Epiphany 4
January 30, 2011
Matthew 5:1-12
Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen
Today we continue our journey through the season of epiphany. This is a special year, in that Easter is one day off of being the very latest that it can be and so, the season of Epiphany is as long as it can possibly be, eight weeks. With this, we get a treat, as we get to spend the next five Sundays hearing the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is a collection of the teachings of Jesus, most likely from different times and places, but which the gospel writer of Matthew pieced together to form what have become some of the most well known sayings of Rabbi Jesus. And it all starts with the Beatitudes.
Before this, Jesus has been baptized in the Jordan by John, been tempted in the wilderness, called the disciples, who literally drop everything and follow him, and performed healings which have caused the accumulation of people crowding around to follow Jesus. It is the growing crowds that give Jesus the urge to head up the mountain...probably to retreat for a little bit. After his disciples join him, he begins to teach them. And so it would seem from our text this morning that, at least this first part of the Sermon on the Mount, was told only to his disciples, who at this time were probably only James, John, Peter and Andrew. So, in a way, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount is a beginner’s guide to discipleship. And in it, Jesus reveals some shocking information…for his disciples and for us as well.
The word “beatitude” is the Latin word for “blessing” and this collection of phrases got that name from the Vulgar Latin translation of the bible, in which each phrase began ‘Beati sunt’ or ‘blessed are.’ There are other beatitudes in the bible, mostly found in the Psalms, but this is the largest gathering of them in one spot and thus they have received this famous title. The other thing that makes this text unique from the other “beatitudes” found in scripture who gets blessed. In the Psalms, we hear “blessed are they whose ways are blameless” (Psalm 119) or “blessed are they who hope in the Lord” (Psalm 1). These are the ones who act or think in certain ways. But Jesus turns the tables a bit…
blessed are they who have no hope left, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,
blessed are they who have no joy left, for they will be comforted
blessed are they who get trampled upon by others, for they will inherit the earth
blessed are they who are denied justice, for they will receive it abundantly
Now, so far, I’ve only touched on the first four beatitudes, and there is a reason for this.
For years, people have been teaching that the beatitudes are pre-requisites for getting into the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s a pretty tough list to live out in the real world…but I don’t think that this is how it was meant. If we pull Beatitudes apart into two groups, it is easier to see that Jesus is making a bold statement here. Jesus is not saying that you have to be without hope or joy or be a breathing doormat in order to be blessed…but he is acknowledging that it does happen in life and even those who are considered the lowest of the low…those who are trampled upon, denied justice, and are left without hope and joy…will be honored and blessed. Their dignity and full humanity will be returned to them. This is a promise of reversal for those who are outcast, put down, shunned and ignored, one day, they will be lifted up. But there is also a call…
Blessed are the merciful
Blessed are they who forgive with all they have and whose eyes are set on God’s will
Blessed are they who seek peace
Blessed are they who are made fun of for not turning away from the work of the gospel
While the first group of beatitudes includes promise for those to whom justice has been denied, this second group describes the virtuous…those who are working right here and right now to bring justice to those that have been denied it. For these folks, there will be a reward for the work that they do. But Jesus doesn’t pretend that striving for justice for others is easy work. People are persecuted for righteousness sake. People are reviled and hated and spoken falsely of because of the work the do for the sake of the Gospel. It’s happened since the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and it continues today…but Jesus is honest about that. The work of being a disciple is hard, and at times discouraging…and there are even times when doing the work of seeking justice for others may leave you in need of other people to seek justice for you.
But here’s the twist, the blessing come before the action…the action is not a pre-requisite. The blessing comes whether we are in need of justice or whether we are one working for that justice. The blessing comes unconditionally…and that is sometimes hard for us to hear. As products of a society that have promoted the protestant work ethic since the pilgrims landed on the shores of this country, most of use have been trained to believe that we don’t deserve anything that we haven’t worked hard for…but that’s not how it works here…the blessing comes first. It is in response that we do the work of seeking justice for others…it is in response to the blessing that we go to be a blessing to others…it is in response to the blessing that we have hope and joy and comfort when we are most downtrodden and discouraged.
We are blessed, and this blessing is a gift to us, requiring no action on our part. God knows that we have good intentions, but sometimes we let things, people, or even our own selves get in the way of the follow through, so if blessing were based off our action, we’d be in a bit of trouble. But Jesus lived this out for us. He came as a virtuous person, seeking justice for the lowly, the down trodden, the out cast, the poor and the sick, and then he was dealt with unjustly, lifting up a cry from the cross that many who are poor in spirit cry “my God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” And through this sacrifice, we are all blessed…not because of anything that we have done, but because of what God has done for us. Because, in the end, when it all comes down to it…it’s not about us…it’s about God. A God who blesses indiscriminately and abundantly…and then calls us to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.
To be continued…
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Joined to Christ in Baptism
Baptism of Our Lord
January 16, 2011
Matthew 3:13-17
This morning we celebrate an important day in the church calendar, the feast of the Baptism of our Lord. Now, while it is not as well known as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost or Epiphany, it is a pretty important feast day in the church. The commemoration of the baptism of Jesus is a commemoration of one of the very first steps in Jesus’ ministry as an adult. In Matthew, Jesus has been absent since his return from Egypt with Mary and Joseph when Jesus was approximately 3 years old. Now he suddenly re-appears at the Jordan around age 30 to be baptized.
This feast day was particularly important to our dear friend Martin Luther, who held in personal contempt anyone who spoke negatively of baptism. Throughout Luther’s adult life, particularly his life after seminary, he struggled with his sinful nature and what he thought was his unworthiness to receive God’s love. At the Augustinian monastery in which he lived, Luther spent hour after hour each day confessing each and every sin to his superior, Johann Von Staupitz, to the point where one day Von Staupitz told him that he needed to make up something interesting if he was going to confess that much.
It was after Luther began academic studies of the bible, especially the New Testament, that he began to realize that the God that he believed in was not a god who was out to get us for the sins we commit, but rather a God who loved us and wanted to be in right relationship with us. As Luther continued in his studies and his ministry, his delight in the sacrament of baptism grew more and more and he began to remind the people to always remember their baptisms, whether in Mass or at home when washing your face in the morning or before bed. For Luther, baptism became a place where God’s grace could be witnessed first hand and so remembrance of baptism became very important to him. And he came to this conclusion through our Gospel text for this morning.
If you remember back a few weeks to the first week in Advent…which was the last Sunday in November, you might recall that our gospel text for that week was the one that preceded this text, the one with the ranting and raving from John the Baptist pointed at the Pharisees. John had been residing in the wilderness, eating locusts and wild honey and telling the people around him to repent for the kingdom was near. He was also performing baptism for the repentance of sins and preparing the people for the one who would come after him...the one who, this morning, is now in his presence asking to be baptized. And his response is one that probably any one of us would have…It is I who should be baptized by you, why are you coming to me? I am unworthy to carry your sandals and yet you ask me to do something far more significant by baptizing you? Why?
Then Jesus responds “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness,” and John consents. For John, Jesus’ response helped him to understand that Jesus had come to him to fulfill the will of God, that Jesus would enter the water and be washed, just like the others who would come to John at the Jordan. Jesus’ sinless nature did not require him to enter the waters. However, in entering the waters as an example for us and as a humble servant to us, being washed by John, and then exiting the water, he was shown to those around him just who he truly was. Matthew tells us that as he came out of the water, the heavens were opened and a spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove, while at the same time a voice came from the heavens identifying Jesus as God’s son, with whom God was well pleased. Imagine how wonderful that scene was. A man, who seemed ordinary like anyone else goes to speak with John, kneels to be baptized and upon exiting a dove comes down from heaven and you hear a voice saying “This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” I’m sure that this is something that none of the witnesses of Jesus’ baptism forgot, least of all John, who only had a short time remaining in his life.
Even though none of us were there to witness the baptism of Jesus first hand, this is a scene from scripture that we should all try to hold in our hearts…for his baptism marks not only the beginning of his ministry, but the beginning of his claim on us. In the baptism of Jesus, we get a glimpse of all three members of the Trinity. The Son, whose body is in the water, the Spirit who descends like a dove, and the Father in the voice from heaven. In this moment, all of the ordinary elements present at the Jordan became extraordinary. Water and flesh and sound and sun and doves, it all became sacred in the presence of the Trinity in and around it.
And for us it is the same way, the ordinary elements of water, oil and flesh become extraordinary in the blessing of water, the pouring of water onto the forehead, the sealing with oil and blessing of the baptized. In those moments, we witness the extraordinary and the sacred and we watch as the newly baptized is joined with Christ, marked with his cross and sealed with the Holy Spirit.
At the beginning of a funeral liturgy, we hear these words “for if we have been joined with Christ in a baptism like his, surely we will be join with him in a resurrection like his.” In his baptism, Jesus fulfilled righteousness by obeying the will of God, that he would go down in to the water and be washed, just like you and me. He went into the water and was washed so that he could truly know 100% what it’s like to walk in our shoes, he went into the water and was washed so that he could celebrate with us our own baptisms, he went into the water and was washed so that he could be fully present in our joys and our sorrows, the easy parts of life and the difficult parts of life. Jesus went into the water and was washed and later died on the cross to make us able to be in a right relationship with God, even though the things that we do when left to our own devices would leave us unable to do this.
Through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we have been brought back into that right relationship that was present between God and people before sin entered into our existence. In baptisms, we are joined to Jesus in his own baptism, called and claimed as beloved children of God…not because of anything that we have or have not done, but simply because of the grace shown to us by the one who has called us by name and said “you are my beloved child.” And so as it is right that we remember the scene that took place when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan by John, it is right that we should also remember our own baptisms…the details may be a bit fuzzy, if existent at all, depending on when in life baptism has occurred. But what we can remember is that in baptism we are joined to Christ, beloved children of God, washed, marked and sealed, just as Jesus our savior was, Amen.
January 16, 2011
Matthew 3:13-17
This morning we celebrate an important day in the church calendar, the feast of the Baptism of our Lord. Now, while it is not as well known as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost or Epiphany, it is a pretty important feast day in the church. The commemoration of the baptism of Jesus is a commemoration of one of the very first steps in Jesus’ ministry as an adult. In Matthew, Jesus has been absent since his return from Egypt with Mary and Joseph when Jesus was approximately 3 years old. Now he suddenly re-appears at the Jordan around age 30 to be baptized.
This feast day was particularly important to our dear friend Martin Luther, who held in personal contempt anyone who spoke negatively of baptism. Throughout Luther’s adult life, particularly his life after seminary, he struggled with his sinful nature and what he thought was his unworthiness to receive God’s love. At the Augustinian monastery in which he lived, Luther spent hour after hour each day confessing each and every sin to his superior, Johann Von Staupitz, to the point where one day Von Staupitz told him that he needed to make up something interesting if he was going to confess that much.
It was after Luther began academic studies of the bible, especially the New Testament, that he began to realize that the God that he believed in was not a god who was out to get us for the sins we commit, but rather a God who loved us and wanted to be in right relationship with us. As Luther continued in his studies and his ministry, his delight in the sacrament of baptism grew more and more and he began to remind the people to always remember their baptisms, whether in Mass or at home when washing your face in the morning or before bed. For Luther, baptism became a place where God’s grace could be witnessed first hand and so remembrance of baptism became very important to him. And he came to this conclusion through our Gospel text for this morning.
If you remember back a few weeks to the first week in Advent…which was the last Sunday in November, you might recall that our gospel text for that week was the one that preceded this text, the one with the ranting and raving from John the Baptist pointed at the Pharisees. John had been residing in the wilderness, eating locusts and wild honey and telling the people around him to repent for the kingdom was near. He was also performing baptism for the repentance of sins and preparing the people for the one who would come after him...the one who, this morning, is now in his presence asking to be baptized. And his response is one that probably any one of us would have…It is I who should be baptized by you, why are you coming to me? I am unworthy to carry your sandals and yet you ask me to do something far more significant by baptizing you? Why?
Then Jesus responds “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness,” and John consents. For John, Jesus’ response helped him to understand that Jesus had come to him to fulfill the will of God, that Jesus would enter the water and be washed, just like the others who would come to John at the Jordan. Jesus’ sinless nature did not require him to enter the waters. However, in entering the waters as an example for us and as a humble servant to us, being washed by John, and then exiting the water, he was shown to those around him just who he truly was. Matthew tells us that as he came out of the water, the heavens were opened and a spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove, while at the same time a voice came from the heavens identifying Jesus as God’s son, with whom God was well pleased. Imagine how wonderful that scene was. A man, who seemed ordinary like anyone else goes to speak with John, kneels to be baptized and upon exiting a dove comes down from heaven and you hear a voice saying “This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” I’m sure that this is something that none of the witnesses of Jesus’ baptism forgot, least of all John, who only had a short time remaining in his life.
Even though none of us were there to witness the baptism of Jesus first hand, this is a scene from scripture that we should all try to hold in our hearts…for his baptism marks not only the beginning of his ministry, but the beginning of his claim on us. In the baptism of Jesus, we get a glimpse of all three members of the Trinity. The Son, whose body is in the water, the Spirit who descends like a dove, and the Father in the voice from heaven. In this moment, all of the ordinary elements present at the Jordan became extraordinary. Water and flesh and sound and sun and doves, it all became sacred in the presence of the Trinity in and around it.
And for us it is the same way, the ordinary elements of water, oil and flesh become extraordinary in the blessing of water, the pouring of water onto the forehead, the sealing with oil and blessing of the baptized. In those moments, we witness the extraordinary and the sacred and we watch as the newly baptized is joined with Christ, marked with his cross and sealed with the Holy Spirit.
At the beginning of a funeral liturgy, we hear these words “for if we have been joined with Christ in a baptism like his, surely we will be join with him in a resurrection like his.” In his baptism, Jesus fulfilled righteousness by obeying the will of God, that he would go down in to the water and be washed, just like you and me. He went into the water and was washed so that he could truly know 100% what it’s like to walk in our shoes, he went into the water and was washed so that he could celebrate with us our own baptisms, he went into the water and was washed so that he could be fully present in our joys and our sorrows, the easy parts of life and the difficult parts of life. Jesus went into the water and was washed and later died on the cross to make us able to be in a right relationship with God, even though the things that we do when left to our own devices would leave us unable to do this.
Through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we have been brought back into that right relationship that was present between God and people before sin entered into our existence. In baptisms, we are joined to Jesus in his own baptism, called and claimed as beloved children of God…not because of anything that we have or have not done, but simply because of the grace shown to us by the one who has called us by name and said “you are my beloved child.” And so as it is right that we remember the scene that took place when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan by John, it is right that we should also remember our own baptisms…the details may be a bit fuzzy, if existent at all, depending on when in life baptism has occurred. But what we can remember is that in baptism we are joined to Christ, beloved children of God, washed, marked and sealed, just as Jesus our savior was, Amen.
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