He Knew

This sermon was heard at The Federated Church in Weatherford, Oklahoma on Sunday August 14, 2016, the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Isaiah 5:1-7
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-18
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56

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

I haven’t watched a lot of TV lately, but I do see some. With some TV come some TV ads. Geico Insurance ads never fail to amuse me. The “...it’s what you do” campaign has been entertaining. One of the most recent is a band of pirates taking a British frigate. The pirate tells the captain what he’s going to do and his parrot repeats everything he says… and more.

“Let’s feed him to the sharks…”

“AWK, Let’s feed him to the sharks…”

“And take all of his gold…”

“AWK, and take all of his gold…”

Then the parrot keeps talking! “AWK, and hide it from the crew.” This is when the pirate crew stops in their tracks and gives their captain the stink-eye. “AWK, they’re all morons anyway.”

It’s damage control time for the captain, “I never said that.”

“They all smell bad too. AWK.”

This is when the pirate crew surrounds their captain who’s talking fast, “No, you all smell wonderful, I smell bad.” In the meantime, the British captain skirts away from his captors.

Then the voiceover says, “If you’re a parrot you repeat things, it’s what you do. Wanna save 15% or more on auto insurance…” and so on.

I love it when a plan comes together, then parrots repeat things. It’s what they do. There’s no reason we shouldn’t expect the unexpected, but we don’t. When the unexpected happens, everyone is in shock. This is our reading from Luke.

Over the past two weeks, we have read warnings and encouragements, the Parable of the Rich Fool, do not be afraid, and a treatise on watchfulness from Luke’s gospel. Today we read something completely unexpected, something never read in Sunday School. Today we read that Jesus comes not to bring peace but division.

This is not the Prince of Peace we’ll find at Advent. Frankly that Jesus is a lot more likeable.

Every week I begin worship saying “May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” Every week I end worship saying “May the grace of God, the love of our Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” It seems like nobody read this when putting together the liturgy. So we should ask, if what Jesus said is true, and we always begin there, then what does it mean?

Let’s go to the beginning of the reading, “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!” To find more on the Baptism of the Lord, let’s go back a little further.

In the third chapter of Luke we find John the Baptist in the wilderness, “The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, ‘I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’” When Jesus speaks of bringing fire, he’s simply reminding us of what John has already said. This isn’t anything new, but from the mouth of the Lord it sounds far more ominous.

Then Jesus speaks of his coming baptism, though he has already been baptized in the waters of the Jordan. There are many images wrapped around baptism, washing, cleansing, renewal, birth, life, new life; but one that often gets overlooked is death. Yes, death is found in the waters of baptism. Ask any sailor about the dangers and terror of the water and they’ll tell you death is a possibility. Jesus knows that he is on his way to his death, to his tomb. His death is as much a part of his baptism as his life. To teach this will take time, and he knows that he will be pressed for time.

He does not have much time to be with his apostles, his disciples, the people he calls his Body. He knows that time is short before this Earthly part of his mission will be completed, so yes, his time is constrained. This brings him distress. It is because he loves so much that he feels the pain of his limited time. He knows his time is limited and his work is eternal. So much to do, so little time.

Now let me ask this, is there anything particularly divisive in the Gospel? The gospel, it’s love. It’s grace. It’s peace. It’s service. It’s caring. There is sacrifice and that’s not anybody’s favorite, but we get grace and peace in exchange, definitely the better end of the deal.

Still Jesus knows people will make decisions about him. Who he is, his Lordship. Is he God? Is he a man? Is he perfect? Is he crazy? How do we follow him? Do we follow him? And every time people make one of these decisions about Jesus, it creates something of a theological crossroads. Some will go one way, some another.

As people make those decisions, Jesus knows what will happen next, division. This is why he says “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division.” It’s tempting to lay this indictment at the feet of those who do not believe in God, but this wasn’t who Jesus was talking to. He was talking to his people. He was talking to believers.

He knew how people would interpret his nature and his message would cause division. The first division was between the Jews and the Jewish Christians, the Jewish followers of Jesus, both followers of the Lord God, the God of Abraham. Their first decision was whether Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, or not? This division was during his lifetime and led to his death.

Then came the division between the leaders of the Jewish Christians and the leaders of the Gentile Christians. The Jewish Christian leaders taught followers had to become a Jew before becoming a Christian. It made sense, Jesus was Jewish, most Christians were Jewish Christians. That turned out to be a stumbling block to the Gentiles so a council was held in about 50 AD, not twenty years after Jesus’ death. Acts 15 is where this council’s decision is reported and the division was made. In its wake came two branches, Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians.

Splits like these have been happening ever since. As for the denominations that form The Federated Church, five American denominations came out of the late 18th century movement that birthed the Disciples of Christ. Presbyterians take the cake. Presbyterianism in America dates back to 1706, but because of schism, reunification and schism again, there are ten branches of Presbyterians in America, the most recent schism in 2012. (Actually, I thought there were twelve.) As for the United Churches of Christ, in 1957 the Evangelical and Reformed Church and the General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches united to form the UCC. So in a world of division, there is hope.

So people love the gospel, even if we don’t believe the same things the same way. We received the gospel of love and grace and peace and service and caring and sacrifice and some things we don’t like as much. So it’s easy to see that there’s something for everybody to love and something for everybody not to love. So then what was Jesus trying to tell his disciples?

The Church (the capital C Church) must take heed. Some churches will say this scripture is about nonbelievers, but Jesus wasn’t talking to nonbelievers, he was talking to his children. The scandal is splits between believers; the division in the pews, and the witness that is to the world.

Next Jesus tells us the Body of Christ can’t say things like “Come join with us, not him, he doesn’t love Jesus like I love Jesus.” That sentence says one of two things. The first is that I love Jesus better than my neighbor; or the second my neighbor doesn’t love Jesus at all. This puts the speaker in the place of God, saying who is faithful and who is not.

So, we must remember in accepting the truth of the gospel, in sharing the gospel, in teaching the gospel, in living the gospel, not everybody is going to accept the Good News the same way if at all. Some will want to live by their old ways, but remember, we are reformed and always being reformed. God is continuously showing us new life. We are called to be faithful and follow.

Importantly, we have to realize since decisions about who is faithful and who is not aren’t up to us the subject and the object of our faith is the Triune God: Father, Son, and Spirit. When we make decisions about the gospel, and we will, divisions will be made. Let us pray our decisions are faithful.

Finally, this is the good news; God is faithful even when we are not. Our reading from Hebrews is known as the “Heroes of the Faith.” They were heroic because they were faithful. The scripture continues, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

Here is the hope for humanity: In Christ, by Christ, through Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of faith—one day all of the things that we let divide us, the things that seem so important, one day, because of Christ’s great love, none of these divisions will matter. Not one little bit. Jesus knew this.

He knew this all along.

New Clothes (2014)

This sermon was heard at Broadmoor Presbyterian Church in Shreveport, Louisiana on Sunday December 28, 2014, the First Sunday after Christmas.

This sermon has the same title as another sermon I preached on this Sunday several years ago, but it is quite different. Praise God and enjoy!

Isaiah 61:10-62:3

Psalm 148

Colossians 3:12-17

Luke 2:41-52

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

Occasionally I begin a sermon with a caveat, today will be one of those days. Homiletics is the study of all things preaching. My homiletics professors would say that definition is too narrow, but that’s why they are professors. The professors say we should not share too much of ourselves and today I will probably share too much. They say our experiences should not be used to typify the experience of the gospel and I hope I don’t do that. You’ll be the judge.

They also teach scripture and the glory of God must be central to the sermon. If I fail in this, that’s my fault, not theirs.

You see, about a million years ago, when I was in high school, I was a stage rat. Most waking hours after school would find me in the theater. When I wasn’t on stage in supporting roles,[1] I was working in the sound booth on a board so old it had tubes. (See, I told you it was a million years ago!) One of the shows I was in was “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail” where I played the unnamed “Farmer.”

If you’ve never heard of it, neither had any of us. It was written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, the team that wrote “Inherit the Wind” based on the Scopes “Monkey Trial.” “Thoreau” is about the life of Henry David Thoreau seen through a series of flashbacks during, yes, the night Thoreau spent in jail for failing to pay a poll tax. This is neither here nor there really; this is a transition to share something Thoreau wrote.

One of Thoreau’s many books was “Walden.” The introduction to a Thoreau collection calls “Walden” “part personal declaration of independence, social experiment, voyage of spiritual discovery, satire, and manual for self-reliance.”[2] To judge by this sentence, I see it as Thoreau’s assertion that he was the smartest kid in the class. From Lawrence and Lee’s dramatic treatment, I’d say Thoreau thought he was the smartest kid in the class. I say this with confidence because now with humility I have to admit that I have spent most of my life thinking I was the smartest kid in the class.

I say it with humility because in retrospect I know I’m not the smartest kid in class, but like Thoreau, I still try to come up with novel declarations of revelation, interesting spiritual discoveries, and satire. Let’s face it, I’ve given you Pastor Jim’s grandfather sowing his fields riding his bicycle backwards, the Nun-Bun, and RefuJesus. Anyway, I say all of this to share one of the most famous quotes from Walden which is often shortened to “beware of enterprises that require new clothes.” Maybe what Thoreau was getting at is that who we are is more important than what we wear.

To make that point from a theological prospective, this story comes from the introduction of a short book called “Transformational Ministry, Church Leadership and the Way of the Cross:”

In a recent class discussion, a student mentioned a workshop she had attended in which an “image consultant” spoke to the gathered ministers (or church professionals as they referred to themselves).  The consultant pointed to the need for clergy to project a positive professional image.  She told them that, because they are made in the image of God, they should buy only the best clothes, jewelry and accessories, and should make every effort to look as chic and smart as possible.  After the student related her (all too true) story, I paused for a very long time.  I was frankly appalled and, momentarily at a loss for words.

The students sat as the silence hung heavy around us.  Finally, I said: “I guess what I’m trying to picture in my mind is this: how should we look if we are supposed to reflect the image of the God who has revealed himself to us in the tormented shape of a Jewish man named Jesus, crucified on a city dump and discarded by the powers of his world?”[3]

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes indeed.

Isaiah declares:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,

my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

            he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.

In Colossians we read:

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.

Thoreau tells us it’s not about the suit we wear but the one who wears the suit. Scripture doesn’t. Scripture has us take a hard look at the clothes we wear. But more than that, scripture has us look at the clothes we are given and the one who gives them to us. Isaiah tells us that the Lord our God gives us the most glorious clothes. Isaiah tells us that we are given the garments of salvation. We are given the garments of salvation.

We are given clothes more valuable than any we can imagine. Scripture compares this garment to wedding clothes. The adornments are compared to jewels, jewels more costly, rare and plentiful than we can possibly imagine. This is the value of the garments of salvation, not their appearance but their value; more than we can imagine. Receiving these garments, these wonderful garments, our praise shoots forth like the fruit of a miraculous garden, perhaps a garden not seen since the days of Eden.

For this we rejoice, yes we rejoice. Receiving these garments brings joy; joy in receiving salvation; joy that the Spirit of the Living God continues to indwell us. “Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let Earth receive her King!” [4] As Isaiah prophesies, the Lord clothes us in his righteousness so that our praise may inhabit Zion, Jerusalem, and all creation. Our righteousness? Never. It is Lord’s righteousness that we receive.

Given the garments of salvation, we are to do more than model them on the fashion runways of Milan and New York. We are to more than just wear them. It seems that some folks, especially in some of my least favorite contemporary Christian music, treat salvation and the coming of Christ like waiting on a bus. This is not the purpose of the salvation we receive. We are given a blessing to be a blessing. We are to be a blessing, not a spectator.

Oh yes, the Great Commission tells us, entreats us to go. Go and make disciples… then the rest of Matthew’s gospel tells us of ways to go and make disciples. In his life and his writing St. Paul shows us more ways. Isaiah gives us an image of the garments of salvation like the fine clothes of a bridal party. Paul’s image gives us something more of a work shirt or coveralls.

The man who was one of the greatest Rabbis of the ancient world, a man who had more to brag about than any other man who would boast about his rabbinic pedigree, Paul teaches that being a part of Christ’s body is not something to lord over others, it is for service to others. Thus we dress in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. We bear with one another and forgive as our Lord forgives us. Our clothes are not silk and linen; our clothes are love which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

This is what we wear into the world. This is the gift we receive. This is the gift of our Lord God, which is perfected in Christ, which remains with us in his Holy Spirit and gives great joy. Yet Paul’s life shows us that this joy may not bring happiness, not in the way our world defines it. Saul of Tarsus was blinded. The Apostle Paul was bound, arrested, and flogged. He was left by travelling companions and shipwrecked. But in his faith, faith in the Lord Christ there is joy. Even in our pain we are to share God’s joy with the world. Joy we are to take away from our Walden’s and share with the world. Yes, in our world’s ways we will be crucified; but in Christ, when we choose to seek it, we will find joy.

Back to the oversharing: The past two years have been very difficult for my family. Unemployment (mine), disability (Marie’s), and poverty (shared together) have been our constant companions since the closing of the church in Marshall two years ago. I have been challenged by the despair of grief and sorrow of depression and more. People I thought were in our corner abandoned us. Support I thought would uplift us was nowhere. Grief, sorrow, pain, rejection have been constant companions.

Happiness, well, that was something that left the building a long time ago. Sharing joy is difficult when you feel no joy, but happiness and joy are not the same thing. That was a turning point when the Lord revealed joy and happiness were not only different but oftentimes unrelated. Oh it’s a lesson I continue to learn, but at least I God has not given up on me, nor I on God. So please share my joy as I tell you when I was at my lowest, it was your Pastor Jim who came to see me in the hospital; thanks to you all and praise to God. I treasure that memory.

On that note, there’s a sentence in our gospel reading that gets to me every time I read it. This particular phrase is seen twice in scripture. Once here after the young Jesus is found schooling the Scribes and Pharisees but once earlier when the shepherd boys come at birth, the birth we celebrated a scant three days ago. Each of these times, scripture tells us that Mary “treasured all these things in her heart.” Mary preserves and protects; Mary guards these memories[5] in her heart.

Especially during this time, during this season, we too need to remember who provides us with the garments of salvation, and what is expected of us when we wear them. We are to take this most valuable of garments and wear it into the world like a work shirt so all God’s creation may be blessed by God’s greatest gift. We need to treasure this. Then we need to share what we treasure with those who need to hear this very good news.

As a theater rat, I was a member of our school’s repertory theater company. We would go out and perform at grade schools and nursing homes. I was Linus and Schroeder in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown;” the Shoe Salesman in “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day;” and Weaver #2 in “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” I can’t know, but I imagine Thoreau would have been a fan of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”

Thoreau enjoyed puncturing the pompous. To have a wee tot declare the Emperor is naked would have been right up his alley. Thoreau was truly onto something if he was saying who we are is more important than what we wear. But in Christ we say more. We show the world that what’s important is not just who we are but the one who makes us who we are.

I shared a shortened version of a quote from “Walden” earlier, but now I want to add a bit more to give it some extra context:

“A man who has at length found something to do will not need to get a new suit to do it in; for him the old will do, that has lain dusty in the garret for an indeterminate period. Old shoes will serve a hero longer than they have served his valet—if a hero ever has a valet—bare feet are older than shoe, and he can make them do… But if my jacket and trousers, my hat and shoes, are fit to worship God in, they will do; will they not? …I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes.” [6]

I think Thoreau has a good point, but it’s not a good theological point. In Christ we are called to more. I want us to consider our clothes. I want us to be clothed in the garments of salvation from Isaiah. I want us to intentionally be clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. And there is no better piece of clothing to remind us of this than our baptismal gowns.

To quote Henry Nouwen:

In the waters of our baptism, we are covered in a newness of life. The world of our old life is washed away. When washed, we are fully reconciled to Christ. We are free to fully trust that we belong to God. Dressed in the robe of Christ, we are to free our minds, hearts and souls to be truly free in this world to be ministers of His reconciliation. But it is only in this sacramental relationship that we can accomplish this, otherwise we fall back into our self doubt and self rejection.[7]  

This has been a tough year for us, and I want to thank you. I want to thank all of you for truly being the Body of Christ for my family this year. Happiness, well… but in Christ we are clothed in joy. In retrospect, I wonder if in knowing himself Thoreau denied himself the joy of a life in Christ, and contrary to his public personae falling into self-doubt and self-rejection. Thoreau seemed to be more influenced by the religious than the faithful. This is truly a shame but not so uncommon in his day nor in ours. But judging from his literary works, faith doesn’t seem to be the kind of suit Thoreau would wear anyway. As for me, as for us, as for the Body of Christ, we’ll take joy in the community of our baptism in of Christ over a private Walden any day.

---

[1] Remember, there are no small roles, only small actors.

[2] Thoreau, Henry David. Henry David Thoreau : A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers / Walden / The Maine Woods / Cape Cod. Library of America.

[3] Jinkins, Michael, Transformational Ministry, Church Leadership and the Way of the Cross.  Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 2002, page xi.

[4] This morning’s opening hymn was “Joy to the World”

[5] thre,w, Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. VIII, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1972, page 142.

[6] Thoreau, Henry David. “Walden, An Annotated Edition.” Walter Harding, Ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. 1995, page 20-21.

[7] Nouwen, Henri, Bread for the Journey, A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith, December 26 entry.

Seeking the Better Things

This sermon was heard at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Longview, Texas on Sunday August 4, 2013, the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Later this month St. Andrew will call and install their new Interim Pastor so while I am still on the fill-in list, my season of frequent service to this congregation is coming to an end. Thanks be to God for their hospitality and generosity during this season.

Unfortunately this week there is only text, no audio or video.

Hosea 11:1-11

Psalm 107:1-9, 43

Colossians 3:1-11

Luke 12:13-21

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

I would like to begin by saying how much I enjoyed Tara Porr’s sermon from last week.[1] I particularly enjoyed how she reimagined Hosea’s proposal, if you can call it that, to Gomer. The way she took scripture and inflected it into the way we speak was marvelous. When she used Gomer’s voice to say “That’s so sweet!” I laughed. It was a wonderful way to take a whore-endous, whore-rific, whore-rible piece of scripture—puns intended—and replay it in a modern way.

But it was her skill with handling the symbolism of Hosea wedding a woman of many sexual partners symbolically representing our Faithful Lord’s wedding to a nation that takes many partners that was brilliant. Still, I can imagine her preparing that sermon, reading that passage and thinking to herself “how in the world does this preach?” because I felt the same way when I read these passages from Colossians and Luke.

She read from the densest use of the word “whore” found in scripture. I get to share “fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry)” and “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth.” After reading these passages, when I say, “This is the Word of the Lord” I almost expect to hear the congregation reply “Really?” instead of “Amen.”

Paul tells Timothy that all scripture is good and beneficial for study and teaching, but these have an edge to them that point to many uncomfortable lessons.

Then Marie showed me an article from the Wall Street Journal blogs about the actor Ben Foster who is starring in a movie based on retired Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell’s memoir “Lone Survivor.” This book and its movie are based on one of his unit’s reconnaissance missions in the mountains of Afghanistan in 2005. Their objective was to kill or capture a Taliban leader. On missions like these in the wilderness of Afghanistan they would occasionally cross paths with local shepherds.

In a recent interview, Mr. Foster was asked about this scene. He replied, “The ancient question of war is do you kill a shepherd and save your own life and potentially endanger your people, or do you let him go? They decided to let them go, and these brave young men were hunted down.” [2]

Foster continues, “[Luttrell] was the lone survivor, and asked a man in this village to give him water. The law there is if you give a man water who asks for help in war, you’re taking him in as a family member and you must protect him to the death.” [3]

The reason I chose to tell this story is because I want us to consider our family. Who is our family? How do we welcome new members into our family? What does it mean to be a member of a family or more righteously this family? We’ll get back to that.

Our gospel reading opens with a definition of family which is gaining some traction these days, the family as an economic unit. In my 20’s I had a friend whose grandfather owned a large soybean farm in Kansas. This man and his wife had four children and after the parents’ death, each of them owned a quarter share in the farm. They had it all worked out, and the family as an economic unit was secure. They didn’t run into the trouble Luke’s gospel reports when Jesus had the brother screaming, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.”

This man wanted his request heard, and knew how to fawn while asking it too. “Teacher,” other translations say “Rabbi,” in a word he appealed to our Lord’s earthly status and the traditions of the thousands of teachers who came before him. Maybe if he had thought of Jesus as Lord rather than as teacher he would have been better off. As important as the family as an economic unit is, Jesus did not take to the question well. Jesus flat out asked the man who he thought he was to make this decision.

Jesus adds to his lesson telling the man and all with ears to hear, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

The story that follows is one which stock brokers, insurance agents, and others who sell 401(k)’s don’t want us to hear.  In a nutshell we can plan all we want, but there will be a day; and that day could be tomorrow or it could be 100 years from now. Depending on our own resources and taking joy in stuff ultimately leads down the road to nowhere.

So, Jesus tells us to be on our guard against all kinds greed and then tells a story about a man who has a special place for all of the stuff his life has brought him. I’m not talking about his barns either, in truth I’m talking about his heart.

There is a phrase in that sentence that always gets the best of me. Jesus doesn’t warn us about financial greed alone. As for this man, his greed took root in more than just his possessions; it took root in eating, drinking, and merriment; everything his life can buy but nothing God provides. He warns the people about all kinds of greed. I could give you a litany of the sorts of greed that corrupts the lives of human beings, but the list would be long, the oration would be boring, and the recitation ultimately incomplete.

In the end, it is enough to know that Jesus warns the people about all kinds of greed, not the run of the mill garden variety financial kind. Then it’s Paul who takes that laundry list and names it something else, he calls all kinds of greed idolatry.

Now if there isn’t a more loaded word than idolatry I’d like you to share it with me. I’m not saying you can’t find one, I’m saying if you do I’d like to get prepared to be frightened. Simply put, Idolatry is putting anything, the idol, before God. A pastor friend from Colorado thought the NFL was the perfect American idol. His opinion came from the simple truth that in the Mountain Time zone games start at 11:00 AM. With worship starting at 10:30 folks didn’t get out until the end of the first quarter. If there was a potluck it would be halftime before fans got home.

So many people stayed home during football season that giving actually went down during those four months, longer if the home team made the playoffs. Considering this was during John Elway’s heyday on the reins of the Broncos, the playoffs were almost a foregone conclusion. Yes, my pastor made a pretty good argument for the NFL being an idol.

As for taking this to the “loaded idolatry” level let me finish saying “Texas high school football” and get out of the way. Considering Allen ISD just finished a $60 million facility, that’s not a sanctuary or a tabernacle, it’s a bloody cathedral to high school football.

Is it an idol? I don’t know the people well enough to know, but $60 million for a high school football stadium? If the Church of Jesus Christ had fundraising like that there would be no hunger in East Texas.

Paul begins this portion of his epistle to the Colossians saying, “So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Paul is writing this to the saints in Colossae, he’s writing to believers, the church. I make this point because some translations don’t say “So if…” they say “Since…” Paul is not asking whether they have been raised with Christ or not. In a lovely turn of a rhetorical phrase he is saying that they are raised in Christ.

Since they are raised in Christ their minds should not be on the things of the earth. They should not be set on the idols we make with our own hands and worshiped like they mean something. They are called to be of a higher mind. They are called to live the life they have been freely given at great cost so that we may be with Christ in God.

We are to surrender fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and all forms of greed (which is all forms of idolatry) forsaking anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language. We are to be clothed with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

We are to live in Christ so that we may not only be able to seek the better things, but accept them and nurture them when we discern them.

So, what does this have to do with family? Let’s begin with who is in the family.

Paul covered this pretty well. There is no longer Greek or Jew—cultural identification and membership is considered moot.

As for circumcised and uncircumcised this relates to faith. As culture bears no more meaning; neither does religious affiliation.

As for barbarians and Scythians, the Barbarians (with a capital B) were Turks and the Scythians were Iranian. This could have meant “from west or east” as much as it could mean “vicious people” verses “more cultured vicious people.”

Slave and Free had to do with social status as well as economic status. It comes down to whether or not you have freedom on earth, you have freedom in Christ.

These differentiations are vitally important because in this day and time we have to beware of who we say doesn’t belong. Let us remember that after the “Slaughter of the Innocents” in Matthew's gospel comes the “Escape to Egypt.” Our Lord’s family arrived as strangers in a strange land. They had no visas or permits. The Lord told the Jews to stay out of Egypt so there would have been few kin folk when they arrived. Thank God for the gifts of the Magi or else they would have had no gold or other liquid assets when they arrived.

In short, our Lord was once a political refugee and an illegal alien. In Christ there is freedom for all. This is vitally important to our Lord today because while an infant he was once was a refugee, a prisoner to the power and politics of his time.

How do we welcome new members into our family? In a way, it’s not completely unlike how the Afghani man accepted Marcus Luttrell, with water. While they extended a cup of drinking water, we become family in the waters of our baptism. In this holy sacrament we are welcomed into the community which Christ has ordained to be his body. In these holy waters we are baptized and sealed by the spirit.

In the waters of our baptism we suffer the death that faces all who come into the chaos of water only to be received into new life as a member of the Christian community. We are welcomed in this messy, messy sacrament to join together in the messy lives we live together. It is this unity in Christ, as he too was baptized in the waters of new life, that we come together as family. Family where we defend each one’s dignity against the world that would love to see that new life crushed.

So what does it mean to be a part of this family? It means more than showing up once a week and touching base like a seven-day game of tag where you have to come once a week or “you’re it.”

It means we defend one another. This isn’t unlike the answer to the question “who is my neighbor.” A neighbor is someone who shows mercy, someone who makes a difference. But neighbors are largely a voluntary alliance. We don’t get to pick our family.

Family, in family there is love and respect and dignity even when your little sister bugs the living daylights out of you. Even when your brother borrows the car and doesn’t bother to put gas in it, family is still family. When the Session, Presbytery, or General Assembly votes don’t go as we believe they should, we are still family. Even when family leaves, we are still family. In this love, even in the midst of strife, in the waters of our baptism God’s peace is there.

This is where I share our joy. Nurtured by the food and drink of the Lord’s Supper we share the joy found in our Call to Worship. In the words of the 107^th Psalm, Let them give thanks for the mercy of God, for the wonders the LORD does for all people. For God satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Whoever is wise will ponder these things, and consider well the mercies of the LORD. Halleluiah!

God satisfies the hungry heart with the better things. It’s up to us to seek them, nurture them, and share them with the world.

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[1] “When Words Aren’t Enough” based on Hosea 1:1-10. Miss Porr is a student at Princeton Seminary and about to start a yearlong internship in Groomsport, Northern Ireland. Godspeed and have a great year Tara.

[2] Chai, Barbara, “Ben Foster on how ‘Lone Survivor’ asks ancient questions of war.” http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/04/16/ben-foster-on-how-lone-survivor-asks-ancient-questions-of-war/, retrieved on July 31, 2013.

[3] I am reminded that Luttrell wrote in his book that he was offered tea instead of water. Foster’s recollection may be inaccurate, but it both is what he told Barbara Chai and works better with the end of the sermon.

Raise Us to Live Our Baptismal Vows

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday January 13, 2013, 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.

I want to share our prayer for illumination one more time, “God, your voice moves over the waters, immerse us in your grace, mark us with your image, and raise us to live our baptismal vows empowered by the Holy Spirit and the example of Christ our Lord in whose name we pray.”[1] I do love that prayer. It’s not original; at least I didn’t write it. It comes from a book of prayers I often use. This Baptism of the Lord Sunday, this prayer strikes a chord with me, “Raise us to live our baptismal vows”.

Just a couple of Sundays ago we celebrated Mathieu and Chelsi’s baptism. In the service I used the baptismal texts from the Book of Common Worship.[2] These liturgies and prayers were written by the Theology and Worship Ministry Unit for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It’s a long name, but it’s a long book.

Some people, many people write their own texts for these celebrations, but I usually don’t. I freestyle in the prayers for the people, but on the whole I use these prepared texts because they carry years of study and history. They carry the thoughts and prayers of Presbyterians stretched across space and time and I find that beneficial, especially when it comes to celebrating the sacraments.

Our text from Luke this morning comes in two distinct sections, the confession of the Baptist and the presence of the Trinity.

What’s glorious about the first section is the joy of the people. They expect the savior. Not knowing he’s already 30 years old, they expect the savior any day to come and save them. They’re looking hard. They look hard because life is hard. When life is hard the people need a savior.

The Israelites were oppressed. They lived in fear every day. They needed a savior to take them from toil and suffering to the land of milk and honey. They praised the Lord. They praised the one who is, the great I AM. Still, they needed a savior, the promised savior. So when they found someone who ruffled the feathers of the people in charge, they wanted to know if he was the one.

To quote the Rolling Stones, John says, “It ain’t me babe.” John knows the savior is coming and he knows he’s not the savior. Knowing who we are is still important for all of us to know today. In the baptismal vows of small children and infants we ask parents:

Relying on God’s grace,

do you promise to live the Christian faith,

and to teach that faith to your child?

Then to the congregation we ask:

Do you, as members of the church of Jesus Christ,

promise to guide and nurture these communicants

by word and deed,

with love and prayer,

encouraging them to know and follow Christ

and to be faithful members of his church?

Answering the question asked of John the baptizer, we also answer “are you the Messiah?” with a simple “no.” We are the people who come to the Messiah. We come to receive the waters of our baptism. We come to remember the waters of our own baptism.

We come relying on God’s grace to live and teach our children. We come as members of the church of Jesus Christ promising to guide and nurture those receiving their baptism.

This is who we are, we are recipients. We are the ones who are blessed. Any blessings we have and share come from God alone; it doesn’t come from our doing. Blessings though come with commitment. Another part of the liturgy goes like this:

As God embraces you within the covenant, I ask you

to reject sin,

to profess your faith in Christ Jesus,

and to confess the faith of the church,

the faith in which we baptize.

Notice the order of these statements, it’s important. Yes, I ask those being baptized to reject sin, profess faith in Christ, and confess the faith of the church—the faith in which we baptize. As I ask, the only authority I have comes from God. As God embraces us within the covenant of Baptism, only this covenant makes rejection, profession, and confession possible.

There is a greater beauty in the blessing over the water. We have made our intentions. We have made our promises. We have made our renunciations. We, we, we; but in the blessing over the water we are reminded not of who we are today, but who we have been since the beginning. Our liturgy reads:

In the beginning of time,

your Spirit moved over the watery chaos,

calling forth order and life.

In the time of Noah,

you destroyed evil by the waters of the flood,

giving righteousness a new beginning.

You led Israel out of slavery,

through the waters of the sea,

into the freedom of the promised land.

In the waters of Jordan

Jesus was baptized by John

and anointed with your Spirit.

By the baptism of his own death and resurrection,

Christ set us free from sin and death,

and opened the way to eternal life.

We thank you, O God, for the water of baptism.

In it we are buried with Christ in his death.

From it we are raised to share in his resurrection,

Through it we are reborn by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Friends, this is who we were, who we are, and who we will always be. We are called to remember this as we remember our baptism. We are called to remember who calls us, who blesses us, and who has shared this blessing with us since before the beginning.

As for the second half of our reading, this carries a blessing all its own. This is the first presence of the Trinity in Luke’s gospel. In this setting, Jesus stands in the Jordan while the Spirit descends bodily like a dove and the voice of God speaks.

Luke’s gospel adds a blessing not found in other Baptism of the Lord readings. In our reading from Mark[3] last year, only Jesus can see the Spirit and hear the Father. It’s the same way in Matthew’s gospel,[4] not so in Luke. Luke says the Spirit descended bodily. Luke shares the voice of God with the crowd. Unlike these other gospels, in Luke’s it seems that everyone in the crowd witnessed the Trinitarian appearance.

This is joyous; the first part of our reading tells us to know who we are. This part tells us who God is in person and in voice. Again, from the Book of Common Worship:

Obeying the word of our Lord Jesus,

and confident of his promises,

we baptize those whom God has called.

In baptism God claims us,

and seals us to show that we belong to God.

God frees us from sin and death,

uniting us with Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection.

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.

Continuing from the Thanksgiving over the Water:

We give you thanks, Eternal God,

for you nourish and sustain all living things

by the gift of water.

Send your Spirit to move over this water

that it may be a fountain of deliverance and rebirth.

Wash away the sin of all who are cleansed by it.

Raise them to new life,

and graft them to the body of Christ.

Pour out your Holy Spirit upon them,

that they may have power to do your will,

and continue forever in the risen life of Christ.

To you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God,

be all praise, honor, and glory,

now and forever.

In the waters of our baptism, we are nourished and sustained. In the waters of our baptism we share the sacrament Jesus shared. In the waters of our baptism we receive a blessing which Christ received. We pray “Come holy Spirit” so that these simple waters may be a fountain of deliverance and rebirth. In the waters of our baptism we give praise, honor, and glory to the one God in three persons now and forever.

It is in the name, in the power of the Triune God that I say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

So today, through rich images and remembering the waters, the day we celebrate Jesus the Christ’s participation in a sacrament he did not institute or even need, we celebrate that before we can choose Christ, Christ chooses us. Today we celebrate grace freely given. We celebrate entering new life through the covenant God has established. We celebrate entering new life through the covenant only God can establish.

God raises us above all we can be on our own and lifts us to the life that was intended. In embracing that covenant we live by the words of the liturgy, “We choose whom we will serve, by turning from evil and turning to Jesus Christ.”

When I use the word liturgy, most people think of the words and the prayers spoken during worship. Most consider liturgy just the words that span across the worship service bridging the prayers to the hymns to the sermon. If this is all we use the liturgy for, that’s all it is. But liturgy is so much more.

Liturgy is a Latin word meaning “work of the people.” Liturgy is work, it is something we do—not something we say. Liturgy is one of the ways we are raised into our baptismal vows. In those vows we pray,

O Lord, uphold your child by your Holy Spirit.

Give your child the spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the spirit of counsel and might,

the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord,

the spirit of joy in your presence,

both now and forever.

This is how we begin to live into our baptismal vows, through the gifts we have been given, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear and joy in the presence of the Lord. This is how we are upheld so that we may live our baptismal vows. This is how God raises us so that we can live our baptismal vows. This is our choice—whether or not to live our vows or not; and if we so choose, how to live into them. According to the Book of Common Worship, this is how we must choose to live our vows:

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.

On this Sunday, we remember this wonderful celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. We pray that we may be raised up to live our baptismal vows. Today we also remember the vows we took at the baptism of Mathieu and Chelsi. We don’t do this so we can earn salvation. We don’t participate in this sacrament for its magical properties, because there are none. We choose to do this because we choose to share life, the life the Triune God shares with us, as we first see in this moment, in this act.

We remember, we share, and we live our baptismal vows because God—Father, Son and Spirit—God chose us before we could chose God. For this we pray “God, raise us to live our baptismal vows empowered by the Holy Spirit and the example of Christ our Lord in whose name we pray.”

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[1] “Revised Common Lectionary Prayers,” Consultation of Common Texts, editors. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002, page 55.

[2] Book of Common Worship Texts from: The Theology and Worship Ministry Unit for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, “Book of Common Worship.” Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993, pages 403-414.

[3] Mark 1:4-11

[4] Matthew 3:13-17

Treasure--The Verb

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on Sunday December 30, 2012, the 1st Sunday after Christmas, the day of the baptism of Mathieu and Chelsi.

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26

Psalm 148

Colossians 3:12-17

Luke 2:41-52

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

Over the last several weeks when we have been talking about stewardship, one of the words I used is “treasure.” In that context I had been talking about financial treasure, the asset side of the balance sheet. More often than not treasure means something liquid like cash and coin, although there are other kinds of assets like life insurance, stocks and bonds, and real estate. But this introduction to accounting is not our focus today. We’re not talking about treasure as a noun, but as a verb. The New Testament only uses the word treasure as a verb twice, both in Luke’s gospel, and both with the way Mary thinks about her family’s life.

The first time is found early in the second chapter of Luke. The shepherd boys have just heard the blessing of the angel announcing “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” They were so excited and motivated by this message and by the chorus of the heavenly host singing “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” that they took their leave from the fields to go to Bethlehem and see what has happened, this thing which the Lord has told them about. Luke tells us Mary treasured up all these things.

The other time is in our reading from today. You’ve just heard the story so I won’t rehash the whole thing, but here are some highlights: Jesus went with the family to Jerusalem for the Passover. When it was time to go, Mary and Joseph and the family caravan journeyed a day before they said to one another, “I thought he was with you.” It took a day of travel to get back and then three more days before Mary found her son in the temple. For five days the twelve year old Jesus was on his own in the big city and not only was he holding up better than McCauley Culkin in “Home Alone,” but the people who heard him teach were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

The family reunited at the temple and Jesus wondered why it took three days of wandering around the city before finding him in the only place he would be. It was then when they returned to Nazareth that Mary had time to reflect on all that had happened and she treasured all these things in her heart.

Believe it or not, there are two different Greek words to show how Mary treasured, two different verbs. The root of these words means to preserve or protect. To guard is also a definition of the root.[1] It’s the prefixes that make the difference.

The first, the one we read on Christmas Eve, means treasure, but it also means to preserve against harm, to protect, and to defend along with hold and treasure up.[2] Another source[3] says this word means to keep in the way one would keep a memory. It’s like thinking about someone and caring for them. On Christmas Eve it would seem that it would be way too soon for Mary to treasure the memories of her son, not in the way the word is defined here. It’s more likely Mary treasured the memory of the events of the evening. “Scrapbooking of the mind” might be one way to put it.

The version we have today means to keep something mentally with implication of duration, to keep in mind forever.[4] Compared to the Christmas Eve translation of “treasure,” this version is a more careful and permanent storing in memory. This is locking something deep, deep into memory. In this case, in today’s reading, Mary locks this memory deep, deep into her heart.

There is also the implication that this way to treasure something allows a deeper look into the memory. Where the first is like a picture image, this treasuring allows us to think back in time and forward to the implications of what is being treasured. Luke’s gospel tells us that to Mary it’s one thing to have a bunch of rag-tag kids coming to see your son, it’s another when a bunch of Rabbis hang on his every word. That is the treasuring Mary is doing today.

Today we will share a memory worth making. Today we celebrate the baptism of Mathieu and Chelsi. It should be a joyful memory locked into each of our hearts, especially Patrick and Chrystal. I bet there will be some proud grandparents too. What a moment this will be! There will be water, lots of water. There will be water from the font and there will be plenty of tears too. But let me ask you a question, what’s the most important thing about our baptism? Is it the water or is it something else? Friends, it’s something else.

The water is a symbol. Mr. Al gave us all the perfect example of a Christmas symbol in today’s children’s message, the candy cane. It’s not the hard white candy with the red stripes that’s important; it’s what the symbols represent. It’s the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus. It’s the solid rock, the foundation of the Church and the firmness of the promises of God. It’s the name of Jesus and the staff of the “Good Shepherd.” It’s the blood of Christ from being scourged and from the cross, the blood of eternal life.[5] It’s not the thing, it’s what it represents.

In our baptism, water is a symbol of cleaning. It’s a symbol of birth and the womb. It’s a symbol of death and the tomb, both womb and tomb. Water is a sign of chaos in the creation story and in the gospels. It’s also a symbol of refreshing life. The water in the font is as we say a symbol of the living water of Jesus Christ.

There’s nothing overly special about this water. It was taken from the tap in the fellowship hall, a place where we break bread. It is where we have celebrated fellowship dinners, wedding receptions, and bereavement meals. It is where we, this part of the body of Christ shares many stages of life together. The water will be poured from a Marshall Pottery jug. Is there anything that says more about our community than pouring the tap water from a Marshall Pottery jug? This is a symbol; this is how we celebrate baptisms here.

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, these are our two sacraments. They are the outward signs of God’s inward grace. They aren’t magical. They’re intentional. Our Lord Jesus participated in both sacraments. Jesus was baptized by John and he instituted the Supper. They don’t beckon supernatural blessings. They don’t cause salvation. What they do is remind us of what Jesus has done and continues to do. Friends, with everything else our sacraments accomplish, they must give us memories to treasure.

So, what do we treasure? Let’s treasure today as we celebrate the sacrament of the baptism of Mathieu and Chelsi. In a couple of weeks when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we should treasure the gift of the meal that satisfies our soul and our palate. When we meet together, let us treasure not the things, but what the things represent.

Over the past two weeks it has been difficult, for me and especially for Georgia. What has been difficult is taking the phone calls from people trying to pick the still warm bones of this part of the Body of Christ.

Last week a woman came to see her Sunday School room which hasn’t existed since the education wing renovation of the 1950’s. A woman who was once a member was here last Sunday suggesting we get into the wedding business because that’s where the money is. I have heard more requests for the family pew than I care to recall. Shreveport TV stations have called to get the scoop. Friends offer comfort in one moment and ask “what happened” in the next, not a move of pastoral care as much as it is a try to get the latest gossip.

What’s sad to me is people wanting the stuff, not what it represents. Some people treasure the things, not what they stand for. What our sacraments stand for is the relationship our Lord seeks with his people, with all creation. Mathieu and Chelsi’s baptism isn’t about the water and the words spoken over them, but the relationships we forged as the body of Christ; relationships that transform time and space, even this time and space.

We will make covenant with these children to be good Christians and good role models and good teachers of the faith we have received. We will promise to support and encourage. We will promise to guide and nurture by word and deed with love and prayer; encouraging these children to know and follow Christ and to be faithful members of God’s holy church. This is what we must remember, this is what we must hold close to our hearts, this is what we must treasure; not the water, but the promises we make over the water.

Mary treasures all of these things in her heart. She treasures the shepherds. She treasures the looks of the people in the temple. Above all she treasures her son who is of her body and not of this world. What do we rejoice? Friends, we must treasure our relationships more than we treasure the treasures of this place and time.

Gold, frankincense, and myrrh are things which over time are used and used up. It is the relationship with our Lord and with one another which fade only if we let them. Like Mary, let us treasure these things in our hearts.

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[1] thre,w, Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. VIII, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Publishing Company, 1972, page 142.

[2] sunthre,w, A Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Christian Literature, Third Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000, electronic entry.

[3] Ibid Kittel, page 151.

[4] diathre,w, Ibid Greek English Lexicon.

[5] The Candy Cane Story, http://www.kidtokid.org/candycanestory.html, retrieved December 29, 2012