In this week’s readings we hear the story of Moses’ time on the mountain with God. Did you remember: like Jesus, Moses also spent forty days and forty nights in communion with God. Moses ascended Mt. Sinai, the sacred mountain, symbolically considered the navel of the earth. axis mundi. Here was a space thought to connect this world to the next.
Moses was a mystical character himself. Part of a tradition of rich Jewish mysticism: He sees signs, discerns voices, has visions, you might say, vision quests. He is a man of conviction, a leader - and deeply spiritual. But I would say, (like for most of us) it is with a little hesitance and reluctance at first that Moses responds to all of these calls from God… Moses is pretty human in that regard. He says, “Who me?” But whether or not he deems himself worthy, he does what I’ve spoken about in other sermons… “He feels the fear and does it anyway.” He goes up even though “the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain.” But he stays there for forty days and forty nights communing with God. And when he comes down he has been transformed: His face glowed - and he came down from the mountain bringing us the first commandments. In our Gospel story today, what we describe as the Transfiguration, Jesus also goes up a mountain, Mt. Tabor… and “His face shown like the sun.” He takes with him Peter and James and John. Peter recognizes this moment as symbolic of their tradition. He wants to build tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah to stay there and meditate with God. But … 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!” These are the same words we hear at Jesus’ baptism. As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened,d and He sawe the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” Jesus was baptized by the Spirit; The Spirit that we understand as God working in the world. Today we are celebrating the baptism of Liam Michael. And once again the voice resonates: This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased! Baptism is about God working in the world. Peter wishes to make a very special and significant offering to the ancestors, but the voice from Heaven we understand to be God’s voice, interrupts and says, “listen to him.” The activity of the Spirit working in the world is present now. Wake up… or “Keep awake!” As Jesus tells us often: God is working in the world. We are at the end of Epiphany, when the Magi came to offer gifts to a tiny child, the one they anticipated would be the messiah. At the time this gospel is written the Matthean community who Matthew is writing to was struggling because Jesus was not the messiah they were anticipating… a strong King to win all of their battles through force. What’s happened? Instead we know that the messiah turns everything on its head: our notion of what is strong. Jesus came to teach us that the nature of God is love and Love is the most powerful force on earth. The Transfiguration points Matthew’s community, and us toward the fuller story of the crucifixion and the resurrection. To remember … The Transfiguration happens only after Jesus started revealing to the disciples that he is going to suffer and that this suffering is part of a larger story about what God is doing in this world. The shape of compassion and forgiveness, the shape of true power, the pattern of God is much richer than worldly power. The pattern of the Spirit working in the world will be one of sacrifice for those we love; of healing and compassion for those we encounter; forgiveness that requires a surrender of our ego. This is Jesus’ way. Early Christians were called followers of the way. A way that engenders a flow of love. Following the way is a wisdom path. It is a path that asks us to keep awake. Christianity is not just a belief system. It is a way of participating in the World. Having Christ as our higher power asks us to operate on two levels which are symbolized in the cross. To keep awake to one another on a horizontal plane while holding a vertical relationship with the holy one. To stand in that space of two worlds. The shape of the cross is transfiguring. It is transformational. The words that Jesus hears: This is my Beloved Son, are important for us, and his friends, but also so important for Jesus’ own strength as he enters into the most scary realization of his human life: that he will suffer. These words, “You are my beloved” are a reminder that God is with him. Jesus goes up the mountain to be reminded that God is the source of life. Like Moses, symbolically communing with God at the navel of the earth (the axis of two worlds) we can be present to both worlds. This is the epiphany of the Transfiguration! Being present and awake on a vertical plane and a horizontal plane are not two different perspectives, but one enlightened way. As the author states in 2nd Peter today: Pay attention to this message: as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Keep awake. In Baptism we say we are born again, because we recognize we are part of the transfiguration, transformation and the resurrection: part of the body of Christ, meaning we do not live only for ourselves, but we live for the benefit of all human kind, for justice and peace, for the thriving of community that respects the dignity of every human being. We strive to love one another as ourselves. The water of Baptism symbolizes life: water of creation. It is our most ancient of relationships…with the Spirit moving over the waters of creation to bring life to the world. When we speak to dying with Christ in the water of Baptism we are talking about dying to selfishness. Being immersed in the real world, in the chaos of creation; yet rising up through the living water into the knowledge that we are beloved by God and gifted for making a difference in the lives of others in this world. We cannot be a Christian in isolation. It is always a path for the the community’s sake… The water of Baptism symbolizes freedom. In the rite we will pray this, by returning to the story of Moses and our liberation from slavery in Egypt through the parting of the water. Our readings today remind us that Moses and Jesus each spent significant time alone in dialogue with their creator. Their prayer must’ve been full of questions. Their days were dedicated to seeking, discerning and surrender. But this alone-time was not meant to secure private privileged relationship with God. Both Moses and Jesus come down from the mountain with missions, messages and responsibilities for the community. They remind us that God is always working through us for the benefit of others. We say that Holy Baptism is an outward sign of an inward spiritual grace. We make it public because that grace is recognized by and through the community. It is a ritual that says, we believe that Liam is a beloved child of God, with the free will to make choices, but blessed by being part of the body of Christ (us) and with the Holy Spirit (God at work in the world). And all of this together will help him grow into wisdom and Love. In the gift of Baptism we pray to be given an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage and will to persevere. And today we pray that Liam will also be given the gift of joy and wonder in all God’s works. In the renewal of our own baptismal vows, today Remember that each one of you is a beloved child of God. And in you God is well pleased. And with Moses and Jesus… “The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”
0 Comments
As Steve Mueller put it this week:
When does the good news sound like bad news? …In today’s readings. They are tough… Jesus is doubling down on the commandments which we often interpret as restrictions…..but When I was in college, a professor posed to us restrictions. He said, If you ask a stupid question, I will impose a restriction on you: your work. He said, if you ask a stupid question in front of the entire class, then I will impose a restriction based on that for all of you. For instance, we were in a class making 3 D models with paper and someone asked if we could use scissors… so that’s what I’m talking about… But he said, if you ask a serious question about your process I will give you freedom to explore it. That is what Jesus is doing for us in a way: How do you process the commandments? When we first hear these readings, it is hard not to cringe. Jesus brings up Murder, Adultery, Divorce, Swearing. Most of us here (I’m assuming everyone here) is free of the first one. But the others: not so much. In the Episcopal church we do not consider the latter three as grounds for exclusion from communion or participating fully in our community. Many of us are divorced. My husband was previously married. When I sat down to look at the readings, I thought as my mother in law says. “oy vey;” this would’ve been a better week to have invited the guest preacher! So how are we to wrestle with these teaching from Jesus? If we go over the collective readings today, they are about “choosing" life. What does the flourishing of God’s kingdom look like? What does the flourishing of God’s people look like? “Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying and holding fast to [God]. We are not talking about living forever, but rather what makes our life sanctified? Holy and set apart for true living! Our lives are holy. We are all made in the image of God, and yet we each have one precious life. And each of us is “ruled” by something (the highest power: God, or our appetites and drives, you name it)! In this week’s Gospel Jesus doubles down on some of the “rules” in order to emphasize God’s commandments as offering health and life. It is a tough teaching. But Jesus takes these commandments, what seem like restrictions and puts them in the context of a thriving life for the entire community. What is new in this teaching, is that Jesus expands the definitions of the commandments for us. He pushes us to take these foundational teachings deeper. Jesus relates anger itself to murder. While we may not commit actual murder, Jesus is equating anger, insult and swearing with murder. The similarity being the fruit of all of these is imprisonment: The lack of life. Jesus is speaking to the ease at which we let anger fuel us; Rule us! Name-calling, “fool!” might just feel like a release…but what feeling does it really create in you, and what mood do you project? That’s the “hell and the fire” he speaks of…Our moods are contagious. And they have the power to imprison us… and others. Instead Jesus offers: “First be reconciled to your brother or sister… Come to terms quickly with your accuser.” We are not responsible if others will not reconcile. We cannot control what others do… but we can control how we respond. Integrating that understanding will offer us freedom and life. Jesus is asking more from us than simply following an external law so we don’t get in trouble. He asks us to internalize some of it; And that makes us consider: What does “rule” us? He is asking us to look inside and transform or hearts, and minds; our inner lives. Jesus takes adultery into a new level, by saying forget about the external law. If you entertain thoughts that objectify another, that actually is a form of violence. It is not life-giving. While the religious leaders had agreed to accepting a certificate for divorce, it’s important to think what that meant for the people of the time. Men could divorce their wives leaving them destitute. Jesus’ point is a matter of justice rather than simply morality. Solo women were often in grave danger in the first century. That’s why there are so many lessons about caring for the widow and the orphan. Jesus takes the commandments and expands on them by asking us to consider the spiritual health and wellness of ourselves and our communities. These are not moral codes by which we are simply judged by our peers. He expands on them showing the shape of a healthy and just and righteous community for all. Paul reminds the Corinthians of this work, as a whole, while they are quarreling. The justice, the health of the community, the family of God is for all - and attributed to all. He says, “The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose.… For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.” The commandments may sound prescriptive, but if we engage them on this deeper level that Jesus asks of us, we may come to find that they are life-giving rather than simply rules to be judged by on the human domain in legal indictments or even gossip. From Moses’ time until today they remain true in that bigger sense of truth. They were always designed for human flourishing not as a way to punish us.
While we fail at some of the commandments regularly… Jesus’ insistence on them as foundation for God’s community is food for thought… How might interpreting them anew in the context of your daily habits, and then practicing them make you flourish? How could this be life-giving for you, for your family and community? Freedom from imprisonment is incremental. Anger may not feel the same as murder… but we know how our anger imprisons us in cycles of dissatisfaction, frustration, pain. How it may imprison others through this cycle of negative energy that is not life-giving. Paul speaks to the Corinthians saying that their community is still acting out of the “flesh”. He is referring to the ailments that come from human nature. To have a higher power, to have God in our lives as the ruler (although it sounds old fashioned) offers us freedom from our addictions and our predilections in the form of life! The commandments are restrictions designed to help us thrive. In my art class incredibly creative solutions came out of those students who worked within the limits of the restrictions. It was challenging and even exciting, incredibly rewarding and spirit-building. What’s your spiritual process? Working with the commandments, ancient knowledge which has come to us through the millenia…may be exciting again…your spiritual life can be creative and rewarding. The most important thing to remember as Paul reminds us: is that God is life, and we are all the field: And it is a field of spiritual exploration that waters and grows the kingdom. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.
Jesus says this to us! Not just the apostles but to all of his disciples. That’s us. One of my spiritual directors used to love the phrase: “Integrate that!” He wanted me to really absorb and not so readily deflect things in this life. Mostly Good things, as many of us do. So, Jesus says to you: You are the Light of the World! You are the Salt of the Earth! Integrate that! What does that mean… As salt of the earth we are season for one another! Salt is a preservative, brings out flavor, makes things tasty! Working together we can bring out the flavor of our community. Okay, I know St. Paul’s likes to feed people, but I also mean Feed one another spiritually! In ancient times salt was also an antiseptic, a healing remedy. The Romans paid their soldiers a salarium which our word salary derives from. This was money paid to them so they could purchase salt among other food items. To be “worth ones’ salt” is a 19th Century expression, but it came down through the centuries obviously and means to be worthy of one’s responsibilities, reliable and valued for what they do. A doctor who is “worth their salt” is an able doctor. They live up to their profession. In Today’s Gospel Jesus is asking us to be the salt and the light for one another: to integrate that; We are often so caught up in our tasks and our schedules, that errands can take on an automated response in us as we try to get things done as efficiently as possible. Often, ironically trying to be “worth our salt.”The World pushes us to be busy and often frustrated and harried. But if we focus on our center, our light, each one of those encounters with another can become light touching light, spirit touching spirit. Today’s gospel follows the Sermon on the Mount ( which one commentator remarked) is essentially Jesus’ “I have a Dream Speech.” He is expounding on the things that are of the Kingdom, a realm that is “just and right:” A realm that we hope to see on earth one day. And his proclamation this morning is not a guilt trip, but rather a pep talk! He is saying we can do this: we are salt and we are light! He makes it very clear that he is not throwing out the old, but doubling down. “Not one letter of the law will pass away until all is accomplished.” God’s righteousness is eternal. Our participation will help in this accomplishment. The commandments are our foundation. And our participation in God’s righteousness is more than lip service. Jesus is not throwing out the law or the prophets, but is riled up about hypocrisy from leaders who speak of righteousness but don’t live it out. He is asking us to live it, or we will never reach that dream; that dream of heaven on earth. When we hear the word righteousness, we may think of it as moral perfection. But the word in Hebrew is quite complex. We don’t have a word quite like it. In Hebrew it can mean to redeem, to protect, to bless, to be obedient to the law, to be virtuous to others. In our own spiritual lives we are participating in that characteristic of God. That righteousness. We are joining in and participating in what God is always doing. It is a pattern of life that helps us to keep reaching for the Kindgom of Heaven. That is where endurance comes in… rather than perfection. We are not perfect. The gospel today and the portion from Isaiah make me think of the famous lyrics by Leonard Cohen… Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. Isaiah claims Our “light shall break forth like the dawn” when we begin to let the the oppressed go free… Isaiah speaks of the same things that Jesus speaks of in the Sermon on the Mount: feed the hungry, care for the poor, loose the bonds of injustice. And your light will shine. Not only that but, “your healing shall spring up quickly.” These two things are connected: our healing and our participation in righteousness. …Sometimes are brokenness allows for new light to shine in places we aren’t expecting, and through community, where we can season one another with the Spirit of love and understanding: where we can heal one another. How does our Spirituality show our light and our salt? Paul has a lot to say about our spirituality in his letter to the Corinthians. That community is having a hard time. They are quarreling, and all in all seem to be acting out. They sound like a bunch of teenagers, and it is easy to imagine that getting a new identity and starting a new life in a communal model could have that kind of regressive effect. And even after all that I’ve said earlier about Jesus not needing us to be perfect, I admit that Paul tends to be somewhat of a perfectionist… but here he is appealing to their spirit. He says, to know what is truly human is to know the spirit within. He is literally using the Spirit to center them. It is not some lofty or “new age” idea. He is saying what is central in us is this grounding place. It is very serious. Like the commandments, this is foundational for us. This spiritual center, this space that is united with God through the Spirit is foundational. Integrate that. How can we be salt and light…The healing that brings the Kingdom of Heaven? There are major figures like Martin Luther King Jr and many others that pave the way… prophets in our own time… but we also have that spiritual center of our own… that center that knows what righteousness is on a salt level (so to speak); a human level. Fr. Masud helped break that open for the congregation in his sermon last week that asked us to consider the elements of Micah’s famous passage: Do Justice, Love Kindness, Walk humbly with your God. What does that really look like, he asked? And you gave him some pretty good answers! It is easier than we think. Just offering a smile. A smile lightens a room and shows another person that little piece of heaven. Kindness. When we buy our groceries remembering to smile at the person at the register is healing. It may sound ridiculously small. But each small piece of our Spirit that we give offers healing to another. Integrate that: That we have the power to bring light into one another’s lives, to season one another’s lives with flavor, preserve one another’s lives through kindness; heal one another through humility and justice as Micah proclaimed last week. That is how we become “worth our salt.” We do not need to be perfect. How can we?…but we can attempt to walk humbly enough for God’s light to shine through us to others. As the psalmist sings: Light shines in the darkness for the upright; * the righteous are merciful and full of compassion. It is good for them to be generous in lending * and to manage their affairs with justice. For they will never be shaken; * the righteous will be kept in everlasting remembrance. That is the everlasting righteousness that is not ours alone; but our participation lightens the arc of the moral universe that bends toward justice. The very first words we hear from Jesus in the Book of John are “What are you looking for?”!
When John’s disciples begin to follow Jesus, he asks them “what are you seeking?”They answer him, rabbi (teacher): Where are you staying? And he says “come and see.” These words have much deeper meaning than “Come see where I’m staying for the night.” From the Greek this form of staying mean: How are you abiding; Where are you dwelling… And the word used for “see” Come and see means: clear discernment, and experience. Not mere looking with the eyes. Jesus essentially says, Come abide with me, this residing in God - and experience it for yourself. I really like the remarks from Dr. Steve Mueller in his weekly message: where we abide has to do with who we are -and the gifts we really have. And, that in the context of walking “the way,” Jesus asks us to appreciate the question deeply: What are you seeking? Mueller writes, “As Jesus begins his public life, we too are invited to reflect on our own unique mission, the task marked with our name, which no one else can do…" Last week we spoke about naming. That Jesus names people; One of the reasons I love him so much. And here again are more stories of Jesus naming. The second thing Jesus says in the book of John, is “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas”(which is translated Peter). Following “the way” gives us a new identity. It is significant. Jesus is called Lamb of God by John the Baptist affirming his role as the “suffering servant” from the Book of Isaiah. In our beautiful passage from Isaiah today, the prophet is speaking about Jacob and Israel. Here again, if you remember: the story of Jacob involves a new name. Jacob had been terrified to return home to his brother Esau because Esau had vowed to kill Jacob for stealing his birthright. But God tells Jacob to reconcile with his brother. The night before their happy reconciliation Jacob wrestles with an angel for an entire night. In the morning God names Jacob Israel meaning “one who strives with God.” He becomes the representative of the people identified as Israel: a name that involves reconciliation. The prophets are always in one way or another asking us to reconcile on behalf of God. This morning God speaks through Isaiah. God’s vision for redemption, for salvation, for being called into loving relationship with our Creator is not for Jacob/Israel alone. God says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” This suffering servant, This Lamb of God, this Jesus is also called a light to enlighten the nations. The prophet Isaiah and Jesus are always reminding us that the spiritual path is not ours alone, but one that extends to others. And we have unique ways of naming our own participation “on the way.” Recently, Fr. Richard Rohr has had a serious of meditations on the Prophets and the role of prophetic voice. He wrote “History is continually graced with people who somehow learned to act beyond and outside their self-interest and for the good of the world, people who clearly operated by a power larger than their own. Consider Gandhi [1], Oskar Schindler, Martin Luther King Jr. Add to them Rosa Parks, Mother Teresa, …and many unsung leaders. Their inspiring witness offers us strong evidence that the mind of Christ still inhabits the world.” Tomorrow we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. There will be a Diocesan-wide service held on zoom for those of us who can’t make it to the Bronx. That info is in the Damascus if you would like the link. In the context of the weekend it is impossible not to associate this passage of Isaiah with MLK. And It is one of my favorite images: “The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's womb he named me. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.’” If ever there was a polished arrow or mouth like a sharp sword it was Martin Luther King Jr. He is known for the civil rights movement, but his message was not solely for racial justice in the USA; he was also speaking to the needs of those around the world. His theology and his message was a profound and prophetic voice for people in war-torn countries, for people in poverty, no matter our color… Paul writing to the Corinthians reminds them that we are all called to fellowship through Christ. Powerfully, Paul reminds us that Christ’s testimony is actually strengthened through us! And that we are not lacking in any spiritual gifts. Most of you know that I was a Spiritual Director for many years before I was ordained. In spiritual direction we discern our place “on the way”… looking to grow, we consciously become aware of our journey and the direction our path is taking: how to recognize the signs … and to be engaged in the process. We begin to be awake to what is being revealed. There is the eternal learning of a lifetime. We say the home is where the heart is… And we really mean what matters to us deeply is that abiding space we call home. Everything we do flows from that center. Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. Now this seems obvious, but as Mueller suggests we need to reflect on it… because our daily lives get complicated with people and things and objectives that tempt us away from ourselves, our hearts, and the stability of abiding in God, and operating from that center. So often as St. Paul says, “I do not do what I want to do, but instead I do the thing that I hate.” So often we get caught up in troubles that as Julian of Norwich says, darkens our eyes to the Spirit of God…” We see: my eyes were darkened because of my propensity for winning, or jealousy, my phone, shopping, drinking or even the thirst for perfection. I’m not honoring my heart (and the people in my life: what truly matters) with my constant drive for accomplishment! The Spiritual journey is often a wrestling match. Like with Jacob: We strive with God. Our spiritual path to follow “in the way” names us as Christians. Striving… So what does that naming mean for you? What is your unique mission? I believe that we start to uncover our own prophetic voice… Not that we are all called to be like Isaiah or Martin Luther King, Jr…. But that we have our own distinct yearning… It mirrors what was happening with the disciples in the Gospel: God says, what are you seeking? Come and discern/come and experience it! And once we do… that interior voice becomes clearer and clearer. This is who I am in God… this is what matters to me, and this is what I am doing! The psalmist this week remind us not to fear.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? * the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid? This is a common theme in the Bible: “Do not be afraid.” Fear may protect us as an instinctual red flag, which is important, but most of the time it is unhelpful. It hampers us from exploring, engaging in something new, and growing. While the Hebrew scripture often includes the instruction to “fear” God, that translation is referring to “awe” (not our animal instinct of fight or flight). Awe in God is reverence, amazement, wonder: something that may include fear only because of the incomprehensibility of the World; its vastness and complexity; and the mystery of our being. Julian of Norwich says there’s nothing to be afraid of other than that Awe for God, really. So, as the self-help people tell us: “feel the fear and do it anyway.” Today in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus calls to a few young fishermen. They pick up and leave what they are doing and immediately follow Jesus on the way. Talk about fearless! What exactly was going on, that they felt so moved, so brave?! It was a radical thing to do: leave their father’s house (His fishing - to go, as Jesus says, “to fish for men”). Many years ago I read a book called Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time. It opened my eyes to the complexity of the time in which Jesus lived and demonstrates so clearly and helpfully what we know about him as both man and Messiah. We know he and the disciples were living under Roman occupation and this meant that young men such as Jesus’ first disciples may have been fearless because they were fed up with their political environment and their social predicament. They were most likely contracted through Rome and were unfairly taxed through a percentage of the fish they caught. In our Gospel, John the Baptist has just been arrested. John had an even greater following than Jesus. He was the one who pointed his own followers to Jesus. So John the Baptist, their wild and unruly leader, who speaks truth to power has just been arrested - and Jesus has just come out of the desert after praying for forty days and being tempted by Worldly power and resisted. It is at this juncture that Jesus begins to collect his disciples. When Matthew introduces Jesus and his mission he borrows Isaiah’s words: those who lived in a land of deep darkness-- on them light has shined. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; The Jewish people were awaiting a Messiah. According to Isaiah he will be a light to enlighten the nations, but he will also cast the mighty from their thrones. This is where the story gets very interesting because they anticipated their savior to be a fierce leader bringing God’s righteousness and justice to the poor and the oppressed. And Jesus arrives as the savior quite counter-culturally. His response to a world of pain and injustice is to teach about peace, forgiveness and to offer healing. It is helpful not to divorce Jesus from this historical background. Many of his initial followers probably believed he was going to lead a rebellion by force. What comes next, is his ministry of teaching in the synagogues, healing, and curing people from every disease and sickness. What strikes me is how fearless these first disciples were. They heard the call to truth and radical action… and by joining with Jesus they assist in the radical action of healing and curing people. Jesus did not walk on the earth alone. He traveled with companions and was supported by the apostles, and many women and men who made his healing work possible in the world. The first followers of Jesus, that caravan, became pacifists and healers through his leadership as both man and Messiah. St. Paul did the very same. He turned from violence to peaceable leadership. Our passage from Corinthians demonstrates how easy it is for us to start turning from that counter-cultural approach to competition and quarreling. It is so apt for today with all of our polarization and taking sides. Apparently this group has splintered offering allegiance to those who baptized them forgetting they are all followers of Christ. Paul says, has “Christ been divided?” To Paul’s credit as a leader he denies any positive accountability for baptizing, saying that Christ didn’t send him to baptize but to proclaim the gospel. Paul in his wisdom, did not turn (repent) to becoming just a super nice guy. Paul had incredible conviction. Paul spoke truth to power and the truth to those who would take the power of God and try to make it their own. He says their quarrels make them “foolish” and they “perish.” The power is in our unity in Christ and Jesus’ message on earth. That is life. And life-giving. To make divisive camps within the house of God is to make an idol of the power itself. Paul speaks to a cruciform shape: the cross. It is a power that is self-emptying. This is the power that Jesus came to share. Wisdom flows from a place of self-emptying. It is sacrificial in that it requires coming out of ourselves into the perspective of another and re-integrating. It will never come from a place of force or violence or divisiveness. God’s righteousness and justice is not about putting someone under a thumb. It is about opening and opening to a place that takes a much broader perspective that leads us to greater understanding. That can be scary…How do we do this? Jesus comes out of the desert and learns that the prophet who baptized him has been arrested. The passage tells us Jesus withdraws to Galilee. The word here withdrew is the same word as flee… the word that was used for the Mother Mary and Joseph’s fleeing to Egypt). In Matthew the word is always associated with dangerous situations and fear. Jesus is afraid. Here is the very human aspect of Jesus in his historical context. What does the man Jesus do when he is afraid? He withdraws to pray. As the psalmist says, Jesus seeks God’s face. We are reminded that “behind all these [prophetic] activities was a life of constant prayer and profound contemplation.” Richard Rohr reminds us that “any idea that one could be a prophet calling for justice and social change without some experience of union with God [ie: prayer life is] unthinkable. In the Gospel of Luke, it says before he chose his disciples he spent the entire night in prayer. And in this gospel Jesus has spent forty days in the wilderness praying before he chooses his disciples. We are turning to February which is Black History month. It falls in February largely due to the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. These were fearless men. Or shall I say, like Jesus, they were men who felt the fear, but did it anyway. That is a place where wisdom and justice can be revealed… Our Bishop Mary Glasspool recently wrote a letter in which she framed our Christian mission as “teaching our children to love justice.” It is a great way to help our children understand Christ’s work in the world is for everyone. And the way into justice is through prayer, through the practice that God’s love is our source of power. Today we still struggle like the Corinthians. We are countercultural. Christianity continues to be misunderstood It takes conviction to say “I am Christian” at a time in our history when secularism seems the rule. As adults we may not want to be associated with fundamentalism. As children we may not want to be seen as “different” from our peers. But let us not be afraid. Instead, let us engage in awe; with exploration, and prayer knowing that we continue to be part of that timeless caravan: the heart and hands of Christ working in the world for justice. Power comes from seeking God’s face. Wisdom comes from self-emptying. Justice comes from love. The psalmist sings: ”When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, * the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, What is man that you should be mindful of him? * the son of man that you should seek him out? You have made him but little lower than the angels; *” From the beginning we believe that we have been given the name Adam meaning Humankind. What’s in a name? We have been given a precious and amazing calling. You have made him but little lower than the angels; * you adorn him with glory and honor; You give him mastery over the works of your hands; * you put all things under his feet: The name we were given comes with responsibility for the care and stewardship of the earth, all creatures, and one another. This Sunday is called “Holy Name” Day; We celebrate the naming of God among us. One of the things the story reminds us of today, importantly, is that Mary and Joseph were a faithful Jewish couple. They were following the tradition of their religion, participating in the eighth day circumcision, one of the covenants God made with Abraham. At a time when we are re-encountering Anti-semitism in our media feeds, in bomb threats and in shootings, it is important to remember Jesus, Yeshua was Jewish. The book of Numbers this morning is also primarily dedicated to the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham and his descendants. And Mary and Joseph were, as we are, descendants of that Abrahamic faith. A second important thing about the story is that Mary and Joseph do as the Angel Gabriel tells them to do. We have already heard from the Angel Gabriel that Mary and Joseph are to name Immanuel, “Yeshua” (Jesus) which means God Saves. The story reveals that Mary and Joseph are a couple with deep faith. They practice their tradition while they are also open to this new mysterious blessing, the acceptance that God is breaking into this world accompanied through their confidence and faith. Surely they are familiar with Arron’s blessing: the blessing Priests are to give to the people (to put God’s name on them). The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. If we had any doubt what God among us would be like, we are told right away that God is one who saves… When I fell in love with Jesus as a child, it was not because I understood the concept of savior, or could wrap my mind around the resurrection, or even understand many of the parables. These were adult concepts wrapped in mystery, like most of the adult world, which was beyond my reach or understanding. I fell in love with Jesus for a very simple reason. I fell in love with Yeshua specifically because, he named other people. Jesus let everyone he encountered know that they were somebody. They mattered. Everyone was someone and he cared for them. As a child witnessing playground fights, games of choosing teams, winners and losers, bullying, children who had less than others, who were left out or made to be class outcasts; I already had been provided with another model. I already knew there was another way to operate. I knew Jesus. I knew Jesus would call each one of those children into relationship. He would not put up with the clicks, the division, cruelty and the name calling. He would see them all as equally beloved individuals, children of God; Heirs of God (as Paul puts it). And if that’s the only teaching our children get from church, frankly, it is enough because Jesus came to teach us that the nature of God is love. So Pass it on. That’s the third lesson we receive in the Gospel today, that the shepherds heard this incredible message and passed it on. The message they received from the angel was from our Christmas story: "Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. It is a message for all people. God saves. And Jesus does this through recognizing us, healing us and naming us. Jesus calls us by name. He begins with his very first disciples. Remember, Nathaniel asked, “how did you know my name?” And Jesus said, I saw you sitting under the fig tree. In the Gospels, Jesus is aware of a greater picture - and sees people for who they are. When Jesus was passing through Jericho, Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, climbed a tree in order to get a better look at him. And “When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” Remember: All of the people grumbled, because he was a sinner. When he met the Samaritan Woman also known as the “Woman at the Well” their conversation was the longest recorded conversation Jesus had with anyone in any of the Gospels. Afterward she tells her townspeople, “he knew everything I’d ever done.” She may have meant that literally, but it primarily expressed that Jesus understood her very deeply. These strangers were not people Jesus was running to for popularity, to fit in, to be accepted by the crowd. No, Jesus sees them all as heirs of God; All as adopted children wrapped up into the one loving embrace of the father. AND Jesus also gives us another name: Another name for God, “Abba, Father.” “Abba:” It is an endearing word for father, like Papa. He wants us to know that no matter our circumstances, the ultimate father, the ultimate creator loves us intimately: has “made us but a little lower than the angels.” And Jesus gives us names. Peter: “the rock.” Mary Magdalene: “the tower.” Later after the resurrection he again calls her by name when she doesn’t recognize him. Calling her back to herself: Mary! All through the Gospels Jesus calls us by name, that life affirming gesture of welcome, that great belonging we all wish to have. Jesus gives of himself to give us ourselves. He wants us to be known, individually affirmed, yet one undivided body, one family: the heirs of God. Our own namesake, St. Paul was on the road to Damascus (on his road of wrath) chasing down followers of the way, capturing and killing followers of Jesus and is suddenly blinded by the light. He hears Jesus say, “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?” He doesn’t say why are you persecuting “them” or “my followers.” No: he says why are you persecuting “me.” Jesus the Holy One, with the Holy Name, offers himself to us so we can understand that we all may be one with him. God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!” Jesus was born into the world to be Immanuel meaning God with us. But the Angel Gabriel said to Mary and Joseph to name him Jesus: God Saves. The name Yeshua was actually popular at the time when our Holy Child was born. The first century historian Josephus lists many men with this name including ten that were his contemporaries. The Hope of God was not just hidden in the lives of a young woman and her faithful fiancé, but God Saves was a name children and men were already bearing. It shows we already believed in this notion. We already had hope and faith that God would save us; that God would make his face to shine upon us and give us peace; to give us each names, and to put his name on us… to make us each just a little lower than the angels. May we like Mary and Joseph have the faith, courage and confidence to allow this saving notion of God to break into our hearts and our lives, to be born again anew in us. Let us name it. The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen On Friday we marked Epiphany: The visit of the Magi to the Christ child. And today we celebrate The Baptism of our Lord. Epiphany is not transferred to today. We have two special days back to back and they are paired for a reason.
“…when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’” This is a Trinitarian moment Father, Son, and Holy Spirit calls on our senses. It invites us to hear God’s voice, see the Holy Spirit and feel the movement of Jesus coming up out of the water! It invites us to use our senses. Otherwise it is quite difficult to wrap our minds around the Trinity. Our Trinitarian understanding of God may not easily be captured by the mind alone, or as one image. Primarily because as this moment expresses: the Trinity is the ever dynamic movement of exchange. It was actually described as a circle dance by the earliest of Christian thinkers; Perichoresis. Our Fourth Century theologians, The Cappodocian Fathers, described the Trinity as an ever out pouring, self-emptying flow of love. This dynamism. It is the exchange between God: Creator Love; Son: Human Love; Spirit: Returning Love. That redemptive Love that returns us to God through love working and moving in the world. It requires all of our senses. In this baptism imagery, We see it, hear it, feel it. With all aspects of the Trinity in motion we are given a true picture of the dynamism of our God. Recently in our Wednesday study of Julian of Norwich we read a section she entitled Sensuality. She wrote: “At the very moment that our Soul is made sensual, the dwelling of God is established, divinely placed within us since before the beginning of time.” She really captures Jesus’ constant teaching that “The Kingdom of Heaven is within.”… Jesus says, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Believing in Jesus is the same thing as believing about Jesus:’ following in the character and way of Jesus. Allowing Jesus this indwelling. God in you, and you in me, and I in you. We hear from Peter in Acts that all those who believe in the character, the name of Jesus, and who are living justly, will be forgiven for their sins. Jesus is ordained judge The way of Jesus is into right relationship, with God… Righteousness as it is called in the Bible. The covenant with God is about being in relationship. This emphasis on Righteousness shows up in our Gospel passage today too. John the Baptist at first doesn’t think that it is his place to baptize Jesus. Shouldn’t it be the other way around? But Jesus says, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” John the Baptist protests that Jesus should be the one baptizing him. So what is this righteousness? In the Old Testament righteousness is about trust and faith in God, not about perfection. The whole thing is really about being in right relationship with God, rather than pretending to somehow be perfect. Jesus joins others in the Baptism of John to be in right relationship with God and Others. Returning to Julian Of Norwich, Another question that came up for us in our Wednesday study related to the gift of the Holy Spirit at Baptism…While we also hear from Jesus and the mystics that we have had the Holy Spirit from birth… that the Spirit breathed life into us.. and our souls become the dwelling place of God. So which is it? Baptism is a rite. It is one of our sacraments. We define sacraments as the outward sign of an inward grace. They are a ritual to mark what already is. Baptism means we are recognizing what already is seeded in us and what we are making a commitment to live out. Like marriage as the sign and commitment to our love which is already there. Baptism is recognizing that indwelling of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit already there, already brimming with potential. For infant baptism, it is the community and family making the commitment to help the child live into this identity to the fullest… to be in relationship with God. We are in the Season of Epiphany. This Sunday is called the First Sunday after the Epiphany and The Baptism of our Lord. On Friday we celebrated Epiphany as the Wise Men (the Magi) arrive in Bethlehem to seek out and honor the Christ Child born in a manger. It is a story full of excitement: danger, dreams, prophecy and miracle. It is also connected with the word epiphany itself which we use year round to express a sudden insight. The word comes from the Greek, meaning “revelation from above.” Generally, when we have an “epiphany" it is a great idea that surprises us. It often comes suddenly and with the power to shift our perspective, illuminate a situation, even change our minds. It is an awakening. Epiphanies usually happen when we are problem solving…we are trying to figure something out, and a light bulb goes off in our heads; awakening us to a new possibility. Epiphany for us marks the new way of the Christ Child. The problems of humanity will be solved through a new revelation. Like the Magi (who do not return to Herod who had plans to kill the Christ child). Our wise men will not sell out to leaders through perpetuating cycles of violence.They will find another “route.” We will begin to follow "the way" led by the Prince of Peace. Our vision, is that Like Mary and Joseph, we will start to embrace the epiphany that God may be made manifest through us; And Like the shepherds we will announce to one another that joy and love are our inheritance. The Gospel of Matthew fast forwards us from the Magi’s visit to Jesus’ as a two year old, to his Baptism as a grown adult. These two feast days are paired for a reason. Jesus (our Epiphany ) comes down to the Jordan and at his baptism, we hear: Look! See: the Holy Spirit! Listen: You are the Beloved! Touch the living water. Use all of your senses to be engaged, to be awake, to be present. And be one with others. Jesus goes down to the river to be baptized with everyone else. He doesn’t stand apart, aside, or above. Jesus immerses himself in the creation completely. He immerses himself in the waters of creation and in humanity. He is immersed in his senses. He places himself in the muddy waters of the Jordan with a wild and unruly prophet, and with all of the other people seeking forgiveness. And like at the beginning of Creation: God said “it was good.” “In you I am well pleased.” Echoing Isaiah: Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. Jesus did not take on human form to teach us perfection, but to teach us belovedness, justice, mercy… and the divine and dynamic flow of that work in our lives. Epiphany reminds us of this Revelation. That each day we may recommit to this righteous path that we have inherited. And Jesus’ Baptism reminds us to live in this dynamic flow of love that Christ came to reveal. In the name of the Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen! Tonight we celebrate the word made flesh! …the Word of God made incarnate in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the Word. Tonight we celebrate The Spirit of Truth inhabit the Material. It is a sign from God of our completeness, the gift of what true humanity looks like and what we are meant to grow into.
Tonight we receive the gift of God’s promise of Salvation - The Christ child: The angel of the Lord said to the shepherds: “I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.” What a story! A story of completeness: to be utterly connected with God… God showing up as one of us demonstrates for us the deep desire to be connected with us completely. To be in direct communication. One of my favorite lines is from psalm 27: When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” The incarnation demonstrates that while we seek to know God, God seeks to be fully human. We are wrapped in a love affair: Wrapped up like swaddling clothes. The shepherds see a great light and an angel of the Lord tells them"Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” The bands of cloth Mary wrapped Jesus in create what we refer to as swaddling, and what other translations of this passage call “swaddling clothes.” The bands create an embrace, like being in the womb; a cocoon of comfort. Swaddling keeps an infant from flailing around; hurting themselves; scratching themselves with those tiny, sharp little fingernails. God comes to us this way: needing swaddling, consolation and protection. In doing so, God says to us your human frailty, your vulnerability is God-given, loved, blessed, part of the divine nature! And in mutuality it is God’s embrace that offers us consolation and keeps us from flailing about. This tiny infant Jesus whom we welcome, grows up to embrace us in different ways with his healings and with his teachings, forever reminding us: When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Throughout the scriptures, Jesus sees us often in our flailing about, and he blesses, heals and forgives. His swaddling embrace comes with teachings to try to keep us from hurting ourselves and one another. Jesus demonstrates for us the love of humanity while he directs us through so many parables to answer the question: What does it mean to seek God’s face? Jesus sees God’s face in us…struggling to grow into our full humanity. Jesus sees every circumstance as a way to lead us into reconciling relationship: Incarnated Love. “This Messiah is to bring great joy to all people (not just those who look like me, or think like me, or think like us). God so loved the World.” (not specific politics, ideologies, colors, cultures, genders, or races) but flesh and blood: everlasting spirit and frail material united. We celebrate God breaking into history through the incarnation, into frail humanity to help us love our own incarnation: To be that connected. To teach us Peace. God’s word is enfleshed in Jesus’ life. “The word became flesh and lived among us.” What we mean is that Jesus’ life is the teaching of God. That’s why we say, we follow in his footsteps and can say in certain circumstances: “What would Jesus do?”; “What would Love do?” We don’t always do, nor want to do what Jesus demonstrated even when we desperately want to be like him, a loving healing presence. As we celebrate the light of God entering the World, It is important to remember the story tells us Jesus was born in the midst of genocide. He lived during a time of tyranny and war. God sought us in that time. And still seeks our face, our humanity today. We have the hope and the light of Christ. And all shall be well in our lives in God. But on earth we have not yet learned to hammer our weapons into plough shares. In 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr said “if we are to have peace on earth and goodwill toward men [it] is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life. Every man is somebody because he is a child of God. And so when we say “Thou shalt not kill,” we’re really saying that human life is too sacred to be taken on the battlefields of the world. …Man is a child of God, made in His image, and therefore must be respected as such. Until men see this everywhere, until nations see this everywhere, we will be fighting wars. [He said] One day somebody should remind us that, even though there may be political and ideological differences between us, the Vietnamese are our brothers, the Russians are our brothers, the Chinese are our brothers; and one day we’ve got to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. Because in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile. In Christ there is neither male nor female. In Christ there is neither Communist nor capitalist. In Christ, somehow, there is neither bound nor free. We are all one in Christ Jesus.” This Christmas I turned to the voice of MLK, because he reminds us that Christ’s salvation comes whenever we look into one another’s face and seek the incarnation of God’s love. Peace comes when we work at home to seek God’s face. And teach that lesson to our children. When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Christ’s salvation comes when our manifest spirits reach out to one another to protect and console. It is that redemptive swaddle that is our gift and our salvation. Every Christmas this tiny baby is our sign of God’s promise that can be ours now, and is everlasting: Salvation in the knowledge that we are flesh and blood and we are Spirit incarnate in a great love affair with God that is meant to be expressed with and for one another. Martin Luther King went on to say: “I still have a dream that with this faith we will be able to adjourn the councils of despair and bring new light into the dark chambers of pessimism. With this faith we will be able to speed up the day when there will be peace on earth and goodwill toward men. It will be a glorious day, the morning stars will sing together, and the sons of God will shout for joy.” Scripture is full of poetry because it gives us images that are beyond what we can see or speak in regular language, but we know in our hearts sing true: “the morning stars will sing together, then shall all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the Lord when he comes, * And “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace.” “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. “ May we feel his embrace this Christmas, and may we offer it to others. Merry Christmas! Today we have a birth narrative from Matthew. There is a lot packed into a very short passage. Not all of the Gospels tell the story of Jesus’ birth.
Mark starts his gospel at the Jordan River with John the Baptist. John begins with the word: The word made flesh, the light of the World…and John the Baptist who came to testify to the light. Luke also begins with the birth of John the Baptist but goes on to give us the lovely stories of the angel’s visits to Mary and Elizabeth and to Elizabeth’s husband Zechariah. Matthew is the only Gospel to focus on the angel’s visit to Joseph. Joseph is the star of this Gospel passage. And there is a lot going on in Joseph’s story. Joseph’s story begins with this dream of an Angel’s visitation. And Joseph has many dreams that follow. Matthew’s Gospel approaches the birth of Jesus from the sure perspective that Jesus is both the Son of God and the Son of Man. We are given this mysterious dream of the angel who tells Joseph that the child conceived in Mary’s womb is from the Holy Spirit. But just before this story, in our opening passage, is the genealogy of Jesus which reads as a list of names from Joseph going all the way back to Abraham and importantly going through the House of David. According to the prophets, the messiah is to come from the House of David. And this genealogy makes that very clear. It is important that Joseph is the father of this child to fulfill what the prophet Isaiah has foretold. It is also important that this child be from a young woman to fulfill the words the Lord spoke through the same prophet. The Lord gave Isaiah two realities. And we embrace these two realities as the Son of god and the Son of man. We say Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. The prophet says he is to be named Emmanuel which means “God with us.” Some say no one was caught more unaware by this mystery than Mary and Joseph themselves! But what they did with their mysterious circumstance is what helped bring love into the world. Mary said yes to this baby. And Joseph said yes to this baby against all odds. The angel told Joseph to name the child Jesus. Which means “God is your salvation.”So we also have two meanings in the names given to the Son of Man and the Son of God. God is among us, and very importantly God is a loving healing and saving God. (In case you have any doubts about what it will be like to have God with you.) You shall call him Jesus. Joseph goes on to have more dreams. Listening to God and his heart, I’m sure the resonance there, he plans for this child. After the Magi visit, Joseph is interrupted by yet another dream: “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him.” (Matthew 2:13). And Joseph does so. But again after settling in Egypt with Mary and Jesus, an angel of the Lord appeared to him again and instructed him to go back to the Land of Israel. Since Herod was dead, Joseph planned to go back to Judea; but just when they were about to reach the southern kingdom, learning that it was Herod’s son upon the throne, he had another dream and the Angel told Joseph to head north instead into Galilee. God chose to come into the world as a child. Not a powerful King equal to Herod… but as a vulnerable child who first needs our protection. Joseph goes to great lengths to protect his family. There is a famous quote I love by Meister Eckhart, “We are all meant to be mothers of God, because God is always needing to be born.” And the story of Joseph reminds us that “We are all meant to be father’s of God, because God is always needing to be raised up in this world.” Before he was raised up to God, Jesus needed to be nurtured and raised up on this Earth. When we think of immigrants, migrants and refugees it would be helpful to remember Joseph and Mary were refugees; loving parents traveling great lengths and against all odds to raise up Jesus. They were like many of the people who are trying to cross our southern border fleeing persecution, gang violence, communities with astounding murder rates and natural disasters. When we think of God among us: Emmanuel, it may be helpful to remember that Jesus does not provide an easy road, but requires us to take risks with a love like Joseph’s that will empower us. When we think of our own decisions, nudges or even dreams about what God is doing in our lives, it may be helpful to remember that unexpected challenges and turns in the road, may be God leading us in ways we cannot anticipate. God among us is only comforting because the reality of that concept wakes us up to the people around us. To the people we love and to the strangers we meet. When we think how difficult this all may be, it is helpful to remember that as as the body of Christ, we are doing this together. We represent God with us to our community. Jesus, “God with us” came to show us how to access the divinity within us (which is always to tap into that foundational love). It is our calling to be those mothers and fathers for others on this earthly journey. Matthew gives us the story of Joseph: A “righteous” man (as he’s named). In this story, he is a man who accepts this most incredible idea that the Holy Spirit has delivered to us a gift in the form of the son of man - who will show us what it means to follow in the steps of the Son of God. Who will give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. God is with us from the beginning until the end of time. Matthew gives us a child in swaddling clothes. Each birth is miraculous. Even when a pregnancy is planned, I’d say many parents-to-be still marvel at how this really has come to be? New life. A whole new person for us to cherish and teach and lead in loving ways! We as the body of Christ are to continually raise up this divinity in each new child, through love, and in confidence. Matthew wants us to be fully confident in this message. For in the last line of this Gospel Jesus tells us “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Amen. Our Advent candle today traditionally represents Joy.
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. We are awaiting this rich renewal. I love the passages that make the earth alive using human signs we can relate to: Mountains that skip, deserts that rejoice, flowers that sing, trees that clap their hands! This Advent we are awaiting with great expectation the signs of God’s presence. We are always seeking it… but Advent marks this renewal specifically. We are awaiting new birth. We are awaiting the signs of God breaking into the world… And today the Gospel raises the question for us: Will we recognize the signs? John the Baptist is the focus of two of our Gospels for Advent. Last week he was offering forgiveness and prophesying the coming of the Messiah. People were flocking to John - and to the Jordan River. "Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.” All of Judea! This is a large population recognizing that forgiveness was essential to their identity, to their wholeness and to their relationship with God. To be forgiven of sins; to know we are okay. Truly. They needed this! What a gift! It was a sign. This is pretty bold of John on two levels. The tradition held that the community paid for forgiveness by purchasing animals for temple sacrifice. Not everyone of course could afford to do this. John is offering them free forgiveness. Remember how the religious authorities also told Jesus he was blasphemous for doing so “for only God can forgive sins.” Second, John is proclaiming that he heralds the coming of the Messiah. And this work of forgiveness is part of the plan for the coming of the Lord. John the Baptist had a huge following. He was raging against the machine. He was dressed in animal fur and living off of locusts and wild honey. He was living an extreme ascetical lifestyle to make the extreme point that society and the powers of the world were out of communion with God. John knew he was not the messiah… he was proclaiming the coming of another…baptizing people in the same river in which the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus… And the crowds were flocking to him to the dismay of the “powers that be.” Even that “brood of vipers” (as he called them) came to see what the stir was about… How halting: Forgiveness is disruptive to the status quo!…Forgiveness heralds the healing of so many places in ourselves and people in our lives. I have spoken of forgiveness in other sermons. Here it is at the very beginning of our Christian story. With the one who heralds the coming of the messiah. Our story does not only culminate with Jesus’ forgiveness on the cross. Our story begins with forgiveness. It’s a circle. And on the spiritual path we encounter stages of development. Practicing Forgiveness is essential to our identity as Christians. It is essential for hope, and it is foundational for recognizing the signs of God’s redeeming work breaking into the World. John has been imprisoned for his disruptive prophesying. Perhaps he is frightened. Perhaps he is unsure. He expected the messiah to be powerful. John was full of righteous judgment. That’s what animated his followers. He hears what Jesus is doing and sends word to him essentially asking "are you the one?” Jesus responds by saying, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” This is the powerful work of the redeemer that is built on a foundation of forgiveness… Indeed John, you have paved the way. Jesus sends good news to John. Hopeful news: Yes, indeed all of the things Isaiah prophesied and our psalmist sings: Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help! * whose hope is in the Lord their God;.. 6 Who gives justice to those who are oppressed, * and food to those who hunger. 7 The Lord sets the prisoners free; the Lord opens the eyes of the blind; * the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;… the Lord cares for the stranger; * he sustains the orphan and widow, but frustrates the way of the wicked. This is the dream for John in captivity. Here are the signs! Who knows what stories John is hearing in prison. Perhaps he wonders about a personal sign from Jesus. We all may wonder about this. John gives us the permission to doubt… and yet Jesus still praises John saying “among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist.” In this doubting, the question arises: what are the signs of the Good News? And Are we looking for them? Recently I was speaking with someone who is very goal oriented in his spiritual life, well in his whole life. When he reviewed his goals for this year, he had achieved a lot of them, but while he could’ve broken out a glass of champagne to celebrate, instead he was overcome by the “when" and “where” God really showed up for him. This year he said God showed up in his relationships where unexpected holy moments had emerged. Working on relationships hadn’t been a particular goal for him. It was God’s hidden work showing up in unanticipated ways. “Goals or no goals” God was present. In his efforts to seek out God, he was “heralding in, paving the way.” Reflecting on these experiences freed him. What does freedom look like for you? What parts of you are imprisoned? Would forgiving yourself or someone else set you free? What is the hope of God that we ask for this Advent? Certainly many of us doubt like John the Baptist when we struggle with our lives, our bodies, and what is going on around us. We have been waiting for the great disruption of the World as we know it. For peace for and love to prevail. In the Epistle this morning, James asks us to be patient, but more so, James’ patience can be translated as endurance. He speaks to us of waiting, but not simply waiting. His description of farming evokes work and persistence. James’ message follows suit with our Advent readings thus far, that have asked us to get ready, sows the seeds, be prepared, and then keep awake to the signs in this world of God’s love and renewal. Jesus shows up to show us the nature of God is Love. Interestingly he says, “blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.” The world was scandalized by Jesus. How can one who shows up to heal be the one we’ve been waiting for? We want a great and mighty leader. And still today the world seems to want a great and mighty leader. Most people continue to be scandalized by a God that would come to identify with our suffering rather than magically end all suffering. How many times have you heard, “If there really was a God why is the world this way.” God’s love unites us in our suffering, strengthens us in that communion, and leads us into wisdom and truth. To me, the faces in this sanctuary are signs. Our work is to be patient with one another and ourselves. To forgive one another and our selves. To bring healing love into the world. This Advent let us embrace the joy of renewal. Here as a community together let us rejoice and sing. And let’s also think about what kind of renewal our neighbors need and their children seek? How can we, like John, make holy disruption in the lives of our community? …How can we be a sign of hope for them? Do our friends and neighbors understand that forgiveness, healing and love are at the core of our identity? Ask them? Ask them what signs they seek? And let’s ask ourselves how we can help pave the way…for Emmanuel breaking through: God Among us! |
AuthorThe Rev. Heather K. Sisk Archives
July 2024
Categories |
WE ARE ALL MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD |
Telephone845-635-2854
|
|