Pentecost II

And so begins the season of ordinary time or Sundays in Pentecost which began with Trinity Sunday last week. It is a period of instruction and meditation that extends until Christ the King Sunday next November. We have moved from John back to the concise texts in Mark for our Gospel and to II Corinthians for our Epistles. Jesus has selected his Apostles and has started upon his ministry of teaching and healing. Just as we are entering a season of learning so the Apostles are being prepared for the ministry before them.

For our first day of classes we tackle no less a topic than sin.

Gen 3:10  The man answered, "I was naked, and when I heard you walking through the garden, I was frightened and hid!"
Gen 3:11  "How did you know you were naked?" God asked.

The Genesis Myth purports to explain so-called original sin and blames the original temptation on 'The Snake' to explain what seems to be our instinctual antipathy to these creatures. What is important here is not how sin came into the world but the effect of this loss of innocence. Man felt naked before God and hid, as if that were possible, and not only did not confess his transgressions but  blamed them on his wife. From the beginning sin brought guilt that separated man from his God and since this is the Old Testament punishment follows and it is dire.

Psalm 130 is a lamentation for the sinful nature of mankind:

Psa 130:3  If you kept record of our sins, no one could last long.
Psa 130:4  But you forgive us, and so we will worship you.

God's forgiveness restores our bond with the Creator.

The Epistle speaks of our physical  being which is subject to transgression and our spiritual being which is eternal and resides with God.

And so to our Gospel where Jesus touches base with home bringing his followers with him. As word of this miracle worker who could heal the sick and cast out demons spread people flocked to him creating a circus-like atmosphere. A prophet being famous everywhere but in his home town Jesus' own family sought to rescue him from himself hence the response:

Mar 3:35  Anyone who obeys God is my brother or sister or mother."

Temple authorities attempted to discredit him.

Mar 3:28  I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are.

In contradiction the verse following introduces the concept of blasphemy or unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit which opens up an entirely different can of worms. If we reject our own souls, the spirit of god within us, are we eternally separated from the God? The church once thought so refusing to bury suicides on holy ground.

Jesus brought forgiveness of sin and as the presence of God on earth embodied that forgiveness.  Our acceptance of the Holy Spirit's gift of belief in the Kingdom of God which cannot be seen grants us life eternal and oneness with God. Rejecting that gift separates us from God. We can only  be made right with God if we accept the Holy Spirit's gift of forgiveness. We cannot be forgiven if we believe ourselves unforgivable. We have to forgive ourselves before we can believe in God's forgiveness.

We cannot escape our sinful natures but we can repent and with contrite hearts seek God's forgiveness and rejoice in the God of our salvation.

Forgive my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me. After Mat_6:12

Trinity

Trinity Sunday in the church's lectionary has become an afterthought. We now refer for the rest of the church year to Sundays in Pentecost, not Trinity. Indeed the lessons appointed for this Sunday hardly seem appropriate for Trinity and my commentary for Pentecost has already exhausted the subject.

Just as a single person can be someone's daughter, another's sister, and a mother as well so too we can look at the one God from different perspectives. However we approach him he is worthy of our duty and praise. It should also be noted that God is neither male nor female but displays qualities of both. Whereas God may have been said to have created man in his own image we conceive of God in our own image and an all-powerful god needs must display masculine traits it seems.

Today's lessons speak more to our relationship with this god than about his nature.

Once more we return to the OT for our first lesson:

Isa 6:5  And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

This passage would not be out of place in Revelation.

Psa 29:2  Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.

Psa 29:11  May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!

Rom 8:14  For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Our Gospel tells the story of the Pharisee Nicodemus' visit to Jesus and culminates in the famous:

Joh 3:16  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Joh 3:17  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him

The Father and the Son are one. The Epiphany did not occur with the intention of starting a Jesus Cult. The Son became man to demonstrate God's Redeeming Love. At his Resurrection he became one once more with the Father and last Sunday we celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit which opened the minds of the Apostles. God in three Persons, Blessed Trinity.

I would take issue with Father Luther. God is a God of Love. He is not to be feared. Fear enters the relationship when like Adam and Eve we transgress and fail to repent and turn away from our sins and feel naked before God.

Pentecost

As Christians we conceive of a triune God in three aspects or persons:

God the Father Creator
God the Son Redeemer, and
God the Holy Spirit Communicator Comforter

This is the one Sunday a year devoted entirely to this third aspect of God's Nature.

God's Spirit is symbolized by a descending dove, a mighty wind or breath, and by tongues of fire.

One could say that the Holy Spirit is active as we study his Word the Bible and inspiring me as I write this commentary as we believe it inspired those who recorded the words we read in the Holy Bible.

God's Spirit was said to be active as God created the universe and when God breathed the breath of life into the clay that became mankind.

It is said to have descended as a dove when God claimed Jesus as his beloved son.

It is said to have appeared to many in dreams and to others in the form of angel messengers.

At Pentecost it is said to have filled all the room in which the Apostles hid like a mighty wind and burned atop their heads like tongues of fire. It inspired them to overcome their fears, self-consciousness and stage freight to go out and preach the Gospel seemingly in  languages even they didn't understand. To this day when someone has a new idea we place a light bulb atop his head representing the fact that he has seen the light.

Our ability to have faith itself is said to be a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holly Spirit that claims us as God's own and imbues us at Baptism.

When we pray the Holy Spirit is active within us.

Our spirit is said to light up our eyes and enlivens our being and is expressed as our aura or soul--that which animates us. It is that aspect of our being that is eternal and returns to God at our death. It is that which make us human. In a sense it is God indwelling within us.

Western philosophy and culture has centred on logic and scientific method.

1Co 1:22  For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,

Native Americans and others have conceived of a more animistic approach to the world in which everything in creation has a spirit even what we perceive as inanimate objects such as rocks and trees. In failing to honour that animism we commit environmental suicide.

The Holy Spirit is testimony to the fact that we can believe in things that we cannot prove to exist by touching or seeing them or conceiving of them logically with our minds.

In the end we must remember that God is one being. He was made man in the person of Jesus the Christ who made manifest God's Love for mankind in his very being. Because we believe the testimony of those who claim he lived we are called Christians but we worship God the Father Creator not his human aspect the Son. So to the Holy Spirit is our expression of God communicating with us his creation. When we sense God's love his spirit is active in our lives as it is when we express that love in praise and thanksgiving to God and in expressions of caring for his creation our fellow man and the world around us.

We are one with every theological expression of the creator's presence in our lives that yearns for the good of his creation. We need to acknowledge that there is more than one way of expressing God's Truth and learn to seek those things that unite us rather than those that divide us. Love conquers all.

Easter VII

On this last Sunday in the Easter Season we get a Catechetical Lesson in the True Nature of God. Theology is the study of the nature of God and God's relationship with Man and the rest of his creation. So let us look at that relationship.

In the Old Testament Paradigm  God was a God of Law who expected obedience. Obedience was rewarded and disobedience, sin, was punished. The Law of Moses summarized in the Ten Commandments was interpreted and expounded upon by Talmudic Scholars until the codex totaled nearly 1000 closely packed pages. God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob whose relationship with his people Israel was epitomized by his mighty acts in bringing them out of bondage in Egypt. This formula is repeated over and over in prophetic writings. In this modality it was important to be seen to do the right thing.

The paradigm shift in the Good News or Gospel is the fact that God cared so much that he became man to demonstrate that it is not sufficient that we be seen to obey the law but more important that we mean to obey it. We do this by responding in love to a God who loves us and in our loving relationships with our fellow man and the universe we inhabit. Our motivations become as important as our acts themselves. In effect God doesn't punish sin; by our sinful acts we drive a wedge between ourselves and our God and each other and that separation from the love of God is in effect its own punishment. This concept was so threatening to the Jewish authorities and Roman rulers of the day that this God-man Jesus was crucified on the cross. Allowing himself to be so-treated was interpreted as a supreme demonstration of God's love for his people hence the cross has become a symbol of God's love.

To summarize the Old Testament paradigm treated God's people as immature children who were punished whenever they didn't obey. The Gospel says that as mature adults we are capable of internalizing God's Law so that we act out of love rather than fear of being punished for disobedience. Too often church hierarchies have lost sight of God's love and reverted to fearing a God of vengeance and punishment.

Today's lessons talk about Jesus' relationship to the Law and the Prophets, the validity of his life and ministry and our part in keeping the message going.

If a man love me he will keep my word, he will keep my word. And my father will love him, and my father will love him and make his home in him and make his home in him. Joh_14:23.

Easter VI

Today's lessons are in essence a continuation of last Sunday's when we talked about the relationship between God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, and we his mortal believers. We live in him and he in us and today the emphasis shifts to the nature of that loving relationship.

Faith, as we have learned in the past is a gift of the Holy Spirit. To receive that gift we have to be open to allow that love into our lives.

The irony in this relationship is that in submission we find freedom, in giving we receive, in loving we are overwhelmed with love, in abandoning anger and resentment we receive joy, in dying we receive life.

Once more we learn in the first lesson from Acts that the Gospel is for all people, Jew and Gentile.

Psalm 98 reminds us that it is good for the soul to give God thanks and praise. All creation praises the God of its creation.

God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Son are one. In baptism we are claimed by the triune God.

The central tenet of the Good News is that God loves us and we respond to that love in love not because we fear punishment if we disobey but in joyful response to that love. Jesus was made man to make manifest God's love. We respond to that love by loving the God of our creation and salvation and our neighbour as ourselves. Let us not forget the corollary of that equation. To truly love others we must believe ourselves worthy of that love in return. To love others we must love ourselves. We are made lovable by God's forgiving love.

Easter V

Last Sunday was Good Shepherd Sunday. Today is Grape Vine Sunday. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches, God is the vine grower.

Next to olive groves and possibly figs vineyards were the most basic crop in Palestine. In a land where water was often not safe to drink wine was an essential staff of life. Grape vines require constant care. Water, weeding, trimming the branches, grafting, fertilizing, watching out for parasites and fungus. Vines require constant maintenance lest the wild root stalk reassert itself, to trim unproductive branches and unhealthy growths.

Jesus uses an analogy familiar to his listeners to explain essential truths about life in Christ.

First, once again we return to Acts for our first lesson. Let it be noted that Philip was sent to meet with a Gentile. Eunuch was a common term for government official much as we refer to infernal revenue today. The passage that was being read was Isa_53:7-8, often referred to as the suffering servant passage. This is, of course was applied to Jesus and used as a pretext to expound upon the Good News culminating in a baptism.

The Psalm avows that God lives in us and we in him. God is not a cure-all for every ill to which man is prone but neither is he deaf to our concerns but we must trust in him and make our needs known.

The Epistle reaffirms that the greatest of these is love. Love one another as I have loved you.

The Gospel expounds upon the Psalmist's concept of an interactive relationship with God the creator. The Christian Life is not a one-time conversion experience. Our Christian faith must be tended and nourished for if it is not growing and producing it will become moribund and dead. We live in Christ and he in us. We are nourished by our life in Christ's body the church. We are not redeemed by our good works but our response to God's love will be reflected in the fruit we produce expressed in love for each other.

The Good Shepherd

And so we come to Good Shepherd Sunday.

Few earn their living these days in an agrarian society and very few farmers are shepherds in the sense that is invoked in today's lessons. Some may have watched Brokeback Mountain. We can remember that in his youth King David was found as his father's youngest tending sheep in the wild. Indeed when he faced Goliath he used his skill with a sling shot honed in defense of his flock as his only weapon. It is also instructive to remember that at Jesus' birth it is reported that the heavenly host overwhelmed with joy appeared to shepherds keeping watch in the field by night.

Less idyllic is the life these men led. In a world where few people bathed regularly these men lived rough sleeping outside in all weather as do the homeless today. They were in constant contact with their flocks and the dogs who helped mind them and as has been related many times in the past the shepherd slept in the entrance to the surround in which the sheep were kept secure at night. The sheep needed protection from native carnivores but sheep are not as dumb as the authors depict. Sheep have a scent gland between their toes that leaves a scent path wherever they wander so no sheep could get truly lost. They may not have a sense of direction but they can certainly follow their winding path home again. Truly they have a habit of wandering that patch of grass over there always seeming more inviting than the one in front of them. Since sheep crop grass up by the roots they must constantly be moved to new pasture lest they destroy the sod upon which they feed.

Once more we return to Acts for our first lesson. We need to back up to learn that the Apostles are on trial for healing a lame man and for declaring that that troublemaker Jesus whom the Sanhedrin had had the Romans put to death has somehow reappeared to cause them more head aches.

Act 4:10  then you should all know, and all the people of Israel should know, that this man stands here before you completely well through the power of the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth---whom you crucified and whom God raised from death.
Act 4:11  Jesus is the one of whom the scripture says, 'The stone that you the builders despised turned out to be the most important of all.'
Act 4:12  Salvation is to be found through him alone; in all the world there is no one else whom God has given who can save us."

Lives there a Christian of a certain age who cannot recite Psalm 23 from memory? After the Lord's Prayer the most popular memory work followed by the Ten Commandments. Just last week I was reminded that it forms part of the burial rite at every funeral service.

Psa 46:1  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psa 46:2  Therefore will not we fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

Psa 23:4  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me: thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

In our permissive society the chastening rod is not seen as comforting but in the Old Testament context the Law was seen as something to be cherished and those who transgressed it expected to be punished appropriately. The was cherished because it kept us in a right relationship with God and man.

In the end this is a Psalm of David who was chosen over all his brothers to be anointed with Holy Oil and crowned to shepherd his people Israel in what came to be seen as their nation's golden age.

First John is a sermon about the nature of God's love and our response to that love:

1Jn 3:18  My children, our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.

The Gospel today is rather hard on hired men. The word used in the King James Version is hireling meant in a derogatory  sense.

Joh 10:17  "The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again.

Joh 10:14  "I am the shepherd who cares for the sheep. I know my sheep just as the Father knows me. And my sheep know me just as I know the Father. I give my life for these sheep.
Joh 10:16  I have other sheep too. They are not in this flock here. I must lead them also. They will listen to my voice. In the future there will be one flock and one shepherd.

This last verse is seen as meaning that the Good News is meant also for the Gentiles. Jesus and his followers remained throughout their lifetimes devout Jews. Jesus came to fulfill the law, not replace it.

Easter III

Today's theme is God's love and caring for our well-being.

Once more we are offered God's Peace this time in Luke and in Psalms. The Hebrew word is Shalom which is freighted with far deeper meaning than our simple concept of peace. It encompasses outward and inward freedom from disturbance, well-being in general including health and prosperity, and a sense of right relationship with man and God. All this from a single word.

Our first lesson from Acts quotes events that occurred after the coming of the Holy Spirit--Pentecost. Imbued with the Holy Spirit these illiterate fishermen were empowered to overcome stage freight and fear of the authorities to speak powerfully and charismatically to thousands. Seemingly people from many nations understood them in their own tongue--as has been asserted before in an opposite effect from the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel. The Holy Ghost or Spirit has also been termed the Comforter for it gives the gift of faith that empowers a sense of Shalom in the believer.

Psalm 4 asserts that those who are faithful to the Lord will lie down in perfect peace. The idea that one should resist worldly injustice but be aware that we are not personally responsible for saving the entire world is made plain.

The Epistle tells us that our lives should reflect the love that was given us and in so doing reflect he from whom it was given.

So we come to Luke and another passage in which the Resurrected Jesus appears to his gathered followers.

How to persuade a group of rather simple literal-minded peasant fishermen that he really is present among them? He invokes the most elemental of human needs and asks for food. He could have gone for a whizz but there were women present.

The important stuff comes next.

Luk 24:45  Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

First  he has to put their minds at ease so they can be receptive to the message that follows. Opening their minds is an act of the Holy Spirit. It hardly seems plausible that Jesus reviewed the entire Old Testament and his Gospel in one session but having convinced the gathering of his resurrection he freed their minds to move on.

Luk 24:48  You are witnesses of these things.

Understanding the Good News is only the first step, once internalized it is meaningless unless it be shared.

Easter II

And so, after the joyful celebration of the resurrection we are left wondering, what now. We enter the seven week period of pondering after the highs of Easter as we await with the apostles the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Just as Easter was set to eclipse the Jewish Paschal Festival of Passover, Pentecost coming 50 days after replaces the Jewish Feast of Weeks which came 7 weeks later. Jesus came up to Jerusalem and was betrayed and crucified. Three days later the women discovered his open and empty tomb and Jesus' followers, disciples are in hiding lest they suffer a similar fate. With crowds coming to attend a high Jewish Festival it would seem an appropriate time to 'come out' and proclaim the Gospel but seven weeks is a long time to huddle in secret in fear and anticipation of what was to come.

Once more the first lesson is from Acts and paints a rather utopian picture of early Christians. It sounds rather like a group expecting the imminent second coming or eschaton. We now know this did not happen in their lifetimes and is not likely to occur in ours. Psalm 133 continues in a similar vein.

The Epistle summarizes the Gospel and the hope that is ours in Jesus Christ.

A great deal is happening in today's Gospel from John. The disciples are in hiding behind locked doors.  Jesus appears to them:

Joh 20:21  Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."
Joh 20:22  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.
Joh 20:23  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld."

A great many sermons have been preached on the topic of Doubting Thomas which follows because the three verses above slip by so quickly it is easy to miss their significance.

First God's Peace is proffered twice, no small matter. The next line goes further than the Great Commissioning in Mat_28:18-20 making it clear that we are sent to spread the Gospel just as Jesus incarnation revealed God's Word to the world. Next here without waiting for Pentecost Jesus breathes on them giving them the Holy Spirit. Finally John's version of the giving of the Keys of the Kingdom which forms part of the ordination of every pastor.

Once more we see that each Gospel writer presents the Good News from a different perspective placing emphases where he feels the need.

The next eight verses address the question, how are we who have not been in Jesus' presence to believe? A question that was probably real even for the writer of this Gospel.

Festival of Easter

Today the first lesson is from Acts, not the OT. This being the Festival Sunday of Easter this text  seems out of place at first glance. As is so often the case the verses appointed to be read lose significance when torn from their context so read the entire chapter, not just the appointed lesson. The story is of the Roman Captain Cornelius and today's text is Peter's reply when he enters the captain's house. The essential message here is that Jesus' Good News was brought not just for the House of Isreal but for all people. To be a Christian one is not required to observe Jewish dietary laws and other traditions. In today's context our call is to serve all people despising and disdaining noone because of their ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, economic status or health.

Psalm 118 affirms God's steadfast love and contains the oft quoted:

Psa 118:22  The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
Psa 118:23  This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
Psa 118:24  This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

The Epistle affirms the Resurrection. We preach God's love and saving grace as embodied by our risen Lord. Then as now we boast not in our own strength but in the love of God who redeems us by grace through faith.

Today is a day of rejoicing at the Feast Day of Easter. A day on which the Feast of the Passover is eclipsed in our observance by Resurrection signified by the finding of an empty tomb. It is not a day for delving deeply into theological discussions but for rejoicing in the Good News that God has made known to us in Christ.

Passion Sunday/Palm Sunday

Passion Sunday has the longest lessons in the entire church year and the
Gospel Lessons don't even include the triumphal entry with palms that
occurs in all four Gospels. Where to begin? Little wonder the reading or
recitation of the entire passage often takes the place of the homily in
many churches.

With 119 verses from M ark to choose from it would be possible to
preach on virtually any topic. To find a theme I would look to the three
other passages selected for today all relatively brief. They seem to
suggest a theme relating to the nature of the Messiah's mission here on
earth and by inference our own as Christ's body, the church here on earth.

It seems plain that Judas fully expected Jesus to rise up and lead a
revolt against Roman oppression and in betraying him hoped to force his
hand. The certain one who was armed with a sword and struck out in
defense is identified in John as being Peter. Since his Kingdom was
Spiritual and not of this world Jesus yielded up his earthly body to
persecution.

The passage from Isaiah describes physical torture:

Isa 50:6 I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who
pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.

The point is made that having been made right with God earthy
persecutors cannot harm his spiritual well-being and firm in this belief
martyrs throughout the ages have faced death unafraid. Most recent to my
writing this could be cited the example of Martin Luther King Jr.

Psalm 31 attributed to David describes one weary from the depredations
of those who oppose him but he takes comfort in the knowledge:

Psa 31:14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God."
Psa 31:15 My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my
enemies and from my persecutors!
Psa 31:16 Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your
steadfast love!

And for once the Epistle says it all:

Php 2:5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Php 2:6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality
with God a thing to be grasped,
Php 2:7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being
born in the likeness of men.
Php 2:8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Php 2:9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the
name that is above every name,
Php 2:10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven
and on earth and under the earth,
Php 2:11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.

The Word made flesh dwelt among us. The kingdom of Heaven which is his
domain is not of this world and we as its members as with Jesus are in
the world but not of the world. Jesus' message and very being was an
affront and a challenge to Imperial Roman power and claiming no earthly
dominion he allowed his earthly being to be put to death. But the Word
made flesh, his Godly being is beyond any earthly power to destroy.
Therefore on Easter Sunday we celebrate the fact that his followers
encountered the ever living Christ in spiritual form being imbued with
that same spirit at Pentecost.

Lent Five

Who was this Jesus. The account given in our Gospel is unique to John. It is interesting to note that it is Gentiles, Greeks who are doing the asking. Also of interest is the fact that it is Philip who is approached and before going to Jesus himself Philip conferred with Andrew. However authentic this passage is the essential message to be gleaned here is:

Joh 12:26  If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

What remains is the question of how we are to serve him and what it means to follow him.

Jer 31:31  "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
Jer 31:32  not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.
Jer 31:33  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:34  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

For our Psalm we return once more to David's prayer of penitence. Repition is once more the theme of this lesson series.

We are not worthy but a righteous and loving God will forgive the repentent and make us right with him and the world which we inhabit.

Psa 2:7  I will tell of the decree: the LORD said unto me, Thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee.

It was Jesus who said, he who would be greatest among you must be servant of all. He demonstrates it by washing his disciples' feet at the passover feast during which he institutes Holy Communion.

On this Sunday before Holy Week we once more confront the question, who was this person who rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and within the week was betrayed and crucified. Encountering him is a life-changing experience for all involved. A few weeks ago a young couple had their lives completely disrupted by the birth of a son who was visited by shepherds and magi bringing gifts. Their livelihood was disrupted by a flight to Egypt, which their ancestors had escaped, that lasted two years. Upon meeting him a group of fishermen and tradesmen abandoned their livelihoods, their families, and their homes to follow him.

Two thousand years later he is still changing lives. Born of the house of Judah the man Jesus was not of the priestly Levite clan. As God incarnate he was more than a priest. As the Messiah, the Christ his followers, Judas in particular, believed that he would rise up and free them from Roman Imperialism. Instead he allowed his earthly body to be subjected to the cruelist most humiliating form of execution. His followers were shattered.  God in the Word made Flesh freed us from the burden of sin, disobedience to the law, so that we become members of the Kingdom of God. Neither Rome nor any other earthy power holds any sway over a spriritual realm that has no earthly basis save in the hearts of men. Rome might kill Jesus' earthly body but in the 'person' of God the Son his followers encountered his heavenly presence in the resurrection as do we to this day. All that is required is that we believe that God loves us so much that we need only repent and believe. It is that easy and that difficult.

The priestly class offered sacrifice of sin offerings to redeem God's people Israel. Jesus symbolically becomes that sacrifice but God's mercy and redemptive love are eternal and not confined to a single time, place or event.

Freed from the bondage of sin we are made members of Christ's body the church and enter the priesthood of all believers. As such our mission becomes Christ's mission, not to become martyrs but to spread and embody his message of forgiveness and love. 

Lent Four

Today we have a group of lessons that display a unique unity of purpose.

Our God is a loving God who means well by us but in giving us free will he allows us to make choices and decisions that are not always in our best interest. Whenever and however we stray he is always willing to forgive if we but repent and believe in his mercy. He does not interfere with natural law and remove the side-effects of our actions.

In our OT Lesson the Israelites strayed and were attacked by poisonous snakes. Moses created a bronze figure that to this day is the symbol of a doctor's hippocratic oath to do no harm. The simple act of looking at this figure in faith saved the people who so did.

Psalm 107 acknowledges God's saving grace and man's need to seek and believe in it.

In Ephesians that which separates us from the love of God is termed sin. It is our belief in the grace of God that restores us to spiritual health and well-being if we but repent and believe.

Today's Gospel contains some of the most overworked verses in the entire NT. Moses' lifting up of the bronze serpent is equated with Jesus' crucifixion.

Joh 3:16  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John Stainer set these texts to some of the most saccharine melodies ever inflicted on an audience.

In the most dramatic possible fashion as Christians we believe that God intervened directly in human affairs by being born as a man and testifying to God's love and forgiving nature through his life, his teaching and his death.

If we can but believe in God's loving forgiveness we can be made right with ourselves, the world, and our God. This aspect of God's love has always existed, Jesus simply came to earth in the most extraordinary way possible to demonstrate it.

Lent Three

In today's lessons we get the Word.

In Gen_1:1-31 and in Psa_19:1-6 God's Word had the power of creation. In Psa_19:7-10 God's Word is Law as supplied in Exo_20:1-17 and in Psa_19:11-14 man responds in prayer.

In the New Covenant the Word made Flesh turns the wisdom of the Old Covenant on its head turning foolishness into wisdom and weakness into strength.

1Co 1:22  For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
1Co 1:23  but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

Mar 8:35  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

In our Gospel we learn that God's Word is written on the hearts of men not in buildings made of stone. God's work is done not in maintaining the administrative structure of the church but in spreading God's Word of Salvation to all people. The church is not the structure where God's people meet but the people themselves and their purpose in meeting is not to do the business of the church but prayer, praise and thanksgiving.

Lent Two

Today we look at the nature of faith and our need to trust in God. This is challenging because God's ways are not man's ways. The Kingdom of God is timeless, outside the realm of time and space. Therefore God's perspective is long-term compared with a single man's lifespan. If our prayers and expectations are not met it is often because God has a different way of looking at things which we find hard to comprehend.

We begin with Abram who at 100 naturally believes his child-rearing days are behind him. His 90-year-old wife finds the idea of conception laughable and indeed gives her son the name Isaac which means to laugh. But God assures Abraham that his descendents will be as plentiful as the grains of sand on a beach.

Our Psalm affirms the truth that God is in control and to him should be given the glory due unto his name. Even if we cannot understand God's ways we need to call on him and trust in him and praise him for all the good things he has done for us.

Our Epistle from Romans refers back to the faith of Abraham in Genesis. It was Abraham's faith that made him Father of a Great Nation not his adherence to the law:

Rom 4:20  No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
Rom 4:21  fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Rom 4:22  That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness."

God's message to Abram defied natural law and common sense. But to God all things are possible.
The messianic tradition which Christ inherited was rooted in the Jewish Creed that paid tribute to the Founding Fathers Abraham, Israel, and Jacob; Moses who led his people out of bondage in Egypt; and Elijah and the prophets who predicted one who would free his people from their bondage to foreign powers. If Christ was that Messiah the nature of the Freedom he offered did not immediately meet expectations. Even his most faithful followers were slow to get the message. The Kingdom of God is not of this world and God did not come to earth to interfere with the affairs of earthly authorities. In fact his earthly body was subject to their control.

The Kingdom of God/Heaven which Jesus embodied is a Spiritual realm over which earthly rulers have no control. Earthly laws do not apply. We, the members of  Christ's body the chruch are in the world but not of the world. We have one foot on earth and one in heaven. We are saved and freed by our faith in a God of Love who relieves us from the guilt of sin, of breaking the law, when we repent and believe in his forgiveness and become freed to respond in love in joyful obedience to his call to serve.

God's peace comes from and results in a shared responsibility for the nurture and care of our earth and every creature in it. It is an act of love not a violent agressive subjugation.

Lent One

We return today to Jesus' Baptism as recorded in Mark followed by the Temptation, and the beginning of his ministry:

Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,
Mar 1:15  and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

All this is covered in 7 short verses. Repetitiveness seems to be a hallmark of the B series of lessons. This Gospel is paired with the myth of the Rainbow presented after Noah and his family exit from the Ark:

Gen 9:9  "Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you,
Gen 9:16  When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
Gen 9:17  God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

And Psalm 51:

Psa 51:1  To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psa 51:6  Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:11  Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Psa 51:12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

It seems to me that the pericope cut off the Psalm prematurely.

I may not agree with Pauline theology as expressed in First Peter but he continues today's theme which appears to be being made right with God.

Having been claimed by God at his baptism Jesus undergoes trial by Temptation in the wilderness before he begins his ministry.

The story of Noah and the Ark demonstrates vividly the retributive justice of the Old Covenant and the Rainbow is made a symbol of God's forgiving love.

King David orchestrated the death of another man so that he might be free to have relations with his wife. Psalm 51 is his act of penitence. In spite of that act of contrition the firstborn of their union dies.

Mar_1:15 in one verse summarizes the entire Good News. The Kingdom of God is present among you, repent and believe.

Ash Wednesday

Today's lessons present a paradox. On a day when it is traditional for some to wear an outward sign of their penitence as a cross in ash on their foreheads we are given lessons that advise against such outward show of observance. The imposition of ashes is not part of my background but seems to be meaningful for many who go out of their way to kneel at the altar and get their faces made dirty as one non-believer remarked to our pastor. This being Texas one pastor even makes that practice a drive by ceremony.

When distressed in Biblical stories the rich rend their garments, a practice one such as I who grew up in poverty find terribly wasteful. As a sign of penitence in many religious traditions believers fast, give up favourite luxuries or resolve to give up secret vices, wear sack cloth, indulge in sadomasochistic practices, like Job go and sit in the Ash Heap or in other ways mortify the flesh and abase themselves. In the Catholic tradition confession is a sacrament.

In a portion of last Sunday's Psalm not included in the pericope:

Psa 50:14  Let the giving of thanks be your sacrifice to God, and give the Almighty all that you promised.

The presentation of Offerings and Burnt Offerings as sacrifice for the expiation of sin was an integral part of the Old Covenant. Incense was used to mask the stench of rancid fat and burning flesh.

Christ repeatedly tells his followers it is not the observance of traditions, religious practices or even the law itself that counts; it is our inward thoughts and motivations that mark us as heirs of Adam in our sinful nature and our inward penitence and turning away that mark us as touched by the Holy Spirit and members of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The concept is not new. Samuel, in searching out the man he would anoint as successor to the reign of Saul who had fallen out of favour with God gets this message:

1Sa 16:7  But the LORD said to him, "Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart."

Or

Joe 2:13  and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

Or:

Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:11  Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Psa 51:12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Psa 51:13  Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
Psa 51:14  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
Psa 51:15  O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
Psa 51:16  For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Today's Gospel is taken from Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount omitting the verses that include the Lord's Prayer from today's lesson.

Our church membership should not be a matter of convenience because it looks good on our resume or will make us look more attractive to some voters if we run for office. Our charity should be given in secret rather than in the establishment of trusts and fellowships in our names or the building of edifices named for us. Our piety is a matter between us and our God and should not be marked by public display. Our Christian observance should not draw attention to us but to the God we serve.

Christianity is not a stopgap insurance policy we take out because there may be something to it or we may need it in future; we are either all in or all out.

Today marks the beginning of Lent, a time for quiet reflection and contemplation before the Festival of Easter. If traditional observances or symbols  help reenforce the discipline then by all means remembering always that it is the inner journey that counts.

Transfiguration

Christian Festivals were set up to supplant pagan ones hence we celebrate Easter in Spring and after Pentecost, formerly Trinity, observe so-called ordinary time during which we examine the life and teaching of Christ. In years when Easter is Early the time between his birth and death is severely truncated. Hence two weeks ago Jesus began his ministry, last week performed his first miracles as recorded in Mark, and this, his Transfiguration coming only a few weeks after the Baptism. I suppose ending the Church Year with the crucifixion wouldn't play well.

Hindsight being 20-20 the Old Testament prophet's predictions of a Messiah who would free his people Israel are seen as pointing to the coming of Jesus the Christ. Moses led his people out of bondage in Egypt and brought them the Law at Sinai. Hence the Law and the Prophets. Whether or not this Mountain Top experience is a historical event it is symbolic that the Law and the Prophets appeared to Jesus.

The Angel Gabriel appears to Mary and Joseph announcing the holy birth. Elizabeth's foetus jumps in her womb when her pregnant cousin Mary approaches. The ancient prophets acknowledge him at his 8-day presentation in the Temple. God's Spirit descends as a Holy Dove at the baptism and a voice from heaven claims him. At the Transfiguration the voice from heaven is heard by Jesus' inner three.

Paired with this Gospel Lesson is Elijah's translation into Heaven in a chariot of fire and Elisha faithfully sticking by his master and assuming his robe as a mark of his office as Elijah's successor.

The present series of appointed lessons seems fixated on the theme of light overcoming darkness. Both the Epistle and the Psalm talk about letting the light of truth shine upon the darkness of ignorance.

Psa 50:2  God shines from Zion, the city perfect in its beauty.

2Co 4:4  They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

Mar 9:7  Then a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow, and a voice came from the cloud, "This is my own dear Son---listen to him!"

And so we come to it. The event is tantamount to a confirmation. God is confirming that Christ's message is true.

Jesus was no flash in the pan whose significance died with him. The appearance of the Law and the Prophets at his Transfiguration confirms that he in a lineage that extends back to the roots of Judaism and the voice from Heaven that his coming makes manifest God himself who is eternal. An essential part of his ministry was the gathering of followers, disciples who would perpetuate his message for future generations. Through the Holy Spirit we are descendents of that lineage and share in that ministry through Christ's body the church.

Fifth Sunday in Epiphany

The Word Made Flesh that was Jesus may be summed up in a few words:

The Law was made for People, not People for the Law.

God in Human Form certainly qualifies as a breaking of natural law. The man who came to bring that message could not but respond to human need when he saw it. His healings were described in terms of the understandings people had of medicine at the time. When that failed they became signs and miracles. When word of a great healer in their midst spread people flocked from near and far to be healed by this shaman, this miracle worker. Jesus the man was often overwhelmed by the level of human need and lacking a cadre of soldiers to maintain crowd control he kept moving about the countryside and often retreated to wild places to get away from the crowds. The hysteria surrounding these large gatherings obviously alarmed civil authorities. On the other hand signs and wonders are seen as proof that a great prophet had arrived.

The man whose message was that God was a God of Love and Forgiveness, not the Retributive Legalist of the Old Covenant could not see dis-ease in any form and not respond to it. Be it mental and physical illness, poverty, or hunger.

His miracles broke natural law. God made man broke natural law. God intervened in the affairs of man in this dramatic manner to make his message known. To quote Marshall McLuhan the medium is the message. The word made flesh was the message. That God cares enough about the affairs of man to appear in human form. This is the Epiphany.

Epiphany

Epiphany

By definition appearance.

EPIPH'ANY, n. [Gr. appearance; to appear.] A christian festival celebrated on the sixth day of January, the twelfth day after Christmas, in commemoration of the appearance of our Savior to the magians or philosophers of the East, who came to adore him with presents; or as others maintain, to commemorate the appearance of the star to the magians, or the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. Jerome and Chrysostom take the epiphany to be the day of our Savior's baptism, when a voice from heaven declared, "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." The Greek fathers use the word for the appearance of christ in the world, the sense in which Paul used the word. 2Ti_1:10.

Matthew is the only Synoptic Gospel to make mention of the Magi and we must remember that Matthew's principal goal was to reconcile his fellow Jews to the reality of Christ's Epiphany as foretold in the Prophets.

Therefore the lesson for today comes from Isaiah in a passage that foretells the coming of the Light. The coming Messiah will bring Light to shine in the Darkness. The Star is the precursor of the shining of that light.

Isa 60:6  A host of camels shall cover you, the camels of Midian and Ephah. All of them from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall proclaim the praises of Jehovah.

Psa 72:10  The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
Psa 72:11  Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him.
Psa 72:12  For He shall deliver the needy when he cries; and the poor with no helper.
Psa 72:13  He shall have pity on the poor and needy and shall save the souls of the needy.
Psa 72:14  He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence; and their blood shall be precious in His sight.

The Psalm so appointed predicts kings bringing presents and also outlines the Messiah's Mission.

In Ephesians Paul gets to the heart of the matter. The Good News appeared not just for the benefit of the Jews who accounted themselves God's Chosen People but for Gentiles as well, all humankind, indeed all creation. What then is the Gospel, the Good News anyway. That God cared enough about the affairs of mankind that he made himself manifest in human form. Christ himself is the Good News.

Matthew, who wrote his Gospel as an apologia to the Jews makes it clear that Sages of the East who were Gentiles received the message as well and appear to worship the Word Made Flesh whose Light appeared symbolically in the sky just as he came into the world to bring it the Light of his Message. And so they come to worship him and in tribute to a King bring gifts.

As foreign potentates who would have traveled with armed guards and a retinue of servants they first make a diplomatic call on the civil authorities of the nation they have entered--in this case Herod. Herod's reaction to the thought of the birth of a rival King is history.

Neither the number of Sages from the East nor their names was deemed important in Matthew's record though tradition names three to match the gifts listed in the Gospel. What was important was the fact of their coming in recognition of a birth so significant that it moved them at a time when travel over any distance was both difficult and treacherous to seek out and worship an infant.

Lessons Feb 1

Fourth Sunday After Epiphany.

The Gospel and Epistle lessons are progressing in numerical order and continue to do so for the next couple weeks.

The writer of Mark uses remarkable word economy. In just under 30 verses he has covered 30 years of Jesus' life. The Good News is what is important to him and in the Town of Capernaum  Jesus begins preaching it and performs his first miracle healing:

Mar 1:27  Everyone was completely surprised and kept saying to each other, "What is this? It must be some new kind of powerful teaching! Even the evil spirits obey him."
Mar 1:28  News about Jesus quickly spread all over Galilee.

The OT Lesson from Deut 18 appears to predict the coming of Jesus and the prophets who preceded him including John. Is it implied that the writer is Moses? Since this text was recorded from the Oral Tradition in the time of King David the writer was already aware of the lineage of prophets that followed Moses.

God the Son brought the Good News; God the Father Creator nourishes and cares for his universe and all the creatures in it. Psalm 111 acknowledges this and declares that such bounty and love demands our praise.

Today's Epistle in 1 Cor 8 deals with a specific situation and Paul's response to that concern. Not everyone is at the same point in their growth in the faith and we must use wisdom lest our understanding become a stumbling block to those whose faith is more rudimentary. Our love for one another, no matter what stage our brethren are at in their faith journey should trump whatever insights we think we may have accomplished.

Today's lessons seem to have little connection. The passage in Mark records only that Christ began his preaching ministry and it was well received. We are given no indication of the content of that message. We do know that in another time and place his audience was not ready to receive his message and threatened to throw him off a cliff or stone him.