Lent 1A
March 13, 2011
Matthew 4:1-11
In 1960, a novel was published that sent shockwaves throughout the world. In 1988, Martin Scorsese made this novel into a film that was equally as scandalous. Titled “The Last Temptation of Christ,” the novel is based off of the presumption that, though Jesus was without sin, throughout his life and ministry he was faced with every temptation that humans are faced with on a daily basis…doesn’t seem that bad right? But there is a twist. While hanging from the cross and being mocked, a young girl appears to Jesus, telling him he is not the son of God but that God loves him and is pleased with what he has done and now God wants him to be happy. The young girl helps Jesus down from the cross and escorts him into a happy, comfortable life…it is only, after a confrontation with Judas much later in life that Jesus realizes that this young girl is actually the devil, who has been tempting him all along…and upon this realization, Jesus goes back to a destroyed Jerusalem and begs God to be crucified so that the world would be saved. Both the novel and the film have caused outrage and both are still banned in some countries…but part of me wonders if this outrage is caused by our fear of what it means for Jesus to be truly 100% human, as we profess in the Nicene Creed…and in turn, what that means for us, who continue to be tempted day in and day out.
As we enter into this season of lent, these forty days of figuratively wandering through the wilderness on our way with Jesus to the cross, we do so having just heard Matthew’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Jesus had just been baptized in the Jordan by John and proclaimed God’s Son, and now the Holy Spirit has sent him into the wilderness to be tempted. Jesus is alone in this wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights before the devil, also known as the false accuser or the tempter arrives. Jesus has spent these 40 days and nights with out food and is understandably famished when the devil begins testing him. “If you are the Son of God” he says, “turn these stones into loaves of bread”… “Throw yourself down from here so the angels can catch you”…here’s your chance to know once and for all if you truly are the son of God…or, you can forget about all that and all the worries and concerns that may come with being the son of God and just worship me. If you do that, I will give all of this to you and you will have nothing to worry about for the rest of your life.
In these temptations, the devil is using Jesus’ human weakness to try and get the best of him… the attempts he makes to get Jesus to show his power, to get Jesus to bow down to him, to establish himself as a self-sufficient deity…are all tests of Jesus’ trust in God. And even after having been in the wilderness for 40 days, Jesus’ trust in God out wits the devil. In not displaying use of his power to turn stones to bread, in refusing to jump and in not worshiping the devil, Jesus passes the test, showing not only his trust in God, but also his dependence on God, having given up his Godly powers and taken human form to live among humans and see first hand what it’s like to be us.
As I’ve been watching the news this week and seeing the ongoing protests and budget battles, I’ve continued to wonder where our biggest temptations lie. We all have our temptations…some of them less harmful…like an extra piece of chocolate or an extra hour of television instead of going for a walk…some of them more harmful…like tearing someone down in front of others so we feel better about ourselves or thinking that we are totally in control and self sufficient. I’m guilty of this last one…and have been since I was a child, when my motto was “all my by self.”
Actually, I think that the illusion of self-sufficiency and being in control are two of the biggest temptations that we face in this country…and it seems to be most prevalent in the Caucasian population than anywhere else. We come from cultures that praise the protestant work ethic, we preach that if we are going to be successful in life, you have to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and make it happen…we preach that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. That’s why we have become a country of over-worked, over-stressed, sleep deprived, individualistic individuals. We want to be successful, we want to live better lives than our parents lived, we want the job that will allow us to be able to have the stuff that society suggests that we need to have if we are going to look good to those around us, the newest computer or phone or car or clothes. We become ashamed to look to others when we are in need of help…even if it’s a couple bucks so we can buy milk and bread. There’s comfort in this illusion of self-sufficiency and control…when we live in this illusion, we have the power to succeed or fail…but we also have the ability to forget who we really need to trust in and rely on...the one who has our back unconditionally.
Living in the illusion of self-sufficiency and control has a tendency to be damaging, damaging to our relationships with others and damaging to our relationship with God. And that’s what we were created for, to be in relationship. God even says this in the creation account from Genesis 2 before setting out to find a suitable partner for Adam. But where Adam and Eve failed was not in their relationship with each other, but their relationship with God. The serpent tells Eve the truth about the fruit which God told Adam and Eve not to eat…and it causes her, and Adam (he’s not getting off the hook on this one) to question their trust in God. And in eating that piece of fruit, their relationship with God becomes fractured…but even though they must face the consequence of their actions by leaving the garden, God does not abandon them. In fact, God makes clothes for them before sending them on their way.
When we trust in ourselves over God, we are not allowing our relationship with God to flourish…and that leaves an empty spot in us, a spot that no car, or amount of money or collection of things can fill. And when we trust in ourselves rather than the community that surrounds and enfolds us, we are not allowing our relationships with others to flourish and we risk becoming isolated. To be in control and self-sufficient is truly a tempting thing, it gives us the illusion that we have the power to shape how things are going to happen…but this illusion can cause us to lose out…on relationships with others and ultimately on a healthy and thriving relationship with God. However, even when we give in to this temptation, God is there for us, giving us faith and, in turn, the courage to stand up when future temptations strike and triumph. This is part of the gift of God grace, a gift freely given, for God’s son knows first hand what it is like to be tempted, and what it means to trust in and depend on God. It was that trust and dependence that gave Jesus the courage to withstand the temptations of the devil, the strength to withstand pain and torture on the cross, and the love to lay down his life so that we could have life. Amen.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Remember that you are dust...
On Monday I was talking on the phone with my mom about wedding stuff. I admitted to her that I hadn't been putting much thought into it the past couple days because of the Feast of the Transfiguration and Ash Wednesday. After a brief pause, she said "You know this is my favorite time of the year. I could go with out the whole Christmas thing, but Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and Easter are three of my favorite days...they do me good."
My mom's love of Lent, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday were passed down to me at some point. I think it was my sophomore year in college when I was in the midst of a faith crisis. I had decided that despite not wanting much to do with God, I would attend the Ash Wednesday service at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish, which was across the street from my dorm. At this point I was still officially a member of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (mentally, I left the LCMS after the dismissal of a district president for attending and interfaith prayer service in honor of September 11th) and thus had never been to an Ash Wednesday liturgy that included the imposition of Ashes. That evening, the sanctuary at St. Thomas More was filled with people, old people, young people, college students from Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University...all of us received ashes and it was the first time in my life that someone had looked me in the eyes and said "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." There was something powerful in those words and the feeling of ashes being traced on my forehead. It is something that I had wanted to experience for a really long time. I remember that one of the lunch room attendants in middle school having ashes on her forehead every Ash Wednesday and wondering what that was all about. I was finally on my way to figuring out what it was all about on Ash Wednesday of 2003...but I still had (and still have) a long way to go.
8 years later there is still something powerful in those words, the power of those words grows stronger each time I hear them. Last year on Ash Wednesday, I traced ashes on the foreheads of many people but the two that stand out are the two week old baby and the young woman who was 8 months pregnant (her son turns 1 today)...in the promise and excitement of new life we were reminded of both the fragile nature of life and our dependence on God's grace to get us through the wonderful times and the difficult times. There is comfort and hope in these words...I didn't see that right away, but I see that now. I see in the crosses traced on the foreheads of the faithful a remembrance of baptism, when a cross was traced on foreheads in oil and words were spoken "child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever."
I also see remembrance of God's deliverance as we connect with our ancestors of faith. In the book of Esther, the Jews put on sackcloth and ashes when they learn that their lives are in jeopardy. Job sits in a pile of ashes after his children had been killed and Job had been afflicted with painful sores. In the writings of the prophets, the people are told to put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Daniel pleads to God for the sake of Jerusalem with prayer and fasting, dressed in sackcloth and ashes. God delivered the Jews from the schemes of Haman. God was with Job in his suffering and in the end blessed him. God delivered Daniel and the people of Jerusalem.
Having ashes traced on my forehead and hearing the words “remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” is a reminder that I am sinful and and broken and it is only by the grace and love of God that I am picked up, dusted off and sent back down the path that God has laid out for us. Being reminded that we are dust, we are sinful and we are fallen and broken is not the happiest of reminders. But then again, we are beginning a journey that will transform us into witnesses of a crucifixion. It is a reminder that we need (or at least I need it), however, because it brings us back to center and reminds us that no matter who we are or how hard we try, in the end we are all the same, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Lord, bless now the journey...
My mom's love of Lent, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday were passed down to me at some point. I think it was my sophomore year in college when I was in the midst of a faith crisis. I had decided that despite not wanting much to do with God, I would attend the Ash Wednesday service at St. Thomas More Catholic Parish, which was across the street from my dorm. At this point I was still officially a member of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (mentally, I left the LCMS after the dismissal of a district president for attending and interfaith prayer service in honor of September 11th) and thus had never been to an Ash Wednesday liturgy that included the imposition of Ashes. That evening, the sanctuary at St. Thomas More was filled with people, old people, young people, college students from Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University...all of us received ashes and it was the first time in my life that someone had looked me in the eyes and said "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." There was something powerful in those words and the feeling of ashes being traced on my forehead. It is something that I had wanted to experience for a really long time. I remember that one of the lunch room attendants in middle school having ashes on her forehead every Ash Wednesday and wondering what that was all about. I was finally on my way to figuring out what it was all about on Ash Wednesday of 2003...but I still had (and still have) a long way to go.
8 years later there is still something powerful in those words, the power of those words grows stronger each time I hear them. Last year on Ash Wednesday, I traced ashes on the foreheads of many people but the two that stand out are the two week old baby and the young woman who was 8 months pregnant (her son turns 1 today)...in the promise and excitement of new life we were reminded of both the fragile nature of life and our dependence on God's grace to get us through the wonderful times and the difficult times. There is comfort and hope in these words...I didn't see that right away, but I see that now. I see in the crosses traced on the foreheads of the faithful a remembrance of baptism, when a cross was traced on foreheads in oil and words were spoken "child of God, you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever."
I also see remembrance of God's deliverance as we connect with our ancestors of faith. In the book of Esther, the Jews put on sackcloth and ashes when they learn that their lives are in jeopardy. Job sits in a pile of ashes after his children had been killed and Job had been afflicted with painful sores. In the writings of the prophets, the people are told to put on sackcloth and roll in ashes. Daniel pleads to God for the sake of Jerusalem with prayer and fasting, dressed in sackcloth and ashes. God delivered the Jews from the schemes of Haman. God was with Job in his suffering and in the end blessed him. God delivered Daniel and the people of Jerusalem.
Having ashes traced on my forehead and hearing the words “remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” is a reminder that I am sinful and and broken and it is only by the grace and love of God that I am picked up, dusted off and sent back down the path that God has laid out for us. Being reminded that we are dust, we are sinful and we are fallen and broken is not the happiest of reminders. But then again, we are beginning a journey that will transform us into witnesses of a crucifixion. It is a reminder that we need (or at least I need it), however, because it brings us back to center and reminds us that no matter who we are or how hard we try, in the end we are all the same, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Lord, bless now the journey...
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Do Not Be Afraid
Sunday morning, I preached at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Valley Falls, KS. It is the oldest Lutheran congregation in Kansas, founded in 1857. The building that they worship in now was built in 1887, but the original building still stands and is located 3 blocks from the current building.
Sunday was my first time out to Valley Falls, which is about 45 miles northwest of Lawrence, 2 lane highways all the way. It was also very foggy...thick, all encompassing, pea soup fog. That foggy air, mixed with the snow on the ground, was very bright, so bright that I wished I had brought my sunglasses with me so I didn't have to squint.
That brightness of the fog and the snow as I drove through the countryside of Kansas on Sunday came to mind as I have been pondering Matthew's account of the Transfiguration of Jesus. I can imagine Peter, James and John following Jesus up the mountain and then suddenly in the presence of Elijah and Moses. I don't doubt that my reaction probably would have been similar to that of Peter if I were there that day...being in the presence of two of the most famous figures of the faith? heck yeah I want to stay here! Let's build some tents, at the very least they can be markers of where Elijah and Moses appeared to Jesus. That's what Abraham and Jacob would do!
Oh, poor Peter...he never quite gets it...but then again...do we?
But God doesn't even wait for Peter to finish what he has to say before interrupting with another idea. The cloud appears, Jesus is transfigured and his clothes become a brilliant white...and then Peter, James and John realize that not only are they in the presence of Elijah and Moses, but they are also in the presence of God...and that's what scares them. To be in the presence of Moses and Elijah is incredible, awe-some even (in the original intention of the word, not the over used version of it)...but to be in the presence of God, to see that presence in the transfigured Christ (their dear friend) and hear that presence in the voice of the heavenly father? There really are no words to describe this feeling, I imagine. Maybe to fall down on their faces was the only response they could come up with. Maybe in seeing the awe-some nature of God not with them but also and simultaneously speaking to them, they realized just how unprepared they really were to take on the task of being disciples of the Son of Man.
Just before this, in chapter 16, Peter makes his bold confession of who Jesus is "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God" but almost immediately he goes from "Peter", the rock on which Christ will build his church to "Satan" after he rebukes Jesus upon the revelation that Jesus must be handed over to the authorities and be killed and three days later rise again. He gets it, but he doesn't. And it's the same thing here on the mountain, he gets the importance of the appearance of Moses and Elijah, but he doesn't.
Tangent: Do you ever wonder if Jesus was going by the ancient tradition of giving people nicknames based off of who you knew them to truly be? If so, in giving Simon the nickname Peter, he was basically calling him a blockhead. :End Tangent
Here's what I think: I think that God covered the mountain with the cloud when he did, not only because that's how God seems to roll when it comes to mountain top experiences, but also because Peter (and possibly James and John, they don't say anything but they could have been in agreement with Peter) needed to be focused. When you drive or walk through the fog, you really need to focus on where you are going because you cannot see too much further ahead of you or behind you. You are forced to see only what is in close vicinity to you. In the same way, I imagine, this is what happened to Peter, James and John. Caught up in the excitement over seeing Moses and Elijah, they needed focus...and that focus was to be upon their leader, the friend, their savior and the voice speaking to them from heaven.
"This is my Son, the beloved, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
Listen to him...
is that necessarily an easy thing to do?
Because I do my best to listen and my friend who is a baptist pastor does his best to listen and yet we hear slightly different things. Do you suppose it was the same way among the disciples. And you know what the really scary part is? If we really take the time to listen and truly understand what Jesus is saying to us, we can't claim ignorance when the poor come to us for help or when we see government officials creating unjust laws that affect the most vulnerable in our world. If we really obey the words of God to listen to Jesus, we need to act accordingly. Maybe that's what scared Peter and James and John. For them, and sometimes for us, acting accordingly means putting your life on the line for the sake of the Gospel...and we know how Peter, James and John acted when their lives were on the line in the garden, don't we? Is that what we do? *sigh*
When it comes down to it, the end of Matthew's account of the transfiguration is my favorite part. Peter, James and John are lying on the ground trembling, frightened for one reason or another and Jesus touches them and says "Get up, do not be afraid" and then they begin their descent back down the mountain, back to the real world, back to the people that need Jesus and the disciples...and the first thing that Jesus does is heal a young boy! Here we are at the top of the mountain with Peter, James and John, Peter plotting to construct tents for Moses, Jesus and Elijah...think that maybe they should stay a while, but God has other plans for him and his colleagues.
There is work to be done at the bottom of the mountain, out in the real world.
It's the same for us, yes it's safer and more secure and less scary to stay on the mountain (whatever that may be for you). But there is work to be done at the bottom of the mountain...and there is someone accompanying us as we do this work, encouraging us and inspiring us and helping us to not be afraid, even and especially when we realize that we may not be as prepared as we would like to be, we may not have the strength of faith that we would like to have, we may not have the level of courage we would like to have. But Jesus is there, coming to us as we lay on the ground, scared and in awe, touching us on the shoulder and telling us "Get up, do not be afraid. It's time to go now, there's work to be done."
Fog is not necessarily a bad thing. I don't want to drive through it every day, but occasionally it's nice. It keeps you focused on what is immediately in front of you, cutting away the distractions can get us side tracked from the path we are being led down. Would it be contradictory to say that there is clarity in the middle of the fog?
Sunday was my first time out to Valley Falls, which is about 45 miles northwest of Lawrence, 2 lane highways all the way. It was also very foggy...thick, all encompassing, pea soup fog. That foggy air, mixed with the snow on the ground, was very bright, so bright that I wished I had brought my sunglasses with me so I didn't have to squint.
That brightness of the fog and the snow as I drove through the countryside of Kansas on Sunday came to mind as I have been pondering Matthew's account of the Transfiguration of Jesus. I can imagine Peter, James and John following Jesus up the mountain and then suddenly in the presence of Elijah and Moses. I don't doubt that my reaction probably would have been similar to that of Peter if I were there that day...being in the presence of two of the most famous figures of the faith? heck yeah I want to stay here! Let's build some tents, at the very least they can be markers of where Elijah and Moses appeared to Jesus. That's what Abraham and Jacob would do!
Oh, poor Peter...he never quite gets it...but then again...do we?
But God doesn't even wait for Peter to finish what he has to say before interrupting with another idea. The cloud appears, Jesus is transfigured and his clothes become a brilliant white...and then Peter, James and John realize that not only are they in the presence of Elijah and Moses, but they are also in the presence of God...and that's what scares them. To be in the presence of Moses and Elijah is incredible, awe-some even (in the original intention of the word, not the over used version of it)...but to be in the presence of God, to see that presence in the transfigured Christ (their dear friend) and hear that presence in the voice of the heavenly father? There really are no words to describe this feeling, I imagine. Maybe to fall down on their faces was the only response they could come up with. Maybe in seeing the awe-some nature of God not with them but also and simultaneously speaking to them, they realized just how unprepared they really were to take on the task of being disciples of the Son of Man.
Just before this, in chapter 16, Peter makes his bold confession of who Jesus is "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God" but almost immediately he goes from "Peter", the rock on which Christ will build his church to "Satan" after he rebukes Jesus upon the revelation that Jesus must be handed over to the authorities and be killed and three days later rise again. He gets it, but he doesn't. And it's the same thing here on the mountain, he gets the importance of the appearance of Moses and Elijah, but he doesn't.
Tangent: Do you ever wonder if Jesus was going by the ancient tradition of giving people nicknames based off of who you knew them to truly be? If so, in giving Simon the nickname Peter, he was basically calling him a blockhead. :End Tangent
Here's what I think: I think that God covered the mountain with the cloud when he did, not only because that's how God seems to roll when it comes to mountain top experiences, but also because Peter (and possibly James and John, they don't say anything but they could have been in agreement with Peter) needed to be focused. When you drive or walk through the fog, you really need to focus on where you are going because you cannot see too much further ahead of you or behind you. You are forced to see only what is in close vicinity to you. In the same way, I imagine, this is what happened to Peter, James and John. Caught up in the excitement over seeing Moses and Elijah, they needed focus...and that focus was to be upon their leader, the friend, their savior and the voice speaking to them from heaven.
"This is my Son, the beloved, with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!"
Listen to him...
is that necessarily an easy thing to do?
Because I do my best to listen and my friend who is a baptist pastor does his best to listen and yet we hear slightly different things. Do you suppose it was the same way among the disciples. And you know what the really scary part is? If we really take the time to listen and truly understand what Jesus is saying to us, we can't claim ignorance when the poor come to us for help or when we see government officials creating unjust laws that affect the most vulnerable in our world. If we really obey the words of God to listen to Jesus, we need to act accordingly. Maybe that's what scared Peter and James and John. For them, and sometimes for us, acting accordingly means putting your life on the line for the sake of the Gospel...and we know how Peter, James and John acted when their lives were on the line in the garden, don't we? Is that what we do? *sigh*
When it comes down to it, the end of Matthew's account of the transfiguration is my favorite part. Peter, James and John are lying on the ground trembling, frightened for one reason or another and Jesus touches them and says "Get up, do not be afraid" and then they begin their descent back down the mountain, back to the real world, back to the people that need Jesus and the disciples...and the first thing that Jesus does is heal a young boy! Here we are at the top of the mountain with Peter, James and John, Peter plotting to construct tents for Moses, Jesus and Elijah...think that maybe they should stay a while, but God has other plans for him and his colleagues.
There is work to be done at the bottom of the mountain, out in the real world.
It's the same for us, yes it's safer and more secure and less scary to stay on the mountain (whatever that may be for you). But there is work to be done at the bottom of the mountain...and there is someone accompanying us as we do this work, encouraging us and inspiring us and helping us to not be afraid, even and especially when we realize that we may not be as prepared as we would like to be, we may not have the strength of faith that we would like to have, we may not have the level of courage we would like to have. But Jesus is there, coming to us as we lay on the ground, scared and in awe, touching us on the shoulder and telling us "Get up, do not be afraid. It's time to go now, there's work to be done."
Fog is not necessarily a bad thing. I don't want to drive through it every day, but occasionally it's nice. It keeps you focused on what is immediately in front of you, cutting away the distractions can get us side tracked from the path we are being led down. Would it be contradictory to say that there is clarity in the middle of the fog?
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Freedom from Worry
Epiphany 8A
February 27, 2011
Matthew 6:24-34
Grace, Mercy and Peace be to you from God our father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
This past week, I finished reading a novel by John Grisham called The Street Lawyer. The novel was about a young man named Michael Brock who was a lawyer at large and very successful firm who undergoes a life altering experience after being held hostage in one of the law firms many conference rooms by a homeless man who had been wrongly evicted from an apartment by a representative of this law firm. It is only after this experience that Michael Brock realizes how his life as a lawyer had revolved around chasing money and he begins to question this way of life after spending an evening volunteering at a soup kitchen. While he was there, he met and spent some time with a four year old. Wanting to help this child and his family, the next day Brock goes out to buy some clothing, toys and food for this family, only to find out that the next night that the entire family had died of carbon monoxide poisoning in their car during a snow storm. I’m not going to give all the details away, but I will say that as the novel continues, the reader gets to see the transformation of a man who started his law career working as many hours as he could chasing money and power, worrying that he wouldn’t put in enough hours to eventually become a partner at the firm…but later winds up giving up all that money to help fight for justice for the homeless of Washington D.C. In making this switch, he finds freedom.
As we gather here on this un-winter like winter morning, we do so as a church coming to the end of the season of Epiphany…the longest epiphany season that has occurred in some time. And as we are getting ready to shift from our journey through epiphany to a journey with Jesus to the cross in Lent, we do so with Jesus’ words in our ears “You cannot serve two masters” then later he tells us “Do not worry.” If you think about it, this text has perfect timing for our world and our nation.
On the news we hear about national and state budget crises. We hear about rushes to make spending cuts so that deficits don’t get bigger and the government doesn’t run out of money. We are told that we, as citizens of this country, should be prepared to tighten our belts financially, but at the same time we are also being warned that oil prices are about to sky rocket because of the protests in the middle east and that we should be ready at a moments notice to run to the gas station and fill up our cars before gas prices make travel by car prohibitive. We hear about protests in Libya and Yemen, of peaceful demonstrations being turned violent at the orders of heads of government. Meanwhile at home, we worry about possible job losses, we get calls that friends are being diagnosed with cancer or were in a car accident. And yet, in our ear we hear the word’s of Jesus this morning saying “Do not worry.”
Easier said than done right? And it doesn’t make it any easier if we listen to Jesus’ word while the song “don’t worry, be happy” play in the background, either. But if you think about it in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, as a whole, these words are words that offer us a different way to live, a freeing way to live.
Five weeks ago, when this series of Gospel texts from the Sermon on the Mount began, Jesus began to offer up to a new and radical way of living that was different than what the people were used to. It was a way of living in which the poor, the down trodden and the outcast were recipients of great blessings, it was a way of living in which people look beyond the letter of the law and the old ways of doing things and look for ways of living in which all of our relationships are as life giving and life enriching as they can be for everyone involved. It was a way of living in which people stand peacefully yet firmly against injustice and those who try to wrong them and in the end, forgive them and in doing so, release them from their power to continue to cause hurt and damage.
Throughout the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ teaching is about what it means to be people living in the Kingdom of God. And today’s Gospel text is no different. In his declarations about money and worrying, Jesus is telling those gathered around him, as well as us, that there is a danger in worrying too much. Yes, there are times and places when worrying is a valid action. When a friend takes ill suddenly, or when we have gotten into an argument with a friend, or when the choice needs to be made between paying the electric bill and putting food on the table. There are many people in this state that spend their parts of their lives worrying because they do not know when will be the next time they get a hot meal, or a warm place to sleep. Jesus is not ignoring those circumstances and these needs…they were very real and present during the time of his ministry just as they are now.
What Jesus is trying to say, however, is that the danger in worrying comes when we become overly concerned with matters of every day life…when we become so focused upon what we will eat or what we will wear or how much money we make that we lose focus on other very important aspects of life, family, friends, community and the love, trust and support that come from those places. When our worries about every day matters get to this level, it prevents us from living our lives fully, and there is an extra danger of those things, especially our money and our possessions becoming our gods…and as Jesus said in the beginning of our text this morning, no one can serve two masters.
We live in a very troubled world, one in which chaos seems to be at play more and more. And it is worrisome to think about what is going to happen in our towns, our state and our nation in the coming years. But we have hope that comes from today’s scripture texts. Hope that comes when we trust that God knows our needs before we do and that God will provide for those needs, in ways that we see and in ways that we don’t. Hope that comes when we hear from the prophet Isaiah, that we will never be forgotten because our names are inscribed on God’s hand. And hope that comes from a declaration to not worry. For if, in this midst of the chaotic and troubled world, we look not to the treasures of this earth but instead seek the life that comes when we live in the Kingdom of God, we will have that life, and have it abundantly.
February 27, 2011
Matthew 6:24-34
Grace, Mercy and Peace be to you from God our father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
This past week, I finished reading a novel by John Grisham called The Street Lawyer. The novel was about a young man named Michael Brock who was a lawyer at large and very successful firm who undergoes a life altering experience after being held hostage in one of the law firms many conference rooms by a homeless man who had been wrongly evicted from an apartment by a representative of this law firm. It is only after this experience that Michael Brock realizes how his life as a lawyer had revolved around chasing money and he begins to question this way of life after spending an evening volunteering at a soup kitchen. While he was there, he met and spent some time with a four year old. Wanting to help this child and his family, the next day Brock goes out to buy some clothing, toys and food for this family, only to find out that the next night that the entire family had died of carbon monoxide poisoning in their car during a snow storm. I’m not going to give all the details away, but I will say that as the novel continues, the reader gets to see the transformation of a man who started his law career working as many hours as he could chasing money and power, worrying that he wouldn’t put in enough hours to eventually become a partner at the firm…but later winds up giving up all that money to help fight for justice for the homeless of Washington D.C. In making this switch, he finds freedom.
As we gather here on this un-winter like winter morning, we do so as a church coming to the end of the season of Epiphany…the longest epiphany season that has occurred in some time. And as we are getting ready to shift from our journey through epiphany to a journey with Jesus to the cross in Lent, we do so with Jesus’ words in our ears “You cannot serve two masters” then later he tells us “Do not worry.” If you think about it, this text has perfect timing for our world and our nation.
On the news we hear about national and state budget crises. We hear about rushes to make spending cuts so that deficits don’t get bigger and the government doesn’t run out of money. We are told that we, as citizens of this country, should be prepared to tighten our belts financially, but at the same time we are also being warned that oil prices are about to sky rocket because of the protests in the middle east and that we should be ready at a moments notice to run to the gas station and fill up our cars before gas prices make travel by car prohibitive. We hear about protests in Libya and Yemen, of peaceful demonstrations being turned violent at the orders of heads of government. Meanwhile at home, we worry about possible job losses, we get calls that friends are being diagnosed with cancer or were in a car accident. And yet, in our ear we hear the word’s of Jesus this morning saying “Do not worry.”
Easier said than done right? And it doesn’t make it any easier if we listen to Jesus’ word while the song “don’t worry, be happy” play in the background, either. But if you think about it in the context of the Sermon on the Mount, as a whole, these words are words that offer us a different way to live, a freeing way to live.
Five weeks ago, when this series of Gospel texts from the Sermon on the Mount began, Jesus began to offer up to a new and radical way of living that was different than what the people were used to. It was a way of living in which the poor, the down trodden and the outcast were recipients of great blessings, it was a way of living in which people look beyond the letter of the law and the old ways of doing things and look for ways of living in which all of our relationships are as life giving and life enriching as they can be for everyone involved. It was a way of living in which people stand peacefully yet firmly against injustice and those who try to wrong them and in the end, forgive them and in doing so, release them from their power to continue to cause hurt and damage.
Throughout the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ teaching is about what it means to be people living in the Kingdom of God. And today’s Gospel text is no different. In his declarations about money and worrying, Jesus is telling those gathered around him, as well as us, that there is a danger in worrying too much. Yes, there are times and places when worrying is a valid action. When a friend takes ill suddenly, or when we have gotten into an argument with a friend, or when the choice needs to be made between paying the electric bill and putting food on the table. There are many people in this state that spend their parts of their lives worrying because they do not know when will be the next time they get a hot meal, or a warm place to sleep. Jesus is not ignoring those circumstances and these needs…they were very real and present during the time of his ministry just as they are now.
What Jesus is trying to say, however, is that the danger in worrying comes when we become overly concerned with matters of every day life…when we become so focused upon what we will eat or what we will wear or how much money we make that we lose focus on other very important aspects of life, family, friends, community and the love, trust and support that come from those places. When our worries about every day matters get to this level, it prevents us from living our lives fully, and there is an extra danger of those things, especially our money and our possessions becoming our gods…and as Jesus said in the beginning of our text this morning, no one can serve two masters.
We live in a very troubled world, one in which chaos seems to be at play more and more. And it is worrisome to think about what is going to happen in our towns, our state and our nation in the coming years. But we have hope that comes from today’s scripture texts. Hope that comes when we trust that God knows our needs before we do and that God will provide for those needs, in ways that we see and in ways that we don’t. Hope that comes when we hear from the prophet Isaiah, that we will never be forgotten because our names are inscribed on God’s hand. And hope that comes from a declaration to not worry. For if, in this midst of the chaotic and troubled world, we look not to the treasures of this earth but instead seek the life that comes when we live in the Kingdom of God, we will have that life, and have it abundantly.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Epiphany 7 Sermon
Epiphany 7
February 20, 2011
Matthew 5:38-48
“Kingdom Living”
If you’ve followed the news the past few weeks, you have probably seen the images of the attempted non-violent protests in the Northern Africa and the Middle East. It began in Tunisia where people gathered peacefully to protest the ruling political party in that country. After two weeks, the heads of government stepped down. The momentum of this successful protest moved over to Egypt, where people peacefully took to the streets demanding that President Mubarak step down, and though he refused for a while, last week he stepped down. The trend is picking up steam through out the Middle East, though in countries like Bahrain, the response of the military has not been as peaceful. And then we have Madison, Wisconsin, where for about a week now, people have been gathering peacefully to protest the budget proposal by Governor Walker that would cut bargaining rights for teachers, nurses, firefighters, police, and other public employees. The intent of all these protests is something that Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. would be proud of…communities gathering peacefully to stand up to those committing or attempting to commit injustice against the people whom they serve as heads of government bodies. And the reason I mention these protests, and their links to Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. is that Ghandi and The Rev. Dr. King found their inspiration for non-violent protests from this weeks Gospel text.
“You have heard it said ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evil doer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also;” In a continuation of exhortations that began last week, Jesus has changed focus from relationships with families, friends and spouses, to relationships with our adversaries. And he begins with a very familiar passage that originated in the Code of Hammurabi but also found its way into the Hebrew Scriptures. “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,” (Exodus 21:24). It sounds harsh, but this rule was actually put in place to limit one’s ability to retaliate for a wrong done to them and made sure that the punishment for a crime committed was not outlandish in comparison to the crime committed. But Jesus takes it one step further…’do not resist an evil doer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also. If someone sues you for your coat, give them your cloak as well, and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.”
Now, taken the wrong way, this text has been used in some inappropriate ways. Some have used it against people who are being abused, that if they continue to turn the other cheek, they will eventually be delivered from their abuser and their reward will be great. Others have used this passage to convince people to accept where the injustices of life have left them, because God put them there for a reason. I’m convinced that this is not what Jesus is saying. If this was what Jesus intended by turn the other cheek, Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. would not have been inspired by Jesus’ words and put them into practice by forming non-violent protests to stand up to those who were in positions of power and demanding justice for the oppressed.
Jesus’ words to the people on the mount are revolutionary and they are inspiring. I believe that what Jesus is trying to teach the people is that when faced with situations where injustice and oppression are bearing down, don’t let anyone take your dignity, humanity or your child of God-ness away from you. Instead, show them by your peaceful actions that you will not sit idly by while you or your neighbors are being trampled upon.
Jesus doesn’t stop there, however. He goes yet another step further. “You have heard it said ‘love your neighbors and hate your enemies.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” So not only are we to not retaliate against those who oppress us, we are supposed to love them, too, and include them in our prayers. Now, gathering at the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, or having a sit-in at a Rexall pharmacy in Wichita is one thing, it’s an entirely different thing to summon up enough love and prayers for not only our friends and neighbors but also our enemies…and yet, this is what Jesus is asking us to do.
If you took a poll of American Christians in the time since 9/11, I’m guessing that few, if any of us, would admit to having prayed for Osama bin Laden or the members of Al-Qaeda. And you probably would have gotten a similar response if you had polled Christians opposed to the Holocaust and asked if they prayed for Adolph Hitler and the leaders of the Nazi regime. But this is what Jesus is telling us that we should do, love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us and our loved ones. It’s a hard task to contemplate and an even harder one to carry out. In fact, it would probably be much easier to be a good Lutheran and respond to Jesus by saying “well, that’s interesting, Jesus…but to be honest, we’ve never done it THAT way before.”
But if we take a look at the bigger picture, factoring in Jesus’ calling us to be light and salt for the world, a blessing for others, and justice seekers, here, like in the rest of the sermon on the mount, he is calling us into kingdom living. A way of life in which we do radical things in response to the love of God. And if we look at it this way, it is possible to suggest that Jesus is not telling us that we should pray that we may return to a relationship with those who persecute us in hopes of reconciliation, but rather that we forgive, and by doing so, release our persecutors and enemies from their ability to hurt us. When we forgive, our enemies might not be changed, but we will be changed for the better.
Last week, Pastor Gary spoke about Jesus’ urging to not settle for the letter of the law, but to instead strive to seek ways of living that are life giving, following the example of Jesus, whose death reconciled us with God and freed us to live in ways that bless those around us. We see the same thing this week when faced with a new set of challenges, challenges that don’t involve those we love easily, but rather those who make it nearly impossible to love, those who oppress us, humiliate us, and persecute us. When it comes to our adversaries and enemies, Jesus once again encourages us to look beyond the letter of the law and engage in kingdom living…living that allows us to be light and salt and blessing to those around us. We engage in kingdom living when we peacefully stand for our own rights and the rights of those around us, we engage in kingdom living when we release our oppressors and persecutors from any strangle hold they may have on us because of fear or anger or hurts we may have suffered. We engage in kingdom living when we allow ourselves to be transformed by the love of God and are made whole by that love. And if we need help engaging in this kind of living, we can look to the cross and there we will see a man beaten and bruised praying these words for his persecutors: “father, forgive them, they know not what they are doing.” May Christ’s example empower us to peacefully stand against injustice, to love those that we find the hardest to love, and to look beyond the letter of the law to find the radical nature of God’s love for the world. Amen.
February 20, 2011
Matthew 5:38-48
“Kingdom Living”
If you’ve followed the news the past few weeks, you have probably seen the images of the attempted non-violent protests in the Northern Africa and the Middle East. It began in Tunisia where people gathered peacefully to protest the ruling political party in that country. After two weeks, the heads of government stepped down. The momentum of this successful protest moved over to Egypt, where people peacefully took to the streets demanding that President Mubarak step down, and though he refused for a while, last week he stepped down. The trend is picking up steam through out the Middle East, though in countries like Bahrain, the response of the military has not been as peaceful. And then we have Madison, Wisconsin, where for about a week now, people have been gathering peacefully to protest the budget proposal by Governor Walker that would cut bargaining rights for teachers, nurses, firefighters, police, and other public employees. The intent of all these protests is something that Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. would be proud of…communities gathering peacefully to stand up to those committing or attempting to commit injustice against the people whom they serve as heads of government bodies. And the reason I mention these protests, and their links to Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. is that Ghandi and The Rev. Dr. King found their inspiration for non-violent protests from this weeks Gospel text.
“You have heard it said ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evil doer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also;” In a continuation of exhortations that began last week, Jesus has changed focus from relationships with families, friends and spouses, to relationships with our adversaries. And he begins with a very familiar passage that originated in the Code of Hammurabi but also found its way into the Hebrew Scriptures. “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot,” (Exodus 21:24). It sounds harsh, but this rule was actually put in place to limit one’s ability to retaliate for a wrong done to them and made sure that the punishment for a crime committed was not outlandish in comparison to the crime committed. But Jesus takes it one step further…’do not resist an evil doer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also. If someone sues you for your coat, give them your cloak as well, and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.”
Now, taken the wrong way, this text has been used in some inappropriate ways. Some have used it against people who are being abused, that if they continue to turn the other cheek, they will eventually be delivered from their abuser and their reward will be great. Others have used this passage to convince people to accept where the injustices of life have left them, because God put them there for a reason. I’m convinced that this is not what Jesus is saying. If this was what Jesus intended by turn the other cheek, Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. would not have been inspired by Jesus’ words and put them into practice by forming non-violent protests to stand up to those who were in positions of power and demanding justice for the oppressed.
Jesus’ words to the people on the mount are revolutionary and they are inspiring. I believe that what Jesus is trying to teach the people is that when faced with situations where injustice and oppression are bearing down, don’t let anyone take your dignity, humanity or your child of God-ness away from you. Instead, show them by your peaceful actions that you will not sit idly by while you or your neighbors are being trampled upon.
Jesus doesn’t stop there, however. He goes yet another step further. “You have heard it said ‘love your neighbors and hate your enemies.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” So not only are we to not retaliate against those who oppress us, we are supposed to love them, too, and include them in our prayers. Now, gathering at the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, or having a sit-in at a Rexall pharmacy in Wichita is one thing, it’s an entirely different thing to summon up enough love and prayers for not only our friends and neighbors but also our enemies…and yet, this is what Jesus is asking us to do.
If you took a poll of American Christians in the time since 9/11, I’m guessing that few, if any of us, would admit to having prayed for Osama bin Laden or the members of Al-Qaeda. And you probably would have gotten a similar response if you had polled Christians opposed to the Holocaust and asked if they prayed for Adolph Hitler and the leaders of the Nazi regime. But this is what Jesus is telling us that we should do, love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us and our loved ones. It’s a hard task to contemplate and an even harder one to carry out. In fact, it would probably be much easier to be a good Lutheran and respond to Jesus by saying “well, that’s interesting, Jesus…but to be honest, we’ve never done it THAT way before.”
But if we take a look at the bigger picture, factoring in Jesus’ calling us to be light and salt for the world, a blessing for others, and justice seekers, here, like in the rest of the sermon on the mount, he is calling us into kingdom living. A way of life in which we do radical things in response to the love of God. And if we look at it this way, it is possible to suggest that Jesus is not telling us that we should pray that we may return to a relationship with those who persecute us in hopes of reconciliation, but rather that we forgive, and by doing so, release our persecutors and enemies from their ability to hurt us. When we forgive, our enemies might not be changed, but we will be changed for the better.
Last week, Pastor Gary spoke about Jesus’ urging to not settle for the letter of the law, but to instead strive to seek ways of living that are life giving, following the example of Jesus, whose death reconciled us with God and freed us to live in ways that bless those around us. We see the same thing this week when faced with a new set of challenges, challenges that don’t involve those we love easily, but rather those who make it nearly impossible to love, those who oppress us, humiliate us, and persecute us. When it comes to our adversaries and enemies, Jesus once again encourages us to look beyond the letter of the law and engage in kingdom living…living that allows us to be light and salt and blessing to those around us. We engage in kingdom living when we peacefully stand for our own rights and the rights of those around us, we engage in kingdom living when we release our oppressors and persecutors from any strangle hold they may have on us because of fear or anger or hurts we may have suffered. We engage in kingdom living when we allow ourselves to be transformed by the love of God and are made whole by that love. And if we need help engaging in this kind of living, we can look to the cross and there we will see a man beaten and bruised praying these words for his persecutors: “father, forgive them, they know not what they are doing.” May Christ’s example empower us to peacefully stand against injustice, to love those that we find the hardest to love, and to look beyond the letter of the law to find the radical nature of God’s love for the world. Amen.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Blessed are...
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…
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 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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