The 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
So then, remember that at one time you Gentiles by birth, called "the uncircumcision" by those who are called "the circumcision"-- a physical circumcision made in the flesh by human hands-- 12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15 He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, 20 built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. (Ephesians 2:11-22 NRSV)
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, "Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while." For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. 54 When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, 55 and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed. (Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 NRSV)
“(W)HOL(L)Y CITIZENS”
I remember my report card from first grade. Well, I only remember one part of it. It said: “Tim is a good classroom citizen.” I liked that; it meant I was a good part of our little classroom. Last week, following the reading from the Letter to the Ephesians, we talked about God adopting us into God’s family. This week we hear something similar, only it is not being a member of God’s family, it is being a citizen of the Kingdom of God. “Citizen” calls to mind the freedom we celebrated earlier this month. It also reminds us of this very political year. What does it mean to be a citizen? In the Wisconsin state capitol there is a copy of the constitution of the state of Wisconsin on display. It is probably not the original, but it might be from around that time. The name “Wisconsin” is in red ink, probably to be fancy, but the problem with red ink is that it fades faster than black. So it says, “We the people of the State of _____.” It looks kinda funny. It looks generic, like we don’t belong to a particular place. That is not true of citizens. They belong somewhere, either by birth or by naturalization.
It means that one belongs to the nation or state or town and has rights. It means that one belongs to something greater than the individual. That is a source of strength in times of trouble. It is where we get our identity, our sense of who we are. We are Americans or Minnesotans or people from Chatfield or Utica or Lewiston. And it is also that we are obligated to seek the welfare of the whole. To love our country means not only that we love the things that it does, that it stands for. It is not only nostalgia for its past. It is also that we care about its present and future and that we want to make it a better place. It is that we will work to make it a better place.
With our rights come responsibilities. The nation does not exist only to take care of us; there are others. To be a citizen means we participate. That is like some young persons in the news recently: Some Boy Scouts saw a robbery take place on a trail and called the police, then they got on their bikes and found the victim’s cell phone which the perpetrator discarded in the woods. When asked about why they did it, they said that they couldn’t just stand by.
As we think of our country, we know that it is facing tremendous challenges. The world is changing rapidly and presents us with dangers and opportunities we would have never dreamt of years ago. Sixty years ago we were part of a worldwide effort to restore peace to our time. We were united in that effort. Now it seems like we are anything but united. We are facing issues of economy, and the environment, terrorism and fairness. One hundred fifty years ago the country was torn apart. Out of that time came a new understanding of what it means to be one people, one nation. There was a new understanding of what it meant to be a citizen. When the nation faced WWII, there was a commission for a musical piece to help support us, a patriotic piece to help us appreciate anew what we were fighting for. Aaron Copland wrote “A Lincoln Portrait”, looking back to the earlier crisis. It has musical sections and narrated passages, taken from Lincoln’s own words. A couple of them are:
“Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history.”
That is what he said. That is what Abraham Lincoln said.
“Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this congress and this administration will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility.”
He said: “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.”
He said: “That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain.
It has been performed many times and one of those times is worth noting. When Leonard Bernstein conducted the New York Philharmonic years ago the narrator was the great black baritone William Warfield. After the concert performance he was visited by descendants of former slaves who heard Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg Address. It is a reminder of what Lincoln’s words were really about.
The writer to the church in Ephesus reminds them that once they did not know Christ. Now they do and so belong to God’s people. Now they share in the covenant and the peace that Christ has made with God. Now the dividing wall is broken down and they see what they share with others. There are not two groups, but one, and the goal is none other than being a dwelling place for God.
The Kingdom of God, of which we are citizens, is bigger than a political party or movement, or even a nation. We can forget that and get tied up in smaller things. The Civil War started out as about states’ rights, but became about something bigger, higher. It became about who we are and the meaning of freedom. It became about equality, not just in the words of our constitution, but in our daily lives. It became about whether we were going to continue to be one nation and a nation that tolerated slavery. It became about who we are and who our fellow human beings are. In our country, it usually comes back to that idea of freedom. Is our freedom only for ourselves? Is it only so I can do what I want? For it to be freedom is must be about something greater. Our understanding of what citizenship means gives us an answer to that.
A pastor in Texas, Scott Walker, found this meaning to freedom when in college his freshman year he was causal about attending class or studying. This led to a trip to the dean’s office and academic probation. He defines freedom differently now. “Through experience, I learned that freedom and discipline must always walk hand in hand.” What we choose each day, will determine whether our freedom is a great strength or a great weakness.
Believers in Christ are citizens of where they live, but they become something else. Wherever they live, they also belong to another people. They are citizens not only of where they live on earth, but also a heavenly kingdom. There are rights we have as citizens, but to live in a place also means accepting the responsibilities. That is the price of freedom. And another cost is to know that we cannot be free when others are not, that we are a part of a whole. To be free has a greater meaning than getting what you want. That is why each people and generation must find it for itself, see it for itself, and choose it for itself. We cannot stand by. That is what being a citizen is, from the classroom to the world.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
The 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14 this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14 NRSV)
Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you." 21 But he said to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it." (Luke 8:19-21 NRSV)
“TAKING FOR ONE’S OWN”
Adoption is a wonderful way of making a contribution to the world. There are adoptions that remain hidden from public view. One was that of a young man in the youth group in Iowa I used to help with years ago. I thought that this young man looked just like his father and then one day was very surprised when he told me he was adopted. There are other adoptions that, well, can’t be hidden, as the friends who adopted a child from Korea. Adoption is a way that people can provide children with what they need. Many of them are saved from awful conditions. In many cases, adoption saves lives. Adoption brings happiness both to someone who needs it and to the family as there is more to share. Some adoptions are obvious, some are not.
In adoption, the family takes you and makes you part of them. They take you for their own. The word has that meaning for other uses such as when we adopt rules or policies we make them our own, we say that they do or actually make them apply to us. Or we can adopt a new attitude or way of life. That changes how we live and what we do. That is especially true of when we add new members to our families, when we reach out to the world in love, to care for others in this special way.
Adoption is a powerful thing and so it is not surprising to hear it used in Scripture. In the Letter to the Ephesians we hear one of the many reasons why God is praised. It is because God had a plan to bring us into God’s family. That plan existed from the beginning of time. It is based in Christ and leads to those chosen by God to be blessed with every spiritual blessing. It is so that we will live holy and blameless lives in love. All this was so that we would be adopted into the family of God. All this is God’s gift to us. All this was so that the riches of God’s grace would be shared with us and that we would, like all family members, share in the inheritance. We become members of God’s family, as we hear in the Gospel reading, though faith and hearing the word of God. Through faith, we hear of God’s redemption of the world through Christ and through faith we believe that we are a part of this. Through faith, a living faith, we make it our own, not something we heard once and then have forgotten.
Faith leads us to believe that this is not only true; it is true for us as individuals. Faith makes it come alive in us, for us. Robert Fulghum, who is a bit of a character, talks about an event in his life. He wrote: “Good friends finally put their resources together and made themselves a child. Me, I’m the godfather in the deal. I take my job seriously.” He understands his mission as introducing the child to the good things in life—chocolate, cigars, Beethoven. He gave him a set of crayons. Each week he would put a crayon in his hand and showed him how to make a mark. Mostly the child just stared at the crayon. Then one week after he made the mark something went off in his head and he started on his own and he puts it, “There is no stopping him.” By faith we hear the truth and know what it applies to us, that we can be a part of what God is doing in the world. By faith we hear of God’s love and when we come to know that in our lives, we begin to live it.
Adoption is the means God uses to continue God’s work. The story is this. God created the world and that world turned away from God. But God was not done. God sent the Son into the world to make it possible that we would belong to God again. We belong again. What this does, what adoption does, is make us part of something larger than ourselves. It does that both if we adopt and if we are adopted. We make someone else’s life and needs a part of our own. Adoption means not only that we become the sons and daughters of God but also that we have sisters and brothers. Adoption means we can share the love. We become part of a greater whole.
Of the stories that came out of Japan after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, this is one from "The Week". Yuta Saga, age 21, heard the sirens and screams of “Tsunami!” He took his mother to the junior high school for safety but the stairs to the roof were blocked with older people who seemed to have difficulty. The younger residents started to force their way amid the older folks, pushing them aside. When the water began to rush into the building, one older resident was saved by a human chain that lifted her up. One woman handed him an infant. He took it and ran up the stairs.
It turns out we are all adopted, whether we look like it or not. God made us part of God’s family, through Christ, through God’s gift, through faith. Just as people complete their families through adoption, so God’s plan was that God’s family would not be complete until we became a part of it. And just like adoption, we find a place where we belong, out of the kindness of another. This is the good news that causes us to give glory to God as the riches of God’s grace come to us. Blessed be God, who takes us for God’s own.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5 He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9 he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14 this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:3-14 NRSV)
Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you." 21 But he said to them, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it." (Luke 8:19-21 NRSV)
“TAKING FOR ONE’S OWN”
Adoption is a wonderful way of making a contribution to the world. There are adoptions that remain hidden from public view. One was that of a young man in the youth group in Iowa I used to help with years ago. I thought that this young man looked just like his father and then one day was very surprised when he told me he was adopted. There are other adoptions that, well, can’t be hidden, as the friends who adopted a child from Korea. Adoption is a way that people can provide children with what they need. Many of them are saved from awful conditions. In many cases, adoption saves lives. Adoption brings happiness both to someone who needs it and to the family as there is more to share. Some adoptions are obvious, some are not.
In adoption, the family takes you and makes you part of them. They take you for their own. The word has that meaning for other uses such as when we adopt rules or policies we make them our own, we say that they do or actually make them apply to us. Or we can adopt a new attitude or way of life. That changes how we live and what we do. That is especially true of when we add new members to our families, when we reach out to the world in love, to care for others in this special way.
Adoption is a powerful thing and so it is not surprising to hear it used in Scripture. In the Letter to the Ephesians we hear one of the many reasons why God is praised. It is because God had a plan to bring us into God’s family. That plan existed from the beginning of time. It is based in Christ and leads to those chosen by God to be blessed with every spiritual blessing. It is so that we will live holy and blameless lives in love. All this was so that we would be adopted into the family of God. All this is God’s gift to us. All this was so that the riches of God’s grace would be shared with us and that we would, like all family members, share in the inheritance. We become members of God’s family, as we hear in the Gospel reading, though faith and hearing the word of God. Through faith, we hear of God’s redemption of the world through Christ and through faith we believe that we are a part of this. Through faith, a living faith, we make it our own, not something we heard once and then have forgotten.
Faith leads us to believe that this is not only true; it is true for us as individuals. Faith makes it come alive in us, for us. Robert Fulghum, who is a bit of a character, talks about an event in his life. He wrote: “Good friends finally put their resources together and made themselves a child. Me, I’m the godfather in the deal. I take my job seriously.” He understands his mission as introducing the child to the good things in life—chocolate, cigars, Beethoven. He gave him a set of crayons. Each week he would put a crayon in his hand and showed him how to make a mark. Mostly the child just stared at the crayon. Then one week after he made the mark something went off in his head and he started on his own and he puts it, “There is no stopping him.” By faith we hear the truth and know what it applies to us, that we can be a part of what God is doing in the world. By faith we hear of God’s love and when we come to know that in our lives, we begin to live it.
Adoption is the means God uses to continue God’s work. The story is this. God created the world and that world turned away from God. But God was not done. God sent the Son into the world to make it possible that we would belong to God again. We belong again. What this does, what adoption does, is make us part of something larger than ourselves. It does that both if we adopt and if we are adopted. We make someone else’s life and needs a part of our own. Adoption means not only that we become the sons and daughters of God but also that we have sisters and brothers. Adoption means we can share the love. We become part of a greater whole.
Of the stories that came out of Japan after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, this is one from "The Week". Yuta Saga, age 21, heard the sirens and screams of “Tsunami!” He took his mother to the junior high school for safety but the stairs to the roof were blocked with older people who seemed to have difficulty. The younger residents started to force their way amid the older folks, pushing them aside. When the water began to rush into the building, one older resident was saved by a human chain that lifted her up. One woman handed him an infant. He took it and ran up the stairs.
It turns out we are all adopted, whether we look like it or not. God made us part of God’s family, through Christ, through God’s gift, through faith. Just as people complete their families through adoption, so God’s plan was that God’s family would not be complete until we became a part of it. And just like adoption, we find a place where we belong, out of the kindness of another. This is the good news that causes us to give glory to God as the riches of God’s grace come to us. Blessed be God, who takes us for God’s own.
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