paramount Pictures presents a Michael Manheim/David V. Picker production of a Richard Pearce film, Leap of Faith, 1992, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104695, retrieved October 7, 2004.
[3] Ebert, Roger, “Leap of Faith-Movie Review” Chicago Sun-Times, October18, 1992, http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19921218/REVIEWS/212180302/1023, retrieved August 25, 2008.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Who Do We Say Jesus Is?
This sermon was heard at the Firat Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday August 24, 2008, the 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time. Exodus 1:8-2:10
Psalm 124
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Film actress Rosalind Russell, star of 1930’s through 60’s who was in dozens of movies including Auntie Mame and Gypsy, used to like to tell this story on herself. It seems she was taking a cruise and one day on deck she was sitting next to a man who had a terrible cold. She advised him: “I think if you will go to bed early, take a lot of fluids and two aspirin, you will feel better in the morning.”
He didn't register a response and so she added: “My name is Rosalind Russell—you know? I make movies.”
The man apologized for not recognizing the starlet, thanked her for her advice, and introduced himself: “My name is Charles Mayo, and I run a medical clinic.”[1]
Rosalind Russell gives medical advice to the founder of the Mayo Clinic, one of the world’s best known diagnostic centers. At least she introduced herself as a film actress. Of course for all Dr. Mayo knew, she could have been a medical professional, or simply a mother who knew how to identify, diagnosis, and treat the sniffles. At least they introduced themselves to one another.
Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Who is he indeed?
According to the disciples, “Some say [Jesus is] John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” This is some pretty heady company.
These were celebrated and prominent men of renown; of course, the lucky ones were hauled off into exile like Jeremiah. The unlucky ones were hauled off and killed, martyred for the word of God they carried. The only exception is Elijah who was taken up into heaven without experiencing death. The role of prophet is not for the fickle. The prophets mentioned by the disciples were true heroes of the faith; regaled in poetry, song, and story.
As names others used for Jesus were worth asking about, this question was only a set-up for the question that came next. He asks his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
As I have said before, Matthew’s gospel was written by and for Jews who believed Jesus is the Messiah, so looking at this passage, we shouldn’t look at Peter’s proclamation from our perspective, but from his point of view, and that of other first century Jewish believers, instead.
For the Jews, the name Messiah is a very particular title, it isn’t for just anybody. It was used in the Old Testament especially for the line of Kings of Israel from the line of David. Messiah expressed the special relationship between the Lord and the nation of Israel.[2]
It recalls the covenant made with Noah, the promise that humanity will not be swept from the face of the earth. It recalls the promises made to Abraham, the promise to become a great nation. It recalls the promises made to Moses, the promises hinted in at our Old Testament reading, the story of his miraculous infancy.
Peter called Jesus “Messiah.” To the Jews of every time and age, Messiah is the Son of God.[3] So what else does the first testament say about who God is?
In Genesis, the Name of God is Elohim, the God Most High, and El Shaddai.
In Exodus God is the Lord, the God of Israel, the “I Am Who I Am” or the “I Will Be Who I Will Be.”
In Leviticus: The Lord.
In Numbers: The Lord Is With Us.
In Deuteronomy: The Lord, Your God; The Lord, the God of Israel.
In Joshua: God in Heaven Above and on Earth below.
In Judges: Judge of Israel.
In Ruth: The Almighty.
In 1 Samuel: The Lord Sabbath, the Lord of Hosts.
In 2 Samuel: El Olam, Everlasting God.
In I Kings: Our King.
In 2 Kings: God of Elijah.
In Chronicles: The Enthroned.
In Ezra: The Lord Elohim, the Lord God.
In Nehemiah: Awesome God.
In Esther, mention of God is absent.
In Job: Redeemer.
In Psalms: The Lord, Elohim, Adonai, Praise Be His Name.
In Proverbs: Wisdom.
In Ecclesiastes: The Teacher.
In Song of Solomon: Rose of Sharon.
In Isaiah: Suffering Servant, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
In Jeremiah: Sovereign Lord.
In Lamentations: Most High, Only Hope.
In Ezekiel: Many Splendored One.
In Daniel: Most High God.
In Hosea: My God.
In Joel: Gracious, Merciful Lord.
In Amos: Plumb Line.
In Obadiah: Our Savior.
In Jonah: God of Heaven.
In Micah: Mountain of Refuge.
In Nahum: Avenger.
In Habakkuk: the Watchman, the Rock, the Holy One.
In Zephaniah: Mighty to Save, the King of Israel.
In Haggai: the Desire of Nations.
In Zechariah: One Lord, One Name.
In Malachi: the Sun of Righteousness. [4]
Peter called Jesus “Messiah.” From its beginning, the gospel of Matthew takes the time and the parchment to make sure those who hear these words understand what this means from this Old Testament point of view.
The gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy. From Abraham to Joseph, the genealogy emphasizes God’s purposes rather than biological connections. The mere mention of women is highly irregular to a royal line; especially a woman who posed as a prostitute, a gentile woman, and a woman whose husband was murdered to hide a kingly indiscretion.
But this provides an “interpretive framework for the Gospel by which everything in the story, including Jesus, is to be understood. God’s purposes for the world are displayed in God’s covenant relationship with Israel, and these purposes continue through Israel and Jesus. Jesus and his followers are set in continuity with God’s covenant relationship with Israel.”[5]
Matthew’s gospel and Simon Peter’s pronouncement give us two wonderful affirmations. The first is that Jesus is the son of David by adoption. The second is that he is the Son of God by birth.[6] Simon Peter proclaims Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God. Matthew records Jesus is from the line of the Davidic kings. Things only God can reveal. Only by God can we know and reveal these things.
It is only by this divine revelation that we can “know Jesus is the one that brings God’s redemptive purposes for Israel and the world to his [ultimate final] realization.”[7] Only by the grace and peace of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit can we say Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
Messiah, this is who Simon Peter says Jesus is, and this is what it meant to him. From the Greek, we would translate this as Christ instead of Messiah.[8] As we say this is so, what does that mean to us? Who do we say Jesus is?
In the New Testament, in Matthew it is written our Lord is called Jesus, the Christ, the Son of David, and the Son of the Living God.
In Mark: the Son of God.
In Luke: the Son of the Most High, Christ the Lord.
In John: The Door, The Vine, The Good Shepherd, The Bread, The Way, The Truth and the Life.
In Acts: the Shining Light and Cornerstone, the Holy One of God.
In Romans: Justifier.
In 1 Corinthians: the Power of God.
In 2 Corinthians: Consoler.
In Galatians: Redeem
In Ephesians: Peace and Unsearchable Riches.
In Philippians: the Exalted One, the Name above every Name.
In Colossians: the Image of the Invisible God, the First Born of All Creation.
In 1 and 2 Thessalonians: The Soon Coming King, the King of Glory.
In 1 and 2 Timothy: Hope, Life Giver, Mediator.
In Titus: our Blessed Hope.
In Philemon: a Friend.
In Hebrews: the Great High Priest.
In James: the Glorious Lord and Healer.
In 1 and 2 Peter: the Sin Bearer and Chief Shepherd.
In 1, 2 and 3 John: the Advocate, the Life and Love of Life.
In Jude: the Master Coming with 10,000 Saints.
In Revelation: Lamb the Alpha and the Omega, the Lion of Judah, the Bright and Morning Star, King of Kings, Lord of Lords.[9]
Scripture uses these words and so many more, but these names don’t answer the question about what it means to us. What does calling Jesus the Christ mean to us?
Several confessions say Jesus is fully human and fully God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a 20th Century German Lutheran minister and theologian who was martyred at the Flossenbürg concentration camp in the waning days of World War II, mere weeks before the liberation of Berlin. The story goes he was once asked by a camp guard where “his God” was as several prisoners hung on the gallows. He told the guard that Jesus was beside the men, hanging with them on the gallows. He said Jesus was at the right hand of the Father in heaven presenting them before God.
As a fully human being, Jesus knew the pain and sorrow of our struggle, even if he never knew sin on our side of the cross. As the fully divine, he alone is able to represent us before the Lord our God when we stand before judgment. The good news, the gospel of Jesus is that he is fully human and fully divine for the benefit of humanity and the glory of God.
In the June 4, 1992 Upper Room meditation by Stanley C. Baldwin, he tells a story about his days as a college student when he tried to bury his trash in his backyard rather than pay for garbage service. What no one ever told him, however, was that garbage service in that small Canadian college town was free.
In his devotional, Baldwin writes “Similarly, many people try, not very successfully, to dispose of the garbage in their personal lives: their sins, shortcomings and bad attitudes. The good news is that God provides ‘free garbage service’ to every resident of God's kingdom ....And when God gets rid of the garbage of our lives, it will not come poking out again with the spring thaw or wash up on the shore. It is gone forever.”[10]
This “free garbage removal” is a wonderful gift of grace. This garbage removal releases us from our captivity to sin and fear. All of our fear and shame no longer have any power over us because of the Good News that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. Our sin and woes are no longer ours alone, they have been taken upon the cross by the Lord at Calvary.
Jesus ate with the outcasts and forgave sinners. Jesus calls all of us to repent and believe the gospel, both its truth and its promises. By his garbage removal, the promise of release is the gift to those who are captive to sin. And let us not forget this is not for a particular one or two of us, it is for all of us.
In return, Jesus wants us to be his people. Through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he wants us to continue his work in his world. He wants us to proclaim the reign of God; preach good news to the poor; release the captives; teach by word and deed; bless the children; heal the sick; bind the brokenhearted, eat with outcasts; and call the creation to repent and believe the gospel.[11]
Jesus wants us to be his people, led by his grace. He wants us to share the good gifts of grace given us in the waters of our baptism, and shared at the table. Jesus wants us to show that while the world spins, changing around us, his promise of new life never changes. He wants us to show the world that he lives by our words and deeds.
So who do we say Jesus is? We say he is the Messiah, the Christ. We say Jesus is God incarnate, fully human and fully divine. We say he brings good news to creation. And through his good gifts, he calls us to abide in him and continue his work.
[1] HomileticsOnline.com, Anointing Illustrations, Topic “Names.” http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search.asp?item_topic_id=1347, retrieved August 23, 2008.
[2] “Christ” entry, New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Volume 1. Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, Gen. Ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006, page 602
[3] Ibid, page 603
[4] Ibid, HomileticsOnline.com, Anointing Illustrations, Topic “Names.”
[5] Study Note for Matthew 1:1-17, The New Interpreter’s Study Bible Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
[6] Ibid New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, page 603
[7] Ibid, pages 603-604. I replaced the word [eschatological] with the phrase [ultimate final].
[8] Ibid, page 602.
[9] Ibid, HomileticsOnline.com, Anointing Illustrations, Topic “Names.”
[10] HomileticsOnline.com, Anointing Illustrations, Topic “Gospel.” http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search.asp?item_topic_id=1213, retrieved August 23, 2008.
[11] From the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) “A Brief Statement of Faith, lines 7-18.
Psalm 124
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
Film actress Rosalind Russell, star of 1930’s through 60’s who was in dozens of movies including Auntie Mame and Gypsy, used to like to tell this story on herself. It seems she was taking a cruise and one day on deck she was sitting next to a man who had a terrible cold. She advised him: “I think if you will go to bed early, take a lot of fluids and two aspirin, you will feel better in the morning.”
He didn't register a response and so she added: “My name is Rosalind Russell—you know? I make movies.”
The man apologized for not recognizing the starlet, thanked her for her advice, and introduced himself: “My name is Charles Mayo, and I run a medical clinic.”[1]
Rosalind Russell gives medical advice to the founder of the Mayo Clinic, one of the world’s best known diagnostic centers. At least she introduced herself as a film actress. Of course for all Dr. Mayo knew, she could have been a medical professional, or simply a mother who knew how to identify, diagnosis, and treat the sniffles. At least they introduced themselves to one another.
Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Who is he indeed?
According to the disciples, “Some say [Jesus is] John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” This is some pretty heady company.
These were celebrated and prominent men of renown; of course, the lucky ones were hauled off into exile like Jeremiah. The unlucky ones were hauled off and killed, martyred for the word of God they carried. The only exception is Elijah who was taken up into heaven without experiencing death. The role of prophet is not for the fickle. The prophets mentioned by the disciples were true heroes of the faith; regaled in poetry, song, and story.
As names others used for Jesus were worth asking about, this question was only a set-up for the question that came next. He asks his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
As I have said before, Matthew’s gospel was written by and for Jews who believed Jesus is the Messiah, so looking at this passage, we shouldn’t look at Peter’s proclamation from our perspective, but from his point of view, and that of other first century Jewish believers, instead.
For the Jews, the name Messiah is a very particular title, it isn’t for just anybody. It was used in the Old Testament especially for the line of Kings of Israel from the line of David. Messiah expressed the special relationship between the Lord and the nation of Israel.[2]
It recalls the covenant made with Noah, the promise that humanity will not be swept from the face of the earth. It recalls the promises made to Abraham, the promise to become a great nation. It recalls the promises made to Moses, the promises hinted in at our Old Testament reading, the story of his miraculous infancy.
Peter called Jesus “Messiah.” To the Jews of every time and age, Messiah is the Son of God.[3] So what else does the first testament say about who God is?
In Genesis, the Name of God is Elohim, the God Most High, and El Shaddai.
In Exodus God is the Lord, the God of Israel, the “I Am Who I Am” or the “I Will Be Who I Will Be.”
In Leviticus: The Lord.
In Numbers: The Lord Is With Us.
In Deuteronomy: The Lord, Your God; The Lord, the God of Israel.
In Joshua: God in Heaven Above and on Earth below.
In Judges: Judge of Israel.
In Ruth: The Almighty.
In 1 Samuel: The Lord Sabbath, the Lord of Hosts.
In 2 Samuel: El Olam, Everlasting God.
In I Kings: Our King.
In 2 Kings: God of Elijah.
In Chronicles: The Enthroned.
In Ezra: The Lord Elohim, the Lord God.
In Nehemiah: Awesome God.
In Esther, mention of God is absent.
In Job: Redeemer.
In Psalms: The Lord, Elohim, Adonai, Praise Be His Name.
In Proverbs: Wisdom.
In Ecclesiastes: The Teacher.
In Song of Solomon: Rose of Sharon.
In Isaiah: Suffering Servant, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
In Jeremiah: Sovereign Lord.
In Lamentations: Most High, Only Hope.
In Ezekiel: Many Splendored One.
In Daniel: Most High God.
In Hosea: My God.
In Joel: Gracious, Merciful Lord.
In Amos: Plumb Line.
In Obadiah: Our Savior.
In Jonah: God of Heaven.
In Micah: Mountain of Refuge.
In Nahum: Avenger.
In Habakkuk: the Watchman, the Rock, the Holy One.
In Zephaniah: Mighty to Save, the King of Israel.
In Haggai: the Desire of Nations.
In Zechariah: One Lord, One Name.
In Malachi: the Sun of Righteousness. [4]
Peter called Jesus “Messiah.” From its beginning, the gospel of Matthew takes the time and the parchment to make sure those who hear these words understand what this means from this Old Testament point of view.
The gospel of Matthew begins with a genealogy. From Abraham to Joseph, the genealogy emphasizes God’s purposes rather than biological connections. The mere mention of women is highly irregular to a royal line; especially a woman who posed as a prostitute, a gentile woman, and a woman whose husband was murdered to hide a kingly indiscretion.
But this provides an “interpretive framework for the Gospel by which everything in the story, including Jesus, is to be understood. God’s purposes for the world are displayed in God’s covenant relationship with Israel, and these purposes continue through Israel and Jesus. Jesus and his followers are set in continuity with God’s covenant relationship with Israel.”[5]
Matthew’s gospel and Simon Peter’s pronouncement give us two wonderful affirmations. The first is that Jesus is the son of David by adoption. The second is that he is the Son of God by birth.[6] Simon Peter proclaims Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God. Matthew records Jesus is from the line of the Davidic kings. Things only God can reveal. Only by God can we know and reveal these things.
It is only by this divine revelation that we can “know Jesus is the one that brings God’s redemptive purposes for Israel and the world to his [ultimate final] realization.”[7] Only by the grace and peace of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit can we say Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.
Messiah, this is who Simon Peter says Jesus is, and this is what it meant to him. From the Greek, we would translate this as Christ instead of Messiah.[8] As we say this is so, what does that mean to us? Who do we say Jesus is?
In the New Testament, in Matthew it is written our Lord is called Jesus, the Christ, the Son of David, and the Son of the Living God.
In Mark: the Son of God.
In Luke: the Son of the Most High, Christ the Lord.
In John: The Door, The Vine, The Good Shepherd, The Bread, The Way, The Truth and the Life.
In Acts: the Shining Light and Cornerstone, the Holy One of God.
In Romans: Justifier.
In 1 Corinthians: the Power of God.
In 2 Corinthians: Consoler.
In Galatians: Redeem
In Ephesians: Peace and Unsearchable Riches.
In Philippians: the Exalted One, the Name above every Name.
In Colossians: the Image of the Invisible God, the First Born of All Creation.
In 1 and 2 Thessalonians: The Soon Coming King, the King of Glory.
In 1 and 2 Timothy: Hope, Life Giver, Mediator.
In Titus: our Blessed Hope.
In Philemon: a Friend.
In Hebrews: the Great High Priest.
In James: the Glorious Lord and Healer.
In 1 and 2 Peter: the Sin Bearer and Chief Shepherd.
In 1, 2 and 3 John: the Advocate, the Life and Love of Life.
In Jude: the Master Coming with 10,000 Saints.
In Revelation: Lamb the Alpha and the Omega, the Lion of Judah, the Bright and Morning Star, King of Kings, Lord of Lords.[9]
Scripture uses these words and so many more, but these names don’t answer the question about what it means to us. What does calling Jesus the Christ mean to us?
Several confessions say Jesus is fully human and fully God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a 20th Century German Lutheran minister and theologian who was martyred at the Flossenbürg concentration camp in the waning days of World War II, mere weeks before the liberation of Berlin. The story goes he was once asked by a camp guard where “his God” was as several prisoners hung on the gallows. He told the guard that Jesus was beside the men, hanging with them on the gallows. He said Jesus was at the right hand of the Father in heaven presenting them before God.
As a fully human being, Jesus knew the pain and sorrow of our struggle, even if he never knew sin on our side of the cross. As the fully divine, he alone is able to represent us before the Lord our God when we stand before judgment. The good news, the gospel of Jesus is that he is fully human and fully divine for the benefit of humanity and the glory of God.
In the June 4, 1992 Upper Room meditation by Stanley C. Baldwin, he tells a story about his days as a college student when he tried to bury his trash in his backyard rather than pay for garbage service. What no one ever told him, however, was that garbage service in that small Canadian college town was free.
In his devotional, Baldwin writes “Similarly, many people try, not very successfully, to dispose of the garbage in their personal lives: their sins, shortcomings and bad attitudes. The good news is that God provides ‘free garbage service’ to every resident of God's kingdom ....And when God gets rid of the garbage of our lives, it will not come poking out again with the spring thaw or wash up on the shore. It is gone forever.”[10]
This “free garbage removal” is a wonderful gift of grace. This garbage removal releases us from our captivity to sin and fear. All of our fear and shame no longer have any power over us because of the Good News that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ. Our sin and woes are no longer ours alone, they have been taken upon the cross by the Lord at Calvary.
Jesus ate with the outcasts and forgave sinners. Jesus calls all of us to repent and believe the gospel, both its truth and its promises. By his garbage removal, the promise of release is the gift to those who are captive to sin. And let us not forget this is not for a particular one or two of us, it is for all of us.
In return, Jesus wants us to be his people. Through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, he wants us to continue his work in his world. He wants us to proclaim the reign of God; preach good news to the poor; release the captives; teach by word and deed; bless the children; heal the sick; bind the brokenhearted, eat with outcasts; and call the creation to repent and believe the gospel.[11]
Jesus wants us to be his people, led by his grace. He wants us to share the good gifts of grace given us in the waters of our baptism, and shared at the table. Jesus wants us to show that while the world spins, changing around us, his promise of new life never changes. He wants us to show the world that he lives by our words and deeds.
So who do we say Jesus is? We say he is the Messiah, the Christ. We say Jesus is God incarnate, fully human and fully divine. We say he brings good news to creation. And through his good gifts, he calls us to abide in him and continue his work.
[1] HomileticsOnline.com, Anointing Illustrations, Topic “Names.” http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search.asp?item_topic_id=1347, retrieved August 23, 2008.
[2] “Christ” entry, New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Volume 1. Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, Gen. Ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2006, page 602
[3] Ibid, page 603
[4] Ibid, HomileticsOnline.com, Anointing Illustrations, Topic “Names.”
[5] Study Note for Matthew 1:1-17, The New Interpreter’s Study Bible Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003.
[6] Ibid New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, page 603
[7] Ibid, pages 603-604. I replaced the word [eschatological] with the phrase [ultimate final].
[8] Ibid, page 602.
[9] Ibid, HomileticsOnline.com, Anointing Illustrations, Topic “Names.”
[10] HomileticsOnline.com, Anointing Illustrations, Topic “Gospel.” http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search.asp?item_topic_id=1213, retrieved August 23, 2008.
[11] From the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) “A Brief Statement of Faith, lines 7-18.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Steadfast, not Inflexible
This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday August 17, 2008, the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time.
Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15:21-28
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
A recent Harris poll[1] asked Americans to name their favorite book. Number one on that list was “The Holy Bible.” This is what the article had to say about scripture:
The most popular and best-selling book of all time is The Holy Bible. No book has had more influence on the world. Its pages tell the story of the creation, fall, and redemption of mankind. Relive the story of creation and the fall of man in Genesis. Cross the wilderness with Moses in Exodus. Welcome the coming of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. The Holy Bible contains epic stories of history, heroism, and hope.
Somehow, I don’t think today’s reading from Matthew’s gospel was the first story that came to the minds of readers who picked The Holy Bible as their favorite book.
There are a lot of things that are troublesome with this reading. Jesus keeps on while a woman begs and pleads for mercy. After the disciples try to shoo her away, she pleads directly to the Rabbi who tells her he tells he was not sent for her or her people. Then in a none too subtle allusion, he calls her and her entire people dogs. I know I get cranky when dinner gets interrupted; still, my activities aren’t read and interpreted in worship. Thank God.
Troublesome is one way to describe Jesus’ behavior. How can we as the disciples of Jesus rationalize this abominable behavior? It isn’t up to us to sugar coat any of it, but it is up to us to try to understand it a little better.
To understand this, we need a little bit of history. As I have said before, the book of Matthew was written by Jewish followers of Jesus for Jewish followers of Jesus. It wasn’t even written as a way to bring new Jewish believers into the community.[2] It was written to instruct the Jewish Christian community in their own faith and clarify it so there would be fewer misunderstandings.
So if we want to say that this reading in particular or the gospel of Matthew in general confuses us; that’s all right because it wasn’t meant for us. Furthermore, our Christian reading set 2,000 years later is a recipe for misunderstanding.
I bring this up to draw your attention to verse 24 as Jesus responds to the Canaanite woman saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” Given the first audience of this gospel, this verse was an important endorsement of the covenant between the Lord and Abram.
Genesis 17 begins:
The LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous. This is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.”[3]
Now this is a promise Abraham and those who follow him could sink their teeth into. The Lord would be their God and they would be God’s people. This is the promise which the Jews of Matthew’s day had been waiting to have fulfilled for generations. The kingdom that was foretold here becomes realized first in the Kingdom of David. Jesus as the Son of David brings the Kingdom into the days of Matthew.
This is the promise that was saved when Pharaoh’s right hand man, Zaphenath-paneah saves, the family of Jacob from a seven year drought through Canaan and Egypt. This Egyptian name means “the god speaks and the one who bears the name lives,”[4] and it is a fitting name for a child of the covenant, the great grandson of Abraham, Joseph.
As Joseph meets his brothers in our reading from Genesis, revealing his identity to them, he tells them not to be grieved or angry with themselves. Joseph tells his brothers that God sent him before them to preserve life for the children of Abraham in Egypt. Joseph’s place in Egypt was the work of the Lord God saving the covenant from devastation, not the work of jealous brothers.
In the past I have told you that I am not comfortable with such a fatalistic cause-and-effect outlook on life. I find the Lord too utterly different to ascribe what I think are God’s motivations to earthly actions. I just don’t have the mind of God. My capacities are far too limited compared to the mind of God.
But just because this is my take, it doesn’t mean it was the opinion of those who wrote and edited and copied the wonderful five books of Moses. In fact, their world view and mind set were perfectly able to make those connections without my modern concern. It was a part of the ancient Hebrew view of creation, so this sort of cause and effect was common in the first five books of the Old Testament.
In the same way, the view of Matthew’s community of Jewish Christians knew the truth that the Son of David was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. Matthew’s audience knew this to be true.
Paul’s letter to the Romans reminded the church of Jesus Christ and the nation of Israel of the same thing as he said, “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.”
But this is where the view of Matthew’s community of Jewish Christians became challenged by their Messiah. Jesus challenges his people to remember not just God’s covenant with Abram, but also Abram’s call from Genesis 12, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”[5] Yes, Jesus was their savior, sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, but the Lord’s steadfast love was always a promise that extends beyond his first people and on to all of creation.
Paul’s letter to the Romans reminded the church of Jesus Christ and the nation of Israel of the same thing as he said, “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
As Jesus told the woman of his people, the children of Abraham, she spoke to his full call, to be a blessing by whom all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Jesus knew his first love, the people of Israel. He also knew the grand scope of his vocation and his mission, to be a blessing to all the families of the earth, spoken by the most unlikely of people.
A woman who has no standing; of the people of Canaan which has no standing; for a little girl who is demon possessed whose youth, gender, race, and ailment cause her to have no standing four times; it is she whose faith overwhelms her place in society to call upon the Lord.
Her faith was demonstrated when she argued with Jesus in the same way one Rabbi argues with another. Her faith was called great when she said “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Her faith was called great when she showed that she knew the call of the people of Abraham and the Son of David was called to be a blessing to all the earth.
Oh yes, she had a lot of gumption to come to the Lord. Her bravery, the bravery of a she-bear protecting her cub, took her to the Lord. But it was not her bravery that caused Jesus to, if you’ll pardon the modern cliché, cause him to stop in his tracks, it was her faith. And by her faith, the Lord showed that his love for all creation was steadfast, but not inflexible.
There is always a chicken-and-egg question that pops up here. Did Jesus respond to the woman because she bested him in a debate or did Jesus respond to the woman when she gave the answer he knew to be correct all along? I say this question, as provocative as it is, lacks real importance. It is her faith which Jesus rewards; not her William Jennings Bryant quality oratory skills, not her fine rabbinical debate style, not even a system of didactic reward and punishment. It is by her faith that Jesus responds faithfully.
This is the promise to all the earth. This is promise given in the call to Abram. This is the promise Paul reminds the world in Romans. The people of Abram, the children of the covenant, the children of the Son of David will be a blessing to all the earth. By our faith we participate in this gift. By our faith we receive the steadfast love of the glorious eternal triune God.
Mogopa, a village to the west of Johannesburg, was to be demolished and its inhabitants forcibly removed at gunpoint to a homeland in apartheid’s forced population-removal schemes. On the eve of their departure, a vigil with church leaders from all over South Africa was held in Mogopa. The village clinics, shops, schools and churches had already been demolished. At about midnight, an elder of the doomed village got up to pray, and he prayed, “God, thank you for loving us so much.” Several years later, apartheid died and the people of Mogopa have returned to their village, which they are rebuilding.[6]
It is by faith that in the demolition and pending forced relocation of a city, a people can give thanks to God for the Lord’s steadfast love. It would be all too tempting to believe God is unfaithful or at least silent during such a horrible time, in such a horrible situation. Yet still, while their village is about to be scattered to the four winds by the practitioners of apartheid, one village elder remembered to be faithful because in steadfast love, God is faithful first.
God is steadfast, but God is not inflexible. Our Lord Jesus knew his first place was with the people of Israel. And he knew that by Israel being blessed, Israel would be a blessing to the world. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; we are now all children of the covenant. Even in the times when the village is to be scattered, even when the crumbs from the master’s table don’t seem to be enough to fuel our faith, we are still the children of God.
By God’s steadfast love we are saved; saved by grace through faith. Christ’s church was founded on his steadfast love, not bound by our sinfully human views of who is loved by God. Our love can only be partial, but our faith must be not in our love, but in the hope of Jesus Christ. In steadfast hope we can look beyond all partial achievement to the final triumph of God.
[1] “10 Books to Read Before You Die.” Based on the results of a Harris Poll that asked 2,413 U.S. adults to name their favorite books, http://shopping.aol.com/articles/2008/07/08/10-books-to-read-before-you-die/, retrieved August 16, 2008.
[2] The New Interpreters’ Bible. Vol. VIII. Leander Keck, General Editor, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995, page 100
[3] This reading from the New Revised Standard Version has deleted Abram’s responses to the Lord.
[4] Zaphenath-paneah, Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible
[5] Genesis 12:2, 3, NRSV
[6] A Mogopa elder, quoted by Desmond Tutu, “An African Prayer Book.” New York: Doubleday, 1995, page 66. Found at Homiletics.com, http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search.asp?item_topic_id=1218, retrieved August 16, 2008.
Genesis 45:1-15
Psalm 133
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15:21-28
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
A recent Harris poll[1] asked Americans to name their favorite book. Number one on that list was “The Holy Bible.” This is what the article had to say about scripture:
The most popular and best-selling book of all time is The Holy Bible. No book has had more influence on the world. Its pages tell the story of the creation, fall, and redemption of mankind. Relive the story of creation and the fall of man in Genesis. Cross the wilderness with Moses in Exodus. Welcome the coming of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. The Holy Bible contains epic stories of history, heroism, and hope.
Somehow, I don’t think today’s reading from Matthew’s gospel was the first story that came to the minds of readers who picked The Holy Bible as their favorite book.
There are a lot of things that are troublesome with this reading. Jesus keeps on while a woman begs and pleads for mercy. After the disciples try to shoo her away, she pleads directly to the Rabbi who tells her he tells he was not sent for her or her people. Then in a none too subtle allusion, he calls her and her entire people dogs. I know I get cranky when dinner gets interrupted; still, my activities aren’t read and interpreted in worship. Thank God.
Troublesome is one way to describe Jesus’ behavior. How can we as the disciples of Jesus rationalize this abominable behavior? It isn’t up to us to sugar coat any of it, but it is up to us to try to understand it a little better.
To understand this, we need a little bit of history. As I have said before, the book of Matthew was written by Jewish followers of Jesus for Jewish followers of Jesus. It wasn’t even written as a way to bring new Jewish believers into the community.[2] It was written to instruct the Jewish Christian community in their own faith and clarify it so there would be fewer misunderstandings.
So if we want to say that this reading in particular or the gospel of Matthew in general confuses us; that’s all right because it wasn’t meant for us. Furthermore, our Christian reading set 2,000 years later is a recipe for misunderstanding.
I bring this up to draw your attention to verse 24 as Jesus responds to the Canaanite woman saying, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” Given the first audience of this gospel, this verse was an important endorsement of the covenant between the Lord and Abram.
Genesis 17 begins:
The LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous. This is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.”[3]
Now this is a promise Abraham and those who follow him could sink their teeth into. The Lord would be their God and they would be God’s people. This is the promise which the Jews of Matthew’s day had been waiting to have fulfilled for generations. The kingdom that was foretold here becomes realized first in the Kingdom of David. Jesus as the Son of David brings the Kingdom into the days of Matthew.
This is the promise that was saved when Pharaoh’s right hand man, Zaphenath-paneah saves, the family of Jacob from a seven year drought through Canaan and Egypt. This Egyptian name means “the god speaks and the one who bears the name lives,”[4] and it is a fitting name for a child of the covenant, the great grandson of Abraham, Joseph.
As Joseph meets his brothers in our reading from Genesis, revealing his identity to them, he tells them not to be grieved or angry with themselves. Joseph tells his brothers that God sent him before them to preserve life for the children of Abraham in Egypt. Joseph’s place in Egypt was the work of the Lord God saving the covenant from devastation, not the work of jealous brothers.
In the past I have told you that I am not comfortable with such a fatalistic cause-and-effect outlook on life. I find the Lord too utterly different to ascribe what I think are God’s motivations to earthly actions. I just don’t have the mind of God. My capacities are far too limited compared to the mind of God.
But just because this is my take, it doesn’t mean it was the opinion of those who wrote and edited and copied the wonderful five books of Moses. In fact, their world view and mind set were perfectly able to make those connections without my modern concern. It was a part of the ancient Hebrew view of creation, so this sort of cause and effect was common in the first five books of the Old Testament.
In the same way, the view of Matthew’s community of Jewish Christians knew the truth that the Son of David was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. Matthew’s audience knew this to be true.
Paul’s letter to the Romans reminded the church of Jesus Christ and the nation of Israel of the same thing as he said, “God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.”
But this is where the view of Matthew’s community of Jewish Christians became challenged by their Messiah. Jesus challenges his people to remember not just God’s covenant with Abram, but also Abram’s call from Genesis 12, “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing… and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”[5] Yes, Jesus was their savior, sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, but the Lord’s steadfast love was always a promise that extends beyond his first people and on to all of creation.
Paul’s letter to the Romans reminded the church of Jesus Christ and the nation of Israel of the same thing as he said, “for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”
As Jesus told the woman of his people, the children of Abraham, she spoke to his full call, to be a blessing by whom all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Jesus knew his first love, the people of Israel. He also knew the grand scope of his vocation and his mission, to be a blessing to all the families of the earth, spoken by the most unlikely of people.
A woman who has no standing; of the people of Canaan which has no standing; for a little girl who is demon possessed whose youth, gender, race, and ailment cause her to have no standing four times; it is she whose faith overwhelms her place in society to call upon the Lord.
Her faith was demonstrated when she argued with Jesus in the same way one Rabbi argues with another. Her faith was called great when she said “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Her faith was called great when she showed that she knew the call of the people of Abraham and the Son of David was called to be a blessing to all the earth.
Oh yes, she had a lot of gumption to come to the Lord. Her bravery, the bravery of a she-bear protecting her cub, took her to the Lord. But it was not her bravery that caused Jesus to, if you’ll pardon the modern cliché, cause him to stop in his tracks, it was her faith. And by her faith, the Lord showed that his love for all creation was steadfast, but not inflexible.
There is always a chicken-and-egg question that pops up here. Did Jesus respond to the woman because she bested him in a debate or did Jesus respond to the woman when she gave the answer he knew to be correct all along? I say this question, as provocative as it is, lacks real importance. It is her faith which Jesus rewards; not her William Jennings Bryant quality oratory skills, not her fine rabbinical debate style, not even a system of didactic reward and punishment. It is by her faith that Jesus responds faithfully.
This is the promise to all the earth. This is promise given in the call to Abram. This is the promise Paul reminds the world in Romans. The people of Abram, the children of the covenant, the children of the Son of David will be a blessing to all the earth. By our faith we participate in this gift. By our faith we receive the steadfast love of the glorious eternal triune God.
Mogopa, a village to the west of Johannesburg, was to be demolished and its inhabitants forcibly removed at gunpoint to a homeland in apartheid’s forced population-removal schemes. On the eve of their departure, a vigil with church leaders from all over South Africa was held in Mogopa. The village clinics, shops, schools and churches had already been demolished. At about midnight, an elder of the doomed village got up to pray, and he prayed, “God, thank you for loving us so much.” Several years later, apartheid died and the people of Mogopa have returned to their village, which they are rebuilding.[6]
It is by faith that in the demolition and pending forced relocation of a city, a people can give thanks to God for the Lord’s steadfast love. It would be all too tempting to believe God is unfaithful or at least silent during such a horrible time, in such a horrible situation. Yet still, while their village is about to be scattered to the four winds by the practitioners of apartheid, one village elder remembered to be faithful because in steadfast love, God is faithful first.
God is steadfast, but God is not inflexible. Our Lord Jesus knew his first place was with the people of Israel. And he knew that by Israel being blessed, Israel would be a blessing to the world. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; we are now all children of the covenant. Even in the times when the village is to be scattered, even when the crumbs from the master’s table don’t seem to be enough to fuel our faith, we are still the children of God.
By God’s steadfast love we are saved; saved by grace through faith. Christ’s church was founded on his steadfast love, not bound by our sinfully human views of who is loved by God. Our love can only be partial, but our faith must be not in our love, but in the hope of Jesus Christ. In steadfast hope we can look beyond all partial achievement to the final triumph of God.
[1] “10 Books to Read Before You Die.” Based on the results of a Harris Poll that asked 2,413 U.S. adults to name their favorite books, http://shopping.aol.com/articles/2008/07/08/10-books-to-read-before-you-die/, retrieved August 16, 2008.
[2] The New Interpreters’ Bible. Vol. VIII. Leander Keck, General Editor, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995, page 100
[3] This reading from the New Revised Standard Version has deleted Abram’s responses to the Lord.
[4] Zaphenath-paneah, Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible
[5] Genesis 12:2, 3, NRSV
[6] A Mogopa elder, quoted by Desmond Tutu, “An African Prayer Book.” New York: Doubleday, 1995, page 66. Found at Homiletics.com, http://www.homileticsonline.com/subscriber/illustration_search.asp?item_topic_id=1218, retrieved August 16, 2008.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Stay in the Boat
This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday August 10, 2008, the 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time.
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
This week I have been reading the fallout from the last General Assembly in San Jose. Fallout is a horribly appropriate word because some of the responses I have read from denominational and independent Presbyterian publications have been nuclear. In some, you’d think the sky was falling and with it radiation that will kill us all, the unfaithful at least.
Some say the church isn’t interested enough in mission. Others say the church isn’t interested enough in evangelism. Some say it doesn’t use the gifts of its members. Others say some members aren’t pure enough to share their gifts. Presbyterian ordination vows call Deacons, Elders, and Ministers of the Word and Sacrament to work for the peace, purity, and unity of the church; though the church can’t agree on how to do this, or in what order.
As for me, I believe that the Lord our God, God in three persons, the blessed trinity is sovereign over all creation. There is nothing we can do to separate God’s love from us. All that we have comes from the Lord.
I want to preach a cheery and light sermon; instead I am asking you to pull out your radiation suits and head off to the Fallout Shelter with me.
Jesus made the disciples, the twelve apostles along with other believers, go to the other side of the sea, shipping them off in a boat while he saw off the rest of the crowds. For the first time in Matthew’s gospel Jesus sent the disciples off on their own.
For the disciples, it must have been like kids being sent off to camp for the first time. For Jesus, it must have been like being the parent. No wonder Jesus went off to pray.
So later in the evening, early in the morning really, the boat was being buffeted by the waves. Headway was difficult and the sea was dangerous. Jesus didn’t promise them an easy journey, he just told them to get going.
The sea holds a special meaning for the Jewish disciples. To them, the sea was a place of danger. Not only did they know the dangers of the sea fishermen knew first hand; they also knew from the creation story that the waters were the place of chaos. The waters were a place of danger and death. Their worst known and unknown fears were before their very eyes in the pre-dawn darkness.
Without Jesus their lives were in chaos, and they feared dying without him.
In their rain soaked wind battered vessel, suddenly, they see their Lord, Jesus Christ, walking toward them on the water.
“Is it a ghost?” “Nope” Jesus responds, “it’s just little ole me.” That’s the way it reads in English, but the people heard him say “I AM,” not “It’s me.” They heard him invoke the holiest of holy names for himself. That might have been even scarier than a ghost.
One of the speeches given at the General Assembly was from the new Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, the Reverend Gradye Parsons. Using this story from Luke’s gospel, he told the assembly, “Get into the boat. Go across the lake. There will be a storm. You will not die.”
The latest issue of “The Layman,”[1] a publication of the conservative Presbyterian Lay Committee, arrived at the church on Thursday. A letter to the editor from Elder Marilyn Arledge, Clerk of Session from the Presbyterian Church in Fallbrook, California, took issue with part of Reverend Parsons’ statement. She takes issue with the phrase, “you will not die.” She asks “where have we heard that before? In Genesis 3:4 the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’”
I agree with her. If we were locked in a room together she and I may find that we don’t have much in common, but I agree with her on this point. Reverend Parsons’ wording harkens back to the serpent. I’m sure he didn’t mean it this way, but all we have to judge his message by are his words.
Jesus tells the disciples not to be afraid. Jesus tells them He is who he is, as the Lord God told Moses I AM WHO I AM. So Peter, the rock (and with a nickname like that shouldn’t we have seen what’s coming next), he says, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus says, “Come” and Peter does.
It’s all good for a couple of steps; but when pummeled by the wind and the rain and the waves; the chaos of water and life overwhelm Peter and he begins sink. He cries again, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reaches out to Peter saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
The traditional reading of these last words of Jesus on the water is taken to tell the world that with a little more faith, Peter would have made it to Jesus. Imagine my surprise to find this is not what the commentaries say.[2] The commentaries say this passage is about the church, the church represented by the ship.
Jesus sends the church onto the chaotic sea of creation. As then, we are called to do the work the Lord has sent us to do. We are to faithfully live our vocation as the people of Christ. This has been the call of the church since the days of Moses, since the days of Jesus, and this is the call we are still called to fulfill today.
But as usual, Peter has his own ideas. He sees the Lord on the sea and says, “If it is you, then command me to come to you,” and the Lord replies “Come.” People see Peter’s subsequent sinking as a sign that his faith isn’t strong enough. With just a little more faith, Peter could have made it to Jesus and they could have walked together in victory to the boat. Well, that’s not it.
First of all, this command to come is not a case of Jesus testing Peter’s faith. This is Peter testing Jesus. “If it is you, then command me to come to you.” Jesus won’t tell a lie. He’s Lord, it is he, and he is who he is. Jesus is answering Peter’s question, “is it you?” the way he asked it be answered, “Command me to come!”
You gotta give it to Jesus; he answers our prayers even when it makes us look foolish.
So Peter leaves the relative safety of the boat and tries to get to Jesus on his own. And when Peter does, the treacherous world drops on his head and he begins to sink. Only to be plucked out of chaos by Jesus, the gracious Lord who takes Peter by the hand and returns him to the boat.
In the allegory, Peter not only leaves the boat, he leaves the church and tries to get to Jesus on his own. When we try to get to God on our own, inevitably chaos overwhelms us and we sink. When we leave the church, the church as the body of Christ, to find God on our own, we ultimately find ourselves sinking in the morass of chaos.
Peter’s little faith is not that he couldn’t get to Jesus. His little faith was that he thought leaving the boat, the church, was the way to get to Jesus.
Reverend Parsons told the church “get on the boat, you will not die.”
Hear now this word for the body of Christ: “Stay in the boat, Jesus is coming.” He is in the word and in the world. He may not be coming quickly enough to suit us. The ride is going to be bumpy, but that’s the way it is on the sea. Still Jesus tells us to take heart, be courageous, do not be afraid. The promise remains; in the Lord Jesus we receive eternal life.
Stay in the boat; Jesus is coming. He shows us as he walks on the water to the vessel. We don’t have to leave what he has ordained; the church which is his body.
Out of seminary, a friend of mine was called to a church in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was on staff at a large church which serves as a training ground for many new church leaders. After the last General Assembly, the Senior Pastor told my friend that he thinks the PC (USA) will be completely different in fifty years, and he is pessimistic about it. Looking at history I agree, but I am optimistic.
It has been less than fifty years since the church accepted divorced persons into ordained ministry.[3] Fifty years ago, the first women had just been ordained as Ministers of Word and Sacrament. Fifty years before that, women had just begun to be ordained as deacons and elders.[4] Fifty years before that, the first African American was ordained to ministry in the denomination that became the PC (USA). Just before this time, the church split completely over slavery.
Faithful biblical scholars, theologians, and church leaders were absolutely certain that ordination of women, divorced persons, and African Americans was contrary to scripture and the will of God.
Paul’s letters and the words of the Old Testament support these views. Yet the church has made it past these injunctions to encompass a broader view of ordination. The church isn’t the same as it was 50 years ago, or 100 or 150 for that matter; and in the ministry of those formerly excluded the church has made wondrous glorious strides. So the church reformed and always being reformed will probably be different fifty years from now too.
While this may be a lament to some, I wonder if this lament has changed since the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As pessimistic as the nay-sayers were then, the church survives. And I am optimistic that it will continue and thrive.
In this same issue of the Layman, Stephen Brown, an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Haines City, Florida and Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee wrote an editorial about the absurdity of battles over church property and the authority of Scripture. He writes:[5]
Upon examination, any reasonable, objective observer will conclude there are at least two faiths within the Presbyterian Church (USA). And only one of them is Christian. Of course, this assumes we define a Christian as one who believes in the authority of Scripture and believes Jesus is who He said He is.
While I may be putting words into the editorial; the “authority of Scripture” he refers to is the scriptural witness about homosexuality. From this I also make the assumption that he believes himself to be a Christian, and he believes I am not; nor is this part of the body of Christ because we do not dismiss homosexuality out of hand as an abomination before God.
The Reverend Ted Foote[6] once said that that people who believe as Elder Brown does are whole heartedly seeking to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He just doesn’t think, in his words, “They believe the same about us.” Judging from Elder Brown’s quote, Reverend Foote’s assessment is true.
Yet there is a problem with Reverend Foote’s statement, he had a very specific “they” in mind when he spoke which was lost when I repeated it. Regardless of who uses labels and accusations, they are too broad to speak the truth.
Elder Brown is saying I am not on the boat. I say we are on the same boat, different decks perhaps, but still the same boat. I believe Jesus is who He said then and still says today he is; the Son of God and the Son of Man. He is sovereign over all creation.
His sovereignty is found in Genesis when the wind, the Spirit of God, swept over the waters and in a word God said “Let there be light, and there was light. We find evidence of his sovereignty when God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters,” separating the waters of chaos from the waters of life.
Our reading brings Jesus enforcing his sovereignty over the waters of chaos walking above them and stilling them, causing the people to bow and worship saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
We find his sovereignty affirmed in the words of Paul in Romans when he writes “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
If Paul had been asked to make a better list of those in whom there is no distinction, I don’t think he would have written a disclaimer worthy of a car ad on TV. Something like: “there is no distinction between people; including but not limited to Jew and Greek, Israelite and gentile, slave and free, men and women, black and white, rich and poor, homosexual and heterosexual, oppressor and oppressed, western and eastern, Middle Eastern and European, Catholic and Protestant, ninety days same as cash with approved credit, dealer retains all incentives.” Though the denomination did just that creating a list in “A Brief Statement of Faith,” the confession we use for today’s affirmation of faith.[7]
Paul would have told us to be like Jesus, the one who ate with prostitutes, tax collectors, scribes, Pharisees, and other sinners. He would have reminded us God is our refuge and our strength. He would have told us the world will know we are Christians by our love. Paul would have told us all and Paul tells the world, not just to get on the boat as Jesus commanded, but stay in the boat. He’s coming.
Paul says, righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” It is not for either Elder Brown or me for that matter to say whether someone is on the boat. The Lord knows.
Jesus called the disciples to the boat. Some had been ordained as apostles, others had not. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, ordination comes from God in three persons and from nobody else. And let’s be completely honest, there are some of the original twelve apostles none of us would ever want to see in church much less leading it; loud men, honor-seeking men, fickle men, doubting men, and the most notorious clergy killer in history.
Many of us would not have picked these people, but the Lord did. It’s amazing what the Lord is able to do with all of us sinners on board.
Much in the same way he sent the disciples across the sea, Jesus sent the church into the world. He didn’t tell the people he would meet them on the water, but he promises us that where the church comes together he is present. He called the church into existence to be his body and do his work. He excluded nobody from becoming his disciple and showed us the way to be together in him. The Lord uses sinners of all stripes to be his people, bringing the kingdom of heaven on earth. He didn’t say it would be an easy journey, he just says to get going.
Let’s all, all of us stay on the boat. The word is coming. Let’s all be here when he gets on board. For when he comes, as happened two thousand years ago, those in the boat will worship him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
[1] “The Layman,” Vol. 41, No. 4, July 2008, page 22
[2] New Interpreter’s Bible. Volume VIII. Leander Keck, General Editor. Abingdon: Nashville, 1995 pages 322-326. Interpretation. Matthew. James Mays, Series Editor. John Knox Press: Louisville, 1993, pages 167-171.
[3] Rogers, Jack, “Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality; Explode the Myths, Heal the Church.” Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2006, page 43.
[4] “Celebrating Turning Points in Women’s Ordination,” http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2006/06538.htm, retrieved August 9, 2008.
[5] “Layman,” ibid, page 7
[6] These comments were made during a plenary at a Presbytery of Arkansas Christian Education Committee workshop featuring Foote in 2006. He is the author of “Being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt” and “Being Disciples in a Dot Com World.” Formerly Pastor at John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he is now Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Bryan, Texas.
[7] Our Affirmation of Faith came from the PC (USA)’s A Brief Statement of Faith, lines 27-36 and 39-40
We trust in God,
whom Jesus called Abba, Father.
In sovereign love God created the world good
and makes everyone equally in God's image,
male and female, of every race and people,
to live as one community.
But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.
Ignoring God's commandments,
we violate the image of God in others and ourselves,
accept lies as truth,
We deserve God's condemnation.
Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation.
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
This week I have been reading the fallout from the last General Assembly in San Jose. Fallout is a horribly appropriate word because some of the responses I have read from denominational and independent Presbyterian publications have been nuclear. In some, you’d think the sky was falling and with it radiation that will kill us all, the unfaithful at least.
Some say the church isn’t interested enough in mission. Others say the church isn’t interested enough in evangelism. Some say it doesn’t use the gifts of its members. Others say some members aren’t pure enough to share their gifts. Presbyterian ordination vows call Deacons, Elders, and Ministers of the Word and Sacrament to work for the peace, purity, and unity of the church; though the church can’t agree on how to do this, or in what order.
As for me, I believe that the Lord our God, God in three persons, the blessed trinity is sovereign over all creation. There is nothing we can do to separate God’s love from us. All that we have comes from the Lord.
I want to preach a cheery and light sermon; instead I am asking you to pull out your radiation suits and head off to the Fallout Shelter with me.
Jesus made the disciples, the twelve apostles along with other believers, go to the other side of the sea, shipping them off in a boat while he saw off the rest of the crowds. For the first time in Matthew’s gospel Jesus sent the disciples off on their own.
For the disciples, it must have been like kids being sent off to camp for the first time. For Jesus, it must have been like being the parent. No wonder Jesus went off to pray.
So later in the evening, early in the morning really, the boat was being buffeted by the waves. Headway was difficult and the sea was dangerous. Jesus didn’t promise them an easy journey, he just told them to get going.
The sea holds a special meaning for the Jewish disciples. To them, the sea was a place of danger. Not only did they know the dangers of the sea fishermen knew first hand; they also knew from the creation story that the waters were the place of chaos. The waters were a place of danger and death. Their worst known and unknown fears were before their very eyes in the pre-dawn darkness.
Without Jesus their lives were in chaos, and they feared dying without him.
In their rain soaked wind battered vessel, suddenly, they see their Lord, Jesus Christ, walking toward them on the water.
“Is it a ghost?” “Nope” Jesus responds, “it’s just little ole me.” That’s the way it reads in English, but the people heard him say “I AM,” not “It’s me.” They heard him invoke the holiest of holy names for himself. That might have been even scarier than a ghost.
One of the speeches given at the General Assembly was from the new Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, the Reverend Gradye Parsons. Using this story from Luke’s gospel, he told the assembly, “Get into the boat. Go across the lake. There will be a storm. You will not die.”
The latest issue of “The Layman,”[1] a publication of the conservative Presbyterian Lay Committee, arrived at the church on Thursday. A letter to the editor from Elder Marilyn Arledge, Clerk of Session from the Presbyterian Church in Fallbrook, California, took issue with part of Reverend Parsons’ statement. She takes issue with the phrase, “you will not die.” She asks “where have we heard that before? In Genesis 3:4 the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’”
I agree with her. If we were locked in a room together she and I may find that we don’t have much in common, but I agree with her on this point. Reverend Parsons’ wording harkens back to the serpent. I’m sure he didn’t mean it this way, but all we have to judge his message by are his words.
Jesus tells the disciples not to be afraid. Jesus tells them He is who he is, as the Lord God told Moses I AM WHO I AM. So Peter, the rock (and with a nickname like that shouldn’t we have seen what’s coming next), he says, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus says, “Come” and Peter does.
It’s all good for a couple of steps; but when pummeled by the wind and the rain and the waves; the chaos of water and life overwhelm Peter and he begins sink. He cries again, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reaches out to Peter saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
The traditional reading of these last words of Jesus on the water is taken to tell the world that with a little more faith, Peter would have made it to Jesus. Imagine my surprise to find this is not what the commentaries say.[2] The commentaries say this passage is about the church, the church represented by the ship.
Jesus sends the church onto the chaotic sea of creation. As then, we are called to do the work the Lord has sent us to do. We are to faithfully live our vocation as the people of Christ. This has been the call of the church since the days of Moses, since the days of Jesus, and this is the call we are still called to fulfill today.
But as usual, Peter has his own ideas. He sees the Lord on the sea and says, “If it is you, then command me to come to you,” and the Lord replies “Come.” People see Peter’s subsequent sinking as a sign that his faith isn’t strong enough. With just a little more faith, Peter could have made it to Jesus and they could have walked together in victory to the boat. Well, that’s not it.
First of all, this command to come is not a case of Jesus testing Peter’s faith. This is Peter testing Jesus. “If it is you, then command me to come to you.” Jesus won’t tell a lie. He’s Lord, it is he, and he is who he is. Jesus is answering Peter’s question, “is it you?” the way he asked it be answered, “Command me to come!”
You gotta give it to Jesus; he answers our prayers even when it makes us look foolish.
So Peter leaves the relative safety of the boat and tries to get to Jesus on his own. And when Peter does, the treacherous world drops on his head and he begins to sink. Only to be plucked out of chaos by Jesus, the gracious Lord who takes Peter by the hand and returns him to the boat.
In the allegory, Peter not only leaves the boat, he leaves the church and tries to get to Jesus on his own. When we try to get to God on our own, inevitably chaos overwhelms us and we sink. When we leave the church, the church as the body of Christ, to find God on our own, we ultimately find ourselves sinking in the morass of chaos.
Peter’s little faith is not that he couldn’t get to Jesus. His little faith was that he thought leaving the boat, the church, was the way to get to Jesus.
Reverend Parsons told the church “get on the boat, you will not die.”
Hear now this word for the body of Christ: “Stay in the boat, Jesus is coming.” He is in the word and in the world. He may not be coming quickly enough to suit us. The ride is going to be bumpy, but that’s the way it is on the sea. Still Jesus tells us to take heart, be courageous, do not be afraid. The promise remains; in the Lord Jesus we receive eternal life.
Stay in the boat; Jesus is coming. He shows us as he walks on the water to the vessel. We don’t have to leave what he has ordained; the church which is his body.
Out of seminary, a friend of mine was called to a church in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was on staff at a large church which serves as a training ground for many new church leaders. After the last General Assembly, the Senior Pastor told my friend that he thinks the PC (USA) will be completely different in fifty years, and he is pessimistic about it. Looking at history I agree, but I am optimistic.
It has been less than fifty years since the church accepted divorced persons into ordained ministry.[3] Fifty years ago, the first women had just been ordained as Ministers of Word and Sacrament. Fifty years before that, women had just begun to be ordained as deacons and elders.[4] Fifty years before that, the first African American was ordained to ministry in the denomination that became the PC (USA). Just before this time, the church split completely over slavery.
Faithful biblical scholars, theologians, and church leaders were absolutely certain that ordination of women, divorced persons, and African Americans was contrary to scripture and the will of God.
Paul’s letters and the words of the Old Testament support these views. Yet the church has made it past these injunctions to encompass a broader view of ordination. The church isn’t the same as it was 50 years ago, or 100 or 150 for that matter; and in the ministry of those formerly excluded the church has made wondrous glorious strides. So the church reformed and always being reformed will probably be different fifty years from now too.
While this may be a lament to some, I wonder if this lament has changed since the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. As pessimistic as the nay-sayers were then, the church survives. And I am optimistic that it will continue and thrive.
In this same issue of the Layman, Stephen Brown, an elder at First Presbyterian Church in Haines City, Florida and Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee wrote an editorial about the absurdity of battles over church property and the authority of Scripture. He writes:[5]
Upon examination, any reasonable, objective observer will conclude there are at least two faiths within the Presbyterian Church (USA). And only one of them is Christian. Of course, this assumes we define a Christian as one who believes in the authority of Scripture and believes Jesus is who He said He is.
While I may be putting words into the editorial; the “authority of Scripture” he refers to is the scriptural witness about homosexuality. From this I also make the assumption that he believes himself to be a Christian, and he believes I am not; nor is this part of the body of Christ because we do not dismiss homosexuality out of hand as an abomination before God.
The Reverend Ted Foote[6] once said that that people who believe as Elder Brown does are whole heartedly seeking to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He just doesn’t think, in his words, “They believe the same about us.” Judging from Elder Brown’s quote, Reverend Foote’s assessment is true.
Yet there is a problem with Reverend Foote’s statement, he had a very specific “they” in mind when he spoke which was lost when I repeated it. Regardless of who uses labels and accusations, they are too broad to speak the truth.
Elder Brown is saying I am not on the boat. I say we are on the same boat, different decks perhaps, but still the same boat. I believe Jesus is who He said then and still says today he is; the Son of God and the Son of Man. He is sovereign over all creation.
His sovereignty is found in Genesis when the wind, the Spirit of God, swept over the waters and in a word God said “Let there be light, and there was light. We find evidence of his sovereignty when God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters,” separating the waters of chaos from the waters of life.
Our reading brings Jesus enforcing his sovereignty over the waters of chaos walking above them and stilling them, causing the people to bow and worship saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
We find his sovereignty affirmed in the words of Paul in Romans when he writes “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
If Paul had been asked to make a better list of those in whom there is no distinction, I don’t think he would have written a disclaimer worthy of a car ad on TV. Something like: “there is no distinction between people; including but not limited to Jew and Greek, Israelite and gentile, slave and free, men and women, black and white, rich and poor, homosexual and heterosexual, oppressor and oppressed, western and eastern, Middle Eastern and European, Catholic and Protestant, ninety days same as cash with approved credit, dealer retains all incentives.” Though the denomination did just that creating a list in “A Brief Statement of Faith,” the confession we use for today’s affirmation of faith.[7]
Paul would have told us to be like Jesus, the one who ate with prostitutes, tax collectors, scribes, Pharisees, and other sinners. He would have reminded us God is our refuge and our strength. He would have told us the world will know we are Christians by our love. Paul would have told us all and Paul tells the world, not just to get on the boat as Jesus commanded, but stay in the boat. He’s coming.
Paul says, righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” It is not for either Elder Brown or me for that matter to say whether someone is on the boat. The Lord knows.
Jesus called the disciples to the boat. Some had been ordained as apostles, others had not. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, ordination comes from God in three persons and from nobody else. And let’s be completely honest, there are some of the original twelve apostles none of us would ever want to see in church much less leading it; loud men, honor-seeking men, fickle men, doubting men, and the most notorious clergy killer in history.
Many of us would not have picked these people, but the Lord did. It’s amazing what the Lord is able to do with all of us sinners on board.
Much in the same way he sent the disciples across the sea, Jesus sent the church into the world. He didn’t tell the people he would meet them on the water, but he promises us that where the church comes together he is present. He called the church into existence to be his body and do his work. He excluded nobody from becoming his disciple and showed us the way to be together in him. The Lord uses sinners of all stripes to be his people, bringing the kingdom of heaven on earth. He didn’t say it would be an easy journey, he just says to get going.
Let’s all, all of us stay on the boat. The word is coming. Let’s all be here when he gets on board. For when he comes, as happened two thousand years ago, those in the boat will worship him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
[1] “The Layman,” Vol. 41, No. 4, July 2008, page 22
[2] New Interpreter’s Bible. Volume VIII. Leander Keck, General Editor. Abingdon: Nashville, 1995 pages 322-326. Interpretation. Matthew. James Mays, Series Editor. John Knox Press: Louisville, 1993, pages 167-171.
[3] Rogers, Jack, “Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality; Explode the Myths, Heal the Church.” Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2006, page 43.
[4] “Celebrating Turning Points in Women’s Ordination,” http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2006/06538.htm, retrieved August 9, 2008.
[5] “Layman,” ibid, page 7
[6] These comments were made during a plenary at a Presbytery of Arkansas Christian Education Committee workshop featuring Foote in 2006. He is the author of “Being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt” and “Being Disciples in a Dot Com World.” Formerly Pastor at John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he is now Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Bryan, Texas.
[7] Our Affirmation of Faith came from the PC (USA)’s A Brief Statement of Faith, lines 27-36 and 39-40
We trust in God,
whom Jesus called Abba, Father.
In sovereign love God created the world good
and makes everyone equally in God's image,
male and female, of every race and people,
to live as one community.
But we rebel against God; we hide from our Creator.
Ignoring God's commandments,
we violate the image of God in others and ourselves,
accept lies as truth,
We deserve God's condemnation.
Yet God acts with justice and mercy to redeem creation.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
What We Do and What God Does
This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday August 3, 2008, the18th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Genesis 32:22-31
Psalm 17:1-7, 15
Romans 9:1-5
Matthew 14:13-21
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Lately, in one way or another, I have been preaching on discipleship. I can only guess why. Perhaps one of the reasons is that Matthew’s gospel was specifically written for Jewish followers of Jesus. He was teaching the nation of Israel how to be disciples of their long awaited messiah. Another reason is that discipleship has been weighing on my mind and in my prayers. It’s as if I am reading scripture through lenses that focus on discipleship. Anyway, today will be no different. But in addition to looking at Matthew’s gospel to see what we do, this reading is also about the glory of what God does.
When Jesus heard about the execution of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. John has just been put to death by Herod, beheaded at the request of his daughter-slash-great-niece and her meddling mother-slash-first-cousin.[1] So Jesus left to be alone. Did he go because he was grieving? This would be a normal response to grief over the loss of a friend, the man who baptized him into the earthly church in the waters of the Jordan.
Did he want to be alone because he feared for his life? Given the circumstances, what human wouldn’t? Being fully divine doesn’t prevent Jesus from experiencing his fully human emotions. And in this case, fear and its fleeing response may have been just good thinking.
So what does Jesus do, what does God incarnate do? God loves, God feels, and God reacts to life.
The next thing that happens is that the crowd follows. Curiously, scripture doesn’t tell us why the people followed. Did they see him as the new John? Did they see him as the messiah? Did they see him as a man of miracles? Did they see him as a good teacher? As with any crowd there are as many reasons for following as there are people, but why is not important. “Why” was so unimportant to Matthew that he didn’t even bother to consider it. What is important is that the people followed.
“When Jesus went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.” Regardless of what was going on with our Lord, grieving or fearing, when the Lord saw the people, he responded to their needs with compassion. Minor needs or crippling, small or critical, chronic or acute; he had compassion for them and cured their sick. Regardless of the ailment, curing the people is done compassionately.
Evening comes, and his disciples come to him saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
What do we have here? The disciples come to Jesus and tell him what to do. They make valid observations. They are even being at least somewhat sensitive to the needs of the people. But here’s the crux, they tell God what to do.
And how many times have I done that? How often do all of us do that? Just like Jacob, we wrestle with God.
Jesus doesn’t take the bait. He shows the disciples a new way. “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” Jesus turns their point of view from “let the people go and take care of themselves” to “you, you take care of the people.”
We tell God to do something and God comes back saying, “No, you do something.”
Surprised I’m sure, they answer “We only have five loaves of bread and two fish.” They come back saying, “Look Lord, here’s what we’ve got and it isn’t nearly enough.”
God offers the disciples a new challenge, and they are sorely inadequate to meet it. Give them credit, for a crowd this size, their bounty isn’t nearly enough. They are being realistic about their situation, realistic to a fault.
With slightly different inflection, their response can go from a realistic description of their situation to a whining complaint. “What can we do? We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish.” Is this a statement of fact, or railing against God? Again, scripture doesn’t tell us, but I can easily imagine either or both of these responses coming from the disciples.
Jesus says, “Bring the loaves and fish here to me.” He ordered the crowd to sit down. Then taking the bread, he looked up to heaven and blessed it and broke it and gave it to the disciples.
Jesus takes charge again. This time, he accepts the disciple’s offering and blesses it. Then he gives it back to the disciples who give it to the people.
One more time with the mechanics of what happened here:
The first element of this cycle is implied, not mentioned. The Lord provides the disciples with a smattering of bread and fish. When we receive our daily bread, we see it as the wages of our earthly toil and strife, but it is more than that. If everything we receive comes from the Lord, our earthly wages come from the Lord. We receive what the Lord gives us.
Next, when the Lord asks the disciples about the bounty they have received. They tell him “Here’s what’s in the offering plate, Lord.” With this comes the implied, “It’s not nearly enough, but it’s what we’ve got.”
Third, the Lord takes what is offered on the altar of his life and blesses it. God blesses the offering of the disciples.
Then and only then, the disciples give the goodness of the bounty of creation to the 5,000 men, along with the many women and children who were there. And the people ate until they were filled. There were even twelve baskets of bun-ends left over.
Often when hearing a sermon, we ask “so what?” Frankly, the question is just as important when crafting a sermon too. So, here’s what we do and what God does:
The Lord leads us.
We follow.
We have needs only the Lord can meet.
And the Lord meets them.
Jesus has compassion for the people, and so do his disciples.
The Lord invites us to take care of the people.
We see that what we can do isn’t enough. If we are completely honest, we have to say that what we can do by ourselves is never enough.
The Lord says, bring it to me.
And when we respond in obedience, when we respond to Jesus’ invitation; God blesses our offering and makes it enough.
And this is what is important to learn here: God blesses our offerings, the offerings from what God gives us in the first place, using that, and us, to bless the world.
The Lord says “you take care of the people.” Through the Lord we are called to participate in the reconciling work of Jesus Christ.
There are things we do and things God does. We are called to follow the Lord God. We are called to be disciples of Jesus. We are called as his disciples to take care of his people. We are blessed and fed by the Lord when we follow.
We get into trouble when we try to do God’s work without God in the work. We get into trouble when we go into God’s good creation without God’s presence and leadership. We get into trouble when we look at how little we have and make the mistake that that’s all we have. When disciples respond in obedience, then the people do the work of God feeding the God’s children.
This is it, this is as simple as it gets. What we have is limited, but in Christ, with Christ, and through Christ; what we have is lifted up and blessed; able to do far more than we could ever hope or imagine. The love of God multiplies and blesses all that we have and all that we give. The Lord takes what is ordinary from us and uses it to do extraordinary things, all for God’s glory. In this wondrous mission, we are called to participate.
And participate we must. We participate in worship. We participate in celebrating the sacraments. We participate in the breaking of the bread. We participate in remembering our baptism. We participate in fellowship. We participate in serving God and God’s good creation. We participate in sharing the gospel in word and deed. We participate in prayer. We participate in our offerings to God. We participate in giving the fruit of that offering to others.
So let us be disciples. Let us give the Lord the offerings of God’s bounty. Let us, each of us, invite the community and the world to come and hear and share and participate in the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[1] “Herodias” and “Herod (Family)”, Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Keith Crim, General Ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1976. (These folks were a plane ticket to Chicago away from being an episode of “Springer.” This is what John had railed against that got him beheaded.)
Genesis 32:22-31
Psalm 17:1-7, 15
Romans 9:1-5
Matthew 14:13-21
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Lately, in one way or another, I have been preaching on discipleship. I can only guess why. Perhaps one of the reasons is that Matthew’s gospel was specifically written for Jewish followers of Jesus. He was teaching the nation of Israel how to be disciples of their long awaited messiah. Another reason is that discipleship has been weighing on my mind and in my prayers. It’s as if I am reading scripture through lenses that focus on discipleship. Anyway, today will be no different. But in addition to looking at Matthew’s gospel to see what we do, this reading is also about the glory of what God does.
When Jesus heard about the execution of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. John has just been put to death by Herod, beheaded at the request of his daughter-slash-great-niece and her meddling mother-slash-first-cousin.[1] So Jesus left to be alone. Did he go because he was grieving? This would be a normal response to grief over the loss of a friend, the man who baptized him into the earthly church in the waters of the Jordan.
Did he want to be alone because he feared for his life? Given the circumstances, what human wouldn’t? Being fully divine doesn’t prevent Jesus from experiencing his fully human emotions. And in this case, fear and its fleeing response may have been just good thinking.
So what does Jesus do, what does God incarnate do? God loves, God feels, and God reacts to life.
The next thing that happens is that the crowd follows. Curiously, scripture doesn’t tell us why the people followed. Did they see him as the new John? Did they see him as the messiah? Did they see him as a man of miracles? Did they see him as a good teacher? As with any crowd there are as many reasons for following as there are people, but why is not important. “Why” was so unimportant to Matthew that he didn’t even bother to consider it. What is important is that the people followed.
“When Jesus went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick.” Regardless of what was going on with our Lord, grieving or fearing, when the Lord saw the people, he responded to their needs with compassion. Minor needs or crippling, small or critical, chronic or acute; he had compassion for them and cured their sick. Regardless of the ailment, curing the people is done compassionately.
Evening comes, and his disciples come to him saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.”
What do we have here? The disciples come to Jesus and tell him what to do. They make valid observations. They are even being at least somewhat sensitive to the needs of the people. But here’s the crux, they tell God what to do.
And how many times have I done that? How often do all of us do that? Just like Jacob, we wrestle with God.
Jesus doesn’t take the bait. He shows the disciples a new way. “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” Jesus turns their point of view from “let the people go and take care of themselves” to “you, you take care of the people.”
We tell God to do something and God comes back saying, “No, you do something.”
Surprised I’m sure, they answer “We only have five loaves of bread and two fish.” They come back saying, “Look Lord, here’s what we’ve got and it isn’t nearly enough.”
God offers the disciples a new challenge, and they are sorely inadequate to meet it. Give them credit, for a crowd this size, their bounty isn’t nearly enough. They are being realistic about their situation, realistic to a fault.
With slightly different inflection, their response can go from a realistic description of their situation to a whining complaint. “What can we do? We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish.” Is this a statement of fact, or railing against God? Again, scripture doesn’t tell us, but I can easily imagine either or both of these responses coming from the disciples.
Jesus says, “Bring the loaves and fish here to me.” He ordered the crowd to sit down. Then taking the bread, he looked up to heaven and blessed it and broke it and gave it to the disciples.
Jesus takes charge again. This time, he accepts the disciple’s offering and blesses it. Then he gives it back to the disciples who give it to the people.
One more time with the mechanics of what happened here:
The first element of this cycle is implied, not mentioned. The Lord provides the disciples with a smattering of bread and fish. When we receive our daily bread, we see it as the wages of our earthly toil and strife, but it is more than that. If everything we receive comes from the Lord, our earthly wages come from the Lord. We receive what the Lord gives us.
Next, when the Lord asks the disciples about the bounty they have received. They tell him “Here’s what’s in the offering plate, Lord.” With this comes the implied, “It’s not nearly enough, but it’s what we’ve got.”
Third, the Lord takes what is offered on the altar of his life and blesses it. God blesses the offering of the disciples.
Then and only then, the disciples give the goodness of the bounty of creation to the 5,000 men, along with the many women and children who were there. And the people ate until they were filled. There were even twelve baskets of bun-ends left over.
Often when hearing a sermon, we ask “so what?” Frankly, the question is just as important when crafting a sermon too. So, here’s what we do and what God does:
The Lord leads us.
We follow.
We have needs only the Lord can meet.
And the Lord meets them.
Jesus has compassion for the people, and so do his disciples.
The Lord invites us to take care of the people.
We see that what we can do isn’t enough. If we are completely honest, we have to say that what we can do by ourselves is never enough.
The Lord says, bring it to me.
And when we respond in obedience, when we respond to Jesus’ invitation; God blesses our offering and makes it enough.
And this is what is important to learn here: God blesses our offerings, the offerings from what God gives us in the first place, using that, and us, to bless the world.
The Lord says “you take care of the people.” Through the Lord we are called to participate in the reconciling work of Jesus Christ.
There are things we do and things God does. We are called to follow the Lord God. We are called to be disciples of Jesus. We are called as his disciples to take care of his people. We are blessed and fed by the Lord when we follow.
We get into trouble when we try to do God’s work without God in the work. We get into trouble when we go into God’s good creation without God’s presence and leadership. We get into trouble when we look at how little we have and make the mistake that that’s all we have. When disciples respond in obedience, then the people do the work of God feeding the God’s children.
This is it, this is as simple as it gets. What we have is limited, but in Christ, with Christ, and through Christ; what we have is lifted up and blessed; able to do far more than we could ever hope or imagine. The love of God multiplies and blesses all that we have and all that we give. The Lord takes what is ordinary from us and uses it to do extraordinary things, all for God’s glory. In this wondrous mission, we are called to participate.
And participate we must. We participate in worship. We participate in celebrating the sacraments. We participate in the breaking of the bread. We participate in remembering our baptism. We participate in fellowship. We participate in serving God and God’s good creation. We participate in sharing the gospel in word and deed. We participate in prayer. We participate in our offerings to God. We participate in giving the fruit of that offering to others.
So let us be disciples. Let us give the Lord the offerings of God’s bounty. Let us, each of us, invite the community and the world to come and hear and share and participate in the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[1] “Herodias” and “Herod (Family)”, Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Keith Crim, General Ed. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1976. (These folks were a plane ticket to Chicago away from being an episode of “Springer.” This is what John had railed against that got him beheaded.)
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