A Vision Beautiful -- A Message for January 29, 2023

 

            Over the past few weeks, we have hit on major themes for the season after Epiphany – the visit of the Wise Men, Jesus’ baptism, John’s spreading the news of Jesus being the Messiah, and Jesus calling his first disciples. Now, over the next few weeks, we will turn our attention towards what is probably Jesus’ most famous teachings: the Sermon on the Mount.

            The Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes. In each of these statements by Jesus, he names a group of people normally thought to be unfortunate and pronounces them blessed. Hear Jesus’ words are they are written in Matthew 5, verses 1 through 12:

Proclamation of the Scripture                        Matthew 5:1-12

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 

and he began to teach them.

He said:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

            In his opening words in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus didn’t beat around the bush.  He went straight to his point – the people who are looked down upon, the people who are rejected, the people who are suffering, are blessed by God.

            The conditions of the first century were difficult. People lived hand to mouth. The Roman rule over the people of Israel was harsh. The Romans controlled the peasants and policed them with their mighty army. Inequalities abounded – the small population of elites was composed by Roman citizens, wealthy merchants, the priestly class, and provincial monarchs.  The rest of the people – laborers, farmers, fishermen, carpenters, tailors – everyone else – led pretty hardscrabble existence.

            Plus, people were policed by religious leaders who enforced religious laws on the population, even when those religious laws imposed unfair and impossible requirements for regular people.

            Enter Jesus – Jesus came to earth to spread God’s message of love and compassion. Jesus came to point out that legalism and rule-following isn’t always what God wants for us. God has a preferential love for people who are suffering. And, as followers of God, we must also live and work in ways that alleviates the suffering of others.

The Beatitudes are focused on reversing commonly-held expectations for regular people. God doesn’t want us to operate according to the status quo of “we have always done it that way.” Instead, God loves people who are poor in spirit, people who are sad and mourning, people who are meek, people who are unselfish, people who work for righteousness, people who are innocent, people who act with mercy, people who pardon and love others, people who work for peace, people who are spreading the good news, people who are working to connect people to God, and people who are rejected for inviting others to follow God and love people the way God loves us. God loves people who are working diligently to live out our faith and to treat other people with love, kindness, respect, and dignity. God also loves people who are suffering and are having a difficult time.

Our lives are very busy. We are focused on our jobs and our families and keeping ourselves entertained. We often don’t prioritize our faith as the center of our lives. In the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Beatitudes, Jesus nudges us to connect with God. And, Jesus reminds us that when we work to follow God, we will work to alleviate the suffering of people who are struggling. We are surrounded by people who are struggling – we see men hanging out at Wawa during the day who are hungry; we know that when the Daily Bread food pantry is open, people are clamoring to get in and receive food; there are people who are weighed down by depression and mental health struggles;  we know there are families who are contending with abuse and fear and helplessness.  We live among these people. There are people who are struggling with these issues in this room this morning.

It is our calling…it is our opportunity…it is our blessing to treat others with love, respect and curtesy. It is our mandate to work to alleviate the suffering of others with kind words, with merciful treatment, by sharing our resources, and by offering a supportive ears and warm hugs.  Jesus came to earth to teach us to be more caring, to remind us to be more merciful, and to reassure us that when we are struggling, we are supported by and loved by our God. Let us share this message and live out Jesus’ teachings.

Amen. 

Called Together -- A Message for January 22, 2023

 

Last week, we read the story in the Gospel of John of Jesus’ baptism from John the Baptist’s perspective. John told his follower about Jesus being the messiah – and some of John’s disciples became Jesus’ disciples.

            Today, we read from the book of Matthew about the calling of Jesus’ first 4 disciples. Because we are reading from Matthew, he had a slightly different take on things than John.  Jesus’ first disciples were fishermen, and Jesus enticed them to follow him by telling them he would make them “fishers for men.”

            Hear our reading as it comes from the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 4, verses twelve through twenty-three:

Proclamation of the Scripture            Matthew 4:12-23

When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 

Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 

to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

“Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
    the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
    Galilee of the Gentiles—
 the people living in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
    a light has dawned.”

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 

At once they left their nets and followed him.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 

and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.                    

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Message                                          Called Together    

            A few weeks ago, this scripture came up in our Confirmation Sunday School class. One of our young people pointed to this scripture as being particularly odd: the sons of Zebedee, James and John, jumped out of their family’s fishing boat, walked away from their dad and their haul of fish, and followed Jesus down the road. It was like Jesus bewitched them. As soon as these men were called by Jesus, they walked away from their ordinary lives and followed him.

            We have trouble understanding this kind of devotion. If we heard of one of our classmates or coworkers met a spiritual leader and immediately abandoned their lives to follow that leader, we would be worried, not impressed.  If we were Zebedee, at work with our kids, and a strange man walked into our work and our kids dropped everything to follow them, we would probably be terrified.

            But, we know Zebedee’s wife, further along in the story of Jesus’ life, approached Jesus to ask him if her sons could rule in glory alongside the throne of Jesus, one at his right and one at his left. In fact, Zebedee’s wife was Salome, a female disciple who followed Jesus during his missionary journeys and was present at Jesus’s crucifixion alongside Mary Jesus’s mother and Mary Magdalene. Zebedee’s profitable fishing business is believed to have financially supported Jesus’ ministry during his lifetime and the ministry of his Apostles after Jesus’ ascension.

            So, yes, the reality that the first disciples immediately followed Jesus as soon as he called them may have seemed surprising to some observers, but in the case of the family of Zebedee, it seems like everyone got on board with following Jesus.

            In today’s reading, we hear what it was like at the beginning of the Good News. Jesus began sharing the Gospel message of “Repent, for the reign of God, the beloved community of God, is at hand! It is here.” Jesus called the people of first century Israel, and still calls us today, to turn back towards God and to share the goodness of God with one another. Jesus calls us to live lives of faith and to focus on treating other people with love and respect.

            Some of Jesus’ disciples heard Jesus’ message of love and turning towards God and were immediately inspired to follow Jesus. Others saw Jesus doing actions that demonstrated the Good News was being lived and experienced – Jesus healed the sick and the possessed, Jesus welcomed outcasts to be part of his group, Jesus raised people from the dead, and Jesus preached a message that claimed that acting with love was more important than following the rules to a T.

            Jesus shared good news with people who needed good news: people who were weighed down by the trials of the world, people whose hearts were broken, people who were being oppressed by the government or being oppressed by the people of their own cultural group, people who were lost, lonely and hurting.

            Even though Jesus has not been physically present on earth for a long time, as his followers it is important for us to continue to share and live out the Good News. It is oftentimes easier to preach the good news than it is to live it. Our work is to tell people about Jesus, to inform them that the Holy Spirit is present with us now, and that God loves them…God’s love forgives all past wrongdoings and all sins. Our work is to also be as loving and as invitational as Jesus. Our work is to reach out to the kinds of people Jesus reached out to – elderly, young, widowed, orphaned, rejected, bullied, physically ill, mentally ill, from different ethnic and cultural groups, -- we are to reach out to diverse people. We are to be loving and kind to everyone. We are called to be generous and protective. We are called to have a preferential treatment for people who are economically and spiritually poor. When Jesus first preached in his hometown of Nazareth, he read this scripture from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’”

            Like Jesus, we are called to proclaim good news to the poor. We are to proclaim freedom for the captives and help the blind to see Jesus. We are to set the oppressed free and to work for justice for the economically dispossessed. When we live out the Good News, as well as proclaim the Good News, we will help those who are searching for meaning to find God. This is our calling. This is our work.

            May we do so with love in our hearts. Amen.

All That We Are -- A Message for January 15, 2023

 

            Last week, we heard the story of Jesus’ baptism by his cousin John the Baptist. Today, we come at the story from a different angle – we hear about the baptism from John’s perspective. Listen to his words as we read the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verses 29 through 42:

Proclamation of the Scripture                        John 1: 29-42          

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 

This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 

I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 

And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 

I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 

When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 

Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 

The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 

And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Jesus’ ministry became official once he was baptized. He had the stamp of approval from God – God’s Holy Spirit descended from the heavens like a dove and alighted on Jesus. Jesus was “one” with the Holy Spirit, signifying to John the Baptist and those gathered on the shores of the Jordan River the Messiah was officially here—Jesus the Christ made his debut.

John was thrilled. The one he was waiting for had arrived… I guess his parents never told him to keep an eye on Jesus, his cousin from faraway Nazareth. John started to share with his followers the “Good News” about Jesus, so some of John’s disciples rushed to check out Jesus.

Once Andrew and Simon Peter met Jesus, they were transfixed. They saw for themselves that they needed to drop everything and start following Jesus. They could immediately tell Jesus was the one – they had an Epiphany that they were in the presence of the Lord.

Jesus was baptized, and was ready to go. He was prepared for the work ahead and ready to call his first disciples. Jesus was prepared to proclaim the reign of God is near, for people to repent and believe in the Good News.  Andrew and Simon Peter jumped ship from John and came to follow Jesus. They had been preparing to meet the Messiah with John, and so they were ready to follow Jesus as soon as he made his appearance.

I go to a yoga class on Wednesday morning. At the beginning of each session, the teacher tells us to set our intentions for the class – we tell ourselves what we are prepared to get out of forthcoming hour….stretching, relaxing, calm.

It is relatively easy to be prepared for how you are going to spend the next hour. But, it requires work to prepare for bigger events and transitions. In January, in the beginning of the year, we are invited to make resolutions, to set goals, and to prepare for the next year. The YMCA’s parking lot fills up, smoothie sales explode, and Aldi starts selling exercise equipment. Many people try to shape up and lose weight. Some people set goals—I will read more, take more walks with the dog, and eat fewer potato chips. But, alas, many of us quickly fall short of our new resolutions.

In the midst of this season, as we transition away from the chaos of Christmas and settle down for our long winter ahead, I suggest we look in our hearts for what God is preparing us for.  Are we prepared to listen to God’s voice and guidance in our lives? Are we paying attention to God’s call on our lives? Are we prepared to be surprised, and perhaps like Andrew and Simon, to do something new and different than what we expected?

We don’t know when or where the Holy will break into our lives. We may suddenly be invited by God to take on a wholly new thing. God may be nudging us to start singing in the choir. God may be tugging on our shirts and telling us to start volunteering at the Daily Bread food pantry. God may be pushing us to get our background checks done so that we can become Sunday school teachers. God may be calling us to join our Outreach team and start inviting everyone we come across to join us at Trinity.

Even before we are born, God has a plan for our lives. God knows our innermost thoughts and knows the words we will say before our tongues form them. God has a certain things God wants us to do.  Our work as people of faith is to listen to God’s direction – the nudges, the outright commands, the leading – and then follow the paths God lays before us. Our work is to prepare for God’s instructions and to become ready for when God calls us to do things.

John the Baptists was called to prepare people to welcome the Messiah. His ministry was to invited people to repent of their sins, to symbolically wash them away in the Jordan River, and invited them to prepare for the Kingdom of God to break into the world. John didn’t know when the Messiah would appear. John may have not even known if the Messiah would come in his lifetime. But, his work of preparing himself and preparing others commenced even though he knew not the time or the place of Jesus’ arrival.

Let us search our hearts, listen for God, and prepare to receive and follow God’s commands and direction to us. Let us be like those first disciples, Andrew and Simon Peter, who were prepared and ready to go when Jesus showed up. Let’s be prepared and ready to God when Jesus shows up and God calls us to serve God.

Let us be ready and prepared. Amen. 

Possibilities Unfolding -- A Message for January 8, 2023

 

            This year, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day both fell on a Sunday. Many people stayed home from church, busy with opening presents or sleeping in.  If you weren’t here on the Sundays following Christmas or joining us over facebook, you may have missed a crucial part of the story – the visit of the Wise Men. Their visit to meet the newborn king caused a great deal of chaos for Jesus’ little family – King Herod was threatened by the possibility a new king who would usurp him, so he sent out his guards and police to track down the baby. Mary and Joseph were warned to flee and Jesus ended up spending his formative childhood years as a refugee in Egypt. Once Herold died, and his son Archelaus replaced him, the coast was clear and Mary, Joseph and Jesus (and perhaps sisters and brothers of Jesus) returned to Israel and tried to blend into the scenery in the little village of Nazareth. I am sure the trauma of fleeing for their lives made a profound impression on Mary and Joseph. They probably tried to keep Jesus' special nature very quiet. They didn’t want any more negative attention.

            So, many years passed before Jesus announced himself as the Messiah.  In the meantime, his slightly older second cousin John started his work. John drew crowds to the banks of the Jordan River and told people to “Change their lives because God’s kingdom was here.” It was time for them to repent for their sins and start living faithful lives. John baptized them to show they were washing away their sins and reorienting their lives towards God – they were being reborn in the baptismal waters. John was a character – he wore camel-hair clothing and ate locusts and wild honey. He lived in the wilderness. He was devout in a very serious way. And, he fulfilled the prophesy that someone with the prophet Elijah’s spirit and power would come and prepare the way for the Messiah.

            Finally, when the time was right, Jesus went himself to be baptized by John. Hear how the event unfolded as we read from Matthew, chapter 3, verses thirteen through seventeen:

The Scripture         Matthew 3:13-17

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 

But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 

And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Here ends this reading of the world of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, Our Rock and our redeemer. Amen.

The Message                                  Possibilities Unfolding

            There is a really churchy word, a word we don’t use in our regular day-to-day lives, that is part of the story this morning.  The word is “The-oph-a-ny.” Say it with me: “the-oph-a-ny.” Four syllables. I know the people who were at lunch bunch this week know this word because we talked about it, but have you ever used it before? The-oph-a-ny.

            A theophany is when God visibly manifests in-person.  A theophany is when a person, a human being, has a personal encounter with a deity. It is when God breaks into our present reality in a temporal and spatial form – God appears in this time and place.

            In the Old Testament, we have several examples of God appearing to men and women – God was present in the burning bush and talked to Moses. God later met Moses on Mount Sinai and handed him the tablets with the 10 commandments. God led the Hebrew people through the wilderness as a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. God came and was with Elijah as a gentle whisper.  A theophany is when God comes into the world in a visible and present form.

            A theophany occurred when Jesus was baptized. Jesus and John the Baptist and everyone who was lingering on the shares of the River Jordan saw God – they glimpsed God looking like a dove swooping down upon Jesus. And, they heard God say: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

            This was the event that introduced Jesus to the world – This was the event that kicked off Jesus’ ministry to the world as the messiah.  With God’s blessing and announcement of who Jesus was, with the appearance of God in the form of a dove, the ministry commenced.

            Of course, it took a little while for word to spread. Jesus walked away from his baptism and walked into the wilderness. He needed 40 days to pray and to prepare for the work ahead.  He needed 40 days to ponder what was to come. He was tempted to escape his destiny, to escape his destiny, but Jesus accepted his role as the Messiah.

            When Theopanies occurred, the witnesses were unprepared. There was no warning. There was no plan. Moses was tending sheep in the wildness and just happened upon the burning bush. The Hebrew people were in the wilderness already when God started leading them around as a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. John the Baptists and his followers were doing their thing on the banks of the Jordan River when the Spirit of God alighted on Jesus. The people were doing routine, regular things and then God interrupted their lives.

            We probably won’t be prepared when God interrupts our lives. God has a habit of showing up when we least expect God to appear. But, when God does interrupt our lives, when God sends us messages in our  dreams or sends undercover angels to our doors, it is important for us to be ready to say Yes to God—to listen to God’s command to us, to listen to God’s direction for our lives, and to say Yes. Moses didn’t run away from the burning bush and keep tending sheep. Jonah tried to run away from God, ended up in the belly of a fish, and then had to do what God wanted anyway.  Jesus didn’t tell John “thank you very much for the baptism, I feel great, now I am going to return to Nazareth and pick up my hammer.”  When God appears, when theopanies interrupt our lives, our faith compels us to say yes to God….to listen and obey.

            By listening to God, we will fulfill the greatest opportunities in our lives. Like Jesus, we want God to be well-pleased with us. We want to honor God and serve God when we are put to the challenge.

            May we do so with love! Amen. 

Christmas Eve Message 2022

 

On a cold, dark, dreary night, not unlike tonight, a very tired, very pregnant woman and her worried and scared husband arrived at Bethlehem. They were exhausted. Once they arrived, and were ready to just lay down their bodies and take a nap, they found the town to be so full of people there was nowhere to rest. I suspect the inn-keeper saw their faces were etched with weariness. Therefore, the inn-keeper invited the couple to rest in their stable, to rest with the animals who were bedded down for the night. Perhaps the inn-keeper could sense that Mary was about to burst – sometimes we just know these things. So, after the inn-keeper assessed the couple, they invited them to rest in their stable for the night.

            Soon, the baby was born. Mary delivered him without the comforting presence of her mother or her cousin Elizabeth or her best friend or her cousins. Joseph helped Mary as best as he could. And, once Mary delivered the baby, she wrapped him cloths and laid the baby down in a manger on a bed of hay. Mary and Joseph were resourceful and they made-do with what they had…cloths and hay, maybe some straw for bedding.

            Mary was both exhausted and filled with adrenaline. Joseph was probably felt the same way – tired and energetic. They probably felt very, very alone without the presence of their family members. Imagine their surprise when a band of smelly shepherds arrived at the stable.

            The first visitors to meet the baby Jesus, to meet the savior of our world, were hard working, weather-beaten, men. Men who were blessed by the appearance of an angel choir, men who were blessed by their brush with the Holy when they met Jesus. I am sure their lives were forever changed when they met Jesus.

            God made many choices that day. And, although we cannot understand the mind of God, we can observe those choices. God chose poor, uneducated, young, rural people to be Jesus parents. They weren’t a king and a queen. They weren’t a priest and a first lady. They were just modest, humble, faithful people.

Jesus wasn’t born in a palace like King Herod’s sons or the sons of Augustus Caesar, the rulers of Israel in that period. The babies of the kings or the emperors would have been born under the watchful eyes of physicians and ladies in waiting and dignitaries of the royal court and careful servants.  Jesus was born under the watchful eyes of a cow and a donkey and goats and sheep.

Royal babies would have been visited by ambassadors from foreign lands, by prestigious and powerful allies of the king or emperor. Jesus’ first visitors were shepherds. The inn-keepers family may have dropped in. The handyman from the inn may have met Jesus when he came to water the animals and feed them in the morning. Nobody important showed up for months and months and months. Eventually, some astrologers came to see the baby, but that was long after the night of this birth.

As Jesus got older, God didn’t chose for Jesus to be trained by tutors like a prince. God didn’t chose for Jesus to be waited on by a flock of attentive servants. God didn’t chose for Jesus to be notorious throughout the land when he was a child. He was born to a young couple just starting out life together. He was first a visitor to Bethlehem, then was a refugee in Egypt, and eventually grew up in the backwaters of Nazareth. Jesus wasn’t raised like a typical king. He wasn’t raised by a priestly family and prepared to work on God’s behalf in a temple or synagogue. Jesus was instead reared by a family of carpenters. He was taught to work with his hands. Jesus had callouses and probably had blackened his fingernails with a hammer a time or two. Jesus learned how to do hard, manual labor.

Jesus was one of us. He lived a regular life, among regular people, even though he had a calling that eventually led him to be the savior of the world. And, on that night of his birth, even though Mary and Joseph had been told about Jesus’ messianic future, I suspect they were just relieved that he was born. Like every parent, Mary probably kept counting his fingers and his toes. Joseph probably kept leaning in to sniff Jesus’ head – we are hardwired to love the smell of baby. On that special night, Mary and Joseph would have been too tired and too wired to worry about everything that was about to unfold. They were just happy they had a place to rest, a place to hold their precious baby close, and were able to take it all in.

Let’s work to take it all in tonight, in the middle of our own exhaustion and exhilaration. Let us work to remember the birth of the special baby who was born to save us. And, let us appreciate the God who paid attention to all of the details, who reminds us in Jesus that no matter how modest our lives, how regular we are, we are each called to do great things – to love each other, to work for peace, to share the story of Jesus the Christ with all the world.

Let us to do with love in our hearts and the light of Christ radiating out from us. Amen.