This sermon would have been heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday January 31, 2010. Unfortunately, due to the weather only the pastor and his spouse were in church.
Jeremiah 1:4-10
Psalm 71:1-6
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Luke 4:21-30
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
As we ended last week’s gospel reading with Luke 4:21, so today be begin with this verse. This gives us a wonderful transition from last week to this. In the middle of last week’s sermon I inserted this little teaser:
Then Jesus sits, as is the tradition of the teacher in the synagogue, and he says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” He reads one of the prophecies from the book of Isaiah which announces the Messiah, the Anointed. Using the word which comes to us through the Greeks, this is how Isaiah introduces the Christ. Luke, using these very words, formally introduces Jesus and his ministry to the world.
Imagine what’s going to happen next in Luke’s gospel.
Well, we have made it to next week and we see how the people respond to the words of the Lord. At the beginning, they loved him and what he said. We are told “All spoke well of him, amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.”
They declared him the son of Joseph, this proclamation is also declared in the genealogy of Jesus from the third chapter of Luke. Then again, this genealogy contains the wonderful phrase “as was thought.” Luke writes that Jesus is the son of Joseph with a wink, reminding the reader of this gospel that we know better. We have the knowledge that Jesus is the Son of the Almighty God.
We learned this wondrous, glorious truth in the verse immediately before Luke’s genealogy. We learn it in Luke’s rendition of the Baptism of the Lord when the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
So the good people of Nazareth are placing their claim on the hometown boy made good. They declare him to be one of them, the son of their very own Joseph. They were ready to hold a parade. Jesus had been praised because of the Spirit filled word that had come from his lips. He had been lifted up by many on the west side of the Jordan. But in their synagogue, this graduate of Nazareth Tech’s carpentry program had claimed the prophecy of Isaiah, declaring himself the anointed.
Sure, they were right, they just had no idea what it meant.
That’s one of the fuzzy things about the gospel. We know the truth, but sometimes what we know has nothing to do with the truth of God’s word.
Our reading from Jeremiah shows one such misunderstanding. The Lord God has appointed the young Jeremiah a prophet to all the nations. Jeremiah tells the Lord, “Not me, I have no idea what to say or how to say it. I’m just a boy; I don’t have the lips of the prophet.”
The Lord tells the boy not to say no. The Lord tells the boy “you will do as I command.” The Lord tells the boy not to be afraid, because in the words of the Lord God, “I am with you to deliver you.” The Lord promises to keep, rescue, and protect Jeremiah during his life in service.
But in a way, near the end of the reading the Lord affirms that Jeremiah doesn’t have the tools to be a prophet. The boy does not know what to say, or how to say it. The Lord knows Jeremiah is only a child. He knows he’s only human. So the Lord puts forth his hand and touches his mouth declaring “Behold, I have put my words into thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, and to destroy and to overthrow; to build and to plant.”
As obvious as this seems when saying this, of course the Lord knew Jeremiah didn’t have the tools to be a prophet to the nations. Of course he knew Jeremiah needed the words that he did not have. This is what the Lord supplied Jeremiah. The Lord ordained and anointed Jeremiah a prophet. With a touch to the lips, Jeremiah is given God’s word in his mouth.
This is one of those truths that may seem a little fuzzy. God doesn’t choose the equipped, God equips the chosen. Jeremiah was a boy. He was truly nobody special. As we have said before, the young boys were the ones who had some of the most dangerous jobs in the household, including tending the sheep through the dead of night.
He had no skills, he had no status. Yet, he was chosen, he was anointed, and he was charged. These were all actions of the Lord God. As the Lord lead; Jeremiah followed. He did as he was told to do. He shared what he was told to share.
Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians takes the principle of equipping the saints a step further. Where 1Corinthians 12 and 14 teach us about the spiritual gifts, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, 1Corinthians 13 teaches us how we are to use these gifts. He teaches we must use these gifts in love. Again, this is where we apply the principle of what we think we know having nothing to do with the truth of the gospel.
We know this scripture from nearly every wedding we have ever attended. Because of that we often think of this as how wedded love is shared with a partner. Now don’t get me wrong, I know that my wife is a gift from God, but describing wedded love was not Paul’s intent.
Paul was teaching a quarrelsome, bawdy, self-serving group of Christians, yes Christians, they were mistreating the Good News that they were so graciously given. As the old camp song goes, “They’ll Know We Are Christians by our Love,” well the church at Corinth was doing a poor job of showing the world the true meaning of Christian love.
So Paul taught them the elements of Christian love, things like patience, kindness, protection, trust, hope and perseverance. By the way, do you notice how these elements mirror the way the Lord promised to keep, rescue, and protect, Jeremiah? This is no coincidence. Then he also taught them what Christian love is not; things like envious, boastful, arrogant, rude, irritable, or resentful. Even more, he taught them that without love, there is nothing. Paul teaches that if he gives everything, every talent, every tongue, every prophecy; and does not do it in God’s love, there is nothing.
Bible headings often give us an idea of where a passage is going to go. The bible I use most often calls our gospel reading “Preaching in Nazareth”[1] but others call it “Rejected in Nazareth.” As we know, the Lord’s first preaching in his hometown synagogue wasn’t all peaches and cream. But there’s one other thing these headings do, they show what the publisher was focusing on when editing.
Well, surely this piece could be called “Rejected in Nazareth.” After all, when the people who want to throw you a parade want to throw you off a cliff about 125 words later, rejection might even be a mild description of what’s happening in Nazareth. And what words they were.
Jesus had a different message for the people of his hometown than he had for those he had known so far in his ministry. While Luke’s gospel is silent on the particulars of what happened in Capernaum, he told the people of Nazareth that by the time he was finished with them, they would be most likely finished with him.
He told them that they would consider him not only a great healer, but a sick man as well. This is why they will scream “Physician, cure yourself!” Jesus reminds them a prophet is not accepted in their own hometown, and he was about to show them why this is true in his case too.
Jesus refers to the widow at Zarephath in Sidon. In 1Kings 17, Elijah shares the word of God declaring a drought that will not end until the Lord says so. There will be neither rain nor dew until such a time as when the Lord is satisfied. This continues for 42 months.
During that time, Elijah is called to find a widow who will feed him at Zarephath. There he finds the widow and asks for bread and water. Water is doable for the widow, but as for the bread, she has very little meal and even less oil. Elijah promises her God’s bounty if she trusts and serves him bread. As surely as God lives, the oil and the meal never run out in her home during the drought according to the word of the Lord that was spoken by Elijah.
The woman’s life is then devastated by the death of her son. This death was not only the end of her son’s life, but it was culturally the end of her and her household as well. A devastated Elijah made intercession to the Lord on behalf of the widow and her son and he was revived. There was great joy in the household as they could taste and see that the Lord is good.
What makes this interesting is that this little burg is on the coast between Tyre and Sidon in modern day Lebanon about 85 miles north of the modern Israeli border. Elijah is in gentile territory serving the Lord God by serving and being served by the unclean and the unsaved. Jesus reminds the people that there were many widows in Israel, but Elijah was sent to the other, the unclean, the gentile. Why did Elijah do this? Because according to the book of Kings, Omri the King of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. Citing this example in the synagogue wouldn’t make Jesus popular with the people.
Jesus also referred the crowd to Naaman the Syrian. Naaman was a great warrior and also a leper. He was just as unclean as all of the Israelite lepers. But Naaman sought the prophet Elisha to cure his ailment. To make a long story short, Naaman was cured when all of the Israelite lepers remained afflicted. Again, the Israelites did not bring themselves to the prophet and the doubly unclean Naaman, the gentile leper, is healed. Let me say again, citing this example in the synagogue wouldn’t make Jesus popular with the people.
Where so many of us might focus on the nearly mystical way Jesus passed through the crowd and went on his way, this is not what is revealed about God’s self in this passage. The comedienne Sarah Silverman has a comedy special called “Jesus Is Magic,” and when we focus on this part of the passage, we focus on what makes David Copperfield special, not the Jesus.
What we need to take from this passage as the children of God is that we cannot claim God as our own. As Jesus is claimed by the people of Nazareth as their own, as people, pastors, and prophets all over the world claim God as their own, the holy and Triune God belongs to no one. It is the Lord who gives us what we have, just as Jeremiah received an anointing of power and vocation with a touch to the lips. It is in the love of God that we take the gifts we are given not for our own pride and joy, but for the love of God by which we live today.
It is in the Lord’s righteousness that we are delivered and rescued. This is what we are called to seek. Just as the widow at Zarephath received the Lord’s blessing, just as Naaman the Syrian received the Lord’s healing; we are to call on the Lord our God by God’s righteousness not our own. It is easy for us to focus on the miraculous. Worship of God who does great acts is glorious. But we are called to seek the greater gifts, the greater truth of how the Lord Jesus reveals himself, not how we reveal him.
[1] The New Interpreter’s Study Bible
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Homily for Marie Bolerjack
Marie Bolerjack was born on June 12, 1927 in Quay Oklahoma. She departed this live on Friday January 22, 2010 at the age of 82. She is survived by her husband Austin, sons Stewart, David, Byrum, and Nathan along with a slew of children and grandchildren.
She was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville and this homily was said at her funeral on Wednesday January 27, 2010 at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville.
Matthew 7:1-5
Luke 10:25-28
Marie once told me this story:
She, Austin and the kids were going from Mississippi to Oklahoma to visit family. It was the mid 1960’s and the boys were still pretty young. Could you just imagine the four boys, Stewart, David, Byrum, and Nathan, together in the back of the car with no air conditioning and the windows rolled down on a steamy summer day rolling into the Arkansas River valley? I can just hear somebody scream “Stop touching me!” even now.
Well, it was noonish when they hit Little Rock and the kids were hungry. Austin and Marie didn’t want to pull off the highway in downtown Little Rock, and who did in the mid ‘60’s. So Marie promised the boys that they would get some lunch as soon as they got past the city. Four hot, hungry, cranky boys in cut-offs that aren’t cut-off to the same length with matching buzz cuts; that alone should qualify Marie and Austin for “Parent of the Year.”
Well, being the mid 60’s there wasn’t one or six fast food places at every exit, so they ended up traveling quite a way before finding a little diner. They pulled up, parked the car, and got out of the car; and I bet the boys were cheering as they went to the door. By now, it’s a little after one in the afternoon, they go into the diner and Marie asks if they are still serving lunch. The black woman behind the counter says “Sure, c’mon in, take a seat.”
As the afternoon goes on, one at a time, several men, all black, come into the diner. They walk up to the woman at the counter and whisper a question. The woman answers and they leave. After this happens two or three times, it occurs to Marie that they are in a “Blacks Only” café—with Mississippi tags on the vehicle. Oh. “But you know,” Marie says, “nobody made us feel uncomfortable. We had a nice lunch and got back on the road.”
Now I ask you; isn’t that exactly what you would expect of the matriarch, the grand dame of Clan Bolerjack? In the middle of the ‘60’s, in the midst of civil unrest and race riots, not ten years after the Little Rock Police Department and the US Army 327th Airborne were called in to integrate Little Rock Central High School, Marie integrates a diner. This may sound absurd, but in 1960’s Central Arkansas, it takes a lady to do that kind of work, and Marie Bolerjack is just that lady.
She and Austin not only raised these four wonderful men, they raised a small herd of young men and women. She shared a mother’s love with the world, a love that was unconditional, without bounds or limits. Nobody had to earn her love, she gave it freely.
Marie never knew a stranger. There was never a stray in her house. When I said this the other day, one of the boys laughed saying “We were all strays.” Maybe we are, but as far as Marie was concerned, there were only loved ones. We were all her children as we are all children of God.
One of Marie’s favorite bible passages was, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” She knew that this meant that it was up to God to judge, not us. So while she was not a fan of bad behavior, she knew that she and we were and are reliant on God’s grace and peace. And she knew by God’s grace and peace that it was up to her to share the love of God with everyone.
She knew this was God’s hesed, God’s agape—words that came from a bible study she participated in not so long ago. These words are the ancient Hebrew and Greek words used to describe God’s love for creation. She knew that it was up to her to share God’s love with the world. She knew this was God’s call on her life because she knew that it was as important to share as it was to receive God’s grace, peace, and love.
In Luke 10:25, a lawyer, a Scribe asks, “Teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life?” The lawyers, the scribes were experts in the law, they knew what scripture said. I once heard that no lawyer worth their salt ever asks a question they don’t know the answer to, and Jesus was counting on this. So Jesus asks him back, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” The Scribe answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
The reason we are all here today is because we know that Marie lived her life by just these words. She followed the law not just in word, but also in deed. She knew the words of scripture; she knew that she was saved by grace though faith. She knew for sure that a vibrant faith in the living God is about receiving and sharing God’s steadfast love, God’s good grace with those around her.
Jesus responded to the lawyer’s answer saying, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” By the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, in God’s love Marie lived the answer to this question and continues eternal life still today.
She loved God and her neighbor. And we who are here today bear witness; her life has borne glorious fruit. By those she has loved and by those who love her, the fruit of her life continues to thrive and will continue to thrive far, far into the future.
The 121st Psalm is a psalm of trust and confidence in God; assuring pilgrims on the way to and from Zion of God’s constant protection. The question raised in the first verse “I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where is my help to come?” is answered beginning with “My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”
She knew and lived the words of the Psalmist through her life and her acts. She knew the Lord kept her and keeps us all. The Lord keeps our lives from this time and forevermore. And she responded to the gracious love and protection of the Lord our God in acts of boldness, love, and mercy. She knew that it was up to her to share God’s love with the world. She knew this was God’s call in her life. She knew it was as important to share as it was to receive God’s grace, peace, and love.
By grace through faith in our risen Lord Jesus Christ, she rests with Him today in glory.
She was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville and this homily was said at her funeral on Wednesday January 27, 2010 at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville.
Matthew 7:1-5
Luke 10:25-28
Marie once told me this story:
She, Austin and the kids were going from Mississippi to Oklahoma to visit family. It was the mid 1960’s and the boys were still pretty young. Could you just imagine the four boys, Stewart, David, Byrum, and Nathan, together in the back of the car with no air conditioning and the windows rolled down on a steamy summer day rolling into the Arkansas River valley? I can just hear somebody scream “Stop touching me!” even now.
Well, it was noonish when they hit Little Rock and the kids were hungry. Austin and Marie didn’t want to pull off the highway in downtown Little Rock, and who did in the mid ‘60’s. So Marie promised the boys that they would get some lunch as soon as they got past the city. Four hot, hungry, cranky boys in cut-offs that aren’t cut-off to the same length with matching buzz cuts; that alone should qualify Marie and Austin for “Parent of the Year.”
Well, being the mid 60’s there wasn’t one or six fast food places at every exit, so they ended up traveling quite a way before finding a little diner. They pulled up, parked the car, and got out of the car; and I bet the boys were cheering as they went to the door. By now, it’s a little after one in the afternoon, they go into the diner and Marie asks if they are still serving lunch. The black woman behind the counter says “Sure, c’mon in, take a seat.”
As the afternoon goes on, one at a time, several men, all black, come into the diner. They walk up to the woman at the counter and whisper a question. The woman answers and they leave. After this happens two or three times, it occurs to Marie that they are in a “Blacks Only” café—with Mississippi tags on the vehicle. Oh. “But you know,” Marie says, “nobody made us feel uncomfortable. We had a nice lunch and got back on the road.”
Now I ask you; isn’t that exactly what you would expect of the matriarch, the grand dame of Clan Bolerjack? In the middle of the ‘60’s, in the midst of civil unrest and race riots, not ten years after the Little Rock Police Department and the US Army 327th Airborne were called in to integrate Little Rock Central High School, Marie integrates a diner. This may sound absurd, but in 1960’s Central Arkansas, it takes a lady to do that kind of work, and Marie Bolerjack is just that lady.
She and Austin not only raised these four wonderful men, they raised a small herd of young men and women. She shared a mother’s love with the world, a love that was unconditional, without bounds or limits. Nobody had to earn her love, she gave it freely.
Marie never knew a stranger. There was never a stray in her house. When I said this the other day, one of the boys laughed saying “We were all strays.” Maybe we are, but as far as Marie was concerned, there were only loved ones. We were all her children as we are all children of God.
One of Marie’s favorite bible passages was, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” She knew that this meant that it was up to God to judge, not us. So while she was not a fan of bad behavior, she knew that she and we were and are reliant on God’s grace and peace. And she knew by God’s grace and peace that it was up to her to share the love of God with everyone.
She knew this was God’s hesed, God’s agape—words that came from a bible study she participated in not so long ago. These words are the ancient Hebrew and Greek words used to describe God’s love for creation. She knew that it was up to her to share God’s love with the world. She knew this was God’s call on her life because she knew that it was as important to share as it was to receive God’s grace, peace, and love.
In Luke 10:25, a lawyer, a Scribe asks, “Teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life?” The lawyers, the scribes were experts in the law, they knew what scripture said. I once heard that no lawyer worth their salt ever asks a question they don’t know the answer to, and Jesus was counting on this. So Jesus asks him back, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” The Scribe answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
The reason we are all here today is because we know that Marie lived her life by just these words. She followed the law not just in word, but also in deed. She knew the words of scripture; she knew that she was saved by grace though faith. She knew for sure that a vibrant faith in the living God is about receiving and sharing God’s steadfast love, God’s good grace with those around her.
Jesus responded to the lawyer’s answer saying, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” By the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, in God’s love Marie lived the answer to this question and continues eternal life still today.
She loved God and her neighbor. And we who are here today bear witness; her life has borne glorious fruit. By those she has loved and by those who love her, the fruit of her life continues to thrive and will continue to thrive far, far into the future.
The 121st Psalm is a psalm of trust and confidence in God; assuring pilgrims on the way to and from Zion of God’s constant protection. The question raised in the first verse “I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where is my help to come?” is answered beginning with “My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”
She knew and lived the words of the Psalmist through her life and her acts. She knew the Lord kept her and keeps us all. The Lord keeps our lives from this time and forevermore. And she responded to the gracious love and protection of the Lord our God in acts of boldness, love, and mercy. She knew that it was up to her to share God’s love with the world. She knew this was God’s call in her life. She knew it was as important to share as it was to receive God’s grace, peace, and love.
By grace through faith in our risen Lord Jesus Christ, she rests with Him today in glory.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
As a Matter of Fact...
This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday January 24, 2010, the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Luke 4:14-21
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Last week we read from the Gospel of John, the wedding at Cana; the wonderful and glorious story of Jesus’ first public miracle. From this act we get the expression “turning water into wine,” a phrase we use to show the transformation of something common into something extraordinary, something holy. By this miracle, may we never think of the ordinary as ordinary ever again, in God’s capable hands all things, especially the most common, are holy.
Today, we read Luke’s version of the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus returns from the desert where he was tempted by the devil. The temptations he is offered come in the form of taking the easy way out. Jesus is offered sustenance, power, and protection if he just does as the devil tempts. Resisting these temptations, the devil retreats until what Luke calls, “an opportune time.”
So Jesus returns to Galilee where his teaching was praised by everyone. Now let’s remember that Jesus had just spent forty days in the desert. Unless the Holy Spirit gave Jesus a spa day as a reward for resisting temptation, when Jesus came into Galilee, he looked like a man who had just spent forty days in the wilderness.
He would have been sunburned and windblown. His face would be peeling from the blisters of the exposure he received and his hair would have been flying wildly from his head, his beard shaggy even by first century standards. His clothes and sandals would have had enough sand whipped through them that when he walked he would look like Pigpen from the “Peanuts” comics. Shaking out his cloak, he could generate his own dust storm.
So looking maniacal, this wild man, looking like he was wearing the “John the Baptist” Halloween costume; he came to Galilee filled with the power of the Spirit where his teaching was praised by everyone. I imagine the look brought people to the synagogue the first time to hear him speak, but it was what he taught that kept them coming back.
So Jesus returns home for the first time since his baptism and his time in the desert. He returns for the first time since he began this chapter of his teaching ministry. I say “this chapter” because as we noted a couple of weeks ago, at the age of twelve Jesus amazed all who heard him at the temple, his Father’s house, with his understanding and his answers. This may not be his first rodeo, but it is the first at his hometown synagogue since his baptism.
As with our service today, the ancient synagogue service had its own particular liturgy. There is an order of service not unlike the one we follow today. In the day, it was not uncommon for the leader of the synagogue to ask or appoint readers and teachers before the service began. Jesus, the one whose teachings are praised by everyone, is invited to read by the head of the synagogue. So he stands up and this is what he reads:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
Then he sits, as is the tradition of the teacher in the synagogue, and he says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus reads one of the prophecies from the book of Isaiah which announces the Messiah, the Anointed. Using the word which comes to us through the Greeks, this is how Isaiah introduces the Christ. Luke, using these very words, formally introduces Jesus and his ministry to the world.
Imagine what’s going to happen next in Luke’s gospel. On TV they call this a cliff-hanger and like on TV, we’ll see how the synagogue responds to Jesus’ words next week.
I want to add a historical comment here. Scholars debate about whether or not in this time there were scheduled readings for a particular day’s service, what we call a lectionary. I mention this boring little fact because of the question it raises about the reading selection. When Jesus came forward to read, one of two things happened, either he specifically asked for the Isaiah scroll to read this very piece, or this scroll was already prepared for the reader before worship began.
I side with the scholars who believe this was a lectionary reading, a reading planned by the ruler of the synagogue or chosen by the scribes in the temple. Not so much because of the quality of scholarship or the arguments of professors and theologians and folks with an alphabet soup following their names; M.Div., D.Min., Ph.D., ASPCA, MOUSE, you get the idea. No, I like it because of what it says about Jesus.
What draws me to this conclusion is that if Jesus specifically chose the reading of this piece, it would mean that it was his intention to drop a bomb on those who came to listen. At this moment in his ministry, I just don’t see Jesus as being so brazen as to draw attention to himself this way. Jesus never seemed like the “Hey, look at me” kid on the playground hanging upside down from the swing set.
Yet I do believe that if handed the scripture to be read, and being called upon to interpret it, he would share the Good News with the people of Nazareth. After being given this to read, I do believe Jesus would say to the world, “As a matter of fact, yes, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.
This is the Messiah, the Christ sharing the Good News with the people of Nazareth and with all creation. Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. In this place, in this time, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to bring good news to the poor. Jesus has been sent to proclaim release to the captives. Don’t you just know Jesus was talking about more captivity than just county jail? Don’t we know he was talking about physical and personal prisons when he talked about recovery of sight to the blind and letting the oppressed go free?
This is how Jesus presents himself to the world, proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor, as the embodiment of the Lord’s favor.
On December third of last year, Carolyn Gains left this earth. Just a few days earlier, both Marie’s—Bolerjack and Andresen—and I went to the nursing home to see her. We had just finished our prayer group meeting and we went for a chat. There was her many pictures. There were cards and a poinsettia. Her life surrounded her in that little cube, a room she truly did not like. As homey as a nursing home could be, it was. But it wasn’t home, not by a long shot.
We all knew Carolyn loved to sing. She loved to study. She led worship here often. Carolyn served as an Elder on the Session of this church. She laughed. She loved. And her body failed her every step of the way.
I am not going to say that her passing was a good thing. Those words are just too brutal and tactless for my tastes. I will say that it is a joy that she is now with her heavenly Father. The pain that she experienced because her joints had failed her for so long has now ended. She has been released from that captivity. She now is dancing in heaven, her heavenly body joining her heavenly voice singing of the new day of the Lord for the glory of God.
The day before yesterday we came to know another loss; the loss of a wife, a mother, a mother-in-law, a grandmother, a surrogate mother and a wonderful friend to many. We lost an Elder, regular member of the nominating committee, and a saint of the Church. I heard of Marie Bolerjack’s death at about 10:30 Friday morning. Getting ready to head to Fayetteville, I stopped by the office and that was where I got Pam’s message. For me, time stood still. Pam told me that she told my Marie, so I knew that I had to get home and be with her.
And my grief next that of the Bolerjack family pales.
Today, I know I need to say something about Marie, but finding what to say and how to say it is difficult. Her importance to her family and to this community, to this part of the Body of Christ will not fade for a long, long time. As we celebrate her life, and her love for all creatures great and small, if I were to say that “God needed another angel so He called Marie home,” if I were to say that I would expect a slap to the face, a hard punch to the stomach, and a kick in the shins. We are richer for her presence in our lives, not for the loss.
So we ask ourselves what Jesus means when he tells us here today that he brings good news to the poor, because today we are poorer. Today our hearts are bound by sorrow that cries for release. Marie’s joyful life was filled with love of her family and friends; for her church and especially for her Lord. To Marie, the Good News of Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be real and vibrant.
Friends, here’s the Good News of Jesus Christ; the Good News brought to us, the release that comes from the Lord, the healing of our eyes so that God may be seen, the oppression that is conquered so that freedom can be lived in God’s sight; this promise, this freedom, this year of the Lord’s favor is upon us.
Our reading from Corinthians reminds us that when one member suffers, all suffer together; when one member is honored all rejoice together. Wonderfully, gloriously, Marie Bolerjack lived the glory of new life in Jesus Christ every day. She reveled in her Lord and Savior. I can think of nobody who displayed the grace of the Almighty like she did. She knew no stranger; she shared life in Christ with all creation.
Marie lived a life of grace, peace, and joy in the Lord. Our sadness, our mourning is real. Attempts to mask our sadness are a disguise. Still, the Spirit of the Lord is upon Jesus, he has been anointed so that we, we who love Marie, so that we may be set free from our sadness and released into the Lord’s favor. As in our reading from Nehemiah, the joy of the Lord is the source of our strength. It is by this strength that our grief is removed.
Remembering Carolyn and Marie, remembering these wonderful women, these saints of the church; we are reminded that the glory of the Good News is that as we mourn and as we celebrate the lives of these wonderful women, we are called to share in the Good News of Jesus Christ. It is by his stripes, by the truth that he shared that day at the synagogue in Nazareth, that we will be healed.
We will be set free from all sorrow. From all chains, we will be unbound. In all joy, we will come together and celebrate the saints who have gone before us and await both the presence and the coming of the year of the Lord’s favor. It is by our sorrow and by our joy in the Lord Jesus Christ that we are transformed, like the water into wine, into the children God wants us to be. In this passage Jesus described to the people of Nazareth how he has come to them. And as a matter of fact, by the power of the Holy Spirit this scripture continues to be fulfilled on our hearing.
Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Luke 4:14-21
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Last week we read from the Gospel of John, the wedding at Cana; the wonderful and glorious story of Jesus’ first public miracle. From this act we get the expression “turning water into wine,” a phrase we use to show the transformation of something common into something extraordinary, something holy. By this miracle, may we never think of the ordinary as ordinary ever again, in God’s capable hands all things, especially the most common, are holy.
Today, we read Luke’s version of the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus returns from the desert where he was tempted by the devil. The temptations he is offered come in the form of taking the easy way out. Jesus is offered sustenance, power, and protection if he just does as the devil tempts. Resisting these temptations, the devil retreats until what Luke calls, “an opportune time.”
So Jesus returns to Galilee where his teaching was praised by everyone. Now let’s remember that Jesus had just spent forty days in the desert. Unless the Holy Spirit gave Jesus a spa day as a reward for resisting temptation, when Jesus came into Galilee, he looked like a man who had just spent forty days in the wilderness.
He would have been sunburned and windblown. His face would be peeling from the blisters of the exposure he received and his hair would have been flying wildly from his head, his beard shaggy even by first century standards. His clothes and sandals would have had enough sand whipped through them that when he walked he would look like Pigpen from the “Peanuts” comics. Shaking out his cloak, he could generate his own dust storm.
So looking maniacal, this wild man, looking like he was wearing the “John the Baptist” Halloween costume; he came to Galilee filled with the power of the Spirit where his teaching was praised by everyone. I imagine the look brought people to the synagogue the first time to hear him speak, but it was what he taught that kept them coming back.
So Jesus returns home for the first time since his baptism and his time in the desert. He returns for the first time since he began this chapter of his teaching ministry. I say “this chapter” because as we noted a couple of weeks ago, at the age of twelve Jesus amazed all who heard him at the temple, his Father’s house, with his understanding and his answers. This may not be his first rodeo, but it is the first at his hometown synagogue since his baptism.
As with our service today, the ancient synagogue service had its own particular liturgy. There is an order of service not unlike the one we follow today. In the day, it was not uncommon for the leader of the synagogue to ask or appoint readers and teachers before the service began. Jesus, the one whose teachings are praised by everyone, is invited to read by the head of the synagogue. So he stands up and this is what he reads:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
Then he sits, as is the tradition of the teacher in the synagogue, and he says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus reads one of the prophecies from the book of Isaiah which announces the Messiah, the Anointed. Using the word which comes to us through the Greeks, this is how Isaiah introduces the Christ. Luke, using these very words, formally introduces Jesus and his ministry to the world.
Imagine what’s going to happen next in Luke’s gospel. On TV they call this a cliff-hanger and like on TV, we’ll see how the synagogue responds to Jesus’ words next week.
I want to add a historical comment here. Scholars debate about whether or not in this time there were scheduled readings for a particular day’s service, what we call a lectionary. I mention this boring little fact because of the question it raises about the reading selection. When Jesus came forward to read, one of two things happened, either he specifically asked for the Isaiah scroll to read this very piece, or this scroll was already prepared for the reader before worship began.
I side with the scholars who believe this was a lectionary reading, a reading planned by the ruler of the synagogue or chosen by the scribes in the temple. Not so much because of the quality of scholarship or the arguments of professors and theologians and folks with an alphabet soup following their names; M.Div., D.Min., Ph.D., ASPCA, MOUSE, you get the idea. No, I like it because of what it says about Jesus.
What draws me to this conclusion is that if Jesus specifically chose the reading of this piece, it would mean that it was his intention to drop a bomb on those who came to listen. At this moment in his ministry, I just don’t see Jesus as being so brazen as to draw attention to himself this way. Jesus never seemed like the “Hey, look at me” kid on the playground hanging upside down from the swing set.
Yet I do believe that if handed the scripture to be read, and being called upon to interpret it, he would share the Good News with the people of Nazareth. After being given this to read, I do believe Jesus would say to the world, “As a matter of fact, yes, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.
This is the Messiah, the Christ sharing the Good News with the people of Nazareth and with all creation. Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. In this place, in this time, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to bring good news to the poor. Jesus has been sent to proclaim release to the captives. Don’t you just know Jesus was talking about more captivity than just county jail? Don’t we know he was talking about physical and personal prisons when he talked about recovery of sight to the blind and letting the oppressed go free?
This is how Jesus presents himself to the world, proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor, as the embodiment of the Lord’s favor.
On December third of last year, Carolyn Gains left this earth. Just a few days earlier, both Marie’s—Bolerjack and Andresen—and I went to the nursing home to see her. We had just finished our prayer group meeting and we went for a chat. There was her many pictures. There were cards and a poinsettia. Her life surrounded her in that little cube, a room she truly did not like. As homey as a nursing home could be, it was. But it wasn’t home, not by a long shot.
We all knew Carolyn loved to sing. She loved to study. She led worship here often. Carolyn served as an Elder on the Session of this church. She laughed. She loved. And her body failed her every step of the way.
I am not going to say that her passing was a good thing. Those words are just too brutal and tactless for my tastes. I will say that it is a joy that she is now with her heavenly Father. The pain that she experienced because her joints had failed her for so long has now ended. She has been released from that captivity. She now is dancing in heaven, her heavenly body joining her heavenly voice singing of the new day of the Lord for the glory of God.
The day before yesterday we came to know another loss; the loss of a wife, a mother, a mother-in-law, a grandmother, a surrogate mother and a wonderful friend to many. We lost an Elder, regular member of the nominating committee, and a saint of the Church. I heard of Marie Bolerjack’s death at about 10:30 Friday morning. Getting ready to head to Fayetteville, I stopped by the office and that was where I got Pam’s message. For me, time stood still. Pam told me that she told my Marie, so I knew that I had to get home and be with her.
And my grief next that of the Bolerjack family pales.
Today, I know I need to say something about Marie, but finding what to say and how to say it is difficult. Her importance to her family and to this community, to this part of the Body of Christ will not fade for a long, long time. As we celebrate her life, and her love for all creatures great and small, if I were to say that “God needed another angel so He called Marie home,” if I were to say that I would expect a slap to the face, a hard punch to the stomach, and a kick in the shins. We are richer for her presence in our lives, not for the loss.
So we ask ourselves what Jesus means when he tells us here today that he brings good news to the poor, because today we are poorer. Today our hearts are bound by sorrow that cries for release. Marie’s joyful life was filled with love of her family and friends; for her church and especially for her Lord. To Marie, the Good News of Jesus Christ was, is, and always will be real and vibrant.
Friends, here’s the Good News of Jesus Christ; the Good News brought to us, the release that comes from the Lord, the healing of our eyes so that God may be seen, the oppression that is conquered so that freedom can be lived in God’s sight; this promise, this freedom, this year of the Lord’s favor is upon us.
Our reading from Corinthians reminds us that when one member suffers, all suffer together; when one member is honored all rejoice together. Wonderfully, gloriously, Marie Bolerjack lived the glory of new life in Jesus Christ every day. She reveled in her Lord and Savior. I can think of nobody who displayed the grace of the Almighty like she did. She knew no stranger; she shared life in Christ with all creation.
Marie lived a life of grace, peace, and joy in the Lord. Our sadness, our mourning is real. Attempts to mask our sadness are a disguise. Still, the Spirit of the Lord is upon Jesus, he has been anointed so that we, we who love Marie, so that we may be set free from our sadness and released into the Lord’s favor. As in our reading from Nehemiah, the joy of the Lord is the source of our strength. It is by this strength that our grief is removed.
Remembering Carolyn and Marie, remembering these wonderful women, these saints of the church; we are reminded that the glory of the Good News is that as we mourn and as we celebrate the lives of these wonderful women, we are called to share in the Good News of Jesus Christ. It is by his stripes, by the truth that he shared that day at the synagogue in Nazareth, that we will be healed.
We will be set free from all sorrow. From all chains, we will be unbound. In all joy, we will come together and celebrate the saints who have gone before us and await both the presence and the coming of the year of the Lord’s favor. It is by our sorrow and by our joy in the Lord Jesus Christ that we are transformed, like the water into wine, into the children God wants us to be. In this passage Jesus described to the people of Nazareth how he has come to them. And as a matter of fact, by the power of the Holy Spirit this scripture continues to be fulfilled on our hearing.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Wedding Presence
This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday January 17, 2010, the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 36:5-10
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
It was nearly fourteen years ago, but I can still remember Marie and me planning our wedding. I proposed on November 30th at the First Presbyterian Church in Lamar, Colorado after decorating the church for Advent. One of the things we decided to do that Christmas was to go and visit both of our families. We knew it would be a fiasco, er… adventure, and if we did it once we figured we would never have to do it again. So we went.
Working at the college, I had some time off, but Marie’s job at the travel agency put us on a tight schedule. We left her apartment in Colorado Springs heading toward central Missouri after lunch on Christmas Eve. Getting on the road, Marie smiled at me and brought out her wedding planner book and said, “I’ve got you where I want you!” and we started making wedding plans.
Of course among our plans were the plans for the wedding reception, a wonderful luncheon affair. Marie and I planned carefully. We made sure to take nut allergies into account. We went with beef, chicken, and vegetarian options for the main course and as a former bar manager, I made sure there was enough wine and beer to go around. It’s a dirty job, but hey …
In this way there is very little difference between our wedding and the wedding in Cana. Family came and celebrated. To make sure the guests were taken care of, there was a steward. Jesus even showed up for both weddings, thanks be to God. The biggest difference? The biggest difference is that in the ancient Middle East the wedding reception could go on for days and days long into the nights. Our reception ended by the time the daily 3:30 thundershower paid its scheduled visit to Colorado Springs.
So while the hospitality responsibilities were similar, in the ancient of days the bridegroom’s responsibility was far more extensive than ours. Further, the expectations of his hospitality were far greater too. The offering and accepting of the invitation to the wedding was more than an invitation to a celebration. The marriage celebration contained an implicit social contract as well.
The prospect of offering hospitality to a guest, traveler, or sojourner often formed long term reciprocal relationships. One of the most ancient scriptural examples of this is from Genesis where Abraham welcomes the three travelers and demands they stay for a meal. In return, one of the men blessed Abraham, promising that when he passed by in the next year they would have a son. Of course Abraham was described as old and Sarah as well beyond child bearing age; so this promise to the childless couple brought with it miraculous implications; implications that were fulfilled with the birth of Isaac.
So when we read about the end of the wine at the wedding in Cana, we aren’t reading about a gaffe, a social blunder that the society page of the paper will pooh-pooh in next Saturday’s edition. We read of a major breech of cultural and social taboos that will endanger the new couple’s status in the community for a long time to come. After failing with your marriage ceremony, it will be a long, long time before your neighbors will trust you with any important community responsibility.
We know the rest of the story. Jesus argues with his mom that it isn’t his responsibility to go to the liquor store and get more wine. He even barks at his mother when she suggests it. “Woman, what concern is that to you and me?” He does give his reason though, “My hour has not yet come.” Jesus doesn’t seem so concerned because it’s not his time yet, and he’s right of course. We’ll come to his time in a few weeks on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. So really, it isn’t his time yet. But it is the meantime, and what should he do in the meantime?
Well, what ever he does, his mother has prepared the waiters to follow his lead.
When he does act, it is not just to do enough, Jesus goes the extra mile. He doesn’t create a bunch of box wine for the wedding party, his gift to the happy couple and to all creation is the best wine ever.
Giving good gifts is important, and it is important for us that the Lord God is the giver of the greatest gifts. The Lord has given us his Son, Jesus Christ. It is the relationship between our heavenly Father and the Son which we receive. We also receive the relationship between the fully human and fully divine Jesus who is the Messiah. And the Holy Spirit comes from them.
In the Holy Trinity and in their eternal dance we are received into their relationship. We see the union between father and son. We see the union between humanity and divinity within one individual and between God and humanity. We see the union between the three who are not just three individuals but are one God revealed three distinct and inseparable ways. In God and in God’s relationship with us, we become a part of the dance. By God’s grace through faith, we receive this, the greatest gift of all.
This gift is followed by more gifts, the gifts of the Spirit mentioned here in 1Corinthians. And while there are many gifts, there is only one who gives them. There are many different types of service, but only one Lord. There are many different types of activities, but only one God who activates them. According to scripture, each of us is gifted, but there is only one who gives such wondrous gifts.
Yet the gifts God gives are not only the charismatic signs; the gift is in the work done with the gift as well. We are joined to God in three persons for more than just the joy of being connected to God. This joining is glorious, but it’s not all. Our Prayer of Illumination this morning helps show us what this connection means to us individually and as the church of Christ:
Your Son turned water into wine,
delighting all who were there.
Transforming our hearts by your Spirit
that we may use our varied gifts
to show forth the light of your love
as one body in Christ.
We are joined in union with the Lord not just for our piety; we are joined to be God’s instruments in the redemption of all creation. We are to be transformed by the Spirit not just to accept God’s good gifts, but to benefit all God has created and continues to create. We are to shine God’s love not just as a million points of light, but as the one body in Christ.
Using the marriage passage from our Isaiah reading, scholars point to the union between the bride and groom in this passage as a model for the way we are to respond in union with God. Marriage is the model of the re-ordering of humanity into its original state, the state known before the fall. This coupling between bride and groom represents the relationship between the Heavenly Father and the Holy Son, between the two natures of Christ, between the three persons of the Trinity, and between God and us. It is this coupling; it is all of these couplings that Jesus celebrates in Cana with the greatest vintage known.
It’s also kind of cool that there is a “Lone Ranger/Who was that masked man?” quality to the whole thing. No one knew where the wine came from; the steward complements the bridegroom on bringing out such great wine. But, the steward may also be wondering if the bridegroom isn’t casting pearls before drunks. Why wait so long to bring out the good stuff?
Why wait indeed? This is the first of his signs in Cana. You gotta start somewhere.
You gotta start somewhere.
God chose humanity long ago and continues to choose us today. This is where God starts and has always started. As foreboding as this sounds, here’s the good news, all are gifted. Paul was writing to the church when he said each is gifted. He did not say the pastor is gifted. He did not say the Elders are gifted. He said each is gifted as the Spirit chooses. And the gifts are given to the church for the common good. The Spiritual gifts are given this way; the Spirit gives the church the necessary gifts and they are given for an intended purpose. If misused, they are not effective, but when God gives a gift and it is used as God wills, the gift is perfect.
The Spirit then makes people capable of using the gift putting us in places to use the gifts. Not only are all gifted, but the Spirit prepares us, enables us to use those gifts. If this seems difficult, don’t worry. If Jesus can change water to wine, imagine what he can do with us.
In this part of the body of Christ, I see people pray, and sing, and play. I have seen people serving at times of joy and times of grief. I have seen people act with great compassion, and most of the time this isn’t done by active session members, it is done by members acting with might exercising the gifts of the spirit to fortify the church and to glorify God. The gifts are given to the entire church for the world by God for God’s glory.
This is not unlike the servants at the banquet. While their roles seem quite limited, they were in direct service to Jesus, delivering the fruit of his first public miracle. Imagine the banquet master: Not only did he announce the miracle; he announced it to the groom with joy and bravado. But he makes the announcement with qualification; the gift will not be fully appreciated by those who receive it. This reigns true for us today. We receive gifts that we don’t expect or don’t recognize—and we aren’t fully aware of what they are, or their value, or what to do with them. But Jesus accounts for this. He knew the wine would be perfect and he knew it would not be properly appreciated. And he gave, Jesus gave.
It reassures me that Jesus seemed reluctant to exercise his power. When his mother tells him there is no more wine, he asks, “What’s that to you and to me?” Then he tells his mother that it’s not his time, not yet. Yet his mother persists, telling the servers to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. Then he exercises the power and miracles happen.
When we use the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are able to do so much more than we can without these gifts. We can do miracles. They may not even be noticed. They certainly may not be appreciated on earth, but when they are exercised, miracles happen for the glory of God, not just by the ordained, but from all members of the church. Not just for the church, but for all of creation.
Just as the banquet master proclaimed this wine to be the best, we must glorify the name of the one who provides the wine, and all that the wine represents. The gifts are important, what we do with them is also important, and thanking the one who gives them is vital.
Isaiah 62:1-5
Psalm 36:5-10
1 Corinthians 12:1-11
John 2:1-11
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
It was nearly fourteen years ago, but I can still remember Marie and me planning our wedding. I proposed on November 30th at the First Presbyterian Church in Lamar, Colorado after decorating the church for Advent. One of the things we decided to do that Christmas was to go and visit both of our families. We knew it would be a fiasco, er… adventure, and if we did it once we figured we would never have to do it again. So we went.
Working at the college, I had some time off, but Marie’s job at the travel agency put us on a tight schedule. We left her apartment in Colorado Springs heading toward central Missouri after lunch on Christmas Eve. Getting on the road, Marie smiled at me and brought out her wedding planner book and said, “I’ve got you where I want you!” and we started making wedding plans.
Of course among our plans were the plans for the wedding reception, a wonderful luncheon affair. Marie and I planned carefully. We made sure to take nut allergies into account. We went with beef, chicken, and vegetarian options for the main course and as a former bar manager, I made sure there was enough wine and beer to go around. It’s a dirty job, but hey …
In this way there is very little difference between our wedding and the wedding in Cana. Family came and celebrated. To make sure the guests were taken care of, there was a steward. Jesus even showed up for both weddings, thanks be to God. The biggest difference? The biggest difference is that in the ancient Middle East the wedding reception could go on for days and days long into the nights. Our reception ended by the time the daily 3:30 thundershower paid its scheduled visit to Colorado Springs.
So while the hospitality responsibilities were similar, in the ancient of days the bridegroom’s responsibility was far more extensive than ours. Further, the expectations of his hospitality were far greater too. The offering and accepting of the invitation to the wedding was more than an invitation to a celebration. The marriage celebration contained an implicit social contract as well.
The prospect of offering hospitality to a guest, traveler, or sojourner often formed long term reciprocal relationships. One of the most ancient scriptural examples of this is from Genesis where Abraham welcomes the three travelers and demands they stay for a meal. In return, one of the men blessed Abraham, promising that when he passed by in the next year they would have a son. Of course Abraham was described as old and Sarah as well beyond child bearing age; so this promise to the childless couple brought with it miraculous implications; implications that were fulfilled with the birth of Isaac.
So when we read about the end of the wine at the wedding in Cana, we aren’t reading about a gaffe, a social blunder that the society page of the paper will pooh-pooh in next Saturday’s edition. We read of a major breech of cultural and social taboos that will endanger the new couple’s status in the community for a long time to come. After failing with your marriage ceremony, it will be a long, long time before your neighbors will trust you with any important community responsibility.
We know the rest of the story. Jesus argues with his mom that it isn’t his responsibility to go to the liquor store and get more wine. He even barks at his mother when she suggests it. “Woman, what concern is that to you and me?” He does give his reason though, “My hour has not yet come.” Jesus doesn’t seem so concerned because it’s not his time yet, and he’s right of course. We’ll come to his time in a few weeks on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. So really, it isn’t his time yet. But it is the meantime, and what should he do in the meantime?
Well, what ever he does, his mother has prepared the waiters to follow his lead.
When he does act, it is not just to do enough, Jesus goes the extra mile. He doesn’t create a bunch of box wine for the wedding party, his gift to the happy couple and to all creation is the best wine ever.
Giving good gifts is important, and it is important for us that the Lord God is the giver of the greatest gifts. The Lord has given us his Son, Jesus Christ. It is the relationship between our heavenly Father and the Son which we receive. We also receive the relationship between the fully human and fully divine Jesus who is the Messiah. And the Holy Spirit comes from them.
In the Holy Trinity and in their eternal dance we are received into their relationship. We see the union between father and son. We see the union between humanity and divinity within one individual and between God and humanity. We see the union between the three who are not just three individuals but are one God revealed three distinct and inseparable ways. In God and in God’s relationship with us, we become a part of the dance. By God’s grace through faith, we receive this, the greatest gift of all.
This gift is followed by more gifts, the gifts of the Spirit mentioned here in 1Corinthians. And while there are many gifts, there is only one who gives them. There are many different types of service, but only one Lord. There are many different types of activities, but only one God who activates them. According to scripture, each of us is gifted, but there is only one who gives such wondrous gifts.
Yet the gifts God gives are not only the charismatic signs; the gift is in the work done with the gift as well. We are joined to God in three persons for more than just the joy of being connected to God. This joining is glorious, but it’s not all. Our Prayer of Illumination this morning helps show us what this connection means to us individually and as the church of Christ:
Your Son turned water into wine,
delighting all who were there.
Transforming our hearts by your Spirit
that we may use our varied gifts
to show forth the light of your love
as one body in Christ.
We are joined in union with the Lord not just for our piety; we are joined to be God’s instruments in the redemption of all creation. We are to be transformed by the Spirit not just to accept God’s good gifts, but to benefit all God has created and continues to create. We are to shine God’s love not just as a million points of light, but as the one body in Christ.
Using the marriage passage from our Isaiah reading, scholars point to the union between the bride and groom in this passage as a model for the way we are to respond in union with God. Marriage is the model of the re-ordering of humanity into its original state, the state known before the fall. This coupling between bride and groom represents the relationship between the Heavenly Father and the Holy Son, between the two natures of Christ, between the three persons of the Trinity, and between God and us. It is this coupling; it is all of these couplings that Jesus celebrates in Cana with the greatest vintage known.
It’s also kind of cool that there is a “Lone Ranger/Who was that masked man?” quality to the whole thing. No one knew where the wine came from; the steward complements the bridegroom on bringing out such great wine. But, the steward may also be wondering if the bridegroom isn’t casting pearls before drunks. Why wait so long to bring out the good stuff?
Why wait indeed? This is the first of his signs in Cana. You gotta start somewhere.
You gotta start somewhere.
God chose humanity long ago and continues to choose us today. This is where God starts and has always started. As foreboding as this sounds, here’s the good news, all are gifted. Paul was writing to the church when he said each is gifted. He did not say the pastor is gifted. He did not say the Elders are gifted. He said each is gifted as the Spirit chooses. And the gifts are given to the church for the common good. The Spiritual gifts are given this way; the Spirit gives the church the necessary gifts and they are given for an intended purpose. If misused, they are not effective, but when God gives a gift and it is used as God wills, the gift is perfect.
The Spirit then makes people capable of using the gift putting us in places to use the gifts. Not only are all gifted, but the Spirit prepares us, enables us to use those gifts. If this seems difficult, don’t worry. If Jesus can change water to wine, imagine what he can do with us.
In this part of the body of Christ, I see people pray, and sing, and play. I have seen people serving at times of joy and times of grief. I have seen people act with great compassion, and most of the time this isn’t done by active session members, it is done by members acting with might exercising the gifts of the spirit to fortify the church and to glorify God. The gifts are given to the entire church for the world by God for God’s glory.
This is not unlike the servants at the banquet. While their roles seem quite limited, they were in direct service to Jesus, delivering the fruit of his first public miracle. Imagine the banquet master: Not only did he announce the miracle; he announced it to the groom with joy and bravado. But he makes the announcement with qualification; the gift will not be fully appreciated by those who receive it. This reigns true for us today. We receive gifts that we don’t expect or don’t recognize—and we aren’t fully aware of what they are, or their value, or what to do with them. But Jesus accounts for this. He knew the wine would be perfect and he knew it would not be properly appreciated. And he gave, Jesus gave.
It reassures me that Jesus seemed reluctant to exercise his power. When his mother tells him there is no more wine, he asks, “What’s that to you and to me?” Then he tells his mother that it’s not his time, not yet. Yet his mother persists, telling the servers to do whatever Jesus tells them to do. Then he exercises the power and miracles happen.
When we use the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are able to do so much more than we can without these gifts. We can do miracles. They may not even be noticed. They certainly may not be appreciated on earth, but when they are exercised, miracles happen for the glory of God, not just by the ordained, but from all members of the church. Not just for the church, but for all of creation.
Just as the banquet master proclaimed this wine to be the best, we must glorify the name of the one who provides the wine, and all that the wine represents. The gifts are important, what we do with them is also important, and thanking the one who gives them is vital.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Not So Secret Identity
This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday January 10, 2010, Baptism of the Lord Sunday, the 1st Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Isaiah 43:1-7
Psalm 29
Acts 8:14-17
Luke 3:15-17, 22-23
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Swiss Theologian Karl Barth is credited with telling young pastors “to take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”[1] I am sure he meant this about the news and editorial pages, but could he have also meant it about the funnies?
I have always found the way the gospel connects to popular culture enlightening. Especially with youth, it is a way of making connections between the Word of God and the world we live in. Last year, I did a Bible Study with Zach using Greg Garrett’s book “Holy Superheroes, Exploring the Sacred in Comics, Graphic Novels, and Film.”[2]
One of the recent trends in comics and graphic novels is to write origination stories, the beginnings of characters. This was done by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale in “Superman For All Seasons” and by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, in “Batman, Year One.” The 2002 Tobey Maguire movie “Spiderman,” the 2005 Christian Bale movie “Batman Begins,” and last year’s Hugh Jackman movie “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” takes this trend on its cinematic course. Of course the WB and CW television series “Smallville” takes Superman as a teenager to the small screen.
One of the things these stories do is take a character that we are already familiar with and give us a glimpse into what made them who they are. What of the life of a teenage Clark Kent prepares him to become the Man of Steel? What horror causes Bruce Wayne to dress up like a bat, something he fears, and prowl the streets looking for trouble? What tragedy makes Peter Parker realize that with great power comes great responsibility; pushing him into his Spiderman personae?
In a way, Luke’s gospel gives us a look into the life of the Messiah we know oh so well, Jesus of Nazareth, and presents us with some of the Earthly events that shape him. This gospel gives us the most glorious story of his birth that the church will ever hear. This gospel gives us Jesus as a teenager at the temple in Jerusalem, as if there is any other place to seek him than in his Father’s house. Today, we join him in the water of his baptism.
Let’s return to the beginning of this chapter, the time and place where John begins his Baptismal ministry on the banks of the Jordan. John preaches a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus obviously hears of his cousin, the man raising a ruckus on the riverbank crying out that he baptizes with water; but another will come and baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.
So Jesus comes to the banks of the Jordan. He comes as one of a crowd.
He comes as one of a crowd. We know the glorious story of Jesus of Nazareth. We know how this story begins, we know of the miracles and the controversies. We know of how the world thinks death defeats him, and we know how death will never hold him. We know of how he will rise to the right hand of God the Father Almighty where he will come to judge the quick and the dead.
But today, he comes as one of the crowd, just a man in the multitude.
If there is anyone in the crowd who knew Jesus of Nazareth, they knew he was the son of Mary. They knew he worked in wood. Maybe someone in the crowd used Jesus to put up drywall, or maybe he built a dining room set for them.[3] He was seemingly just a guy in the crowd, neither more nor less special than anyone else in the mass of humanity.
He was one of us.
Joan Osborne had a hit with Eric Bazilian’s song “One of Us.” She sings, “What if God was one of us/ Just a slob like one of us.” We testify that Jesus is God and Man. We say that he is Emmanuel, God with us. We say that he is fully human and fully divine. We also say that being fully human, he is more human than we can ever hope to be. And this is true, but on this day, Baptism of the Lord Sunday, it is neither Jesus’ divinity nor humanity that is emphasized, it is God’s community.
If John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, then why does Jesus come for this baptism? He certainly doesn’t need to receive the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He doesn’t need it at all, so why?
For Presbyterians, we see our baptism not as a soul-saving event. We are neither saved nor condemned through our baptism. If we were, salvation would be something we could accomplish on our own, not something God does. Instead, we consider baptism a welcoming to the community of faith. The baptismal liturgy in “The Book of Common Worship” says:
By water and the Holy Spirit,
we are made members of the church, the body of Christ,
and joined to Christ's ministry of love, peace, and justice.[4]
We don’t celebrate that our baptism saves us; we celebrate that by the water and the Holy Spirit we are made members of the church, joined to Christ, and to his work. The liturgy ends with this prayer of the people:
With joy and thanksgiving
we welcome you into Christ’s church
to share with us in his ministry,
for we are all one in Christ.[5]
Elaine Ramshaw writes, “a rite of passage into a community is a rite of passage for the whole community.”[6] It is not Jesus who needed to be transformed by this baptismal passage. Taking Ramshaw’s cue, I believe that Jesus was baptized because we need to be transformed by this rite of passage. It is by the Baptism of the Lord and followed by every Christian baptism since that we are transformed, in the water and in the Holy Spirit and fire.
Through his baptism, Jesus, even in his deity, identifies with all humanity.
I once read that most superheroes put on a costume to take on the personae of the hero. They put on a disguise before going on crime fighting adventures.
Bruce Wayne puts on the tights and cape that have all of the gadgets he uses as the Batman. It was the same for every incarnation of his sidekick Robin. Even enhanced humans are still humans. Their regular identity is the skin they were born with. Peter Parker has his spidey-sense and can throw a web without a costume, but he puts on the suit to really become Spiderman. Even Wolverine puts on the spandex before the claws come out. But Superman, Superman is different.
Kal-El, the Kryptonian name of the infant adopted by the Kent’s of Smallville, Kansas is not the ordinary superhero. While more like us on his native planet, under the yellow sun of our solar system and in our much lighter gravity, Kal-El becomes strengthened with super-human abilities. In our world, he becomes Superman.
This is who he is, he is Superman. He is a Kryptonian masquerading as a human being, not a human being playing super hero. He is the hero; he is the one who is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He is the alien who is able to do more than we could ever hope or imagine.
It was not a coincidence at all that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the two Jewish men that created Superman, named him Kal-El, the Hebrew phrase meaning “Voice of God.”
As a super hero, Superman is completely different. While nearly every other super hero in comics is a person becoming something more to hide their regular identity; Superman is always a super man and to hide his identity, he becomes less than who he is. In his own way, the geeky Clark Kent is Kal-El’s commentary on what the average human being looks and acts like. This mumbling, milquetoast, klutzy man uses this disguise to blend in with us. He has never been one of us; he only dresses like one of us. Superman will never be anything but a Kryptonian disguised as one of us.
This is where the Son of God is different from the Son of Krypton. Superman hides in a Clark Kent’s business suit. Jesus of Nazareth is not God dressed up in human skin, in a robe and tunic to fool us into thinking he is one of us. No, he is one of us, and as fully human he is more human than we will ever be. And through his baptism, he takes the step to make all baptism a rite of passage for the whole community. In this work, he hears the words of the Father proclaiming, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Join in the waters of the Baptism of the Lord and let us become a community transformed.
[1] “Where Did Karl Barth Say…?” http://libweb.ptsem.edu/collections/barth/faq/quotes.aspx?menu=296&subText=468, retrieved October 19, 2008.
[2] Garrett, Greg, “Holy Superheroes: Exploring the Sacred in Comics, Graphic Novels, and Film, Revised and Expanded Edition.” Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2008.
[3] The “dining room” quip is inspired from a scene in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”
[4] The Theology and Worship Ministry Unit for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, “The Book of Common Worship.” Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995, page 363.
[5] Ibid, page 372
[6] Ramshaw, Elaine, “How does the church baptize infants and small children?” in Open Questions for Worship Volume 4: What is Changing in Baptismal Practice? Gordon Lathrop, Editor. Minneapolis, Minnesota, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1995, page 7.
Isaiah 43:1-7
Psalm 29
Acts 8:14-17
Luke 3:15-17, 22-23
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
Swiss Theologian Karl Barth is credited with telling young pastors “to take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.”[1] I am sure he meant this about the news and editorial pages, but could he have also meant it about the funnies?
I have always found the way the gospel connects to popular culture enlightening. Especially with youth, it is a way of making connections between the Word of God and the world we live in. Last year, I did a Bible Study with Zach using Greg Garrett’s book “Holy Superheroes, Exploring the Sacred in Comics, Graphic Novels, and Film.”[2]
One of the recent trends in comics and graphic novels is to write origination stories, the beginnings of characters. This was done by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale in “Superman For All Seasons” and by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli, in “Batman, Year One.” The 2002 Tobey Maguire movie “Spiderman,” the 2005 Christian Bale movie “Batman Begins,” and last year’s Hugh Jackman movie “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” takes this trend on its cinematic course. Of course the WB and CW television series “Smallville” takes Superman as a teenager to the small screen.
One of the things these stories do is take a character that we are already familiar with and give us a glimpse into what made them who they are. What of the life of a teenage Clark Kent prepares him to become the Man of Steel? What horror causes Bruce Wayne to dress up like a bat, something he fears, and prowl the streets looking for trouble? What tragedy makes Peter Parker realize that with great power comes great responsibility; pushing him into his Spiderman personae?
In a way, Luke’s gospel gives us a look into the life of the Messiah we know oh so well, Jesus of Nazareth, and presents us with some of the Earthly events that shape him. This gospel gives us the most glorious story of his birth that the church will ever hear. This gospel gives us Jesus as a teenager at the temple in Jerusalem, as if there is any other place to seek him than in his Father’s house. Today, we join him in the water of his baptism.
Let’s return to the beginning of this chapter, the time and place where John begins his Baptismal ministry on the banks of the Jordan. John preaches a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus obviously hears of his cousin, the man raising a ruckus on the riverbank crying out that he baptizes with water; but another will come and baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.
So Jesus comes to the banks of the Jordan. He comes as one of a crowd.
He comes as one of a crowd. We know the glorious story of Jesus of Nazareth. We know how this story begins, we know of the miracles and the controversies. We know of how the world thinks death defeats him, and we know how death will never hold him. We know of how he will rise to the right hand of God the Father Almighty where he will come to judge the quick and the dead.
But today, he comes as one of the crowd, just a man in the multitude.
If there is anyone in the crowd who knew Jesus of Nazareth, they knew he was the son of Mary. They knew he worked in wood. Maybe someone in the crowd used Jesus to put up drywall, or maybe he built a dining room set for them.[3] He was seemingly just a guy in the crowd, neither more nor less special than anyone else in the mass of humanity.
He was one of us.
Joan Osborne had a hit with Eric Bazilian’s song “One of Us.” She sings, “What if God was one of us/ Just a slob like one of us.” We testify that Jesus is God and Man. We say that he is Emmanuel, God with us. We say that he is fully human and fully divine. We also say that being fully human, he is more human than we can ever hope to be. And this is true, but on this day, Baptism of the Lord Sunday, it is neither Jesus’ divinity nor humanity that is emphasized, it is God’s community.
If John preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, then why does Jesus come for this baptism? He certainly doesn’t need to receive the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. He doesn’t need it at all, so why?
For Presbyterians, we see our baptism not as a soul-saving event. We are neither saved nor condemned through our baptism. If we were, salvation would be something we could accomplish on our own, not something God does. Instead, we consider baptism a welcoming to the community of faith. The baptismal liturgy in “The Book of Common Worship” says:
By water and the Holy Spirit,
we are made members of the church, the body of Christ,
and joined to Christ's ministry of love, peace, and justice.[4]
We don’t celebrate that our baptism saves us; we celebrate that by the water and the Holy Spirit we are made members of the church, joined to Christ, and to his work. The liturgy ends with this prayer of the people:
With joy and thanksgiving
we welcome you into Christ’s church
to share with us in his ministry,
for we are all one in Christ.[5]
Elaine Ramshaw writes, “a rite of passage into a community is a rite of passage for the whole community.”[6] It is not Jesus who needed to be transformed by this baptismal passage. Taking Ramshaw’s cue, I believe that Jesus was baptized because we need to be transformed by this rite of passage. It is by the Baptism of the Lord and followed by every Christian baptism since that we are transformed, in the water and in the Holy Spirit and fire.
Through his baptism, Jesus, even in his deity, identifies with all humanity.
I once read that most superheroes put on a costume to take on the personae of the hero. They put on a disguise before going on crime fighting adventures.
Bruce Wayne puts on the tights and cape that have all of the gadgets he uses as the Batman. It was the same for every incarnation of his sidekick Robin. Even enhanced humans are still humans. Their regular identity is the skin they were born with. Peter Parker has his spidey-sense and can throw a web without a costume, but he puts on the suit to really become Spiderman. Even Wolverine puts on the spandex before the claws come out. But Superman, Superman is different.
Kal-El, the Kryptonian name of the infant adopted by the Kent’s of Smallville, Kansas is not the ordinary superhero. While more like us on his native planet, under the yellow sun of our solar system and in our much lighter gravity, Kal-El becomes strengthened with super-human abilities. In our world, he becomes Superman.
This is who he is, he is Superman. He is a Kryptonian masquerading as a human being, not a human being playing super hero. He is the hero; he is the one who is faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. He is the alien who is able to do more than we could ever hope or imagine.
It was not a coincidence at all that Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the two Jewish men that created Superman, named him Kal-El, the Hebrew phrase meaning “Voice of God.”
As a super hero, Superman is completely different. While nearly every other super hero in comics is a person becoming something more to hide their regular identity; Superman is always a super man and to hide his identity, he becomes less than who he is. In his own way, the geeky Clark Kent is Kal-El’s commentary on what the average human being looks and acts like. This mumbling, milquetoast, klutzy man uses this disguise to blend in with us. He has never been one of us; he only dresses like one of us. Superman will never be anything but a Kryptonian disguised as one of us.
This is where the Son of God is different from the Son of Krypton. Superman hides in a Clark Kent’s business suit. Jesus of Nazareth is not God dressed up in human skin, in a robe and tunic to fool us into thinking he is one of us. No, he is one of us, and as fully human he is more human than we will ever be. And through his baptism, he takes the step to make all baptism a rite of passage for the whole community. In this work, he hears the words of the Father proclaiming, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Join in the waters of the Baptism of the Lord and let us become a community transformed.
[1] “Where Did Karl Barth Say…?” http://libweb.ptsem.edu/collections/barth/faq/quotes.aspx?menu=296&subText=468, retrieved October 19, 2008.
[2] Garrett, Greg, “Holy Superheroes: Exploring the Sacred in Comics, Graphic Novels, and Film, Revised and Expanded Edition.” Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2008.
[3] The “dining room” quip is inspired from a scene in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”
[4] The Theology and Worship Ministry Unit for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, “The Book of Common Worship.” Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1995, page 363.
[5] Ibid, page 372
[6] Ramshaw, Elaine, “How does the church baptize infants and small children?” in Open Questions for Worship Volume 4: What is Changing in Baptismal Practice? Gordon Lathrop, Editor. Minneapolis, Minnesota, Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1995, page 7.
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Words
This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas on Sunday January 3, 2010, the Second Sunday after Christmas.
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Psalm 147:12-20
Ephesians 1:3-14
John 1:10-18
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
In the mid-80’s the R&B group Cameo brought suburban kids everywhere the expression “word up.” The band teaches us that “it’s the code word, no matter where you say it, you know it will be heard.” The video for the song, typical of 80’s R&B, starred LeVar Burton as “The Detective” and would have us believe the word is “cheesy.”
Those of you who enjoy movie musicals will remember that in the late 70’s, Frankie Valli taught us that “Grease is the word.” He sings “it’s got groove, it’s got meaning.” I say movie musicals because Frankie’s movie theme song was never in the stage version. Grease must not have been the word on Broadway.
We can go back deeper in the 70’s and listen to Billy Joel lament, “If I only had the words to tell you, if you only had the time to understand.” This was also about the time that Elton John taught the world that “‘Sorry’ seems to be the hardest word.”
Words, particularly words in music can teach us the power of words. Things like “sorry.” There are even words we use to explain that we don’t have the words to explain.
There is power in the word. There is power in the word. The hymn reminds us there is power in the blood. As for me, I absolutely love that the PC (USA) Book of Order’s Directory for Worship tells the church “Song is a response which engages the whole self in prayer. Song unites the faithful in common prayer wherever they gather for worship whether in church, home, or other special place.”[1]
When we were little we were taught to say “sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Honestly, don’t we all know that’s just a load? John Bradshaw turns this on its ear. He writes “Words are extremely powerful. Kind words can create a whole day of happiness. Critical words can put us in a funk for a week.” He finishes this thought turning that old expression on its ear, “Sticks and stones will break your bones, but names will hurt you more.”[2]
John’s gospel begins: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
The hymn reminds us there is power in the blood; Bradshaw reminds us that there is power in the word. Our reading from John also reminds us that there is power in the word. It is the distinctive teaching of the Fourth Gospel that this divine ‘Word’ took on human form in a historical person, that is, in Jesus.[3]
When Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet is asked a question about what he’s reading, he responds, “Words, words, words” — implying that the words in front of him are meaningless. And we’ve all been told at one time or another that what’s important are deeds, not words.[4]
Genesis shares the truth that “God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” God didn’t build a light-generating apparatus but instead spoke light into being. Then God did the same for the sky, the land, the seas, the plants, the animals and even humankind itself. On each day of creation, God spoke a truly creative word.
According to the prophet Isaiah, God insists that “my word… shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” For God, “deeds, not words” really doesn’t make sense. The Lord doesn’t have to make a distinction between deeds and words. For God, words are deeds. God uses words to do God’s work.
The significance of God’s word reaches its peak in the New Testament, in which we learn that God’s “Word became flesh and lived among us” as Jesus. No longer simply to speech, God’s Word actually takes human form, becomes incarnate and begins to walk among us as a living and breathing expression of God’s grace and truth. Word, deed, flesh and spirit all come together in Jesus, to show us most clearly what God desires for us. “No one has ever seen God,” claims John in his gospel. “It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.”
The word shall not return to God empty but shall accomplish God’s goals.
The word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth.
In 1985, Allen Carr wrote The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, and 25 million people kicked the habit. Two years later, Randy Shilts wrote “And the Band Played On,” forcing the world to pay attention to AIDS.
In the early ’90s, Peter Kramer’s best seller “Listening to Prozac” got America popping pills in a whole new way. According to “mental_floss” magazine, Kramer noted that drugs such as Prozac seem to make many people—including those who aren’t depressed—more confident, less sensitive to rejection and more willing to try new things. The jury is still out, of course, on whether people who are not depressed should be popping Prozac.
In 2001, Barbara Ehrenreich went undercover as an unskilled laborer and attempted to survive on $5.15 per hour. Her book “Nickel and Dimed” was one of the forces that led to changes in minimum wage. And last summer, we watched in amazement as social-networking technologies spread news about the Iranian elections like wildfire. Nationwide protests erupted, fueled by Twitter, YouTube and cell-phone communication.
Matthew’s gospel begins with a history lesson. Mark’s begins with John the Baptist. Luke splits the difference by giving us a history lesson about John the Baptist. Oh but John, John gives us this wonderful poetically theological introduction that connects the beginning of the gospel with the beginning of all that has ever begun. “In the beginning” he writes; “in the beginning.”
There is no Messianic secret in this gospel. There is no time for us to spend wondering just when Jesus will reveal himself to the world. The Word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth.
Words have creative power and can actually change the world.
The Gospel teaches us that there are people in the world who do not know God, but it is through God’s words, the words that God gives us that we are able to take the Gospel into the world.
To recapture power of the Word, we must again learn to speak so that those who will hear us will understand we have something to say. And what a thing we have to say. We believe that faith makes a difference in our lives.
As the apostles shared with the world on the day of Pentecost, we too are called to share. Our stories tell others about who we are and whose we are. We all have stories, but we only share in the Pentecost when we share these stories. We are called to know our stories, the stories of our faith that shows others the difference a relationship with the triune God makes in our lives. And we must be able to communicate this story so that those with ears may hear. We, we who carry the cross of Christ into the world must learn to speak the Word so that the world may hear.
We can gain wisdom on this matter from ancient Celtic Christianity.[5] In 563 AD, about a century after the death of St. Patrick, Columba sought off to an island off of the western Scottish coast. This isle would be his base to reach the Picts of Scotland. Columba took a sizeable corps with him and they learned the culture of the Picts. They chose to pay the price to understand the Picts. Columba’s way of doing mission was the opposite of the model James Michener presented in his novel “Hawaii.” They learned about the people, their language, and their culture. They sent out teams from their island settlement—a little place called Iona—and in 100 years the Picts were significantly Christian.
The lessons we take from this is that there are people close to us who do not know the Word of God. We need to learn about how they speak and show them the Gospel in words they understand. Peter and the Apostles did this miraculously; Columba and the Iona community did this diligently. We need to learn how to share the story of faith so that those with ears may be able to hear the word of God.
So today, let us all regain the elemental presence of the Word. We come to the font of many blessings overflowing with living water and remember our baptism. We come to the table with the cup and the plate to partake in the food that feeds our bodies and our souls. We hear the Word proclaimed and even more so, we come to know the Word Incarnate, the Son of God.[6] Again, let us rejoice and as the Word was in the beginning with God, let us be with the Word now. As we are with the Word now, let us take the word out into the world.
[1] Book of Order, Directory for Worship, 2007-2009 Edition, W-2.1003
[2] Bradshaw, John, “Homecoming, Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child.” New York: Bantam Books, 1990, page 93.
[3] logos, BDAG, Greek-Hebrew Lexicon
[4] http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93040502
[5] Hunter, George C. III, The Celtic Way of Evangelism. Nashville: Abingdon, 2000, page 36.
[6] http://timelovesahero.blogspot.com/2009/05/unforeseen-hope.html
Jeremiah 31:7-14
Psalm 147:12-20
Ephesians 1:3-14
John 1:10-18
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen
In the mid-80’s the R&B group Cameo brought suburban kids everywhere the expression “word up.” The band teaches us that “it’s the code word, no matter where you say it, you know it will be heard.” The video for the song, typical of 80’s R&B, starred LeVar Burton as “The Detective” and would have us believe the word is “cheesy.”
Those of you who enjoy movie musicals will remember that in the late 70’s, Frankie Valli taught us that “Grease is the word.” He sings “it’s got groove, it’s got meaning.” I say movie musicals because Frankie’s movie theme song was never in the stage version. Grease must not have been the word on Broadway.
We can go back deeper in the 70’s and listen to Billy Joel lament, “If I only had the words to tell you, if you only had the time to understand.” This was also about the time that Elton John taught the world that “‘Sorry’ seems to be the hardest word.”
Words, particularly words in music can teach us the power of words. Things like “sorry.” There are even words we use to explain that we don’t have the words to explain.
There is power in the word. There is power in the word. The hymn reminds us there is power in the blood. As for me, I absolutely love that the PC (USA) Book of Order’s Directory for Worship tells the church “Song is a response which engages the whole self in prayer. Song unites the faithful in common prayer wherever they gather for worship whether in church, home, or other special place.”[1]
When we were little we were taught to say “sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Honestly, don’t we all know that’s just a load? John Bradshaw turns this on its ear. He writes “Words are extremely powerful. Kind words can create a whole day of happiness. Critical words can put us in a funk for a week.” He finishes this thought turning that old expression on its ear, “Sticks and stones will break your bones, but names will hurt you more.”[2]
John’s gospel begins: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
The hymn reminds us there is power in the blood; Bradshaw reminds us that there is power in the word. Our reading from John also reminds us that there is power in the word. It is the distinctive teaching of the Fourth Gospel that this divine ‘Word’ took on human form in a historical person, that is, in Jesus.[3]
When Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet is asked a question about what he’s reading, he responds, “Words, words, words” — implying that the words in front of him are meaningless. And we’ve all been told at one time or another that what’s important are deeds, not words.[4]
Genesis shares the truth that “God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” God didn’t build a light-generating apparatus but instead spoke light into being. Then God did the same for the sky, the land, the seas, the plants, the animals and even humankind itself. On each day of creation, God spoke a truly creative word.
According to the prophet Isaiah, God insists that “my word… shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” For God, “deeds, not words” really doesn’t make sense. The Lord doesn’t have to make a distinction between deeds and words. For God, words are deeds. God uses words to do God’s work.
The significance of God’s word reaches its peak in the New Testament, in which we learn that God’s “Word became flesh and lived among us” as Jesus. No longer simply to speech, God’s Word actually takes human form, becomes incarnate and begins to walk among us as a living and breathing expression of God’s grace and truth. Word, deed, flesh and spirit all come together in Jesus, to show us most clearly what God desires for us. “No one has ever seen God,” claims John in his gospel. “It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.”
The word shall not return to God empty but shall accomplish God’s goals.
The word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth.
In 1985, Allen Carr wrote The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, and 25 million people kicked the habit. Two years later, Randy Shilts wrote “And the Band Played On,” forcing the world to pay attention to AIDS.
In the early ’90s, Peter Kramer’s best seller “Listening to Prozac” got America popping pills in a whole new way. According to “mental_floss” magazine, Kramer noted that drugs such as Prozac seem to make many people—including those who aren’t depressed—more confident, less sensitive to rejection and more willing to try new things. The jury is still out, of course, on whether people who are not depressed should be popping Prozac.
In 2001, Barbara Ehrenreich went undercover as an unskilled laborer and attempted to survive on $5.15 per hour. Her book “Nickel and Dimed” was one of the forces that led to changes in minimum wage. And last summer, we watched in amazement as social-networking technologies spread news about the Iranian elections like wildfire. Nationwide protests erupted, fueled by Twitter, YouTube and cell-phone communication.
Matthew’s gospel begins with a history lesson. Mark’s begins with John the Baptist. Luke splits the difference by giving us a history lesson about John the Baptist. Oh but John, John gives us this wonderful poetically theological introduction that connects the beginning of the gospel with the beginning of all that has ever begun. “In the beginning” he writes; “in the beginning.”
There is no Messianic secret in this gospel. There is no time for us to spend wondering just when Jesus will reveal himself to the world. The Word became flesh and lived among us, full of grace and truth.
Words have creative power and can actually change the world.
The Gospel teaches us that there are people in the world who do not know God, but it is through God’s words, the words that God gives us that we are able to take the Gospel into the world.
To recapture power of the Word, we must again learn to speak so that those who will hear us will understand we have something to say. And what a thing we have to say. We believe that faith makes a difference in our lives.
As the apostles shared with the world on the day of Pentecost, we too are called to share. Our stories tell others about who we are and whose we are. We all have stories, but we only share in the Pentecost when we share these stories. We are called to know our stories, the stories of our faith that shows others the difference a relationship with the triune God makes in our lives. And we must be able to communicate this story so that those with ears may hear. We, we who carry the cross of Christ into the world must learn to speak the Word so that the world may hear.
We can gain wisdom on this matter from ancient Celtic Christianity.[5] In 563 AD, about a century after the death of St. Patrick, Columba sought off to an island off of the western Scottish coast. This isle would be his base to reach the Picts of Scotland. Columba took a sizeable corps with him and they learned the culture of the Picts. They chose to pay the price to understand the Picts. Columba’s way of doing mission was the opposite of the model James Michener presented in his novel “Hawaii.” They learned about the people, their language, and their culture. They sent out teams from their island settlement—a little place called Iona—and in 100 years the Picts were significantly Christian.
The lessons we take from this is that there are people close to us who do not know the Word of God. We need to learn about how they speak and show them the Gospel in words they understand. Peter and the Apostles did this miraculously; Columba and the Iona community did this diligently. We need to learn how to share the story of faith so that those with ears may be able to hear the word of God.
So today, let us all regain the elemental presence of the Word. We come to the font of many blessings overflowing with living water and remember our baptism. We come to the table with the cup and the plate to partake in the food that feeds our bodies and our souls. We hear the Word proclaimed and even more so, we come to know the Word Incarnate, the Son of God.[6] Again, let us rejoice and as the Word was in the beginning with God, let us be with the Word now. As we are with the Word now, let us take the word out into the world.
[1] Book of Order, Directory for Worship, 2007-2009 Edition, W-2.1003
[2] Bradshaw, John, “Homecoming, Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child.” New York: Bantam Books, 1990, page 93.
[3] logos, BDAG, Greek-Hebrew Lexicon
[4] http://homileticsonline.com/subscriber/btl_display.asp?installment_id=93040502
[5] Hunter, George C. III, The Celtic Way of Evangelism. Nashville: Abingdon, 2000, page 36.
[6] http://timelovesahero.blogspot.com/2009/05/unforeseen-hope.html
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