The Third Sunday after Epiphany --- 26 January 2020

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

10 Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. 12 What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. 18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

·        I really don‘t know anyone who wants to be considered a fool. I believe that everyone wants to be seen as wise and thoughtful and “on top of everything.” Nobody wants to be seen as foolish, whether that is in regard to a purchase, an opinion, or an action.

·        Still Paul reminds the Christians in Corinth and through them, all of us, that the cross is seen as foolishness by everyone around the Christian community, but for us who are being saved it is the power of God.

·        There are plenty of stories about “Fools for Christ” and a mumber of them come out of the tradition I was formed in – the Franciscans. The choice of voluntary poverty and the craziness of how the early friars lived would show that, as would some of the stories of situations I’ve lived through and the people I’ve lived with. Lutherans don’t do the “Fool for Christ” thing in the same way, but the tradition is there. After all, Luther’s last words were “We are beggars; this is true.”

·        Society in North America and probably the entire Western world loves ‘winners’ and wisdom. It would appear to be the height of foolishness to follow a god who allows himself to be killed, who takes the mortality of human beings to himself even to the point of death. This death comes about through the opposition of the forces of religious law and obedience and through the forces of earthly law and order.

·        It’s not as if this were the only time this happened in human history. Any of us could cite examples. We know the rule: Tyranny does not permit any rivals, whether that tyranny is political or religious.

·        For any number of people, reverence for a man executed as a criminal is foolish. For many, reverence for the instrument of torture and death that the man suffered is foolishness. To say that this man underwent death and now lives again is beyond foolishness for many.

·        Paul is rather pointed in his letter to the Corinthians: For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. In Paul’s time, crucifixion was a particularly shameful method of execution and there is evidence that Christians were mocked for worshiping a crucified God. Paul would say that those who misunderstood what Jesus had done were “perishing” while it made its own sort of sense to the Christians “who are being saved...”

·        Things are not much different now. Crucifixion is for losers and fools. Taking up the cross as a disciple of Jesus would be its own type of foolishness and not at all wise. Yet here we are, standing in foolishness and in opposition to the wisdom of our times.

·        It is a strange thing. The cross lays out God’s wisdom for all the world to see; but only those who understand the strange logic of God’s power know what it is they’re seeing — particularly as it’s revealed in Christ’s crucified weakness.

·        Paul is reminding his readers that God’s self-giving power through the cross for newness of life is known tangibly by the community in Corinth, as these Gentiles are offered a path from death to life, from brokenness to wholeness, from self-serving chaos to holiness and relationship. They are, in effect, new-born through the cross. And so are we.

·        Is it unusual to talk about the cross before we get to the season of Lent? Maybe, but there isn’t a bad time to talk about the power of the cross for salvation and freedom. It may be shocking and it may challenge what we might call ‘normal’, but that is only because God did (and does) exactly the same thing. What God has done in Jesus Christ is shocking and challenging and foolish to the conventionally wise.

·        But as Paul wrote: For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

·        So If this is foolishness, let us make the most of it… for God already has!

The Second Sunday after Epiphany ---- 19 January 2020

John 1:29-42

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, "After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' 31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." 32 And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, "He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God." 35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39 He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointed ). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter ).

They said to him, "Rabbi" …, "where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see."

·        Jesus says “Come and see” when he is asked by two of John’s disciples where he is staying. Most of us would expect to get a factual and even geographic answer to that question, like “I’m staying with Solomon’s family down the road” or “I’m at the third house on the left.” Instead they receive an invitation to “Come and see” for themselves. There is no information given and no threat added (“Find me or else!”) It’s a simple invitation to the two and they take Jesus up on it.

·        We don’t know where they went or what exactly went on, although the Evangelist tells us They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day.

·        Jesus doesn’t invite them so much to a place as to a relationship. He is the place and being with him is more important than a location on a map. From that, his followers invite others to come and join them – such as when Andrew finds his brother, Simon Peter: He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointed ). He brought Simon to Jesus… When Simon comes to see Jesus for himself, Jesus immediately strikes up a relationship with him and in that relationship, changes the man’s name to “Peter.” Many relationships can cause such a change and we could say that Peter was the better for it.

·        We might say that things don’t work that way for us today. We might say that we don’t receive a personal invitation from Jesus to see where he lives. We could say that we do not hear the words, “Come and see” any longer.

·        Still our faith tells us the invitation is there. Our baptism assures us of that. Every time we hear the word in the worship service or in our own reading of the Scriptures, the invitation is there.

·        We are invited to Come and see as Andrew and the other man who followed Jesus that day by the Jordan. We are invited to come and see no matter what our state in life might be. The invitation is to come and see and remain with him in whatever we are doing. We might even say “ready or not.”

·        That invitation might be to discipleship in a life of work for the betterment of our family. Or it might be to discipleship in teaching others about Jesus and faith… within the family or within the community of faith. It might be to serve as a witness to the presence of Jesus in the world as we know it to be, with all its faults and failings (and our own faults and failings.) It maybe to serve others as Jesus’ disciple in so many possible ways.

·        Now all that could be frightening. I think we all know that. We can be unsure of ourselves and unsure of just what we’re being called to. That would be natural.

·        There is, however, one thought that is comforting in all this. When Jesus says Come and see, he is saying “come with me and see.” He is calling to join him in where he is – where he is staying – and in where he is going.

·        Where could we go that God could not be found there? Is there such a place – in the world or in our own selves?

·        The Psalms tell us this:

Where can I go from your spirit?

    Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

If I take the wings of the morning

    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

    and your right hand shall hold me fast.

(Psalm 139:7-10)

·        Where ever we might go, the presence of God and the grace of Jesus Christ are there waiting for us. Even in whatever fear we might experience in such a new or strange situation (or possibly even in a comfortable situation), we are assured that Jesus has accompanied us there and is actually there before us, letting us see and ‘uncover’ his presence there, as if he were saying “come and see where I am already before you.” Even John the Baptizer says, "After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.”

·        Even if we face our own suffering and even our own death, Jesus has already been there. That’s what resurrection is all about for us.

·        This year, we will be hearing from Matthew’s Gospel for the readings during the Service. It is worth remembering the final words of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel, which are in fact the last words of the Gospel. In the 28^th chapter, Jesus says And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.   (Matthew 28:20)

Come and see… and remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

The Baptism of Our Lord ---- 12 January 2020

Matthew 3:13-17

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" 15 But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased."

when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

·        There’s a lot to be wondered about in this reading, and maybe you wonder as much as I do.

·        Why did Jesus have John baptize him? John seemed to object, so how did Jesus convince him?

·        Why did Jesus have to see the heavens opened and the Spirit-dove descend? What is this manifestation of the Spirit about? That’s what I want to talk about today.

·        Where does the Spirit show itself? At creation, although the Spirit ‘hovers’ with no described form… at the end of the flood… at Jesus’ baptism… and at Pentecost, although there the Spirit is seen as tongues of fire rather than a dove.

·        In the Scripture, when the Spirit is present, what does it mean? It means a new creation! In the beginning, at the grounding of the ark, at the bank of the Jordan, or in the upper room fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead, something new is taking place.

·        In Genesis 1, the Spirit of God hovers or blows over the chaotic sea and the Word of God – “Let there be light!” – begins creation and the ordering of things.

·        Later in the same book, when the waters of the flood begin to recede and dry up, Noah sends out a dove and finally the dove returns with an olive branch, meaning that the flood is gone and a new creation is waiting.

·        At the river Jordan, after his baptism by John, Jesus sees the heavens opened and the Spirit of God ‘like a dove’ – descending AND alighting on him. The Spirit/dove doesn’t just fly around but it lands of Jesus and nothing is said about it leaving. After all, it is the Spirit of God and the Spirit stays with Jesus always. The symbolism of Jesus leading the way with the Spirit through the Jordan into the land of the promise would not be lost on anyone familiar with that story from the Hebrew Scriptures. After his resurrection, the Gospel of John tells of his appearance to his disciples and he gives the same Spirit to those disciples for the forgiveness of sins by breathing on them, for Spirit also means “breath.”

·        In the Acts of the Apostles written by Luke, the Pentecost event has the Spirit of God manifest itself as fire and in the words in the community as the church is formed by that Spirit. The Spirit is found all through the book of the Acts of the Apostles, but we don’t see a dove there. We do hear of the Spirit again in the last book of the Christian scriptures, the book of Revelation. The Spirit seems to have a secondary role. Despite that, the Spirit is there when the ‘voice from the throne’ says “See, I make all things new” and a new heavens and a new earth are created

·        This brief tour of the Spirit’s movement bring us to our own baptism, whenever that might have been. As joyful as that day might have been, it was probably not so dramatic. Dramatic or not, the Spirit was present. Our descent into the water, as in Jesus’ own baptism, takes us into the land of promise. (I don’t say “the Promised Land” because that sounds like a thing that is completely fulfilled; the “Land of the promise” sounds more like a place where the promise of God may be found without it ever being exhausted.) This descent into water also takes us to the Cross, the garden tomb, and the empty tomb on Easter morning. It takes us to a new creation, as Paul said in his second letter to the Corinthians:  So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (2 Cor. 5:17)

·        There is a lot left to say and I fear I might not do justice to the Word or to you were I to go on. We’ll leave it at this: when you and I were baptized, the Spirit came upon us as it did when Jesus was baptized and there was even more. May each day continue to be a new creation for us all.

when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.

The Second Sunday of Christmas ---- 5 January 2020

John 1:(1-9), 10-18

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4 in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, "He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' ") 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us

·        When I lived in a monastery years ago, we prayed before we ate dinner. That’s not unusual I know. What we all prayed together wasn’t unusual for a monastic community. It was called the “Angelus” because it began with “The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary…” It was a responsive prayer the honored the incarnation of Christ. When we came to the third response, “And the Word became flesh/and dwelt among us”, all the friars would bow during those words in whatever way was best considering their age and health. In that way, we worshiped at the dinner table and gave thanks for Jesus’ incarnation, that is, his taking on our humanity.

·        John’s Gospel starts with some incredibly poetic phrasing: In the beginning was the Word, showing the reader first the tremendous stature of Jesus as the Word of God and then, eventually, the humility of the Word in taking on flesh, not as a disguise or a costume, but as a way of being, with all that being human, being “flesh” means. One of the Communion prayers in our worship says Jesus took on “our nature and our lot” which can mean hunger, thirst, pain, loneliness, laughter, sadness, joy – all of it.

·        Sometimes when we think of Jesus as Messiah and our savior, we might forget or overlook his humanity. The 4^th Century theologian, Gregory of Nazianzus spoke of Jesus as fully human as well as divine savior by saying “What has not been assumed has not been healed.” Since Jesus “became flesh” with all that can mean, all that is “flesh” has been redeemed and is being healed, sometimes slowly from our point of view. This also includes all those things that make us weak or what we consider weak.

·        In the flesh, he gave us salvation, not of our “souls” but of the entire person, body, soul, and spirit. This is the Good News today. When the Word became flesh, all that was, is, and will be created is redeemed and blessed. Sins will be forgiven and the separation of God and creation, of the Kingdom of God and the world is healed and reconnected.

·        We can come to realize that Jesus does not save souls, but people. We can hear the Good News that grace saves us as we are, or as the old hymn puts it: Just as I am, without one plea
    But that Thy blood was shed for me
    And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee
    O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

·        This undeserved grace shows us what God originally intended for us and for all of creation. It permits us to be what we are supposed to be. It lets us hear what the Creator said of all creation in the book of Genesis: God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. (Gen. 1:31)

·        What God has declared ‘good’, we might not quickly condemn as evil. What Jesus has redeemed at the price of his own blood, we might not dismiss as worthless, whether that is a person or our own selves including our own physical bodies. After all we have been redeemed as a whole person. As has been said, Jesus doesn’t save souls, but people!

·        There are lots of things that grow out of this view of Jesus, the humanity of Jesus, and his role as savior and I don’t think we have the time to look into them all.  The one I’d like to say a few words about is our reverence for our bodies and reverence with our bodies.

·        No matter what we look like, no matter how we feel about ourselves, or even how we feel, God loves us and is no less our creator and Jesus no less our saviour. And this is not a grudging creator or saviour. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. We also hear the word at Communion – “The body and blood of Christ, given and shed for you.” Not someday soon, not when we get our act together, but right now, as we are. Are you amazed? I am!

·        When we pray, we may use words for our minds, and spirits have been redeemed. So have our bodies, so we CAN (although we don’t have to) fold our hands or kneel or stand or raise our hands or bow or make the sign of the cross as part of our prayer. We can pray in how we stand or move or even make motions. Of course, as good Lutherans, we can even smile as loud as we possibly can.

·        What we celebrate today is nothing less than the humanity of Jesus joined to the Divinity of Christ as John the Evangelist tells us. We celebrate that we are joined to Jesus by our common humanity AND by his saving grace. All of that is Good News.

·        I’d like to end by using the prayer that ends the Angelus, a prayer that celebrates the Incarnation and the presence of Christ among us:

Pour forth, we beseech You, O LORD, Your grace into our hearts; that, we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Your Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us