Merry Christmas

Luke 2:1-20

Do you remember the first infant you held?  The first infant that was yours, or a close family or friend’s?  It is a miracle in itself.  Each child is a little miracle and while holding the baby, you realize how helpless they are.  A baby can’t walk nor do much of anything independently from parents, honestly they are not even aware they are independent from others.  Every baby is a miracle and the Baby Jesus is no different. 

Imagine one of the shepherds being a boy who comes to Bethlehem after hearing the angel, to see the child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.  This young shepherd is encouraged the hold the infant, his first baby to hold.  Of course the chorus of Heavenly Hosts, he heard in the field would resonate in his heart, but you know that first time of holding a helpless infant is just as special.  Imagine with me, that 50 years later he holds another baby and recalls that time in the City of David.  Perhaps he even tells his experience to Luke.  50 years after that this baby, now a man, holds a baby, experiencing the miracle of a child.  And another 50 years or so that child does the same, and so forth.  That would mean that it would take only 40 people or so to have been directly connected to holding Jesus.  

I share this illustration to emphasize that our movement, the church, is not as old as we think.  First of all when the incarnation happened, Judaism in which Jesus entered was already over 3,000 years old.  It is arrogant for Christians to believe their generation is the end of the Age.  Jesus makes it clear we are to be ready and only God in Heaven will know. Calling the time of the incarnation “ancient,” and living in a time we call “post-modern,” keeps us from understanding the reality that we may simply be in the infancy of our faith.  God’s time is not human time.

Jesus as a baby demonstrated His greatest power.  The power of vulnerability.  All babies posses that power and that is why they thrive, for the parents, and even society does what is necessary for each child to live.  Jesus is no different and yet he walks into adulthood without shedding that great power.  Jesus served.  Jesus went to the cross and through that great vulnerability, the Divine Love was revealed in the empty tomb. 

As Christians, we need to follow Emmanuel who demonstrated the power of vulnerability, servitude, and love.  We must understand we are still each learning to do that, and even our movement, we call the church, is struggling to learn to be vulnerable for Love.

 

Father Richard Rohr’s Wish inspired this Christmas Day Sermon

Joy

Luke 1:26-56

As we approach the celebration of the birth of Jesus, I think of other birth stories.  Those on sit-coms are quite neat and honestly, unreal.  We know that birth is hard word, labor even, and it is even stated in Genesis.  I think of my own son’s nativity, which did not resemble a sit-com and rather ended with an unplanned c-section. (I encourage you to read my wife’s theological reflection based on her experience).  This week good friends had a baby girl, who had to be taken by helicopter to a larger hospital for her lungs were not developed enough.  The new mom commented that when people ask “How are you?” they are generally expecting you to answer “good.”  She was not.  She would honestly say, “empty, sad, angry, lost, heartbroken, scared, & just really, really sad.”  not Happy.  I share her words to help us understand joy.  Many times joy and happy are simultaneous, but I believe when we use it as Christians we don’t simply imply happy.  For I believe it is safe to say this new mother is not happy within this hard developing nativity, but she does feel joy.  For joy is knowing hope, peace, and love, despite our human condition.

As we approach Christmas, we must be aware that Mary is pregnant, just as our mothers were.  Jesus does not come down from Mount Olympus nor does he come riding a creature such as only Ezekiel could describe.   Jesus is born just as any person is born.  God incarnate is unique to Christianity and it is very good news, for we are not to ignore our humanity and the desires associated with the physical world.  We are to try to bring our desires in line with the desire of divine incarnation which Jesus demonstrates and does with agape; Love. 

Mary would certainly answer, “How are you?” like my friend.  To have your first child and have to lay Him in a manger.  To have had angels tell her how special this baby was, and yet still need to feed Him and take care of Him as any human mother would.  I believe she would have thought of her own words and perhaps even said them again when she looked at Jesus worrying about Her son’s responsibility to the world and her own for Him to survive in the world as she felt “empty, sad, angry, lost, heartbroken, scared, & just really, really sad” and yet great and overwhelming JOY:

‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
   and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
   Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
   and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
   from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
   he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
   and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
   and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
   in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
   to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’ (Luke 1:46b-55)

Jesus brings that Joy despite the human condition.  Not simply because He was a baby, but that He entered our humanity.  Through His great love took on our human condition to the point of death, even death on a cross, thus giving us incarnate divine desire of love as our model.  So despite our human condition we find hope, peace and love and celebrate Joy that only the Divine can provide.

Love

Isaiah 61:1-4;; 8-11; Luke 4:16-21
I remember helping my father with the Christmas lights.  I even remember one strand that if one was out or loose the whole strand was out.  I am so glad that strand did not persist in our yearly tradition, but it was not as easy as today.  Incandescent bulbs broke easily and they needed to be clipped on the tree.  So when Mindi and I started celebrating Christmas as a married couple I was happy to buy a strand of the new LED lights.  They were easy to put on and seemed to work well for the last 6 years and they worked perfectly fine the first night I put them up this year.  The next day half the bottom strand stopped working.  I changed the fuses and they still did not light. 
I thus went out searching for similar lights and I did find something compatible at the second store.  As a son of an engineer I was searching for a strand strung in a parallel circuit, not a series circuit.  It is fine if you do not remember this information from grade school, as a son of an engineer I have to remember certain things.  I will remind you the difference between these two type of circuits.  A series circuit the current of electricity passes through each circuit element without branching, thus if one element is disconnected (for bulbs burnt or loose) the current is disabled.  A series circuit also must share the voltage of the source, while a parallel circuit will have the same voltage draw of the source for each element is directly connected to the source.  This is why a parallel circuit light strand will stay let if one bulb is burnt out or loose.
So I, as my father’s son, looked at the box of lights for the words parallel circuit, and found the trademarked term “Constant ON” with a accurate definition of a parallel circuit, including two illustrations.  However, no where is it confirmed that the circuit was strung parallel, not even in parenthesis (I do like parenthesis).  I have no problem with the company trademarking a catchy term, but if they were going to take the time to define it on each box, I feel it would be a good idea to share the official term within the definition.  Do they really think we cannot handle the term “parallel circuit”?
I bring this up to demonstrate how terms meanings can be lost and or manipulated so easily in society.  And as religious people we also let some of our important words to lose their meaning.  Take for instance the word “love,” it is of great importance to the Gospel.  We use it between, family members and friends.  We say it to our children even before they understand language, and we use it to explain the feeling we have for them.  We use it also for pizza, paintings, and presents under the Christmas tree.  We are quite aware that feeling the word love varies as per the context.  However, the word love is used only for half of its Biblical meaning.  Feeling is important, but it is also used to refer to action. 
Isaiah’s prophecy is about action for those oppressed, broken-hearted, captive, mourning and more.  Jesus correctly states that the prophesy had been fulfilled in His reading, for Jesus is the incarnation of love.  It is not that Jesus has a warm and fuzzy feeling, but came to earth as a baby to preach, heal, teach, and most of all love us beyond understanding, to the point of death.  Isaiah’s words define the action part of the definition of Love, which is known as the Good News; Gospel. 
I believe the best explanation how the definition is feeling and action is when Jesus answers what the most important law is: 

He said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’ (Matthew 22:37-40)

Yes it is important to have a wonderful feeling for God and simultaneously love your neighbor as yourself.  As this is recorded in Luke, the neighbor is the Good Samaritan.  It is clear that we are not simply to have nice and warm feelings, but to do compassion and merci to express this love.  Just as Jesus tells us in Matthew 25 what we do to the least of these we do onto Him.  The one that loved us so much he went humbly to the cross.  This love is equally action, and we participate in the action of love we are in touch with the feeling for God with all our heart, soul and mind. 
As church, we are to love each other, as Jesus told Peter when Jesus asked him three times if Peter loved Him.  Peter would respond with affirmation and Jesus responded with a call to action; “…feed my lambs…tend my sheep….feed my sheep.” (John 21) And as a church we are not strung in a parallel circuit, we are strung in the old series circuit.  The light of Christ is more than powerful enough to light each one, but if one is burnt out or loose we are all affected.  Jesus is the strand itself, as He says He is the vine (John 15), but God does the pruning.  We must love one another and the neighbor for we are all interconnected.  God will fix and/or replace the burnt bulbs and loose ones, but we must realize we are strung together by God’s grace and love, and thus we shine Jesus’ love by our action of love, for Jesus fulfilled this prophecy and we are called to do the same:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
   because he has anointed me
     to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
   and recovery of sight to the blind,
     to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4: 18-19)

Peace

 

Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8

Isaiah tells the exiled people, to expect, to repent, because the comforter is coming. This voice is to come from the wilderness. That is literally where they would need to pass through to return to the Promised Land. They had lost not only their land but much of the structures that held them together as the “chosen people.” War brought them in exile, and even though

The Persians eventually send the Hebrews back to Jerusalem and the Promised Land. God I am sure was at work, yet the Persians were not naïve. They understood the importance of having a grateful ally near Egypt and on the coast of the Great Sea. This was military, economic, and political advantage, to have restored the Hebrew people to Canaan.

Not long after they were restored to the Promised Land they most have forgotten the comforter, God, was near, for they turned from the covenant. Depending on military and political boundaries for identity is the problem.

Identity as the people of God is not a matter of the state, it is expecting God and thus turning to God. Expecting the messiah to establish the Kingdom of David again, is repeating the same problem. The Jews understood the oppression of Rome under the title of Pax Roma. This peace established by the state can only go so far. Peace established by mandate, by gun, by oppression does not last long. Those in exile lived in peace but not in harmony. Those that lived behind the iron curtain lived in peace but not in harmony. Peace that God wants is a peace that surpasses all understanding, and includes harmony as well as no war.

So when John comes on the scene, he is baptizing on the border, in the Jordan, repentance. Not to usher in the Kingdom, but because it is near. Because John expects the coming comforter, Jesus, we turn to God. This is the peace we are to expect everywhere we go. John though is not actually leading us through the wilderness to a new land. He is on the edge of the Promised Land, and consumes the wonderful wild honey of the land of Milk and Honey. And he consumes the locusts of the land of slavery and from the decimated fields. John is preparing the way of a greater peace that cannot come from a state, a church, or humanity. Save one, the one that saves.

Jesus will bring peace not through calling the heavenly hosts. Not by leading an army. Not through violence or political mandate. Jesus does it and call us to follow him as our earliest known Hymn states as Paul records it in his letter to the Philippians:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

If we are of the same mind and give ourselves to Christ. To each other we will find peace. We are being called to our boundaries, to our learning edges, and we should expect God there, for God is near. To expect is to live in hope and not despair. To expect is because you know God is.

We expect God, not to do what we want. We expect to see God everywhere we turn thus we turn to God, repentance. Peace

December 2011 Newsletter

There is a chill in the air and lights are strung. We are preparing for Christmas, and there is an excitement, especially for children. Within the preparation we will experience stress, but hopefully we will also experience great hope, peace, love, and joy. Certainly the reason for the season is Jesus who is our certain hope and love giving us joy and peace that surpasses all understanding. However, the excitement of the shopping, parties, and even traditions can distract us from Emmanuel.

The scriptures keep me focused and one of my favorite is from the beginning of John, as he explains how important it is having Jesus take on human form, Incarnation:

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ’) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. (John 1:14-18)

John makes it clear that we here on earth are able to know the Glory of God through only His Son Jesus. It was necessary for Jesus to be fully human as well as fully divine as to demonstrate God’s great love for humanity. Therefore during this season we prepare for Jesus coming into the world, not simply as a memory of a birthday celebration, but how Jesus breaks through the darkness everyday from the beginning, today and forever, as John writes earlier in his Gospel about Jesus, “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (1:3-5)

As the chilly busy days of December turn to night, I am reminded of the incarnation by the numerous Christmas lights. Each string of lights reminds me that Christ Jesus is in our lives in numerous and various ways. Each by themselves may be lost in the hustle and bustle of the “holiday” demands, but together it is obvious that the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, is the light in all our lives that cuts through the darkness, providing us with hope, peace, love and joy.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor JC

Hope

Mark 13:24-37

Mark writes this Gospel perhaps with the knowledge of the destruction of the temple.  He writes earlier in the chapter Jesus’ prophecy of its destruction, thus Mark is aware of the great importance that destruction would be had it happened or not when the Gospel was originally written.  For many it would have been a “sign” of the end of the world.  Either way then as there are today many “signs” of the end of the world as Jesus refers to, but he makes it clear that only the Father knows.  Jesus even admits He does not.  It is important to understand that Jesus is pastorally telling us that there is a triumphant end, but not for us to worry about when, but to be vigilant in all we do.

Currently there are many lists in preparation for Christmas.  The children’s lists filled with toys, and the adults with purchasing said toys, decorating, cooking, parties, gifts, etc.  It can be a stressful time, and during the season we use the word hope, a lot.  But we often confuse it with wish.  First of all let us look at the proper grammar of the two words.  If you say, I wish to pass the exam, you are saying you would like to. If you say, I hope to pass the exam, you are confident of that result.  Truly we intermix these words all the time.  The children may hope for a toy, and it may be true they are confident Santa (or a parent) will come through, but they may still say hope for the present they are certainly not getting.  And vice versa. 

Let us explore how we mix these words in a deeper and harder reality than Christmas lists.  I knew a woman who was a victim/survivor of domestic violence.  She shared many horrible aspects of the situation, including her own family origin.  She is certainly not to blame, and would hope to the violence would end, or if things were going well that it had.  She was honestly wishing not hoping at that time, for she hoped as if it would happen without any other changes to her situation.  She was terrified of the financial and social realities of leaving him, and thus was wishing for it to stop.  But almost as if the wish came true, she understood what hope was, to be able to imagine the future without violence, and that included the scary steps.  First a shelter, therapy, a job, but hope was knowing the future without violence and seeing the little things along the way.

Such it is with families with military oversees.  They don’t wish them home, they hope for their return.  Knowing it through the small gestures of remembering the loved one, and thus even if the reality is a return under a flag, they know the greater victory.

Jesus is asking us to be hopeful people, not wishful people.  We know the eventual outcome and we act as if it has happened.  That is what His resurrection is; the victory over death and sin.  We live connecting the small visible resurrection moments together moving toward the great victory.  That is living in hope, that is being vigil and awake.  The guard at the master’s house cannot just sit down on the porch swing and close his eyes, wishing he will hear the twig snap, the guard is to be alert looking out and searching for the moments of resurrection as that brings them together.  We “Keep Awake” and we do that with Hope.

Keep Alert this Advent

During December, I find our kitchen filled with more baked goods than any month of the year.   As I write this I can smell a cake I have in the oven, and as usual my wife asked me how long it needed to bake, and as usual, I answered, “Until it’s done.”  I am aware that it is an annoying answer, but it may help to know that I was an artisan baker and a pastry chef, and so I know not to depend simply on a timer.  I remember giving the same answer to the interns that came from the culinary schools when they asked how long to bake something; I would never give even an approximate time until they understood that it is important to be able to use all one’s senses.  I found in the bakery and in the kitchen those that depended only on the timer were more likely to pull items early or late from the oven.  Thus I am not trying to be annoying, but true to my first vocation.

Now as a minister, I find some truths of baking to be relevant to understanding the Gospel.  Jesus even said, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” (Matthew 13:33)  That parable is full of great meaning, especially the power of Christ’s Kingdom.  During December we are getting ready for Emmanuel, “God with us.”  The Christ Child will be born King of Kings.  Jesus comes into the world as a small baby, and yet with all the glory of His Kingdom.  This is a great miracle.

We hear about the number of shopping days and I know that children (and teachers) count the days until Christmas break.  We wait in lines and wait for packages.  We decorate our homes, our churches, our public spaces.  We bake and we eat.  All of this we do waiting for our Savior’s birth, every year during December. 

We are preparing ourselves for this great birth of this great King.  If we have an Advent calendar or wreath it seems we need to simply wait the specific number of days or weeks until December 25.  It is true that day will come if we are ready or not, but if we look at the wait simply as a means of getting there, we may miss the miracle.  Waiting and preparing requires us to be vigilant.

The season is about Jesus.  We are waiting for the incarnation and this does deserve the preparation and celebration each and every year.  However, our traditions can be like the timer in my kitchen.  If I depend on them alone I can experience the incarnation, but if I am vigilant in all ways I will certainly know Emmanuel, God with us.  Thus every year as I prepare for Christmas I am aware of the importance of keeping prepared to experience the reason for the season. “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” (Matthew 24:44) I will celebrate with my family and with all of you on December 25, but I will search with my soul for the miracle of the incarnation daily, and I will celebrate it whenever and wherever I find it.

God, Self, and Neighbor

Matthew 25:31-46

If you saw someone with a backpack on you may assume they are backpacking, but they also could be homeless.  Sure it may be easy to guess which by the quality of the items or where you see the individual, but you might be wrong.  The real difference between the two is there is a planned end to the hike and no certain end to one who is homeless.  However, when I hiked I did not take each step with the end in mind, it was assumed. 

Jesus reminds us that we are to think eschatologically; that is about the end.  In this passage He tells us the end will be like separated goats and sheep.  Well when I have been on farms where there are these animals, and I spooked them they would run in their respective groups.  At the end it will be easy to separate the two, but the judgment is less about then than it is about now.  For we have received unconditional boundless grace which we do not deserve, so I believe Jesus is not making salvation based on one’s action, yet rather is reminding those that do believe this would be their reaction.  They will run with the sheep.

For when Jesus adds himself as being part of the least of these, He is reminding us that love we do is to God, Self, and Neighbor.  We realize we receive this grace we do not deserve and feel very unworthy, but Jesus wants us to take care of those that are considered unworthy'; the least of these.  We are therefore to respond with love to ourselves, God and Neighbor as He states in  Matthew 22:37-40:

He said to him, ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’

This is the Law, according to Jesus and thus is where one would place judgment.  However, it is all wrapped in grace, so it is not what we do that saves us, but we respond as if we would be running with the goats.  We live as Christians doing what God commands for we do not live wandering, we live with the purpose of God.

‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

We know there is a final victory over all evil, and we live that way not simply with the feeling of “love,” but acting on love to God, Self, and Neighbor, for we know what fold we run with. 

Let Us Worship Together

November 18, 2011 Daily Democrat of Durant

There are numerous reasons to select a church: geography, family history, the people, programs, and many other reasons I could fill a book as they are as individual as the people in any one church.  Yet we all know there is only one Jesus whom we all worship at various times, various buildings, and in many various ways.  That is wonderful, for we can reach more people with the One Gospel.  We even know that truly the Body of Christ is still united as Jesus is the head and each of us and each church is part of the body.  This is truly an important fact of the church and Paul makes it quite clear with his metaphor of the church being the Body of Christ in 1 Corinthians.  Paul understands there are individuals and even different churches, yet his statement in Chapter 12 verse 12 still speaks to us today, even with different denominations, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”

If we concentrate on our differences we will me mired in a land of differing opinions and taste, most of all.  Yes, there are differences in theological and Biblical interpretation, but if we look for the differences, you will find more to talk about in how we worship; if you search where the churches are similar, you end up at Jesus.  We can agree with Peter’s response to Jesus asking “Who do you say I am?” when Peter proclaims, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” (Matthew 16:15-16)  This simple confession is what truly unites us and if we come together in Jesus’ name we will have more power to do what Jesus commands us, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

I believe when we gather at our respective churches we are truly part of a larger body, with Christ as the head.  It is wonderful we can gather together from the various different churches in our community to offer Thanksgiving together for the many blessings we enjoy living in our community.  We will give primary thanks to our Creator, to our Savior, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This tangible act of gathering as one church will be at the Community Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, November 20 at 6 pm at Community Christian Church (5325 University Boulevard).  I look forward to seeing everyone that confesses Jesus as the Anointed One, the Christ, Son of the Living God, so we can share how thankful we are Jesus provides salvation for all.

In Remembrance

Joshua 214:1-3a, 14-25; Amos 5:18-24

Joshua has gathered the people who crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land to reaffirm the covenant with God. Joshua is making it clear that the people must choice to follow God and thus the ordinances set before them.  Thus in response to God saving them from slavery they were to follow the statutes and ordinances and disregard the gods of of their ancestors beyond the river and the gods they picked up from the Amorites.  They said a resounding “yes” because of God’s Love (Grace).

Amos a wonderful prophet speaking to the Northern Kingdom.  The fact that at his time there were two kingdoms should expose there most be issues if the people are not united under the One God.  Well he writes very harshly that God is not happy with the festivals and sacrifices; God is not happy with the fulfillment of the ordinances and statutes.   It seems clear that the system has been used to control people rather than in response to God’s Love. Even those that want to respond to God, are now intertwined in this system of injustice.  Thus Amos is making it clear that it is not the rules, rather the covenant that is important. 

We Christians come to church every week (or try to) and we have ordinances and statues we follow.  For Disciples, we come to Jesus’ Table each week, thus the question is do we come because we are supposed to?  Are we doing church to fulfill a rule be it written or inherited by a parent?  Do we lose the meaning of the ceremony to the ceremony?  I hope to remind us that we are doing this “in remembrance” of Jesus.  We remember that He saved us from Sin and Death, not because we did anything, but because of God’s Love (Grace). 

It is clear in Luke 22:19 and in 1 Corinthians 11:24-25, that we are to come to the Table “In Remembrance” of Jesus.  I believe this is what we need to do, just as Joshua wanted the people to renew their covenant, we do only if we remember our salvation. 

Jesus did say “in remembrance” according to Matthew and Mark as well, but not at the table, rahter,

  Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’ (Mark 14)

Jesus tells us that the Gospel is proclaimed in remembrance of this unnamed woman that anointed Him.  Well He did.  We are to constantly make it clear that Jesus is the anointed one, and when we remember what He did for us with His love (Grace) we also remember all those that witnessed to us Jesus was the anointed one, the Christ, the Messiah. 

The Potter’s Clay

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13; Matthew 23:1-12

Language makes humans unique from animals.  That is a fine statement, but it is also true that animals do have communication that could be termed language.  Words are funny, they are powerful and flexible.  Paul writes of the word of God, but he is not referring to scripture.  Paul does refer to the written scriptures and their importance but hear it is the Word.  In Greek, it is Logos, which I explain is the meaning behind a word.  So if you take “chair” everyone will have a different, image, thought and yet an understanding of what it means.  It is powerful and flexible, and if we look for the meaning of the three letter word “God” we will spend eternity finding the powerful and flexible understanding; Logos.

Paul wrote before the Gospels were written and this idea of Logos was cemented in the tradition by the Gospel of John. 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it….And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5,14)

Jesus the incarnation is the Word of God; the Logos.  We know from John, that the Word is full of Grace and Truth; love that is given without reason and pure righteousness.  Of course these are simply words of our language to explain the great Divine.  Jesus himself is the meaning.

In the Gospel message, we are told to be humble and to do the work of you one Father.  We are not to be like the Pharisees who preach good work and do not do it, rather we are to follow the one teacher.  This one teacher is the Logos, the Word of God, and is truly humble.  Jesus went humbly to the cross to save us all that is the Word.  We have the word in our hearts as Paul writes thus we are to emulate His humility, His Grace and Truth.  We attempt to be the Word of God on earth, the Body of Christ.  That requires us to be powerful and flexible. 

We are to be like clay for the one potter, the one teacher.  We are to be molded by God.  We are not to be rigid and powerful nor flexible and weak nor rigid and weak.  We are to be the potter’s clay. 

For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. (2 Cor. 4:6-12)

We are to hold the grace and truth in us, the Word of God, and go out humbly in response to the Potter’s hand.

Steadfast Love

Matthew 22:34-46

Axiomatic is the word of the day.  The definition of this adjective is self-evident or unquestionable, and that is exactly what the Pharisees thought of Jesus’ question, “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?”  They answered without much thought, David’s.  Not unlike when the preacher asks a question of children, they answer Jesus and/or God before even thinking.  The Pharisees and most other Jews of Jesus’ time were waiting for this “Son of David,” the Messiah.  So Jesus gets them thinking by quoting a Psalm.  Some scholars believe it was considered a Messianic Psalm at that time, and others did not, but what is clear is those that follow Jesus does, for it is referenced directly and indirectly thirty-seven times in the New Testament, and even made it into the Apostle’s Creed.  So Jesus asked how can David be the father if he wrote:

Of David. A Psalm.
The Lord says to my lord,
   ‘Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.’ (Psalm 110:1)

Jesus is not denying the statement “Son of David,” as throughout Matthew who reports this scene, uses the term “Son of David” for the Messiah, for Jesus.  However, when Jesus is Baptized, Matthew reports,

And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’ (Matthew 3:17)

When Jesus foreshadows His glory at the top of the mountain, transfigured, Matthew reports,

While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved;with him I am well pleased; listen to him!’ (Mathew 17:5)

We know Jesus called the Creator Abba.  It is clear that the Messiah’s father is Our Father who art in Heaven.  David through the lineage of Joseph is His step-father.  Jesus the Messiah, the anointed one, is not a warrior for the Kingdom of Chosen people rather the Lord of the entire world.  Who will not go to battle will rather, will be given victory by God.  Jesus goes to the cross and God provides the victory in the resurrection over the enemies of death and sin.  The Pharisees answered oh so quickly that the Anointed One, the Christ, is a David, and Jesus says basically be careful of thinking that question is axiomatic.

Now they had earlier asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, and He answered with the Shema, which would be the axiomatic answer to that question even today.  I imagine that others mouthed the words of His response along with Jesus nodding their heads. However, he also shared Leviticus 19:18:

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Jesus actually says that this second commandment He shares is “like” or better still the same as the first.  Jesus knows the Shema is the axiomatic answer to that question posed, but this other commandment demonstrates how the one on the door posts truly works.  He is telling them to love, and in Greek the word is agape.  Nothing truly special about that word, other then it does not refer to romantic and/or lustful love.  However, when the Messiah Himself, asks you to Love God (Love Him) and that is Like (or the same) as Loving your neighbor, one most realize that the Law or any commandment of God most not be considered axiomatic.  Just as the Shema as the greatest commandment is given greater meaning by Jesus saying it is like Leviticus 19:18, we as Christians most look at Love our neighbor as ourselves more carefully.  Most of us will mouth the two commandments Jesus shares when we read this scripture.  You will hear Christians say love your neighbor as yourself. 

When we Christians say “Love thy neighbor as yourself,” are we truly getting the point.  We probably find the statement axiomatic.  Thus I want to look at it closely, and remind you that the incarnate God-Man, Jesus, says this.  We know we are to love Jesus with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our might and Jesus says that is done also by following the commandment about the neighbor.  Incarnate Jesus, Emmanuel, says this an thus He had neighbors himself.  So how would God love?  The word agape is great because it demonstrated love that is not red hearts and romance.  Hesed is the word for God’s Love and or the love of charity and kindness in Hebrew.  This word is better translated in English as convental love, but to our ears that sounds legalistic.  Remember that the covenant was the promise by God to protect and lead the Hebrew people and thus they followed the Law in response to this great love.  A love they did not necessarily do anything to earn, but respond in kind.  Or we may call it steadfast love.  Love that is perfect such is our heavenly father, “…for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45b) 

We need to look at our neighbors with the love Jesus, Himself, told us He wants for him for all other people.  Steadfast Love; GRACE is axiomatic, that is it is the unquestionable answer, but we must find the answer as we strive toward loving as God loves, loving God.

Heads or Tails?

Matthew 22:15-22

The Pharisees have been trying to trick Jesus, and this time they brought a group of Herodians, for a specific question.  The question is about the Roman Census Tax, which honestly was something Pharisees were against in principle.  Hence, they needed to bring another who would have been truly insulted by someone denouncing the tax.  The Pharisees did not actively campaign against this tax in fear, but awaited a Messiah that would free them from all Roman control.

The Herodians were invested in the Roman system.  They supported the “puppet” king Herod, whose power was enabled by the the Roman’s power.  The tax was central to their power, to their identity.  Thus the Pharisees knew that if Jesus answered against the tax, they would have him arrested.  Even though they were against it themselves, they had apparently not questioned it, they would probably only go as far to say when the Messiah comes and saves Israel.  If Jesus spoke that the tax was lawful, the Pharisees hoped he would lose some of His followers.  Little did they know that even His closest followers would deny Him and He would still save the world.  The Pharisees were hoping to expose Jesus as not the Messiah, for the Messiah would certainly stand against the tax.

Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and made it clear that He knew of their malice, and called them hypocrites.  In part for they were saying nice things to Him while trying to trap Him, but also because Jesus knew they believed the tax as being against the Torah.  So Jesus asked for the coin one would use to pay the tax, which required a Roman coin.  Jesus asks whose image and title are on that coin.  The Herodians so the coin and their power, so the answer given did not offend them.  The Pharisees saw the emperor and saw the titled “Tiberius Caesar August Son of the Divine Augustus” (or something very similar). They knew that the Roman Empire was also the Roman Religion, and that they believed the Emperor to be a god.   That certainly goes against Jewish Law.  Jesus says you can give that coin, that idol, back to Ceasar, for it is his, but give to God what is God’s.  Harkening to the creation when the image of God was put on earth:

Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’
So God created humankind in his image,
   in the image of God he created them;
   male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:26-27)

While the Herodians looked at the coin and saw their own power, all others saw the image of God amongst themselves.  They knew what was God’s and it was not the coin, it was the people.  Paul emphasizes this very well,

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1)

Jesus answered quite bluntly that it was not simply about following the Torah (the Law) but that it is all turned head over heals, back to the garden.  God wants each person to know the “garden” that is the Kingdom of Heaven as come near.  For Jesus is quite clear on the mountain,

No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Matthew 6:24)

It is not a question of tax or no tax, head or tails, it is a new life in Christ, head over tails change.

Called to Live

Exodus 32:1-14; Matthew 22:1-14

What can you do to deserve salvation?  Is there anything one can do to be saved?  Well this is a question I will return to.

The Hebrew Bible scripture shows good with great compassion and forgiveness, unlike the stereotypical image or a wrathful God.  While Jesus tells a parable where the King (representing God) goes to war on a city and throws someone for not having the proper clothing into the outer darkness.  These scriptures demonstrate the wonderful tension between the judgment and the forgiving nature of the one true God.

The people waiting for Moses did a horrible thing in the making of the golden calf, and they have this story as part of scripture.  God was made and yet God forgave them.  That did not make the sin of worshiping to another God any less.

Jesus uses this parable with the allegory of the King as God.  It seems very harsh to expect a person from the streets to be properly dressed, which is our first clue it is truly an allegory and not a real event.  Jesus tells of the king being ready to celebrate his only son’s wedding when his servants discovered most of the invited guests were not coming.  The king sends a second set who are killed.  The first represent the prophets and the second the Christian apostles, and then he decides to go to war on their city.  That is odd that he would spend an afternoon on war when the food was ready for the wedding, not to mention war is usually not done in one day.  The war is on the invited guests’ city, the king’s own city as well.  This represents the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E.  This event changed Judaism for ever, including those that followed Jesus.  The parable continues with the  invitation of anyone, the gentiles for the wedding has opened up the chosen people to the people of the entire world.

Now the one without the proper wedding robe, represents someone that had entered the religious realm of following Jesus, without truly believing.  A change of clothes represented a change of person in ancient times.  The key is Jesus is speaking to religious people, and Jesus is always speaking to religious people when He speaks of Judgment.  He is not trying to frighten us to believe. 

The forgiveness God showed at Mt. Sinai, the forgiveness Jesus showed to those who came to Him for healings, the command to forgive 77 times, and especially the forgiveness he gave to us all upon the cross, cannot be separated from His statements of judgment.  The judgment is for those of us that do believe not to scare us right, but to call us to live.  We did not do anything to deserve salvation, not even putting on a new robe of belief.  Nothing we can do is good enough to make us deserving of salvation, that is what Grace is, a free gift.  Even accepting it is not the act, nor appreciating it.  We are saved and in knowing that we live out today with the eschatological belief in judgment.  This tension allows us to live following Jesus’ model of Love, yet knowing we are forgiven already.

Upward Grace

Philippians 3:4b-14

Paul was a Jew of Jews as he claims in this passage, and it is important to note that he understood Jesus as per his Judaism.  Paul persecuted the church with zeal because he believed it went against the Law.  When Paul met the resurrected Jesus, he did not believe Christ as Lord and reject the Law, he understood Jesus to be Lord, because of his understanding of the Law.  Paul even writes that Jesus came first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.  Paul doesn’t care if you continue to follow the Laws, he did not tell the Jerusalem church to stop, he however did not like the hypocrisy and the requirement of the Law. 

Paul understood like the prophets, that once the Messiah came that this one God would reign over the entire world.  There were those that were monotheistic within their land, but Judaism was clear that the one true God was the God of creation.  Of the entire world, thus once the Messiah would come the world would be part of God’s kingdom.  Paul thus goes to the gentiles because of this Jewish belief.  Paul is critical of Judaism that does not understand this, because Paul knows Jesus as the Messiah.

In this passage, Paul is talking about the Judaizers, who want to require those in the Philippian church to follow the Law as well as Christ.  Paul is outraged at their requirement of others to know Jesus how they had discovered Jesus.  Paul even shares that in their method, he is far better to these Judaizers, but he says that those ways are rubbish.  Paul is not saying that was the wrong way to know Jesus, rather what is important is to strive to Jesus together.  We need only that.

I am reminded of a workshop in which was required by clergy to attend.  Early on in the workshop we were asked if anyone could help him out by cutting out some basic shapes for an illustration.  Well three of us raised our hand, and even though I was thinking “shouldn’t he have done this earlier,” I realized quickly that this was the illustration.  He gave us the paper with the three shapes and each a left-handed scissor.  Needless to say we struggled to cut out the shapes.

Paul understands that it is not important how we get to Christ, but that we strive to the call of Jesus, to Grace, holding fast to what we attained (v.16).  We can not require others to understand Christ exactly how we came to understand.  Just as we cannot require right-handed people to use left-handed scissors.  And if we make a requirement for Grace that is earth bound and not upward, heavenly bound, then those that don’t fit will not have them fully in our fellowship.  Just as any left-handed person would not volunteer for they would assume you would hand them “scissors” (which is what we call right-handed scissors).

Humble as a Child

October 2011 Newsletter Article

Jesus tells the disciples after they asked “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Jesus called a child and stated, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:2-3). Well having a child and knowing many, I am very happy that Jesus does not stop with simply that statement, because there are a lot of things about children that I am happy I have out grown and that most adults have as well.

Jesus continues by saying one should become humble like a child. Often that is explained saying we should be as innocent as children. I can tell you that children are not always innocent (babies perhaps). We have to help them learn to share and be part of the group. That is actually the point. To be able to learn is what humility means here. Jesus wants us to continue to learn about God’s ways. We do not simply follow a bunch of legalistic rules; rather we are in a humble relationship with Jesus that teaches us constantly about God’s rightness.

That is a great lesson in itself, that we should be humble students, yet Jesus adds, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” (v. 5) Jesus desires us to remember hospitality is of foremost importance. In the beginning of the school year it is obvious that not every child in the classroom is equal on every subject, yet the teacher and especially the children welcome each other into the class. We all try to come humbly to church working on our relationship with Jesus, and we find ourselves working on different things. In worship when we shake each other’s hands and share some hugs, we are attempting to live up to this welcome of each other. It is wonderful part of our worship service and when we go out into the world let us welcome people by being children of God.

This reminds me of the prophet Micah’s words:

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God? (6:8)

God Doing

Matthew 21:23-32

The chief priests and the elders asked Jesus where His authority came from, and Jesus turned the question upon them by asking about John.  They answered, “we do not know,” which generally is a great answer coming from a religious authority.  However, we are privy to their argument.  They know they had not been heeding John’s message, so they cannot answer from Heaven, yet they were terrified of the crowd who certainly believed John to be a prophet.  So Jesus refused to answer them, yet rather told them a parable.

He told the parable of the two sons.  The first said he would not do it and yet went out in the field to work, while the second responded with an affirmation, but never went out to the field.  When they answered the obvious question so clearly, I believe they were reminded of David’s emphatic answer to the story of Nathans in 2 Samuel 12, about two men.  One was rich and the other only had one lamb, which the rich man took for a meal.  David thought it was so awful, Nathan giving his famous line, “you are the man.” (v.7) Which is what the temple authorities should hear especially when Jesus explains the parable. 

Jesus tells us that the prostitutes and tax collectors, may not have said the right things before but they have gone and done the work.  While they, the chief priests and the elders simply just say the right things but do not go do the work.  This parable is for all of us who worry more about the legalism of church then the work of church.

I remember working on projects with my dad. He would want me to anticipate what tool he would need next.  I learned through trial and error and often got good at it, but even when I was wrong he was much happier with me for trying.  God simply wants us doing the work.  God wants us to be righteous not right.  God is doing is God’s authority, we also must follow God, for as Jesus called His disciples, called us, to follow him.  We do not wait to be called into the vineyard, we are there with Him.  We end up in the field for we found Him, not rules. 

God’s Prerogative

Jonah 3:10-4:11; Matthew 20:1-16

Jonah was the most efficient prophet. Well once he actually started warning people and stopped trying to run from God.  Many of the other prophets never saw the people turn toward God, but Jonah did, and he was not happy about it.  Jonah wanted the people of Nineveh to suffer for their bad ways.  Jonah tells God, that he was aware “…that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.”  It seems that Jonah wanted to determine who actually would receive such a wonderful God of mercy.

The Gospel parable is one of my favorites and when I say favorite, I mean difficult.  (And there are many I call favorite.)  This is one though that I was trying to teach to a group of fourth graders over a decade ago when I was their Sunday School Teacher.  That spring we were learning about parables and I had it organized so we would end the spring semester with this parable.  I told the class that I award those that brought their Bible to class.  I had a chart with their names and each week I checked not only their attendance but if they had their Bible.  Well the girls did the task remarkably well each week.  The boys, including the pastor’s twins, were not doing so well.  They all remembered the first week, but it was clear after a few weeks they had given up. 

So it came time to give out the reward, and I did it before the lesson on the parable.  I said I had prizes also for those that brought their Bible once, as each child did remember at least once.  I gave the boys a small nice gift each, and they said “thank you.”  Then it was the girls turn (why the response was clearly marked by gender, I do not know and honestly don’t care), they received the same gift as each boy, and they said “thank you.”  I was expected grumbling from the girls and teasing from the boys over this “injustice.” However, there was none.  I went through the lesson about the parable, and eventually one of the girls did say, “Like we all got the same gift even though some didn’t bring their Bibles.” I learned children seem to understand the message better.

It was not unlike the children’s moment prior to this sermon, while some kids were asked to do something for their candy, they all got candy and did not grumble.  For when the children saw the candy bowl they knew they would all get candy.  Adults need to realize when we see God we all receive grace, equally.

Yet I know it is difficult sometimes to keep that realization of God’s grace before us.  We as adults will take it too legalistically, and therefore reject it fully in areas where life is unfair or feel guilty for feeling that way.  We may simply apply the grace to the transhistorical salvation we know as heaven, and forget that people who are hungry today need salvation from hungry.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 25 that our salvation has to do with helping those that are not able to help themselves.  Yet we see people abusing the system, I know I do, and I feel awful for even having that thought.  I try to help them but I have a lot to learn from the children.  Life isn’t fair but grace abounds.

I remember reading an article by Eugene Peterson, where he talks about brining his daughter to visit in a nursing home.  In one room there was a patient with Alzheimer's who repeated a story to the girl over and over again.  When they were in the car he apologized to his daughter, and she said something to the effect, “that is who she is.” Eugene shares that he learned about pastoral visitation from his daughter.

This scripture is easy when we simply analyze it.  Yes God’s grace is for everyone, even if they confess on the death bed.  And God’s grace of life today is for everyone, so we support and help charities, but it gets difficult when we see people with nicer cars at the food bank than our own.  This is where we become more like Jonah.  Perhaps not as bad, but we desire to hide from God’s compassion or we take no joy in seeing it.  I believe it happens to us all because we are not as keen as children to hear who God is through these scriptures.  We approach it as if it is a law, “The last will be first, and the first will be last.” We squash our own feelings about working so hard for our food, for our church, because we feel guilty about being like Jonah.

As James Alison challenges us, we must be ready to relax into orthodoxy.  He suggests it is like listening to a conversation where you have a hard time hearing, lets take the bedside of someone with dementia.  If you try to listen carefully only to the words and what she is saying you tense up more and miss most of the meaning.  If you begin to relax you may not even hear every word but you get the meaning. 

We need to learn from the children and relax into this wonderful grace.  Then we will know we too deserve it when we feel the world is unfair. Thus we will know God and all receive grace, equally.

Putting on Christ

Article in Daily Democrat, 9/16/2011

It has not been cool enough to put on a jacket, but I am sure looking forward to doing just that. I hope to find a five dollar bill in a pocket, I certainly will find a receipt or a business card from the last time I wore the jacket. I will take this item out and recall the event that brought me to save said item in the pocket. Often I remember it quite well, yet my memory was jogged by the discovery. Would I have remembered the event without finding the item, perhaps, but I obviously forgot about the item tucked within the jacket.

The Christian cannon, we refer to as the Bible, is not something we can read from Genesis to Revelation in one sitting. Well that is if you have any other responsibilities in life, and fitting three books in a week is hard enough, making sixty-six very difficult even if some are as short at Philemon. Of course, no one expects someone to read the entire Bible between Sundays every week. However, even those of us that have read the entire Bible once is not enough. We must return to the scriptures every day. Yet I know many Christians who concentrate on certain scriptures, and there is certainly reasons to hang around the familiar, the friendly, and favorites, for they confirm and comfort. That is important.

We must also read the passages we find less familiar, for we will find things we forgot. Our memories will be jogged by our discoveries, even memories that were not ours individually. We are all part of the one body as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:12 “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” Therefore, our individual discoveries are assisted by others. Pastors, theologians, commentaries, scholars, church mothers and fathers, have all left important knowledge, be it in writings, sermons, actions, and questions, and all of them must be part of one’s Bible reading experience. We read the Bible and read the comments in our respective Bibles. We read old and new scholarship. We are in it together thus we go to Bible Studies and help each other. We do not simply have people tell us the truth, we together as Christians discover the truth of God’s Love and Grace, together. Every time we open our Bible we open it together as church, and we have personal epiphanies, assisted by our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Knowing the Bible is not done in a day and it is not done alone. It is done with a jacket that has many pockets, with many depths and textures. We read our Bible with this jacket of Christ’s that we share and explore all pockets of the truth united by the Holy Spirit.

Law of Love

Exodus 12:1-14; Romans 13:8-14

In the Exodus passage God is telling Moses and Aaron how to prepare for the first and essential Passover.  God does tell them that this is a day to be remembered as a festival of the Lord.  Even today Jews celebrate the Passover, and they remember the events as if they were there.  Not unlike when we remember Jesus at His Table, for we remember what He did for us at the cross, and we remember His presence throughout our entire lives.  Jesus’ Table was set while He was celebrating a Passover Meal, remembering what God did on the first Passover.

The first Passover was a life and death observance.  God heard the cries of the Hebrews, the descendants of Abraham, through Jacob.  The Hebrews did not have the Ten Commandments, they did not have the law yet.  They did not have anything that made them Jewish except for their family relations.  They were not Egyptians.  Pharaoh used the Hebrews as slaves and as scapegoats.  They were oppressed but Pharaoh was also worried about their numbers and thus took actions against them.  Actions that united the Egyptians as well.  We do this to this day.

Why were the Hebrews in Egypt?  Did God not give the land of Canaan to Abraham and Sarah?  Jacob came back to this promised land with his family, and after wrestling with God receives the name Israel.  And then we have the story of Joseph.  The eleven other sons of Israel was jealous of Jacob’s love of Joseph.  They were angered by Joseph’s dreams.  They banded together and scapegoated Joseph.  They were going to kill him but decided to profit from this awful violence upon the out casted brother, and sold him into slavery. 

Joseph ended up in an Egyptian prison, and eventually demonstrates his capability to interpret dreams.  Not only does he find himself in Pharaoh's court, Joseph saves Egypt from the horrific famine.  Joseph becomes Pharaoh's right-hand man.  The famine was felt back in the promised land as well.  Eventually Joseph’s brothers come to Egypt looking for assistance.  They do not recognize their brother, but he knows them.  Joseph finally reveals himself when the entire family is in Egypt.  And Joseph believes that God used his horrific experience to be able to save the entire family.  This is repeated with the Passover as God uses a people that were violently oppressed and scapegoated to establish God’s Law, starting with this ordinance that did save them that night.

What is clear is that the one true God can and will use our own systems of violence to save us.  With the Passover it was salvation from slavery, with Joseph it was salvation from famine.  Now Jesus enters as the lamb.  No longer is the blood to show God who is to be saved, but that we see His blood on our system of justice.  We understand that God brings us salvation from sin.  From this system of violence and scapegoating for everyone.  “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” (Revelation 19:9)  Through this the laws still stand, yet they are fulfilled by the love Jesus showed us.  God used our own violence so we could see that the only law is Love.  We all can follow Jesus to our salvation by following that law.

Experienced Belief

Matthew 16:21-28

Peter had just answered Jesus correctly, in the previous scripture, about who He is, “Messiah, the son of the living God.”  Jesus told him he would be the rock the church would be built on and that the keys to heaven were in his hand.  He must have felt pretty good about himself, even if Jesus said it was knowledge from the Living God, His Father.  So when Peter heard Jesus say he most suffer and die, he felt confident enough to rebuke him.  Honestly can we blame Peter.  First of all, if you are in a class and a teacher says something wrong a good teacher commends someone that corrects them.  Peter knew Jesus was the Messiah, but he was still stuck on the idea that the Messiah would free the people from Rome.  Peter was not unique, the Messiah was to bring back the Kingdom of God, but they believed it as an earthly kingdom.  They looked back to the days of David as their hope of the future.

Peter heard Jesus say he would rise again, but to the Jews of the first century it was a given that everyone would rise on the last day.  Peter was terrified of the idea of Jesus, his teacher, his friend suffering to death, let alone, believing that would be the end of the movement.  Honestly, I understand Peter’s fear, and I know the resurrection.  I still tremble on Good Friday, I still cry when I truly ponder the cross.  It is horrific.  It was necessary as Jesus states in this scripture but it is awful, sad, and horrific. 

Paul picks up on this pun of Jesus’, that Peter is the rock and also the stumbling stone in 1 Corinthians 1:23:  “A stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles…”  Peter was getting in the way of Jesus’ inevitable journey to the cross, because like other Jews it is absolutely a scandal the great Messiah would be killed.  And for those not looking for a Messiah, it was just absurd.  Yet Jesus had to save us via those means.  See the cross was part of our human justice system.  True it was the ultimate punishment for a crime and a sign to others, but it is also true that humans have used violence for justice (and continue) and often it is one person or one group of others that are blamed to bring peace to the people.  Thus the system of justice of the cross was both the literal justice system and the greater overarching system we use called scapegoating.  Both are violent, horrific and sad.

So why does Jesus have to go to the cross.  It is not something answered in one sermon, but essentially Jesus takes on our system with out guilt or sin to save us from our sins, especially our own violent idea of earthly justice.  As Mark Heim pens,

God's justice machine.  God volunteered to get into ours.  God used our own sin to save us.

This is why Jesus told Peter to get out of way of the cross.  It may be the earthly justice system, but it will be a heavenly verdict when Jesus is resurrected.  Just as the angels remind us, in Mathew 28:6 “He is not hear; for he has been raise, as he said…”  Our belief, not unlike Peter’s, is because we experienced the resurrection.  Peter saw him in the unlocked room and according to John on the beach where he asked him three times “Do you love me?"  The flesh and blood resurrected opens us to believe that the earthly way are archaic and violent, and we choose to follow the man that took them on so that we all can be saved from sin.

 

 

 

 

S. Mark Heim. Saved from Sacrifice: A Theology of the Cross (Kindle Location 52). Kindle Edition.

September 2011 Newsletter - Hope

 "Hopefully" in Irish is “le cuidiú Dé,” directly translated it reads "with the help of God."

Hope is an important word, actually an important part of one’s life. All humans live with the awareness of the future, the difference is that some see the future with hope and some without which leads to despair.  As church we are to vision the future with hope.  This of course is our promised inheritance, our life with The Divine in Heaven, which should allow us to live with hope.  This is the promise for our eternal life, which has already started on earth.  So how do we vision hope on earth as it is in Heaven? 

Just looking at the Gospel of Matthew I am encouraged by Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, specifically the Beatitudes (Ch. 5).  They read with a future promise.  For example verse five, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”  Jesus also tells us, “So not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.  Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (6:34) And Jesus states this with the command that we do strive for the Kingdom of God.  We are to pray according to Jesus, “Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” (6:10) We are to live our earthly lives with the knowledge of God’s promise made known to us through Jesus.  This is the promise of an eternal life and a promise of it fulfilling on earth as well.

 However, having hope does not mean it will be all rainbows and happy faces.  Honestly, having hope is most evident when bad things happen.  If we live looking at the future with Jesus’ teaching and the resurrection in mind, we will have hope.  We look hopefully to the future and realize it is all because of God. 

Nothing More—Nothing Less

Matthew 16: 13-20

Peter correctly answers the question Jesus poses. Jesus says you are correct, but you did not know it yourself, “flesh and blood” did not revel it to you rather the Living God had, The Father.  This is called the “Good Confession,” and it is essential.  As Disciples of Christ, we say, “No Creed but Christ,” we say we have no creed.  It is not that we reject creeds, but we reject creeds as a litmus test for fellowship.  As it is stated in the first principle of the identity statement of the CC(DOC):

We confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and proclaim him Lord and Savior of the world, requiring nothing more - and nothing less - as a basis of our life together.

We start fellowship with a belief in Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God, we need nothing more or nothing less to bring us together as Church, which Jesus told Peter He would start with him, and this confession and handed him the keys.

Now Peter stated the correct answer, as Jesus made quite clear, the answer we depend on for our life together.  Yet Peter did not understand his confession completely.  First off a few verses later Matthew reports that Peter tries to rebuke Jesus’ passion prophesy, and Jesus said “get behind me Satan.”  Peter claims he would follow Jesus and yet he denies Him three times.  Peter was a first century Jewish man and thus his idea of the Messiah was influenced by that reality.  The idea of the Messiah  was to free the land from the Romans.  They believed the Messiah would provide a victory, a military, and social victory for for the Jewish people.  I find it quite evident that Peter must have had that hope with the sword on him, the sword he drew on the night of Jesus’ arrest, which Jesus rebukes and heals the victim.  This is why Jesus said, “Shhhhhh!!!” about Him being the Messiah, Jesus realized that Peter did not get it, Peter had the correct revelation, but the true revelation would come through the flesh and blood on the cross and the resurrected man who told us “Peace.”

Peter had to be open to being wrong.  Even after Jesus cooked him breakfast on the beach and asked him if he loved Him three times and told him to tend and feed His sheep, Peter still had to be open to being wrong.  He believed the keys were about keeping people out, not to open the gates, as Peter was concerned about believers following the laws of the Torah, until God send him visions that made him realize:

Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. (Acts 10:34-36)

The key is that Peter was open to the joy of being wrong, a term I borrow from James Alison.  This is not a joy of being lost or a joy of hurting others.

The best example of the joy of being wrong I can think of was a time I was driving the three hour commute from my seminary during my first year.  I have many times I was wrong, but this one I believe can help you understand the joy of being wrong.  See I told my friend I thought I was interested in a woman, but I was convinced that I should not pursue her.  I was convinced she was not interested (later to learn she did not pick up on flirting well).  I was convinced I was right.  Half way home, I decided to ring her, I was open and hopeful.  She answered, “who is this"?” but by the end of the conversation we had a date planned and rest is history, as we have been married for six years.  That is the great joy of being wrong.

We do not expect young people who are just baptized to fully understand their good confession that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God.  We expect them to continue their education to continue to disciple.  All of us need to be like Peter and be open to being wrong, even looking for the joy of being wrong.  For Peter it started with the Good Confession and ended up opening the Kingdom of Heaven to everyone. 

We simply need Christ, nothing more—nothing less, to begin our life together as Christians and we need to be open to learn and change what we think we know the Messiah is.  We could be wrong and that can be full of Joy.

Ichthys (Fish)

Matthew 14:13-21

Ichthys is the ancient Greek word for fish.  Fish is important to the early church.  Not only the feeding of thousands with a few fish, the first disciples were fishermen who Jesus told would fish now for people. The resurrected Jesus makes a coal fire breakfast of fish, when he tells them to cast net on the other side of the boat and they miraculously catch 153 fish, and Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him, and tells Peter to feed and care for His Sheep.  Today the cross has become the greatest symbol of Christianity, but in the first century it was still in use to kill criminals, including Christians.  The fish became the most used symbol.  The story of Jonah was also very important to early Christians and my favorite was the idea that followers of “the way” were little fish because they were born in the baptismal water.

Those reasons above would be enough to use ichthys as the symbol of the movement, but it was also an acrostic for Jesus Christ God’s Son Savior (in the ancient Greek).  To remind you an acrostic is a word that the letters of the word are the first letters of the words, and in this case a wonderful saying that demonstrates who is Jesus.  This was known and thus when they saw a fish they knew that others believed Jesus Christ God’s Son Savior, just as we now see it on the back of cars and business cards. 

As for this scripture, Jesus has the disciples feed over 5,000 people.  Amazing.  I would love to had been there, but I did have an experience that makes me understand what the disciples were feeling and thinking.  I will share with you that experience.  I was in Jamaica leading a short-term mission trip.  Our goal was to develop relationships with other Christians as we helped their church.  Specifically put a new metal roof on top of their grade school, tile a bathroom, create a playground, and run a 5 day Vacation Bible School. 

Each day after the VBS we would have lunch in the fellowship building, where we had the children.  We would clear the room of anyone that was not of our mission team.  We had to, we thought, we had limited resources for lunch and we especially had to make sure all of our team was well fed and well hydrated.  The first two days we easily cleared the room of everyone but the team for lunch and we dined on either pork, chicken, or curried goat.  However, on the third day the kids asked if we could perhaps try Jamaican Patties and sure enough someone arrived early with enough for our team to have 1 1/2 patties.  However, the room was not cleared at that time, in part because lunch arrived early, I and the other leader were tired, and the people were more confortable with us.  The other pastor and I tried to clear the room, we wanted our team to feel confortable as they ate and we had less food then other days.  But someone forgot to cancel the orders of pork, chicken, and curried goat, which arrived at the normal time.  Well us pastors kept on our perceived duty we were supposed to protect the mission team.  Now we had our lunch and the addition of a patty (and a few extra).  We wanted to help these people but we thought it was important for our team to be well nourished.

Well then there was Dylan.  Dylan was the youngest member of our team, whose father was on the roof each day.  Dylan though decided to be part of the VBS team, and in reality he was the only American participant of VBS.  He would help when you told him something specific to do, but he was generally just one of the kids (which if you remember our goal was to create relationships, and he was doing just that).  Well Dylan got up and grabbed one of the Styrofoam containers of chicken and offered it to a woman, who was just hanging around but was not asking for food.  Dylan heard Jesus say, “you give them something to eat.”  Dylan knew Jesus can feed 5,000 plus with just five loaves and two fish, that we could certainly feed all the people in that room.  We realized that we leaders were resisting the the command “They need not go away.”  And while I have had many confusions on mission trips with food, I never had a third lunch arrive, but sure enough on this day another greater amount of patties arrived.  We needed to find people to take this food. 

What a wonderful lesson that experience was, and I know who Jesus is via the acrostic of Ichthys, yet I need to remember what it means to be a Christian who follows Jesus the Christ God’s Son [our] Savior, so I remember an acrostic for fish; Fully I Savior’s Helper.  I know who Jesus is and I realize that I need fully give myself and He will provide.

Saying Grace reminds us of Grace

Article printed in Durant Daily Democrat on Friday, July 29, 2011

Saying grace can go something like this: “God is great, God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen.” I do suggest praying prior to every meal as it is a great way to remember what God has done to provide for us and our physical needs. In addition, we need to remember those that are struggling currently not only during our prayer but with our action of giving and volunteering. Not only does saying grace remind us that God has provided our meals, but that through Jesus the Christ we have been given salvation. We remember every time we break bread that Jesus gave His whole self for our wholeness. Saying grace is a wonderful practice and I encourage everyone to do it, and not only when company comes to dinner, and do note it does not need to be said aloud, for God hears every thought. And as I am on the subject, if you do want to get to eating before the food gets cold, you may want to start praying instead of asking the preacher, and some congregants of mine have figured that out over the years.

This may seem like a non sequitur, but I hope to tie it up in the next paragraph. More and more people are taking medicines. Some are prescribed for a specific duration, but many have been prescribed indefinitely. I have helped some congregants go to the doctor, and always the question comes up, “What medications are you taking?” The most organized patients will have a printed list with all the information printed, and from an experience a few years ago in my family I know that it is essential, not only for the doctor, but simply to know when and what medicines should be administered. Of course, like most people, I would want to avoid taking medicine; however, I know that many people have improved their quality of life as well as longevity. It is wonderful what the medical field can do with these assorted colorful pills, caplets, and injections we call medicine.

Back to saying grace, we say it when we are consuming meals that sustain us, but why do most of us not say grace when we take our medicine? Well I hope it is simply that you have not thought of it, for every time I suggest it to someone, they react with what a great idea it is. I will not take credit for this idea, but I want you to know why and how to say grace for your medicine. It is not the same prayer you would say at the dinner table, rather it would go something like this, “Jesus the Great Physician, help these medications to do the work as it is intended, protect me from any of the side effects. I thank You for my medical help that comes from you through my medical staff and caregivers. Most of all I thank You for making me whole through your death and resurrection.” Or something like that, as a preacher I may go on even longer myself. This additional grace over medications I believe helps the medication to work more fully, but more importantly it reminds us what really makes us whole is our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.

Saying grace at the meal table, or for a medication, reminds us of Grace. It is not what we do but what God does for us all that we are saved and made whole.

Sound the Trumpet

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

There are five parables in this scripture.  The last one about fish talks about the end of the age, and how there will be a judgment.  However, these parables are not about the Kingdom of Heaven coming only at the end of the age, rather that it has come near, now.  While it is true that it is all set with the knowledge of the escahton, that is not the key to the Kingdom.

The first two parables demonstrates the power of the Kingdom of God and how it only needs a little to create is large dominion.  The parable of the leaven that is put into three measures of flour (about 50 pounds), demonstrates the power of God.  The end result is bread, which is what sustains us here on earth.  According to this parable the Kingdom of Heaven is a large quantity of bread, created with a small amount of yeast.  It is a miracle that feeds.  The mustard seed is sowed in the field and grows into a tree that reflects the following Hebrew Scriptures:

The tree that you saw, which grew great and strong, so that its top reached to heaven and was visible to the end of the whole earth, whose foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, and which provided food for all, under which animals of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the air had nests (Dan 4:20-21)

On the mountain height of Israel
   I will plant it,
in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit,
   and become a noble cedar.
Under it every kind of bird will live;
   in the shade of its branches will nest
   winged creatures of every kind. (Ezekiel 17:23)
All the birds of the air
   made their nests in its boughs;
under its branches all the animals of the field
   gave birth to their young;
and in its shade
   all great nations lived. (Ezekiel 31:6)

The large tree that represents the Kingdom of Heaven is a home to many.  And even beyond the realm of Israel.  It is a home for everyone now.

The second two parables are about how one comes about experiencing this Kingdom of Heaven that has come near.  The first happens upon it in a field, the second is searching for the greatest pearl, either way, both give their whole financial selves to the field or pearl respectively.  One gives there whole selves when they either stumble on or find what they were searching. 

I have a wonderful story from my life about finding the Kingdom of Heaven, on earth.  This leavened bread, this tree, this treasure, this great pearl, but I don’t know if I was searching or if I stumbled upon it.  I will share the story with you.

I was talking to my dad on the phone when he told me that me nephew was interested in playing the trumpet.  Well I knew there was a trumpet of my dad’s in the attic of his house, I put it there.  See 30 plus years ago my dad brought the trumpet home from his childhood home when I was 7 or 8.  I was excited about it and learned how to blow it some.  Well as a young boy I also found that a marble could be kept rolling around the horn with centrifugal  force.  Often the marble would shot out across the room, but twice it went into the horn.  However, only once did it come out.  I tapped on the trumpet, blew on it, used a long stick, and put a lot of valve oil down all in an effort to free the little white marble from the trumpet.  I did not go to my parents, especially my dad, but I did know how to open the attic and I placed it in the attic.

A few years later I was in fifth grade and all the students were encouraged to be part of the band.  They had older students come and demonstrate the different instruments and we were to write down the three we were interested in.  I put down trumpet, for it what I wanted to play, but I was scared.  I did write down drums as well for I was interested in percussion as well.  The third I put down was sousaphone, because the school provided the instrument, and I could keep the attic door shut.   Well the next week the band leader called me in and asked if I was serious about the sousaphone, apparently it is not popular.  He got me excited about playing that large horn, and I could keep the attic closed. 

Back to the phone conversation with my dad.  He told me he got the trumpet down from the attic and it did not seem to work.  So I said to him, look inside you should find a white marble.  He said “white marble” with me as he must have turned the horn around and then asked, how did you know it was white?  I then shared the story I have shared and we laughed and laughed.  See I was scared of my father when I was young.  I was not abused but I was scared.  He was not always around and I projected his judgment and he certainly provided some.  It was even how I thought of God, for a while.  My relationship with my dad matured greatly, from work we both did. 

Finding that great marble was stumbling on something I knew, that the Kingdom of God is found in the relationships, not our wealth and success.  During the week I was preparing this sermon, a congregant sent me this link:  http://churchwhisperer.com/2011/04/19/41911/

The writer, Blake Coffee, uses the metaphor of the church as a quilt.  A wonderful metaphor that seems to emphasize Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 12:12 “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.”  I have used that metaphor as well but what Blake adds is about the stitching.  For a quilt is not simply many pieces laid out in as an image, they are connected by thread.  Those represent our relationships.  What I really enjoyed was the analysis that when an issue hits the church we worry more about the weight of the issue rather than the strength of our relationships.  I should have had confidence in my relationship with my father when I was young, apologized and asked for forgiveness.  I am sure I would have been sounding the trumpet. 

The Kingdom of Heaven is found in those relationships.  We search and stumble upon those relationships and give our whole selves.  Forgiving and being forgiven or in a work Love.  For it is not simply about the end time, or a future time, it is now.  Even if you lost 30 years you can still find the Great Pearl (Marble) in your attic.

Tell It!

Luke 10:1-24

This scripture reminds me of my wonderful hiking boots I had as a teen.  They went over many miles of terrain, mostly in Maine when I was a teen.  I was reminded of these boots and backpacking because Jesus sends out the seventy packing light.  If you know anything about backpackers, they are always trying to pack light, not as light as Jesus orders the seventy, but that is because they will stop in each town for provisions, and the backpacker with have everything packed on their back.  The similarities do not end there.  Backpackers need to look forward.  This is not just because they are walking, but with a pack on back one must be looking forward and up not just at their feet, as to keep their airways open and to be open for new experiences, not just each step.  Nor can the backpacker obsess on the comforts they left at home.  Eventually it is great to get back home eating fresh food, showering in a hot shower, and slipping between clean cool sheets, but during the trip you will miss the point of backpacking.  You have to eat what is in front of you, and be flexible.  I remember a time where we had a raccoon eat some of our fruit and we planned to walk along the shore of a large lake, which seemed very easy until we realized that the spring rain, brought the water level up to the tree line in most places.  We had to bush-wack and walk a greater distance to cross the overflowing streams.  However, staying flexible we simply kept on enjoying the experience,  seeing where black bears had eaten berries, and realizing we could push ourselves further.  The greatest part of a backpacking trip is how it made each of us feel more whole and this was most obvious around the campfire.  We shared about how close we had come to the divine and celebrated that, not that we conquered the miles and hard work.  We celebrated how we had become more whole and looked forward to bringing that feeling to our lives out of the woods.

Brian McLaren shared at General Assembly that we need to be a Luke 10 church, and that is what Disciples strive for.  Jesus sends us out where He intended to go.  We are followers of Jesus, but it is clear that Jesus sees us also as pioneers and agents of His work.  We are to go out, and go out looking forward.  Thus we must be flexible and “pack light” for we do not know what the future entails.  We are to heal, that is make people whole, wherever we go and we tell people, not that Heaven is a future promise, but that the Kingdom of God has come near.  A peaceable kingdom, for we say that peace upon this house, this town.  And if they are not ready we move on, but we still mention the proximity of the kingdom.  And we celebrate, but not over the powers we conquered but over the wonderment of our success despite being flawed small group.  This is what we must tell.  We are a flexible, future oriented church that sees the peaceable kingdom now and celebrates that.