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Walter Hobgood
Vespers Homilies
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5th
Sunday after Epiphany
7 February 2010
It was summer of
1964, one Saturday afternoon. I had spent most of the day riding
horses. Not one but several, starting early in the morning. My job for
the summer was to “green break” about a dozen horses that my father
owned. They ranged in age from 2 to 4 years old. None of them had ever
had a saddle on them. As a 16 year old that had grown up on a farm and
riding horses from an early age, this was fun! But it was Saturday
afternoon and I was looking forward to going to the river to go skiing
with my high school buddies. I knew that they had been at the river
most of the day already, so I was ready to go. I heard the phone ring
and my mother called out to me to say I had a phone call. Much to my
surprise, it was Mr. R.S. Ewing. Mr. R.S. was the only licensed lay
reader at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. Mr. R. S. did not sound
well. He had the flu. As he explained to me that afternoon the members
of St. Stephens would be arriving at church the next morning expecting a
Morning Prayer service. Since we did not have a priest at the time, and
did not have a supply priest and there were no other lay readers in the
congregation we need to go to Plan C or D. Little did I know that I was
plan C and D. My first response was silence. Then in a very weak voice
I said: “I can’t conduct Morning Prayer. I’m not a lay reader.” He
proceeded to explain to me that I could (and would). He reminded me
that I was the longest serving acolyte and that I had been training
acolytes for several years; that I had assisted at Morning Prayer and
Holy Communion and knew what to do; that I had done public speaking and
this would be no different. So I finally relented and said, “OK, but I
can’t do the sermon.” He then pointed out to me that I would not have
to write the sermon, he would provide the sermon all I had to do was
read it. Now in the early stages of panic, all I could think was: “Why
me Lord? There must be some kind of mistake.”
Little did I
realize that this was not a call from Mr. R. S. Ewing, our Lay reader,
but a call from God. As it turns out it was the first of many.
What I am sure of,
is that my story is not unique. You see we all have gifts, or talents,
or resources; and, God calls upon each of us to use those talents in
special ways.
All we have to do
is look at today’s reading.
When we take a look
at the first reading from Isaiah, we see Isaiah in the presence of the
Lord, surrounded by Seraphs, trying to understand how he, “a man of
unclean lips¸ that lives among people of unclean lips could be in the
presence of the Lord”. Yet, God cleanses him of his sins and calls him
to do God’s will. When the Lord asked, “Who will I sent?”, Isaiah
responds, “Here am I, send me!”
And then in the
Gospel reading from Luke we hear a familiar story of how Jesus instructs
Simon Peter to put down their nets after not catching any fish, only to
fill their boat with fish. When Peter realizes what is happening he
falls before Jesus saying: “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful
man!” Then Jesus says to Peter: “Do not be afraid; from now on you
will be catching people.” When they brought their boats to shore, they
left everything and followed him.
There are a couple
of themes that run through these two readings:
We see God and
Jesus calling people to serve. These are people that felt they were
unworthy to be in the presence of God; they were not expecting to be
called and had to be convince; but that were willing to serve.
Some things don’t
change do they?
It is clear that
God continues to call us, in our time, in our century, in our culture,
just as the prophets and apostles of the Old and New Testaments were
called in their time, in their century and in their culture.
Yet the world that
God calls us to serve is a world that has change and will continue to
change. The world has never been static. Think about it for a moment.
Almost every story in the Bible, Old Testament or New Testament, is a
story about change. After all, God sent Christ, and Christ commissioned
the apostles, not to prevent the world from changing, but to change the
world. He continues to call on all of humanity, not just Christians, to
use our talents to serve the world that was and continues to be created
by God.
Guided by the Holy
Spirit, we recently elected and consecrated Scott Benhase to be the 10th
Bishop of Georgia. Members of our church and the other churches in the
Diocese said they wanted someone that would be a “game changer”; someone
that would lead us into the future; someone that would respect our
traditions, yet challenge us to respond to God’s calls, even when we are
being called to be a catalyst for change. Clearly our new Bishop, like
Isaiah, heard the Lord asking, “Whom shall I send?” and responded “Here
am I Lord, send me!”
Not all of us are
called to be a Bishop, or a priest or a 16 year old substitute lay
reader. Yet we are all called. God calls us in many ways, to do many
things according to our gifts, talents and resources, all of which are
provided by God. Despite our sinfulness, despite our perceived short
comings we are called to serve. Over the years, I have learned that God
has never asked me to do something I could not do, even though I may
have thought I couldn’t. I am reminded of what Paul said in his 1st
Letter to the Corinthians (today’s Epistle reading), “it is not I, by
the grace of God that is with me. I know that God will be with me, that
I am not alone. I have also learned that the calls are rarely what I
expected. Most of my calls have been at the edge of my comfort zone,
which have involved an element of change, such that I am tempted to ask:
“Why me Lord? Are you sure Lord?” And I am learning how to say: “Here
am I Lord, send me!”
In our secular
world, where we are bombarded by news of natural disasters, greed,
power, ego, it is tempting to say – “not my problem” or “I can’t do
anything about that”.
Yet I am encouraged
by the resilience of people in the face of disaster or in the face of
personal hardship and the willing of people of faith to say, “Here am I
Lord, send me!” Of the willingness of people to give of their time and
resources to assist others that are less fortunate.
In closing I would
like to point out the many ministries (or opportunities to serve) in
Christ Church. I was amazed when I saw this brochure that lists all of
the active ministries where people in our church community have said
“here am I Lord, send me”.
There are two
ministries I would like to lift up. First, today is “Undie Sunday”.
This is an outreach program to collect socks and underwear for the
children of woman that are the victims of abuse and are being served by
the Haven. The second is the relief effort underway to support the
people of Haiti. Did you know that Haiti is one of the largest
Episcopal Dioceses? Please consider a donation to the Episcopal Relief
and Development Fund. Inevitably, it is people of faith that lead the
recovery effort in the face of natural disasters and personal suffering
with effective, on the ground aid and assistance. I ask you to consider
these opportunities to serve, along with the many ministries in our
community and say: “Here am I Lord, send me.”
Matthew 16: 13-20
When I was in high school we had a math
teacher, Mr. Riley Ewing that liked to surprise us with “pop” quizzes.
He was one of 5 teachers named Ewing. We never knew when we would have
quiz, but we knew that it was inevitable. And we never knew if it would
be over material we had covered or over material he was going to cover.
At the time we thought he did it because he was too lazy to prepare a
lesson plan for the day. As I look back on it, I realize know that it
was how he taught. And, I was always ready for a test. I did my
homework and came to class prepared. I did not take anything for
granted. I knew I had to pay attention or I would not be ready for the
next pop quiz. It was a very effective way of motivating us to learn.
As one reads the Gospels, there are
numerous situations where Jesus takes his disciples aside for lessons
which quite often take the form of a pop quiz. Sometimes these pop
quizzes are a test of faith. I can only imagine how the disciples felt
whenever Jesus would take them up a mountain or to the other side of the
lake to be alone with them.
In this evenings lesson, Jesus starts by
asking “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the
Baptist; other say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the
prophets.”
Then the real test comes: “Who do
you say that I am?” And Simon Peter responds, “You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.”
Now if we were reading this lesson in
The Gospels according to Mark or Luke, the lesson would end with a
warning to the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. You
see Jesus did not want to be seen as the Messiah in the historical
Jewish context. He was not coming as a ruler in a human context, but
as a teacher.
But we are now left with a familiar
passage, which is found only in the Gospel according to Matthew.
Jesus responds to Peter: “Blessed are
you, Simon Bar-Jonah, or Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed
to you by man, but by my Father in Heaven. And I tell you that you are
Peter…”
Peter is the English translation of the
Greek “Petros” or detached stone and “Petra” is rock. So in this short
passage, Jesus renames Simon Bar-Jonah, Simon Peter or Simon the Rock.
He then goes on to say…. “And on this rock I will build my church”. One
has to wonder why this passage occurs only in the Gospel according to
Matthew. And indeed that has been quite a bit of discussion as to how
to interpret this passage.
There are several interpretations given
to what this means:
·
Was Christ referring to
himself as the foundation? In some of Paul’s letters he refers to
Christ as the foundation of the church.
·
Was he referring to
Peter’s confession of faith in Jesus as the Messiah.
·
Does the foundation refer
to Christ’s teachings? This would be consistent with Matthew’s emphasis
on the teachings of Jesus.
·
Or does it refer to Peter
himself as an acknowledgement of the Peter’s future role as a leader of
the apostles?
In addition, the term “church” is not
used in any of the other Gospels and then only a few times in Matthew.
While it is used frequently in Acts and other books of the NT, the
context is different. In this context, it is more likely Jesus was
referring to “the new, reformed Israel” or his new and true “way” within
Judaism.
What is important to note about this
lesson is that it immediately precedes the first time that Jesus
predicts his death.
One has to wonder if this is one lesson;
with Jesus saying to Peter and the disciples that it is necessary for
him to suffer and die, but that You, Peter and the disciples, are to
carry on my ministry when I am gone.
This was not the first test Jesus gave
his disciples and it would not be the last.
I wonder if my math teacher learned to
teach by reading the Gospels. Pop quizzes work for Jesus and they
worked for my math teacher.
John 10: 1
– 10
Psalm 23
Sheep and Shepherds! How many times are they used
throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments? A lot would be
a good answer.
In the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly used agrarian
scenes that everyone in that day and time would be able to relate to as
parables to communicate with his disciples and audiences that followed
his ministry. They were also intended to communicate about the
authorities without their knowing about it or understanding it.
Having had a number of personal experiences with
sheep while living in Australia, I can attest that sheep are not the
cuddly, white, wooly animals we might imagine. However, they do respond
to their shepherd, and of course to a well trained sheep dog. I have to
admit that a feeling comes over me that is quite inexplicable when I see
a pasture with a flock of sheep grazing in the distance.
In verses 1 through 5 of today’s readings, we have
a parable, followed by two discourses. Like many of the parables in the
Gospels, the author, in verse 6, goes on to say that the audience (often
times the disciples) did not understand what the parable meant. So
Jesus proceeds to explain the parable. In the first discourse he
describes himself as the gatekeeper and in the second as the Good
Shepherd (which is the reading from this morning).
As I read through the lessons today, I came to see
that it might be better to read them together, just as the Fourth
Evangelist related them to the community of Jewish Christians or
Christian Jews he was a part of.
It is perhaps best to look at this story through
the eyes of John’s community. The time frame is probably sometime after
the fall of the Temple, between 70 CE and 100 CE. It was a time when
there was significant conflict within Jewish communities. With the
destruction of the Temple, those that were in power were no longer in
power. There was a power struggle between various factions within the
Jewish community, and at the time, those Jews that were believers in
Jesus Christ was considered one of those factions, however small their
numbers might be. The Gospel of John can be read as words of
encouragement for this community in the face of discrimination and
sometimes persecution.
A key message, as relevant today as it was then,
is that only through Jesus Christ do we enter into the community of
God. There are also words of warning – beware of those that enter into
our midst – not by way of the Gate or through Jesus Christ – but by
other means.
Who are these others? Who are those that enter,
not through Jesus, but by other means? In the time of Jesus, it was
those in authority – the High Priest and Pharisees – referred to as
thieves and robbers.
In the time of the Evangelist, it included not
only those in authority but all the leaders of the various factions
within the Jewish community. The Evangelist as the author of John is
often referred to, understood how important it was to hold his community
together, to encourage them in the face of uncertainty, in the face of
persecution, and in the face of others saying they were wrong.
According to John, only those that follow the
teachings of Jesus Christ, those that recognize Him as their Shepherd,
only those will be saved. Those that enter through other means or
follow those that enter through other means will not enter into the
Kingdom of God.
In some ways, it is easier for me to understand
Jesus’ parable and discourse in the context of the time frame in which
it occurred. Something about 20/20 hindsight and 2000 years of
interpretation by people much smarter than me seem to be very
convincing.
But this leaves me with a question: Who are
those, in current times, that attempt to enter into our lives and
our communities, not through the one true gate, but through other
means? After some contemplation, it occurred to me that I was asking
the wrong question. That this was taking me down a path of judging
others and their motivations.
To proceed on this path would seem to invite such
things as mistrust of others or placing myself above others. For sure
it would get in the way following the teachings of Jesus Christ. True,
we might want to be aware of those that do not share our beliefs, but it
does not mean that we should judge them or hate them or treat them as
the enemy. I concluded that this is not what Jesus or the Evangelist
intended.
Put into a more positive context, I think it means
that we, as Christians, should follow Christ’s example: we should
invite others in! “Come and see” as Jesus said to two of John the
Baptist’s disciples in the first chapter of John. We invite them
through the gate, the gate of Jesus Christ and into our community and
into our lives.
We should also follow Jesus’ example and become
good Shepherds in their lives and in the lives of each other and within
the Christian community. Good shepherds know their flock, each and
every one, and the flock knows their shepherd. There is a loyalty, and
love and trust that bind the sheep to the shepherd and the shepherd to
the sheep.
And so it is, that we are invited into God’s
kingdom through the one true gate – Jesus Christ and there, through and
by the Holy Spirit, we are nurtured and cared for and loved by a
community of Christians. And as members of this community, if we are to
follow in His footsteps, we should say to others “Come and see”. It
sounds almost like an advertising slogan doesn’t it. But it can be as
simple at that – “come and see”. Amen.
Palm
Sunday
Memories
from Long Ago
“Imagine for just a moment” – I have heard
Patricia say as she starts her sermons and I know almost with certainty
that this will be one of those wonderful stories of growing up in New
York City. So “imagine with me for just a moment”
It’s Sunday Morning! I have been up for about an
hour. My younger sisters are getting ready for Church. My Mom is
making sure they are dressed and ready to go. You see, my Dad doesn’t
like being late. And being on time means being there at least 20
minutes before the service starts.
The house is filled with the smell of home made
pork sausage, biscuits, grits and scrambled eggs. And of course the
ever present pot of drip coffee on the stove.
My Dad and I have fixed breakfast – well he fixed
it and I helped stir the grits, tasting it ever now and then to make
sure there is just the right amount of butter, cheese and salt.
Outside there are azaleas in full bloom. The pecan
trees are just starting to bud. And , the grass is green and thick.
There are new born calves in the pasture and a
colt, born just this past week is still on wobbly legs, but getting
around just the same.
The corn has been planted and is just coming out
of the ground. We started planting cotton this week.
There is a freshness in the air that doesn’t seem
to exist at other times of the year.
There are memories of the Mardi Gras parade just a
few weeks earlier, still fresh in my mind. You see I got to ride my
horse in the parade for the first time, next to my Dad on his horse. As
I remember, I think I was about 11 years old.
Today is special. It is Palm Sunday. As
children, most of what I know about Palm Sunday is that it is the Sunday
before Easter. And the church gives out these little crosses, made from
palm fronds. We are supposed to save them until next year. I still
remember that I would slip my cross between the mirror and the frame for
the mirror on the dresser in my bed room. That way I would have it next
year for Ash Wednesday. But before that, if you held them at the top of
the cross, they made great swords for make believe duals with my 1st
cousin right after the service.
And next week is Easter. We will be going to town
to buy new dresses for my younger sisters. And my older sister will be
coming home from boarding school; she attends All Saints in Vicksburg,
MS. We don’t see her very often. We miss her.
During the church service, my parents and my
sisters are seated in the 5th pew from the front on the left
hand side. My mother’s parents are in the pew in front of us, along
with some of my cousins. My mother has since move forward to sit in her
parent’s pew and my younger sister and her husband and their family sit
with her. We were there 2 weeks ago and sat in the same pew.
These are some of my earliest memories of Lent,
Palm Sunday and Easter. I remember being fascinated by the stories of
Jesus riding into town on a donkey. For the life of me, I could not see
how a grown man could ride something as small as a donkey. Decades
later, traveling to India, I saw grown men riding donkeys and pulling
carts. I still think I would rather walk.
There was and still is a rhythm to life in this
small Episcopal community, consisting of families that depend on a
farming economy, located along the banks and levees of the Mississippi
River. This time of year the river is out of its banks and high up on
the sides of the levees.
I have long since left the family farm, yet the
rhythm of life in that community and in my life has not changed. Mardi
Gras (I still have a hard time calling it Shrove Tuesday), Lent, Palm
Sunday, Holy Week and Easter are an integral part of the rhythm of my
life and the life of the Episcopal Church and in the lives of
Episcopalians (and Anglicans and Roman Catholics and Greek Orthodox)
world wide.
We heard the very familiar stories in today’s
gospel readings from Matthew – of Jesus’ betrayal, Peter denying Christ
3 times, Jesus’ trial and sentencing and His death on the cross, and, by
next Sunday His resurrection.
As Christians we celebrate these events each year
as a reminder that God sent his only Son to be among us, to die for us
and to be raise up by God for us. It is a time for reflection, for a
renewed commitment to our faith in God, and for a renewed commitment to
the mission that God has for us, as individuals and as members of God’s
Church in our community and our world.
It is a time to look beyond our selves and ask how
we can serve God’s mission here on earth. What opportunities has God
put in our way for us to serve others? This is especially true when we
are experiencing difficult economic times, flooding in our community and
there are so many people that are not as fortunate as we are. Are we
using the resources and talents, God have given each of us in ways that
serve God’s Mission?
As we enter Holy Week and look toward Easter and
the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, I am comforted by Jesus’
final words of the Great Commission: “And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of age.”
Thanks be to God!
Vespers
Homily for Jan 18, 2009
John 1: 29-41
This
past summer at Sewanee, Jim Elliott and I took a course with Dr. James
Dunkley on the Gospel According to John. I need to be careful because
he chastised several students for referring to him as Dr. Dunkley. He
wanted to be called Jim. For those of us that were programmed at an
early age to show signs of respect for our teachers, particularly those
with a Ph.D., this was not easy. It took some serious re-programming.
Jim is an entertaining, personable and very
knowledgeable professor. At some time or other we have all had
professors or teachers like Jim. And you, or at least I, find myself,
saying things like: “according to Jim”. In fact, as I prepared for
this evening it was hard for me to not say “according to Jim” with the
beginning of each new thought.
Having said this, “according to Jim” and many
other theologians, The Fourth Gospel, The Gospel According to John is
significantly different from the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and
Luke. In fact the word Synoptic, means something like “similar or the
same or alike”.
Not only is it different in literary style, there
are a number of stories that appear only in John and not in the synoptic
gospels and in some cases we have the same stories, but told
differently.
The reading for this evening is one of those
accounts that has a parallel in the Synoptic Gospels, but is
significantly different. It is a story of the first disciples of Jesus
and how they came to be disciples. I don’t know about you, but if
someone asked me who the first disciples were and how they came to be
disciples, this account from John is not the first account that would
come to mind. It is a far different account than we find in Matthew,
Mark and Luke. You know the story of Jesus meeting the fishing boats
and calling the disciples to come, to follow Him, and become fishers of
men. We have heard this account numerous times. Well, as we just
heard, this is a different story.
The most obvious difference is that there are no
boats, no fish and no fishermen.
But let’s go back to the beginning of the
reading. We find John the Baptist, the day after he Baptized Jesus and
the day after he had been questioned by the authorities as to who he
(John the Baptist) was. He identifies Jesus as “The Lamb of God who
takes away the Sin of the world”. It is this testimony to his followers
that compels them to follow Jesus.
Now “according to Jim” and others, for better
understanding we should look at another level – to the audience that
this account is intended for. The community was a Jewish Christian
community that was experiencing persecution by the Jewish authorities.
Further, it would not be unreasonable for some of them to have been
followers of John the Baptist. So we see this second level of meaning –
we have the Jewish authorities questioning, some would say threatening,
John the Baptist, not unlike the way they were dealing with the
believers in their own community and we also see John the Baptist
providing testimony that shifts the focus to Jesus – the Son of God and
away from himself. It is interesting that in the Gospel according to
John, this is the last we hear of John the Baptist.
So when Jesus sees two of John’s followers
following him he asks them: “what are you looking for?” And their
response is: “Rabbi (or teacher) where are you staying?” Jesus does
not give them an answer, but says “Come and see”.
Now, once again, “according to Jim”, he suggests
that another level to read and understand John is to ask: “what does it
mean to me or us today”?
So I would like to take a side trip for a moment.
“Come and see”.
Those simple words bring back memories from long
ago. Growing up on a farm, we (me, my sisters, my friends, my cousins)
were constantly amazed by life on a farm. Someone would say – Did you
know? And the response would be “Really?” or “No way!” and the response
would always be “Come and See.” It might have been a new born calf, or
a flock of wild ducks, or new flowers in bloom. You know the flowers,
the kind you put your nose up close to and end up with a nose covered in
yellow pollen.
This was a scenario that played out hundreds of
time, and many of those times it was with my parents or a teacher.
“Come and See”.
It must be part of human nature to say “I will
believe it when I see it”. I have learned that you don’t have to be
from Missouri to take this point of view. In this case, I think what
Jesus was saying to the followers is “come, see, experience and you will
believe”.
The followers did just that and became disciples.
I can think of more recent examples in my own
life. Two that come to mind are EFM and Cursillo. When asked if I
wanted to participate, my question was – tell me more about it? Why
should I do EFM or attend Cursillo? And the answer, after a genuine
attempt to describe EFM or Cursillo was – “well you just have to
experience it to really understand it and appreciate it” – so, “Come and
See”.
And, Oh by the way, I have answered exactly the
same way when others have asked me about EFM or Cursillo. – “Come and
See”.
When I was doing the research for the Bishop
Search, one of the priorities identified was that we as Episcopalians
could be more effective at Evangelism, more effective at reaching out to
the un-churched and/or under-churched. Yet what we found was a
significant majority of the responders have invited others to attend an
Episcopal function or service and an equally high percentage of those
invited have returned. So what was it that worked – They Came, They
Saw, They Experienced, They Stayed – and like John’s followers, they
became Disciples.
And “according to Jim”, wasn’t this also the
message to the audience within this community of Jewish Christians. You
know the one’s. The one’s that felt persecuted and misunderstood.
“Come and See”.
In one more side note, the 12 disciples are not
identified in the Gospel of John. In fact the 12 disciples are not even
mentioned. And, there are disciples identified in John that are not
listed as one of the 12 in the Synoptic Gospels. So it seems that
discipleship was not limited to the 12 disciples then nor is it limited
today. So I invite you, to invite others to – “Come and See”. It
worked then and it still works today.
Dec. 14, 2008
Matt. 11:2-11
In the time of Advent we are preparing for the
coming of Christ. And as we have all probably lamented at some point
each year we seem to forget Advent and jump straight to Christmas, just
a bit earlier each year. Except that it is it the “commercial
Christmas”, not the Christmas of our ancestors. Not the Christmas that
contains the story of Christ and the messages and actions of Christ.
Earlier today, we heard a reading about John the
Baptist from the Gospel according to John. I thought Peter did an
excellent job of pointing out that in John, there was not need to
establish the credentials of John the Baptist or Jesus. There was no
need to establish who they were. He also pointed out that this was not
the same in the Synoptic Gospels of Mathew, Mark and Luke. In this
evenings lesson we have a reading from Mathew (it also appears in Luke)
and we see in Mathew a story that establishes who John the Baptist is
and who Jesus is in relation the John the Baptist.
But the question about Jesus comes from the most
unlikely of sources – John the Baptist.
When John heard in prison what Christ was
doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to
come, or should we expect someone else?”
Why would he be questioning Jesus? Why does he
have any doubt at all? After all he has been telling crowds of people
and the authorities that he is not the Messiah, but the one sent to
prepare the way for the Messiah. Do you think it might have anything to
do with the fact that he is in prison? I suppose it could. We all have
doubts at times about things that we think are “true” and I suppose when
things are not going just right, those doubts grow. We begin to say to
ourselves: “well maybe I was wrong about that” or “should I really
trust what he or she said”. To some degree this is human nature. Or
it could be that John is confident that the Messiah is coming and that
he was sent to prepare the way, but he just wants to make sure that this
little known person from the poor side of town, true is The One.
Jesus replied, “Go
back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight,
the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead
are raised and the good news is preached to the poor.
You see in those days, people were very familiar
with the prophets. And each of these examples of things Jesus has been
doing was known to be either from Elijah (found in the book of Kings) or
Isaiah. It says clearly to John (and others) that “Yes, I am The One”.
Then he says: “Blessed
is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”
In other words, he is saying, “I may not be in
the form that you thought I would come, or I may not meet your
expectations of what a Messiah looks like” – but blessed is the person
that has faith in me anyway.
As John’s disciples are leaving Jesus began to
speak to the crowd about John and he asks them three times why did you
go out into the desert with John? “What did you
go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what
did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who
wear fine clothes are in Kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to
see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. At
this point Jesus is establishing that John the Baptist is more than a
prophet. That he was truly sent to prepare the way for the Messiah.
Jesus says: This is the one about who it is
written:
“I will send my
messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way before you.”
I tell you the truth:
Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John
the Baptist, yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater
than he.
So we have completed yet another Bible story
that establishes who John the Baptist and Jesus are. In reading the
passage it was easy to get engaged with their roles in the story and
lose sight of the story that is at the heart of this Advent Season. The
time of preparation for the coming of Christ.
We live in a time, in a secular world, where for
many; Christ has been taken out of Christmas. So I suppose if Christ is
no longer part of Christmas, there would be no need for Advent. So here
I am again with all those doubts creeping back in. But at the last
minute I start to read my e-mail and amazingly, I get an e-mail from one
of my sisters. You know one of those things that get passed along to a
few thousand people. But it is about Christmas and it has an intriguing
title “The W in Christmas”. It was written by a mother (name unknown)
and I supposed somewhere along the way someone will say – well we can’t
prove this really happened so it probably isn’t true (sort of like the
Bible). It goes like this:
Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience.
I had cut back on nonessential obligations -- extensive card writing,
endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I
found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious
family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.
My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year. It was an exciting
season for a six-year-old.
For weeks, he'd been memorizing songs for his school's "Winter Pageant."
I didn't have the heart to tell him I'd be working the night of the
production. Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his
teacher. She assured me there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the
presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to
come then. Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.
So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early,
found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I
saw several other parents quietly scampering to
their seats. As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each
class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor.
Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.
Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the
holiday as Christmas," I didn't expect anything other than fun,
commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes
and good cheer. So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love,"
I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.
Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy
mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads. Those in
the front row-center stage -- held up large letters, one by one, to
spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing "C is for
Christmas," a child would hold up the letter C. Then, "H is for Happy,"
and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the
complete message, "Christmas Love."
The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her; a
small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside down
-- totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W."
The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's
mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood
tall, proudly holding her "W." Although many teachers tried to shush
the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised,
and we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes
began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were
there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the
chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.
For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:
"C H R I S T W A S L O V E"
Nov. 16, 2008
PR 28
Luke 21: 5-19
You have all heard people described as someone that
sees the glass half full or alternatively, someone that sees the glass
as half empty. An optimist or a pessimist, right? Well I consider
myself to be one of those people that sees the glass half full. But in
this day and time, with the media reporting and predicting mostly
negative things, it get kind of hard to stay somewhat positive about
life.
And I have to admit that today’s reading is a
challenge, even for someone that that consistently sees the glass half
full.
We have predictions of wars, famine, death,
destruction, persecution – and yet Jesus says trust me! Not a hair on
your head will be harmed. -- OK, so what do you do if you don’t have
any hair.
We start with the listeners or followers
describing the Temple as a place that is beautiful and built on a grand
scale. Who are these listeners? Luke is not clear on this, but one
would assume they are his disciples. In Mark and Matthew, it refers to
disciples that are present. In response, Jesus then predicts the
destruction of the Temple.
Since the Temple has been such an important part
of the lives of the disciples and the Jewish people, they immediately
start to question Jesus, -- when will this happen? What are some signs
that will occur to let us know when it will occur?
Have you noticed that throughout the Old Testament
and the New Testament, there are always references to signs that predict
the future.
It must be part of human nature to want to know
what is going to happen in the future and when?
Now we need to remember that this Gospel may have
been written after the actual destruction of the Temple, so the things
we read about as signs in the Gospels and again in The Acts of the
Apostles, may be a recording of what actually happened as fulfillment of
these prophesies.
Jesus starts with a warning – there will be false
prophets – those that claim to come in my name and that “predict that
the end is near”. Do not follow them!! While I don’t hear a lot of
people claiming to be Christ, we certainly seem to have a lot of people
that are willing to predict that the end of life as we know it is at an
end.
Jesus then continues to give the disciples a list
of things that will happen. All of these events have a history. In
other words, these are events that have always happened in history and
have continue to happen ever since. The Old Testament if full of
references to similar signs.
Wars and rumors of wars – has there ever been a
time when there were no wars?
Famine and plagues – In earlier times, there were
droughts that resulted in famine and where famines exist, plagues
usually followed. Has there ever been a time when droughts did not
exist somewhere in the world. Today, with perhaps Africa as an
exception, droughts have not resulted in severe shortages of food on a
large scale. But they do still exist and what about diseases such as
malaria, and AIDS that exist on a large scale throughout the world.
And what about earthquakes. We could probably add
hurricanes to this list. They all result in some sort of destruction
with a loss of life.
This sound more like a glass half empty story.
But Jesus said, “do not be terrified”.
If we stop here, it would be pretty easy to be
depressed. All of those things that Jesus said will happen, before the
end of time, have been happening for a couple of thousand years and
continue to this day.
So maybe we have not gotten to the point, the
punch line. Maybe the message is that we should not fear these events
and we should not listen to or follow those that say: I will save you,
while predicting gloom and doom. OK – so maybe my glass is still half
full.
Now comes the part that is more personal. It is
no longer hypothetical. Jesus says to his disciples -- As my disciples,
your life will not be a bed of roses. And, while Jesus is speaking to
the disciples, he is also speaking to us – as modern day disciples.
Jesus, says, if you believe in me, if you follow me – you will be
persecuted, you will be brought to trial, you may even die – because you
believe in me! But have faith, do not worry – I will be with you. I
will give you words and wisdom than none of your opponents will be able
to contradict.
You will be betrayed by parents and brothers and
relatives. Can you imagine, just for a moment, how hard it would be to
maintain your faith in Jesus, in the face of parents, brother and
relatives that disagree with you. That are saying, forget this Jesus
character, we are your parents, we know best. The early disciples must
have possessed incredible strength and faith.
In the face of a world that is in conflict, in the
face of a world where people do not have enough food or adequate medical
attention, where there is enough bad news on TV everynight to last a
life time, where our society celebrates the antics of sports heroes and
TV celebrities, I find solace and refreshment and strength in the words
of Jesus in this reading --
Do not fear. I will be with you. I will provide
the words and wisdom you need. Not a hair on your head will be harmed.
By your endurance, by your faith, you will earn your soul.
My glass is more than half full. Is yours?
Nov. 9,
2008
PR 27
Luke 20: 27 (28-33) 34-38
The reading this evening in Luke is also found in
Matthew and Mark. And for that I am thankful as they helped add to the
understanding of the lesson found in Luke. The central issue is: The
Resurrection – is it real? What is it like?
In those times, as now, no one had personally
experienced a resurrection. None of us can say we know for sure what
life is like after our life on earth. So it is not surprising that one
or more individuals or groups would question the validity of the concept
of a resurrection.
We see in the opening of this reading that Jesus
is approached by the Sadducees. Now the Sadducees are often associated
with the leaders of the Jewish people and we know very little about
them, except that they did not believe in a resurrection or life after
death.
It is easy to get side tracked by the hypothetical
and somewhat absurd situation they pose to Jesus regarding a woman whose
first husband dies with no children. According to Jewish custom, the
husband’s brother is required to take in his husband’s widow and become
her husband as well. They believed that if there was life after death
it existed through one’s “sons”. So if a man died before he had
children, the brother would take in the widow, presumably father
children and raise them as the children of his dead brother. It should
also be recognized that this was a way to keep possession within a close
knit family. The absurdity of the hypothetical situation, 7 brothers
(all of whom die), one woman and no children is not lost on Jesus.
There question, “In a resurrected life, who will be the husband of the
wife – which brother?”
The question itself seems to imply that they
interpreted a resurrected life as an extension of life on earth.
And while none of use can say from experience what
life is like after resurrection we do start to get a glimpse from Jesus’
response into what life is like after resurrection.
“For those that are considered worthy of a place
in that age and in the resurrection of the dead, neither marries nor is
given in marriage”. Indeed, they cannot die anymore, because they are
like angels and or children of God, being children of the resurrection”
Jesus then turns to a story that should be well
known to the Sadducees, about Moses and the bush where he speaks of the
Lord as the God of Abraham, The god of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now
he is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living and for Him
they are still alive.
There are several aspects of Jesus’ teaching that
stand out for me.
“For those that are considered worthy of a
place in the resurrection,
They are like angels
And
They cannot die anymore
SO
o
Who will determine who is considered worthy? A reasonable
question for a discerning adult. It is clear that it is not you or me
or any other human, although our history as humanity seems to be that
there are those that insist on doing this for God. Of course, it can
only be God. And since we are all different, thanks to God’s
creativity, there is probably not a recipe to be found in human terms to
be considered worthy. But we know that Jesus taught us to believe in
God and put our trust in God, to turn our life over to God and to love
God and our neighbor. Is this the recipe? Maybe not the recipe, but I
suspect and believe that these are some of the ingredients. My limited
experience with recipes is that there are many different ways to make a
Gumbo. And most of them are very good.
o
What is it like to be an angel? Maybe we need to get in
touch with our child hood. I suspect some of us have images from our
childhood, attending Sunday school or listening to Bible Stories. Are
these images what we can expect? Possibly. But one thing is sure, to
be an angel is appealing.
o
And death no longer exists.
o
To be like and angel in the presence of God for eternity.
WOW.
What a pleasant and appealing thought. Oh did I
tell you that this story was not really about marriage.
Oct. 12, 2008
pr 23
Luke 17:11-19
Today’s reading is from Luke.
Luke is generally considered to be the first of
the Synoptic Gospels to have been written and the most accurate record
of Jesus’ life and ministry.
Luke was a physician and a close friend of Paul.
He traveled with Paul and had direct access to the verbal traditions
passed on by the disciples. He is also the author of the Acts of the
Apostles.
Luke was a gentile and a Greek. His writings tend
to reflect the experiences of the gentiles and are directed mostly to
gentile audiences. A key message found in Luke’s writing and in the
Gospel of Luke, is that Jesus came into the world (for everyone), not
just those of Jewish heritage.
Although Jesus was a Jew and fulfilled the
prophecies of the Jewish people, his message and the gift of the Holy
Spirit was for everyone.
We see that message repeated in today reading.
Jesus and his followers are on a journey from Capernaum to Jerusalem.
Along the way he is constantly using parables and miracles and examples
to teach his disciples what he expects of them when he is gone.
As he was crossing from Galilee into Samaria, he is
approached by 10 Lepers. Luke, being a physician makes it clear that
these people are not allowed to mingle with the population and are to be
isolated. It was often thought that lepers became lepers because they
had disobeyed God’s laws – in other words, they were unclean because
they had sinned.
Jesus does not say "you are healed". Rather, he
tells them “go see the priests”. In those days a leper could be
released from isolation if he/she presented themselves to a priest and
showed that their scars from the leprosy were healed. While this was
rare, leprosy would sometimes go into remission. Can you imagine the
look on the faces of the priests when, not one, but 10 lepers show up at
the same time, with no evidence of leprosy. And that they had been
healed by Jesus.
These ten individuals were healed by Jesus,
because of their faith in God and that Jesus was the Messiah. They
expressed it openly and asked to be healed.
I often wonder, if someone, who claimed to be the
Messiah, were to appear in Valdosta, and healed ten people from life
threatening diseases, how would I react? How would it be reported by
the news media? Would I have the same sort of faith? Or would I, like
the priests and rulers of the Jews, be skeptical.
Can you imagine our politicians, calling for
investigations, bringing in experts, and probably putting the ten in
isolation, just in case they were not really cured. Or perhaps doing
lie detector tests to ensure they were telling the truth. I can imagine
a lot of skeptical people.
You will note that Jesus did not ask, “Are you
Jews?” Jesus did ask them any questions about who there were, or where
they were going, or who their parents were. He simply said to them, "Go
see the Priests" and healed them.
He exhibited unconditional love and caring, as a
living example to his disciples and in turn for us. It is the kind of
love, that is available to us, through faith.
Luke then tells that us that only one of the 10
came back to thank Jesus. Is the message that we should show thanks to
God? Probably, but there is no indication that it is required. The
story does not say the other 9 were somehow not cured. I believe that
Luke added this story to make a point that one of those that were healed
was a Samaritan. Samaritans were generally those of as non-believers or
worshipers of idols. In other words, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are
available to anyone that believes. To anyone, irrespective of whether
they are male/female, white/black, young/old, Democrat/Republican,
American/Indian/Chinese/Middle Eastern, whether you use the 1929 Prayer
Book some other liturgy.
The important thing is, Is your faith strong
enough that you have put your life in the hands of God? Are you open to
the Holy Spirit? Do you look for and experience the Holy Spirit in you
life daily?
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