The Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3 the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called, "Samuel! Samuel!" and he said, "Here I am!" 5 and ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call; lie down again." So he went and lay down. 6 The LORD called again, "Samuel!" Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call, my son; lie down again." 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. 8 The LORD called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." 11 Then the LORD said to Samuel, "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I have told him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering forever." 15 Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 16 But Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son." He said, "Here I am." 17 Eli said, "What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you." 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, "It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him." 19 As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the LORD. (1 Samuel 3 NRSV)
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth." 46 Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!" 48 Nathanael asked him, "Where did you get to know me?" Jesus answered, "I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you." 49 Nathanael replied, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" 50 Jesus answered, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these." 51 And he said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." (John 1 NRSV)
“CALLED AWAY”
Communication has changed. There is a two-day workshop I’m hoping to attend soon and registered for it. I got confirmation for the event. They sent GPS coordinates. It will be at N 43 56.016' W 089 34.507'. Those are precise. Remember when they used to send a map? Those funny little pieces of paper with lines? Directions? Those words which tell you where to go? On the completely opposite end of the spectrum, I remember stopping once, years ago, and asking for directions on the way to preach in Henrytown. I asked an Amish man. He was very nice but not that helpful. He said I should turn at the old Miller place. I didn’t know where the Millers live now, let alone where they used to live. Other forms of communication have changed as well. A few months ago I was watching a “Columbo” episode. Remember him? He was the detective, played by Peter Falk, who kept coming back to ask questions (“Just one more thing.”) until he caught the murderer? Well, in this one, he stopped at a pay phone and called the precinct, saying that he was not able to get to the phone until then. “Not able to get to a phone.” It almost sounds quaint. Most people now are never away from a phone, as they carry theirs with them at all times.
There are many changes, many genuine improvements. I remember party lines, and when phones were on the wall and only came in black, and when you had to rent the phone from the phone company, and when there was only one phone company. What were they telling us, “Reach out and touch someone?” Now there are so many ways to communicate it is almost baffling. We do not even need to talk on the phone; people can send pictures, even send words, across the miles. Communication has changed much over the years. Even how much we talk has changed.
The passages from Scripture for this morning are about God calling. God does not always use the phone. The first is the familiar story of Samuel. Since he was a gift from God to parents who were childless for a long time, his parents, Elkanah and Hannah, gave the boy to God in service at the Temple. Samuel was in the Temple and heard someone call his name. He assumed it was the old priest Eli and he went and asked him what he wanted. He had not called him. Then it happened again and again, and, no, Eli still had not called him. Eli finally figures out that the voice that is calling Samuel might be the Lord’s and instructs him how to answer. The voice calls again and Samuel answers, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” And he becomes God’s prophet as God tells him the word that he is tell others for God.
The Gospel reading is of how some of the first of Jesus’ disciples were called. Jesus told Philip to follow him and when Philip saw Nathanael, he told him that they found the Messiah, Jesus the son of Joseph from Nazareth. Nathanael has doubts. He figures the Messiah should come from a place with a better reputation. He is not impressed by Nazareth. When Jesus meets him he already knows him. He knows that he is outspoken and knows that Philip spoke to him. He is impressed by this, but Jesus tells him that this is nothing. He will see greater things than this. He might even see heaven opened and angels coming and going.
Both of these incidents give us a picture of how God calls people to service. What they have in common is that they heard God’s voice and obeyed. God starts all this. Also, their service included giving others the message they have received from God. And their messages will do tremendous things. Samuel will give a message that will make all the ears in Israel tingle. Also the disciples of Jesus will see things they have never seen before, will see heaven come to earth. And God knows both Samuel and Nathanael. This message is to them. Both Samuel and the disciples would be speaking for God, sharing the good news of the gospel. This call will change the direction of their lives. God begins by giving it to us. It is God’s plan that we share it, like Philip shared it with Nathanael.
While how we have communicated has changed over the years, we still do it for many of the reasons people long ago did. It still needs to help us in some way. Much of it is routine, sometimes important, sometimes not, Where are you, pick up this or that from the store, when should we be there? How do I get there? What should I do? My grandmother didn’t talk on the phone if it was long distance. I don’t know if she thought it was special, or expensive, or associated it with bad news. But it is how we get news, especially news from far away, and it is someone telling us something.
Phyllis Hobe talks about a dilemma she encountered when a florist mistakenly delivered five azalea plants. She wanted to keep them, but reluctantly she set about the task of figuring out how to share them. A friend suggested that she share them with a local nursing home. When she brought them in she found that some of the residents wanted to plant them in the courtyard and take care of them. She also found joy in sharing. It is God’s plan that we share the goodness we have found, or the goodness that has found us, with others.
There is something, for me, that texting, sending words over the phone, will never replace, as important as that can be at times. It is the voice. Behind the voice is a person. Behind the text is a person, of course, but it is so much clearer with a voice. Samuel and the disciples were called by a person, God, not an organization or a set of principles or rules, or sense of duty. They began their ministry because God wanted them to do something. This is not impersonal; this is deeply personal. It is that God who created us wants to continue to guide and shape our lives. It is not that we just want to hear about Jesus; it is that we want Jesus to know us. It is that God wants to touch us, and we want to touch God, as Mary Lou Carney was babysitting for three-year-old Michael, the son of a neighbor. He sat in her lap, reading a Christmas picture book together. He asked her if she could find the baby Jesus. She nodded. Then he asked the question more loudly. She said “Yes.” He grabbed her index finger in his little hand and put it down on the picture of Jesus in the manger. “See,” he said, making me actually touch the tiny likeness of the baby Jesus. “You found Him.”
Much has changed in our world, including how we communicate with others. But God still calls women and men to serve God. That has not changed. God still has a message for the world. It is that the Savior of the world has come. That has not changed. It is that God knows us and cares for each of us deeply. The calling is to share that message. That calling started the disciples into a ministry which changed the world. It is a calling which will change our lives. Amen.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Baptism of the Lord
1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Genesis 1 NRSV)
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." (Mark 1 NRSV)
“CREATING A FAMILY”
Among my friends are some younger folks who have recently started families. When I have been in contact with them, they often have stories of the things their children have done and said. Some are touching and some are hilarious. One friend and his wife had a son and then they adopted a girl from a part of the world the offers little to orphaned children. It is a brave thing to bring children into the world. It is also very brave to make children who need parents your own. The song by John McCutcheon, “Happy Adoption Day”, captures some of this feeling:
No matter the name and no matter the age
No matter how you came to be
No matter the skin, we are all of us kin
We are all of us one family.
Adoption, like birth, makes real families. Adoption makes real families with all their quirks and joy, struggles and love. Adoption sets lives on a new path.
The reading from Genesis is of the beginning of creation. God spoke and the world came into being, starting with light. It is how everything starts, is placed into motion, including eventually, our lives. Present at this was the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. The Spirit is the agent behind creation. The light was good and that ended the first day. It is the birth of the world.
That same spirit was present at Jesus’ baptism. It, too, is a beginning. It is the first thing in Mark’s Gospel that Jesus does. And it is unusual. He goes out to John’s baptism which called people to repent from their sins. Only Jesus has not sinned. He does not need to repent, we do. John said that the one was coming to baptize with the Holy Spirit, and now he is here, only first he stops to be baptized. This is not because he needs it, but to show us something. He receives what we need. It is a way of saying that Jesus, the Son of God, became human and lived as we do. And something happens that points out what baptism is about. The Spirit descends on Jesus and a voice proclaims that he is God’s beloved Son. Once he hears those words, then his ministry can begin. Whatever else happens, he can begin with these words.
We also see something from this event. We join Jesus in God’s family in baptism. We receive the Spirit in the waters of the sacrament. We are adopted into God’s family. Jesus is the Son of God; we become God’s children by adoption. We become like him. We can hear those words about us when God claims us, by God’s promise and Spirit in the sacrament. God makes us into a family in which each person is special, loved, and finds what he or she needs.
Scott Walker is a pastor in Texas who tells this story of what it means to be in a family. He mentioned a young man who was not athletic enough to play football so went out for the marching band where he played the trombone. It was his way of supporting the team. His parents supported the son. They never missed a single football game when he marched with the band or a band concert, either. They parents, it turns out, are deaf from birth. The young man concludes: They’ve never heard my voice. They’ve never heard a single note from my trombone. But they’ve always been there for me.” We become part of a family in which we are valued.
We not only become part of a loving family, we hear words spoken about us, over us. Those words can inspire us. Those words draw us together.
Those words from heaven are important because they tell us who we are: We belong to God and to each other. We are a family, when things go well or when they don’t go well. We are on the journey, like any family, together. In all the circumstances of our lives we remember the words.
Jesus was baptized to show us that he is with us in our lives. And we are baptized to share in the life that he has. We can hear God’s words to him as words to us because we share that life. It creates a family. May this blessing, the Prayer of St. Teresa, remain with you as you continue to find your place in God’s family:
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be confident knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. Amen.
4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. 11 And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." (Mark 1 NRSV)
“CREATING A FAMILY”
Among my friends are some younger folks who have recently started families. When I have been in contact with them, they often have stories of the things their children have done and said. Some are touching and some are hilarious. One friend and his wife had a son and then they adopted a girl from a part of the world the offers little to orphaned children. It is a brave thing to bring children into the world. It is also very brave to make children who need parents your own. The song by John McCutcheon, “Happy Adoption Day”, captures some of this feeling:
No matter the name and no matter the age
No matter how you came to be
No matter the skin, we are all of us kin
We are all of us one family.
Adoption, like birth, makes real families. Adoption makes real families with all their quirks and joy, struggles and love. Adoption sets lives on a new path.
The reading from Genesis is of the beginning of creation. God spoke and the world came into being, starting with light. It is how everything starts, is placed into motion, including eventually, our lives. Present at this was the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. The Spirit is the agent behind creation. The light was good and that ended the first day. It is the birth of the world.
That same spirit was present at Jesus’ baptism. It, too, is a beginning. It is the first thing in Mark’s Gospel that Jesus does. And it is unusual. He goes out to John’s baptism which called people to repent from their sins. Only Jesus has not sinned. He does not need to repent, we do. John said that the one was coming to baptize with the Holy Spirit, and now he is here, only first he stops to be baptized. This is not because he needs it, but to show us something. He receives what we need. It is a way of saying that Jesus, the Son of God, became human and lived as we do. And something happens that points out what baptism is about. The Spirit descends on Jesus and a voice proclaims that he is God’s beloved Son. Once he hears those words, then his ministry can begin. Whatever else happens, he can begin with these words.
We also see something from this event. We join Jesus in God’s family in baptism. We receive the Spirit in the waters of the sacrament. We are adopted into God’s family. Jesus is the Son of God; we become God’s children by adoption. We become like him. We can hear those words about us when God claims us, by God’s promise and Spirit in the sacrament. God makes us into a family in which each person is special, loved, and finds what he or she needs.
Scott Walker is a pastor in Texas who tells this story of what it means to be in a family. He mentioned a young man who was not athletic enough to play football so went out for the marching band where he played the trombone. It was his way of supporting the team. His parents supported the son. They never missed a single football game when he marched with the band or a band concert, either. They parents, it turns out, are deaf from birth. The young man concludes: They’ve never heard my voice. They’ve never heard a single note from my trombone. But they’ve always been there for me.” We become part of a family in which we are valued.
We not only become part of a loving family, we hear words spoken about us, over us. Those words can inspire us. Those words draw us together.
Those words from heaven are important because they tell us who we are: We belong to God and to each other. We are a family, when things go well or when they don’t go well. We are on the journey, like any family, together. In all the circumstances of our lives we remember the words.
Jesus was baptized to show us that he is with us in our lives. And we are baptized to share in the life that he has. We can hear God’s words to him as words to us because we share that life. It creates a family. May this blessing, the Prayer of St. Teresa, remain with you as you continue to find your place in God’s family:
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be confident knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. Amen.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
First Sunday after Christmas, Year B
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. 62:1 For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. 2 The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. 3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. ( Isaiah 61, NRSV)
22 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. 27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, 29 "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." 33 And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed-- and a sword will pierce your own soul too." 36 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. 39 When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. (Luke 2 NRSV)
“LOOKING THE PART”
There are certain things about Christmas that look right or not. The ground without snow on Christmas Eve this year just didn’t look right to some of us. The TV commercial the other week with Santa in a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts just doesn’t look right. We expect Santa to look a certain way. Imagine the three kings without their crowns. Those who have a certain role in things need to look like what they are supposed to be. We might say that they need to “look the part”. It helps when our doctors look like they are living healthy lifestyles. Especially when it comes time for them to give us advice. I ran across an interesting illustration of this. A young man in the funeral home business was doing relatively well but did much better one year. His secret? Because people tend to see distinguished public figures as more trustworthy, he added some gray to his hair with hair coloring. Artificially, he made himself look more like a funeral director.
The reading from the prophet Isaiah tells us about the appropriate clothing and appearance for redemption, which is also fitting for the Christmas season. It is in the garments of salvation. It is joyous, like the attire for a wedding. It is a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord. All this is the righteousness the Lord is causing to spring up, like green shoots from the ground.
The Gospel reading is of the time the infant Jesus was brought to the Temple to be presented. The firstborn male was considered to belong to God, but could be “bought back”, so to speak, with an offering. Joseph and Mary were there to make that offering. A man at the Temple saw Jesus and proclaimed that he could now depart this life in peace for he had seen the Messiah. How could he have seen that? What did Jesus look like? Only the Holy Spirit could have told him. Seeing Jesus took the eyes of faith and he said that once he had seen him he had seen the salvation prepared for the nations. And there was a woman, a prophet, named Anna. And when she saw Jesus, she, too, saw how God was bringing salvation to the world in him. What most people saw was a baby, but what these people saw was God’s representative on earth, sent to show God’s love and bring salvation.
As we begin this new year, we look forward with hope. We also think about the past one. This year has been one of numerous loud controversies. There have been ones about debt ceilings and candidates and unions and the new stadium for the Vikings, but one of the more unusual ones is about a football quarterback named Tim Tebow. He plays for the Denver Broncos and has led the team to a year that was beyond all expectations. A few people were even calling it miraculous for a while. He is noted for often dropping to one knee to pray during games. This has caused controversy among those who think it is too flashy or too religious. The critics do not discourage him. By all accounts, though, Tebow is a nice guy, sincere in his faith. He has helped his father with missionary work and, in an era of professional athletes constantly in the news for trouble with the law and vulgarity, Tebow behaves with decency and modesty and integrity. What he professes, he lives. He wants to share with others how important his faith is to him. He is not silent about it. I do not doubt that he has a sincere faith. To many he is the picture of faith. One concern I have is whether people can see the faith. Many can see his actions, even imitate his actions, the outward visible behavior, but there is more to life than that. Faith is also an inner quality. That is the reason for Tebow’s actions. It is both, not just the outward appearance. Do those who imitate him also share his faith? Another concern is that much of the excitement is focused on football. Maybe the role of faith is bigger than sports. Faith has to do with all of life. It is not a game.
What does faith look like? It looks the part. It lives according to the values it claims. Faith, like that of Anna and Simeon, looks at signs of good things to come. It brings confidence to those who have it. It sees what God is doing around us. It looks like hope, which we consider at the start of this new year. We do not know how it will turn out, whether it will be a great one or a disastrous one. Elizabeth Sherrill tells the story of when her grandmother gave her a set of linen towels with tiny seahorses embroidered on them for her “hope chest”. She did not know what that meant and asked her what one was. For her grandmother hers was a source of hope in rural South Dakota as she was growing up. She could look into it when the land was covered with snow or afflicted by drought. It spoke to her of a better day to come. Elizabeth never had one like that for furnishing a house but wants one for furnishing the soul, making hope something inside us, instead of inside a trunk in an attic, to give hope in moments when we need it the most. Faith is a way of seeing life. It is one that looks at the gifts God has given us and considers how they can enrich our lives. It looks forward to God being present with us in the future, whatever that future holds. It looks beyond what is superficial.
Faith also perseveres. It continues on against difficulty. It is not accidental but is a deliberate way of life. It is not only when our team is winning or things are going our way, but is present in all of life’s conditions. Fay Angus tells how she saw this one day while serving as a volunteer at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. She was serving hot chocolate and doughnuts to some of the many high-schoolers from all over the country who participate in the parade in their marching bands. One of the great fears of the parade organizers is rain. As drizzle started she asked one young man from Alabama what he would do if it started to rain. He answered that he would get wet and keep on marching. It was a lesson to her on how to live when our plans do not always go the way we want them to.
What does faith look like? It looks like a baby if that baby is Christ. He brings hope of salvation and joy. Salvation and joy that we can wrap ourselves in. That tells us that God is with us. Faith looks like hope, confidence in God’s goodness and plan for us. It looks like perseverance, watching until it comes. It has deep roots that will sustain us in the new year and will keep us moving forward. As we go into the new year, let us do so with hope. Let it be around us like our clothing. So we can pray Marie Barton’s prayer:
While bells are ringing midnight-clear,
Three gifts I ask for this New Year:
Faith is the pilgrim staff I crave
To keep me strong, to keep me brave.
Hope is the candle’s pinpoint star
To lead me on the path afar.
Love is the mantle I would wear—
Heart-warming garments lined with prayer.
Father God, with these priceless three
Enrich the days Thou sendest me!
Amen.
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations. 62:1 For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. 2 The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. 3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. ( Isaiah 61, NRSV)
22 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. 27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, 29 "Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; 30 for my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." 33 And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed-- and a sword will pierce your own soul too." 36 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. 39 When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. (Luke 2 NRSV)
“LOOKING THE PART”
There are certain things about Christmas that look right or not. The ground without snow on Christmas Eve this year just didn’t look right to some of us. The TV commercial the other week with Santa in a Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts just doesn’t look right. We expect Santa to look a certain way. Imagine the three kings without their crowns. Those who have a certain role in things need to look like what they are supposed to be. We might say that they need to “look the part”. It helps when our doctors look like they are living healthy lifestyles. Especially when it comes time for them to give us advice. I ran across an interesting illustration of this. A young man in the funeral home business was doing relatively well but did much better one year. His secret? Because people tend to see distinguished public figures as more trustworthy, he added some gray to his hair with hair coloring. Artificially, he made himself look more like a funeral director.
The reading from the prophet Isaiah tells us about the appropriate clothing and appearance for redemption, which is also fitting for the Christmas season. It is in the garments of salvation. It is joyous, like the attire for a wedding. It is a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord. All this is the righteousness the Lord is causing to spring up, like green shoots from the ground.
The Gospel reading is of the time the infant Jesus was brought to the Temple to be presented. The firstborn male was considered to belong to God, but could be “bought back”, so to speak, with an offering. Joseph and Mary were there to make that offering. A man at the Temple saw Jesus and proclaimed that he could now depart this life in peace for he had seen the Messiah. How could he have seen that? What did Jesus look like? Only the Holy Spirit could have told him. Seeing Jesus took the eyes of faith and he said that once he had seen him he had seen the salvation prepared for the nations. And there was a woman, a prophet, named Anna. And when she saw Jesus, she, too, saw how God was bringing salvation to the world in him. What most people saw was a baby, but what these people saw was God’s representative on earth, sent to show God’s love and bring salvation.
As we begin this new year, we look forward with hope. We also think about the past one. This year has been one of numerous loud controversies. There have been ones about debt ceilings and candidates and unions and the new stadium for the Vikings, but one of the more unusual ones is about a football quarterback named Tim Tebow. He plays for the Denver Broncos and has led the team to a year that was beyond all expectations. A few people were even calling it miraculous for a while. He is noted for often dropping to one knee to pray during games. This has caused controversy among those who think it is too flashy or too religious. The critics do not discourage him. By all accounts, though, Tebow is a nice guy, sincere in his faith. He has helped his father with missionary work and, in an era of professional athletes constantly in the news for trouble with the law and vulgarity, Tebow behaves with decency and modesty and integrity. What he professes, he lives. He wants to share with others how important his faith is to him. He is not silent about it. I do not doubt that he has a sincere faith. To many he is the picture of faith. One concern I have is whether people can see the faith. Many can see his actions, even imitate his actions, the outward visible behavior, but there is more to life than that. Faith is also an inner quality. That is the reason for Tebow’s actions. It is both, not just the outward appearance. Do those who imitate him also share his faith? Another concern is that much of the excitement is focused on football. Maybe the role of faith is bigger than sports. Faith has to do with all of life. It is not a game.
What does faith look like? It looks the part. It lives according to the values it claims. Faith, like that of Anna and Simeon, looks at signs of good things to come. It brings confidence to those who have it. It sees what God is doing around us. It looks like hope, which we consider at the start of this new year. We do not know how it will turn out, whether it will be a great one or a disastrous one. Elizabeth Sherrill tells the story of when her grandmother gave her a set of linen towels with tiny seahorses embroidered on them for her “hope chest”. She did not know what that meant and asked her what one was. For her grandmother hers was a source of hope in rural South Dakota as she was growing up. She could look into it when the land was covered with snow or afflicted by drought. It spoke to her of a better day to come. Elizabeth never had one like that for furnishing a house but wants one for furnishing the soul, making hope something inside us, instead of inside a trunk in an attic, to give hope in moments when we need it the most. Faith is a way of seeing life. It is one that looks at the gifts God has given us and considers how they can enrich our lives. It looks forward to God being present with us in the future, whatever that future holds. It looks beyond what is superficial.
Faith also perseveres. It continues on against difficulty. It is not accidental but is a deliberate way of life. It is not only when our team is winning or things are going our way, but is present in all of life’s conditions. Fay Angus tells how she saw this one day while serving as a volunteer at the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. She was serving hot chocolate and doughnuts to some of the many high-schoolers from all over the country who participate in the parade in their marching bands. One of the great fears of the parade organizers is rain. As drizzle started she asked one young man from Alabama what he would do if it started to rain. He answered that he would get wet and keep on marching. It was a lesson to her on how to live when our plans do not always go the way we want them to.
What does faith look like? It looks like a baby if that baby is Christ. He brings hope of salvation and joy. Salvation and joy that we can wrap ourselves in. That tells us that God is with us. Faith looks like hope, confidence in God’s goodness and plan for us. It looks like perseverance, watching until it comes. It has deep roots that will sustain us in the new year and will keep us moving forward. As we go into the new year, let us do so with hope. Let it be around us like our clothing. So we can pray Marie Barton’s prayer:
While bells are ringing midnight-clear,
Three gifts I ask for this New Year:
Faith is the pilgrim staff I crave
To keep me strong, to keep me brave.
Hope is the candle’s pinpoint star
To lead me on the path afar.
Love is the mantle I would wear—
Heart-warming garments lined with prayer.
Father God, with these priceless three
Enrich the days Thou sendest me!
Amen.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Defending Our Hope
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14 But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. 21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-- not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him. (1 Peter 3:13-22, NRSV)
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." (John 14:15-21, NRSV)
The 6th Sunday of Easter, Year A
“DEFENDING YOUR HOPE”
My Dad preferred hearing about things by word-of-mouth over advertisements on TV or in the papers. After all that is the purpose of advertising—to get a person to hear and to do something or buy something other than what they are used to. In fact, it is people’s jobs to do that. People make careers in advertising. He knew that TV and print ads could be very impressive but just not true. A recommendation from someone he knew and trusted carried a certain weight with him. It mattered that it was done personally. When I think about the people he did business with, it worked for him. He got meat from Leo and Buddy Grieshaber in a small store and you could see how they did things, weighing things on the scale, cutting up the meat, scraping down the old butcher wooden block each night. You could see the cooler, smell that it was fresh. He used to joke that he knew the cow personally, but it was the butchers he knew and trusted. You could see what kind of butchers they were by what they did. I largely agree with Dad. But I would add that some ideas are good ones, but still need a little help getting around. If those who knew about the great new things kept quiet about them, I might never find out what they are. There are some new ideas that appear on the scene. Word-of mouth is rather slow. So there are some things that can use a little help getting around. Sometimes we need to hear about what is new.
The First Letter of Peter is from the time when the Christian faith was spreading through Palestine and beyond. It was something new to the people around it. It was the message about Jesus, who he was and what he did. That news could affect people’s lives deeply. It could change their lives. Peter tells the church some things about suffering. If a person suffers for doing what is wrong, that is expected. But if a person suffers for doing right, they are blessed. That surprises us. He says that sometimes doing right is its own blessing. If they suffer while doing right, they are to remember that Christ suffered, too, suffered for them. Faith in Jesus could change how a person looks at things. God’s purpose in sending Jesus was to bring people to God. It was achieved through the death of Christ. And the symbol of that salvation is the ark. Noah and his family were saved from the destruction of judgment on the water. Baptism is a sign of this. That is the good news they have seen and are living in right now.
The other is that they are to always be ready to make their defense of their hope. That is, if anyone asks them about it they are to give an accounting of it. There are those who have not heard the good news and this could be their chance. It is to be done with gentleness and respect. That is an additional reason they are to conduct themselves well, so that people who might criticize them will be discredited. Their behavior and their words are to reveal to those around them the reality of faith in their lives. It is no false claim. They could see what kind of people they were by how they lived. The book began with telling them that they have been born anew into a living hope by Christ’s resurrection from the dead. They have experienced the resurrection of Christ and that, in turn, has given them hope. And they are to be ready to tell others about the hope that they see in them. To do that they need to live in hope.
What we are talking about is something that goes by many names. It can be called witnessing, sharing your faith, church growth, or evangelism. When we do it, we are living as the first disciples did. It is telling others about how God has blessed you in your life, whether it is by giving you strength in times of suffering or by other blessings. It points to God. It is telling others about the greatness of God, as the Psalmist did, when he wrote, “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me.” or as John Newton, the author of the hymn, “Amazing Grace”, did in his old age. He said that there were only two important things, that he was a great sinner and Jesus was a great Savior.
There is no doubt that this is a time of great change in our society and churches. Many churches lived according to the plan that the members had children who became part of the church, and those children had children, and those children had children, and so on, the church continued. And many churches depended on the same families staying in the same place. Nowadays, people no longer live generation after generation in the same place. Many people nowadays were not raised in a church and are not familiar with the ideas of the faith. What is a church to do when the plan changes? One way of responding to the change is by returning to the way of life at the beginning of Christianity when the Christians were few and surrounded by those who did not know the faith. What did they do? They shared their faith with the world around them and it became a worldwide faith.
Churches struggle with what to do in this changed world. Some put their hope in a location, or a program, or a sign, or a personality, or an ad campaign. Studies show these things are important, but not the most important thing. The most important thing is when one person invites another. It is, strangely old-fashioned, in a modern, sophisticated age. It is by word-of mouth. It is like Leo and Buddy, people we can see and trust to help us have something good, to help us see more, help us want to be a part.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus promises to send another Advocate to be with the disciples forever. He has been alongside the disciples and will soon leave them. But they will not be alone. He will send this other One. This is the Holy Spirit, sometimes called the Paraclete, which is a way of saying what the Greek word does, ‘the one who is called to our side’. The Spirit helps us and will never leave us. This leads us, not to focus on our tradition, or history, but on the reality of God among us.
What if we changed how we looked at that scary word, evangelism, to show what it really is? It is not arguing with or misleading people. Maybe its goal should not be gaining members, not getting people to join us in order to support our church, but rather sharing what we have, with only the goal of helping others. Of offering to them what the church and faith can be in their lives, what is has been in our lives, but even more importantly, helping them to know that One, whether for the first time or more deeply, who will be with them forever, who will be with them in good times and bad times.
Maybe we need to change how we see the church, to see it not as an organization which draws people or is the center of a community, but as one which reaches out to people. Maybe we need to change the plan. Tim Williams found that plans do not always work. He went to Greensboro, Alabama, to help rebuild the Rising Star Baptist Church, recent victim of a fire. He loved his role as builder and felt that he had entered the kingdom of God. His volunteers learned their tasks and worked hard, except for a young man named Ian who would run over to any children brought on to the work site to play with them. His team was annoyed by this and he had planned on talking to Ian about it. The members of the church served the workers a huge meal at the building site. There were no questions in the time that followed about the new design and work at the church, but all afternoon, the parents thanked Ian for being so good to their kids. He concluded: “My crew and I thought we were in Greensboro to rebuild a church. None of us thought we could rebuild the broken hearts of its people. None of us, that is, except Ian.” When we change the plan, what was most important in the past becomes less so. When we rediscover the plan, we regain it. What becomes more important is how we are with the people who need us. That brings them life.
In First Peter we are told to be ready to share our hope with those who ask us. That is the first challenge, that our faith should be meaningful enough that it is shown in our words and deeds, that others would be attracted to the faith by them. And then there is the second challenge that we have an answer for those who ask us. When we meet those challenges, then the good news of the gospel goes out to those who can hear it. When we live in that new way, we can not only share our faith, but also share our hope. We not only have the help of the Spirit in our lives, but we can be help to others. When we are asked, we will have an answer. A hopeful answer. An answer for them.
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them." (John 14:15-21, NRSV)
The 6th Sunday of Easter, Year A
“DEFENDING YOUR HOPE”
My Dad preferred hearing about things by word-of-mouth over advertisements on TV or in the papers. After all that is the purpose of advertising—to get a person to hear and to do something or buy something other than what they are used to. In fact, it is people’s jobs to do that. People make careers in advertising. He knew that TV and print ads could be very impressive but just not true. A recommendation from someone he knew and trusted carried a certain weight with him. It mattered that it was done personally. When I think about the people he did business with, it worked for him. He got meat from Leo and Buddy Grieshaber in a small store and you could see how they did things, weighing things on the scale, cutting up the meat, scraping down the old butcher wooden block each night. You could see the cooler, smell that it was fresh. He used to joke that he knew the cow personally, but it was the butchers he knew and trusted. You could see what kind of butchers they were by what they did. I largely agree with Dad. But I would add that some ideas are good ones, but still need a little help getting around. If those who knew about the great new things kept quiet about them, I might never find out what they are. There are some new ideas that appear on the scene. Word-of mouth is rather slow. So there are some things that can use a little help getting around. Sometimes we need to hear about what is new.
The First Letter of Peter is from the time when the Christian faith was spreading through Palestine and beyond. It was something new to the people around it. It was the message about Jesus, who he was and what he did. That news could affect people’s lives deeply. It could change their lives. Peter tells the church some things about suffering. If a person suffers for doing what is wrong, that is expected. But if a person suffers for doing right, they are blessed. That surprises us. He says that sometimes doing right is its own blessing. If they suffer while doing right, they are to remember that Christ suffered, too, suffered for them. Faith in Jesus could change how a person looks at things. God’s purpose in sending Jesus was to bring people to God. It was achieved through the death of Christ. And the symbol of that salvation is the ark. Noah and his family were saved from the destruction of judgment on the water. Baptism is a sign of this. That is the good news they have seen and are living in right now.
The other is that they are to always be ready to make their defense of their hope. That is, if anyone asks them about it they are to give an accounting of it. There are those who have not heard the good news and this could be their chance. It is to be done with gentleness and respect. That is an additional reason they are to conduct themselves well, so that people who might criticize them will be discredited. Their behavior and their words are to reveal to those around them the reality of faith in their lives. It is no false claim. They could see what kind of people they were by how they lived. The book began with telling them that they have been born anew into a living hope by Christ’s resurrection from the dead. They have experienced the resurrection of Christ and that, in turn, has given them hope. And they are to be ready to tell others about the hope that they see in them. To do that they need to live in hope.
What we are talking about is something that goes by many names. It can be called witnessing, sharing your faith, church growth, or evangelism. When we do it, we are living as the first disciples did. It is telling others about how God has blessed you in your life, whether it is by giving you strength in times of suffering or by other blessings. It points to God. It is telling others about the greatness of God, as the Psalmist did, when he wrote, “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me.” or as John Newton, the author of the hymn, “Amazing Grace”, did in his old age. He said that there were only two important things, that he was a great sinner and Jesus was a great Savior.
There is no doubt that this is a time of great change in our society and churches. Many churches lived according to the plan that the members had children who became part of the church, and those children had children, and those children had children, and so on, the church continued. And many churches depended on the same families staying in the same place. Nowadays, people no longer live generation after generation in the same place. Many people nowadays were not raised in a church and are not familiar with the ideas of the faith. What is a church to do when the plan changes? One way of responding to the change is by returning to the way of life at the beginning of Christianity when the Christians were few and surrounded by those who did not know the faith. What did they do? They shared their faith with the world around them and it became a worldwide faith.
Churches struggle with what to do in this changed world. Some put their hope in a location, or a program, or a sign, or a personality, or an ad campaign. Studies show these things are important, but not the most important thing. The most important thing is when one person invites another. It is, strangely old-fashioned, in a modern, sophisticated age. It is by word-of mouth. It is like Leo and Buddy, people we can see and trust to help us have something good, to help us see more, help us want to be a part.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus promises to send another Advocate to be with the disciples forever. He has been alongside the disciples and will soon leave them. But they will not be alone. He will send this other One. This is the Holy Spirit, sometimes called the Paraclete, which is a way of saying what the Greek word does, ‘the one who is called to our side’. The Spirit helps us and will never leave us. This leads us, not to focus on our tradition, or history, but on the reality of God among us.
What if we changed how we looked at that scary word, evangelism, to show what it really is? It is not arguing with or misleading people. Maybe its goal should not be gaining members, not getting people to join us in order to support our church, but rather sharing what we have, with only the goal of helping others. Of offering to them what the church and faith can be in their lives, what is has been in our lives, but even more importantly, helping them to know that One, whether for the first time or more deeply, who will be with them forever, who will be with them in good times and bad times.
Maybe we need to change how we see the church, to see it not as an organization which draws people or is the center of a community, but as one which reaches out to people. Maybe we need to change the plan. Tim Williams found that plans do not always work. He went to Greensboro, Alabama, to help rebuild the Rising Star Baptist Church, recent victim of a fire. He loved his role as builder and felt that he had entered the kingdom of God. His volunteers learned their tasks and worked hard, except for a young man named Ian who would run over to any children brought on to the work site to play with them. His team was annoyed by this and he had planned on talking to Ian about it. The members of the church served the workers a huge meal at the building site. There were no questions in the time that followed about the new design and work at the church, but all afternoon, the parents thanked Ian for being so good to their kids. He concluded: “My crew and I thought we were in Greensboro to rebuild a church. None of us thought we could rebuild the broken hearts of its people. None of us, that is, except Ian.” When we change the plan, what was most important in the past becomes less so. When we rediscover the plan, we regain it. What becomes more important is how we are with the people who need us. That brings them life.
In First Peter we are told to be ready to share our hope with those who ask us. That is the first challenge, that our faith should be meaningful enough that it is shown in our words and deeds, that others would be attracted to the faith by them. And then there is the second challenge that we have an answer for those who ask us. When we meet those challenges, then the good news of the gospel goes out to those who can hear it. When we live in that new way, we can not only share our faith, but also share our hope. We not only have the help of the Spirit in our lives, but we can be help to others. When we are asked, we will have an answer. A hopeful answer. An answer for them.
Friday, July 22, 2011
It Does a Body Good
The 5th Sunday of Easter, Year A
Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation-- 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture: "See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." 7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner," 8 and "A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:2-10, NRSV)
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going." 5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." 8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say,'Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it." (John 14:1-14, NRSV)
“IT DOES A BODY GOOD”
We have a greater awareness of the importance of nutrition these days. Just look at the ads all around us. They tell us of the wonderful things in good food: potassium, fiber, good bacteria in yogurt, antioxidants, vitamins. There are still those ads, though, which promote other foods—those high in fat and sugar and calories. Those are the ones with the huge sandwiches, like the triple bacon cheeseburger, without a single vegetable in sight. There is no arguing that those things don’t taste good. But our awareness of the effect of what we eat on how we feel and on how our health will be in the future is growing and we are urged to make better choices for our meals. One of those good things is calcium and it is found in great things—cheese and ice cream, and, of course, milk. We know that it is important in building bones, which provide strength and structure for the whole body. And we are learning that it is not just good for us at the start of life; it is good for us all through our lives. As they said on a TV commercial some years ago, “Milk does a body good.”
One of the Scripture readings this morning is from First Peter. He reminds them of their start. As we heard a few weeks ago, they have been born anew into a living hope through the Resurrection of Christ. By faith their lives begin anew. And he tells them to long for the pure spiritual milk, like newborns. And its purpose is the same as that of ordinary milk, to help us grow, to nourish us, to make us strong. We are to long for it. Like milk is our first food, we are to feed our faith on what is basic. We heard about that last week. What was basic to the early church was Scripture and teaching, prayer, the Lord’s supper and fellowship. Those things are basic to our lives of faith. It is easy to want the things that are not good for us. God has the goal of growing strong, not just physically, but spiritually as well. It is God’s plan that we grow. That is done as we bring the word of God into our lives. The writer of the letter talks about this as growing into salvation.
In First Peter, he continues on by describing the community. They are, together, a spiritual house with Jesus as the cornerstone. Individually, they are living stones which are put together. How they come into this community is through faith in that cornerstone. That cornerstone holds them together. It is like last week, talking about Christ as the gate of the sheepfold. The church is God’s chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. How we come into that community is by Baptism. It is the beginning of a new life in the community of faith. It is also the beginning of a life of growing in the faith. Its root is in the mercy of God.
The Gospel reading talks about what Jesus told the disciples. He wants them to have peace so he tells them that God has a place for them. He said that he would go to prepare it and come to take them to it. That confused some of the disciples who asked where Jesus was going because they wanted to know the way. Jesus’ reply is that he is the way. He is also the truth and the life. It is faith in that that is important. That is also done as we baptize, making promises on behalf of infants, whom we help grow in the faith so that they become people who live the promise we make. But beyond all this is that God makes promises to us, promises which we know and believe in and grow to trust in hearing God’s word.
We begin by tasting that the Lord is good. That might sound strange to us, but it is a metaphorical use of the word ‘taste’. We, of course, are used to the literal one. In a different sense to taste is to experience something. When we taste something then we know its worth. Sometimes we use that word to mean to have a little of something, like at the HyVee supermarket where the people give out small samples of things hoping we will buy more. Just a taste of something might make us want more. In a similar way, we are given the possibility of experiencing God in our lives just a bit, and when we find that it is wonderful and God is good, we will want more. God leads us into growth by giving us good in our lives.
Scott Walker of Waco, Texas, heard that Ed, a friend of his, died one day. Scott visited with the family in preparation for the funeral and asked what the most important lesson Ed taught them. A daughter, Helen said that her father had taught her to ride a bicycle. That took Scott by surprise until he realized that it was the symbol of their relationship, her father gently picking her up when she fell.
When we experience God’s goodness, our faith in God grows. We grow by consuming what is good for us. And just like we do not grow to our full height overnight, we grow best by growing daily.
It is also good to remember that we do not grow alone, as Linda Neukrug found when she worked at the cash register of a bookstore. A little boy wanted to pay for a book about the moon. This prompted Linda to ask him if he wanted to travel on a spaceship. The boy looked frightened and asked, “Now?” Linda replied that it would be when he grew up. But this still did not ease the boy’s mind. It was only eased when his father said that he would go with him.
In Baptism, we begin what will be a lifelong journey. We can trust that knowing that God will be with us on that journey, however many years we are blessed to be on it.
God’s plan for our lives is growth. Just as we grow from birth into adulthood by good food, so God has things, good things, that feed our lives. We have the promise of God’s presence and grace. We have the pure spiritual milk of the Word. We have the building of living stones, of which we are a part. All these things are for us all throughout our lives. But most of all, we have love.
Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation-- 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture: "See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame." 7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner," 8 and "A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:2-10, NRSV)
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way to the place where I am going." 5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." 8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say,'Show us the Father'? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12 Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it." (John 14:1-14, NRSV)
“IT DOES A BODY GOOD”
We have a greater awareness of the importance of nutrition these days. Just look at the ads all around us. They tell us of the wonderful things in good food: potassium, fiber, good bacteria in yogurt, antioxidants, vitamins. There are still those ads, though, which promote other foods—those high in fat and sugar and calories. Those are the ones with the huge sandwiches, like the triple bacon cheeseburger, without a single vegetable in sight. There is no arguing that those things don’t taste good. But our awareness of the effect of what we eat on how we feel and on how our health will be in the future is growing and we are urged to make better choices for our meals. One of those good things is calcium and it is found in great things—cheese and ice cream, and, of course, milk. We know that it is important in building bones, which provide strength and structure for the whole body. And we are learning that it is not just good for us at the start of life; it is good for us all through our lives. As they said on a TV commercial some years ago, “Milk does a body good.”
One of the Scripture readings this morning is from First Peter. He reminds them of their start. As we heard a few weeks ago, they have been born anew into a living hope through the Resurrection of Christ. By faith their lives begin anew. And he tells them to long for the pure spiritual milk, like newborns. And its purpose is the same as that of ordinary milk, to help us grow, to nourish us, to make us strong. We are to long for it. Like milk is our first food, we are to feed our faith on what is basic. We heard about that last week. What was basic to the early church was Scripture and teaching, prayer, the Lord’s supper and fellowship. Those things are basic to our lives of faith. It is easy to want the things that are not good for us. God has the goal of growing strong, not just physically, but spiritually as well. It is God’s plan that we grow. That is done as we bring the word of God into our lives. The writer of the letter talks about this as growing into salvation.
In First Peter, he continues on by describing the community. They are, together, a spiritual house with Jesus as the cornerstone. Individually, they are living stones which are put together. How they come into this community is through faith in that cornerstone. That cornerstone holds them together. It is like last week, talking about Christ as the gate of the sheepfold. The church is God’s chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. How we come into that community is by Baptism. It is the beginning of a new life in the community of faith. It is also the beginning of a life of growing in the faith. Its root is in the mercy of God.
The Gospel reading talks about what Jesus told the disciples. He wants them to have peace so he tells them that God has a place for them. He said that he would go to prepare it and come to take them to it. That confused some of the disciples who asked where Jesus was going because they wanted to know the way. Jesus’ reply is that he is the way. He is also the truth and the life. It is faith in that that is important. That is also done as we baptize, making promises on behalf of infants, whom we help grow in the faith so that they become people who live the promise we make. But beyond all this is that God makes promises to us, promises which we know and believe in and grow to trust in hearing God’s word.
We begin by tasting that the Lord is good. That might sound strange to us, but it is a metaphorical use of the word ‘taste’. We, of course, are used to the literal one. In a different sense to taste is to experience something. When we taste something then we know its worth. Sometimes we use that word to mean to have a little of something, like at the HyVee supermarket where the people give out small samples of things hoping we will buy more. Just a taste of something might make us want more. In a similar way, we are given the possibility of experiencing God in our lives just a bit, and when we find that it is wonderful and God is good, we will want more. God leads us into growth by giving us good in our lives.
Scott Walker of Waco, Texas, heard that Ed, a friend of his, died one day. Scott visited with the family in preparation for the funeral and asked what the most important lesson Ed taught them. A daughter, Helen said that her father had taught her to ride a bicycle. That took Scott by surprise until he realized that it was the symbol of their relationship, her father gently picking her up when she fell.
When we experience God’s goodness, our faith in God grows. We grow by consuming what is good for us. And just like we do not grow to our full height overnight, we grow best by growing daily.
It is also good to remember that we do not grow alone, as Linda Neukrug found when she worked at the cash register of a bookstore. A little boy wanted to pay for a book about the moon. This prompted Linda to ask him if he wanted to travel on a spaceship. The boy looked frightened and asked, “Now?” Linda replied that it would be when he grew up. But this still did not ease the boy’s mind. It was only eased when his father said that he would go with him.
In Baptism, we begin what will be a lifelong journey. We can trust that knowing that God will be with us on that journey, however many years we are blessed to be on it.
God’s plan for our lives is growth. Just as we grow from birth into adulthood by good food, so God has things, good things, that feed our lives. We have the promise of God’s presence and grace. We have the pure spiritual milk of the Word. We have the building of living stones, of which we are a part. All these things are for us all throughout our lives. But most of all, we have love.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Sharing Community
The 4th Sunday of Easter, Year A
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47, NRSV)
"Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:1-10, NRSV)
“SHARING COMMUNITY”
Sharing comes with difficulty for most of us. It starts out when we are young and first discover that word, “Mine.” Laying claim to what is our own is necessary in part, but some of us develop the skill very very well throughout life. It is particularly intense if what we want to own is a rare or valuable or desirable object. It’s not just us, by the way. I bird-sit and was watching Gabby and Gordy, two Alexandrine Ring Necked Parakeets. For a while, if you gave them a small spoon of breakfast cereal, they would pick out the almonds and throw away the flakes. Not just drop the flakes, haul their heads back and fling them across the room. I stopped giving them cereal for a while. Then I tried an experiment. I stood at the entrance to the room and said, “I have something for little birds. I have something for little birdies.” They were waiting for it and rushed over to get it and ate it all. I chuckled to myself that this was the food they used to toss away. After a while Gordy, the male, would finish his first, then go to try to take the flake of cereal away from Gabby, the female. I chuckled to myself again, that now they are struggling over what they used to toss away. Sometimes what is valuable is only in the eye of the beholder. The other week Gordy tried to take the food away from Gabby but it broke and so they split it, eating side by side. They were sharing.
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles gives us a vision of a new kind of life. It comes after Peter has given a great speech telling the crowd who Jesus is and that he was put to death and raised from the dead. He goes on to say that the Holy Spirit was poured out over the disciples. Those who heard this message asked what they should do. Peter’s answer was that they should believe and be baptized. What they did next was to join the community. At the center of that community was the teaching of the apostles, breaking bread, and prayers. It was a spiritually-centered community. Their sharing went beyond just meeting together as they sold their possessions to provide for the needs of all. Great joy marked their lives. And God blessed the community by adding to its number daily.
The Gospel reading talks about another aspect of this community. It is that formed by those who hear the Good Shepherd’s voice and follow him and together form his flock. He is not only the shepherd but the gate. Through him the sheep enter the flock and are kept safe. Others may come, but they do not care for the sheep in the same way. This is what the sheep have in common; this is what they share, that they have the Good Shepherd who cares for them.
Many miss the sense of community in our society nowadays. Philip Gulley talks about it as he recalled the town he grew up in. He lived next door to a kid who ate dirt. Another neighbor sold shoes and when a snapping turtle ended up in his yard one day, they were invited over for turtle soup the next day. Another neighbor was a plumber, and would get his hair cut in exchange for unclogging their pipes. Mr. Bolton would show cartoons on his reel-to-reel projector in the garage to the neighborhood kids, while giving them popcorn and soda pop. But it wasn’t only these things that made them neighbors: “The Myerses and the Blaydeses resided two empty lots away. I’ll never forget how my mom and Mrs. Blaydes stood in those lots holding each other and crying the day the Myers boy got killed on his motorcycle on North Salem Road.”
He laments that those days are over. Community is in trouble in many ways nowadays. There are many changes in society. We are left with the question: What does the church have to offer a society with so many ways of getting together? It is that same vision as those first disciples had—that the church is a spiritually-centered community, that the church is a meaningful community in an increasingly superficial world. The church still has something to share. A church without any depth or purpose will be lost among the many things people seek. But a church which brings these things—knowledge of God, the presence of God, fellowship, sharing—to people will find a purpose in the world. The other vision is that there is more to the church than the people. It is the community God calls us to. The Lord brings us together. It is more than what we bring with us when we gather. It is what God gives us as we do that.
What do we share? There are a couple ways of looking at the word ‘sharing’. One is what we have in common, what we all partake of, and the passage from Acts is rich in that. We share the gospel, the good news of God’s love, the baptism by which we enter the church, the meal God has given us to strengthen our faith, our love for one another. We have been given many things. The other side of the word ‘sharing’ is what we bring or give of ourselves to others, what we take from those riches we were given and give to those around us and to those far away.
There is another side to the word ‘sharing’. It is that we give to others from what we were given. Gina Bridgman tells the story of when she was a girl and wanted to marry someone with a lot of money. Her mother said that money was not that important and besides, it didn’t matter unless he was willing to share it. There are many ways we share with others what we have. Perhaps it is extending oneself in new ways. It might be seeking forgiveness or letting go of old hurts. It might be to see beyond the walls of the church to find what more it can do for the people around it.
Phil Gulley found that, while he might have left his old neighborhood, he didn’t leave what made his old neighborhood special. There were new people in the new place, but they had what the others did. There is more to neighborhood than a place. That kindness is what made the neighbors into neighbors. He discovered in the new neighborhood those who brought cookies, hung wallpaper, gave out Juicy Fruit gum. He said, “Kindness thrives. It’s awareness that’s on the wane.” It is not where they were that mattered; it was that they shared their lives.
Community is a gift. It is from what we are given that we share, that brings us together. It is also something we make. The early church was blessed as it heard the Lord’s voice and was the Lord’s presence in the world around them. It was blessed in order to share and that sharing also became the blessing. We, too, can hear that voice that calls us not to be people who merely get together, but people who share what God has given us. To share is truly to create community.
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