Preached at Light of Christ Anglican Fellowship (AMiA), Kenosha, WI on December 27th, 2009
The Light has come to shine through us. Merry Christmas! Here we are on the fourth day of Christmas. Anyone get four calling birds today? Three French hens? Well I mention this Carol because it drives home what is an often lost understanding in modern American culture: Christmas does not end on December 25th, it begins! It’s not a day but a season. Twelve days long. It is a time when we can immerse ourselves in the joyful reality that Jesus has come into the world! We’ve celebrated a season of anticipation and hope in Advent. A season where the Church historically prays "Maranatha!" or “Oh Lord, come!” And now we celebrate His arrival into the world. We have twelve days to immerse ourselves in the truth that the Light has come into the world in order to shine through us.
Today’s Gospel is very familiar to many of us I’m sure: “In the beginning was the Word…” It’s the great prologue to John’s Gospel. Why does the Gospel open with these words? Essentially what John is saying is that when it comes to Jesus “Let us begin at the beginning." And where else do we hear “In the beginning…” in the Scriptures? It is these words which begin God’s message to his people. The Scriptures begin at Genesis 1:1 with “In the beginning…” And John is very intentionally using that same phrase here to indicate that in that very same beginning...Jesus! It’s interesting to note a progression among the Gospels. Matthew starts Jesus’ genealogy with Abraham: the first Hebrew. Luke begins Jesus’ genealogy with Adam: the first man. But what does John begin with? Before the first Hebrew, before the man, before the Creation itself…Jesus.
John uses a unique description for Him too. The Word. Well what does this mean? Why does he call Jesus "the Word"? It comes from the Greek λογος which means “reason” or simply “word.” And the incredible thing about John’s use of this particular description for Jesus is that it communicates effectively to a number of different audiences. For the Greeks, like the Stoic philosophers, they would understand this to mean the principle of order that holds the universe together. So for the Greeks "λογος" means something. What about the Jews or the early Jewish-Christians? Throughout the Old Testament the “Word of God” is understood as the creative force. In the Creation account we have God speaking things into being, “Let there be ____, and there was _____.” The Word is also a message: “The Word of the Lord came to Isaiah” for example. So tied up in this description of Jesus as “the Word”, is this sense of the Creative Power and very essence of God and that which holds the universe together. This Word was with God at the Creation. And He is God.
An interesting thing to note is the parallel this passage of John’s Gospel has with the Nicene Creed. For example the phrase “Begotten not made” certainly is suggested when John begins with “in the beginning” as opposed to Matthew or Luke’s “starting with Adam…” or “starting with Abraham…” We also see it in “through Him all things were made."
What we seem to have in today's Gospel is John building for us the identity of Jesus. He is eternal. He was present in the beginning with God. He is God. He is the medium through which everything was created. And then we come to our next point which is also in the Creed.
Christ is Light. “Light from Light” as the Creed says. Or as our Gospel says “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness…” And this bursting forth of the Light is a wonderful hinge for us in our liturgical life together. We’ve come through Advent, a season of longing for the Light to come into the darkness of our world. With Christmas we celebrate the arrival of the Light. But the journey’s not over because we are moving towards the great Christian Feast of Light: the one from which we get our name (Light of Christ Anglican Fellowship). Epiphany. With Christmas we celebrate the arrival of the Light into the world. With Epiphany we celebrate the Light going forth into all the world.
This procession of the Light of the World into the world brings me to the next important section of today’s Gospel. John the Baptist. As I’ve reflected on John the Baptist it seems to me that, in the American Church, John the Baptist doesn’t get much attention. Two Sundays ago Fr. Eirik brought with him the three-paneled icon called a deisis which has Christ in the center with Mary on his right and John the Baptist on his left. In every Eastern Orthodox Church this deisis with John the Baptist is in the center of the Church, a beautiful wall before the altar. John the Baptist stands before millions of Christians throughout the world before millions of altars. So obviously certain Christian traditions think he’s a big deal. And I think we should too. Why? First, Jesus suggests that he’s the role-model of discipleship. “I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." (Luke 7:28) It’s Jesus paradoxical way of exemplifying John in such a way as to urge us to follow his lead. Second, it’s rather remarkable that in a passage meant to explain who Jesus is that John comes up. Anyone else being mentioned at all seems exceptional to begin with, but then considering that someone is mentioned who might we expect? Mary? One of disciples? An angel? No, rather we find John the Baptist. Somehow, tied to the Light coming into the world is John the Baptist and his ministry. And it’s kind of funny because in this passage just when we think we’ve heard the last about John the Baptist, the John the Evangelist mentions him again in verse 15! It’s like he can’t stop talking about John the Baptist! So based upon Jesus, John the Evangelist and the Eastern Orthodox tradition we have good evidence that John’s a big deal.
So what do we see John the Baptist doing here? Why is he a big deal? He's bearing witness. He has one mission. “To bear witness to the Light, that all might believe through him.” The Light has come. And John knew that the reason the Light came was to shine through him. As he says later in the Gospel John the Baptist knew that “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (Jn 3:30) We need to make John our example, our role-model. Just like the beautiful deisis in the Orthodox Churches we need to hold his example before us to remind us that the Light has come in order to shine through us.
In this sense we’re like a lamp. We’re meant to contain the Light of Christ so that He can shine though us. Our responsibility as people who celebrate the arrival of the infant Jesus, the Light of the World, is to let Him shine through us. And this has two key elements. First, we have to keep the lens clean in order for the Light which is in us to have its greatest effect. Secondly, we need to direct our light into the darkness. Like John, we need to bear witness to the Light. Jesus says about our Light, "Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:15-16)
Where are you called to bring the Light of Christ? Where am I called to bring the Light of Christ? Look at our relationships first. Our homes. Our families. Our coworkers or our classmates. Friends. Those people we do hobbies or sports with. Then move outward to our communities that we live in. Our State. The World. Henry Blackaby in his book Experiencing God has a great admonition. “Find out where God is at work and then join Him.” Where is God at work in your corner of the world? Pray about where you’re called and then bring the Light of Christ there.
And the Incarnation also informs where we bring the Light. Our Gospel says that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” God took on human flesh in order to live among us. And the word used for dwell here is the same word used in the Old Testament to describe when God would tabernacle Himself, when His glory would dwell, among His people. Another way to say this is “The Word took on flesh and His glory dwelt among us.”
I’d like to share an example of this theology of the Incarnation from our own Anglican history. In the 19th century in England a revival was occurring in the Church. This revival was known as the Oxford Movement and it has had lasting effects upon, and informs, how we worship today. So what was this revival all about? These Christians were rediscovering the treasures of the Early Church. And central to the foundation of the way the Early Church worshipped and did mission was their understanding of Incarnation, "the Word becoming flesh and His glory dwelling among us." God became matter. And because God became matter, “matter matters.” An early saint of the Church from the 7th century named John of Damascus has a wonderful quote I’d like to share:
"I worship the Creator of matter who became matter for my sake, who willed to take his abode in matter; who worked out my salvation through matter. Never will I cease honoring the matter which wrought my salvation!"
The Incarnation, God’s taking on human flesh to dwell among us has dignified it. Jesus has “graced” matter by taking on matter. This is why we as Anglicans reverence the bread and the wine in the Eucharist, it’s why we find value in water and oil which has been set apart for blessing and healing. It’s why we value symbols like the Cross or the colors in the vestments that clergy wear. Not because these things have value in and of themselves but because they represent, they point to, the inner reality of the Incarnation. Christ's dignifying of matter.
Throughout the history of the Church these were important because of what they represented however at the time of the Oxford Movement this theology of the Incarnation had become weak. The Eucharist was celebrated with a small amount of reverence. Clergy didn't vest. Things such as candles, a Cross in Church or even making the sign of the Cross were considered scandalous. A priest could even get thrown in jail for using them. And the Oxford Movement brought back things like frequent celebration of the Eucharist, vestments, candles, etc. But not because they liked playing dress-up. They did this because they thought that matter mattered, because God said so in the Incarnation of His Son, and that worship ought to be beautiful. As the Psalmist says, “Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” They wanted to bring the beauty of the Lord and His worship to the drab world of the slums of England.
This lack of “color” in worship common to their day was in some ways symbolic of the drabness that had entered the ministry as well. During this time, for most, going into the priesthood was a career move. The profession of a gentlemen, like becoming a doctor or a lawyer. It was motivated by a desire for income and prestige. The Oxford Movement reclaimed the priesthood and said it was a calling from God which one ought to abandon themselves to completely. Why? The Incarnation. Because Jesus abandoned Himselg completely to the Father's will for our sakes. And because the dignity which Christ brought to matter such as bread, wine, oil, water or symbol paled in comparison to the dignity Christ brought people. Christ’s Incarnation dignified and made present Himself in every human being and was present in "the least of these" in the slums. This was the era of Oliver Twist. Horrendous slums. Children working in factories. Hunger. Three and four families crammed into a small tenement with no heat. Filth in the streets. And it was in these poor that Christ was present. Just as Our Lord says in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, “Whenever you did it to one of the least of these, you did it unto me.” These men and women went into the slums to abandon themselves to God's will and bring Christ and the beauty of His holiness to "the least of these."
Another tradition the Oxford Movement recovered was what's called reserving the sacrament in the tabernacle. The tabernacle is a special place to keep the bread of the Eucharist, which is a way to acknowledge Christ’s presence among us and focus our devotion towards Him. One of the defining statements of the Oxford Movement of our Anglican forebears was said by missionary bishop Frank Weston, “You cannot worship Jesus in the tabernacle if you do not pity Him in the slum.” And this drove these priests into the slums of London were they lived and died among the poor: risking cholera during epidemics to minister to people and bring beautiful worship to an otherwise drab world. They wanted to let the Light of Christ shine through them.
This theology of the Incarnation ought to motivate us as well. We cannot claim to honor Jesus in the Eucharist and not have compassion on Him in our neighbors, can we?
Christ is the Light who came into the world to shine through us. May we follow the example of our Anglican Forefathers and honor Jesus in the Sacraments and minister to Him in our neighbors. May we follow the mighty example of John the Baptist and bear witness to the Light. May we embrace the Light which has come and allow it to shine in and through us into the world. And may we make today’s Collect our prayer as we enter into the Celebration of the Incarnation: “Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives…” Amen.
Showing posts with label sermon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sermon. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Sermon: Psalm 1 ~ Stand as Saints
Will we choose to stand firmly as a saint or slip away like a scoffer? There’s a quote which has recently become very dear to me. It comes from the Journals of Father Alexander Schmemann, a Russian Orthodox priest and theologian who is a great source of inspiration in my walk with the Lord. If you’re not familiar with his Journals they’re wonderful reading and I highly recommended them to you. The quote is this…
Another image in Psalm 1 is that of a path. And the Psalmist seems to lay it before us as a choice. He gives these competing images as if to say, “Here are the two ultimate options for your life. Choose.” Interestingly he begins by presenting the negative imagery. “Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful!” So he begins by saying what ought to be avoided in order to be happy, or blessed as other translations render it. And you’ll note an interesting pattern here. Those “who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful.” Walked. Lingered. Sat. It’s an incredibly insightful picture of how we can be seduced away from the Lord isn’t it? It’s not as though one day we are completely solid in our walk and the next we’re firmly planted in wickedness. No, it’s a process. And it begins when we’re willing to listen to the “counsel of the wicked”, to be influenced by those whose chief priority is not the Lord. Whether it’s friends, family, the things we listen to on the radio, watch on TV or movies, magazines we read. It’s sitting idly by and allowing those things which are not of the Lord to seep into our soul. This is entertaining the “counsel of the wicked” and we must avoid it. At this point, says the Psalmist, we’re still in motion, we’re walking. But then it degenerates into “lingering in the way of sinners”. We’re not just tolerating ungodly things, we’re spending time there. We’re hanging out there. And then finally we stop and make our home there. We “sit in the seat of the scornful.” Unlike “walking” or “lingering” which imply a passive toleration “to sit in the seat of the scornful” means to actively participate in the mockery of the sacred. We become a mocker, a scoffer. And this is why we have to be so careful to guard where we walk. To guard our path. And I think this is especially pertinent for the young adults among us. To be especially thoughtful about how you spend you’re time, who you spend it with, what you spend it doing.
I’d like to illustrate this with a story about two friends. When they were young men they met shortly after giving their lives to the Lord. They shared their joy in their newfound faith together, partnered in ministry together, shared their new families' lives together and for a number of years seemed to be on the same path. Both of them came from similar backgrounds, had similar struggles and (initially) similar levels of discipleship. Same kind of guys. Same path. You’d think they’d wind up at the same destination wouldn’t you? Sadly, this isn’t the case. Fast forward a decade and these two men, who had started at the same point on the same path, arrived at two very different destinations. One of them became an ordained minister in the Church. The other went through a bitter, painful divorce after succumbing to adultery; declaring bankruptcy and finally found himself hospitalized after alcohol, drug and gambling addictions nearly killed him. How did these two men arrive at such vastly different destinations? One of the key differences was the choice whether to guard their path or not. Again, same kind of guys, similar backgrounds, similar struggles, similar levels of discipleship, same starting point but two different destinations. One clearly identifiable difference was the choice “not to walk in the counsel of the wicked”. Not to allow oneself to receive influence from those things which are not of God. While it may seem like a small choice now not to associate with a certain individual, or avoid certain TV shows or movies, or music, or magazines, or places, or activities I can attest that a small choice not to avoid “the counsel of the wicked” now can lead to a trail of pain and brokenness years ahead. We must guard our path diligently. And I say this especially to you young people. Think carefully about how you spend you time and who you spend it with. It can change the entire course of your life. Because these choices will lead to one of two things. Standing among the saints, or slipping away with the scoffers.
So how do we stand among the saints? How do we gather life for eternity? As I said, first, we need to guard our path. This is our spiritual discipline of abstinence. But what is a discipline of engagement? The Psalmist sums it up with one phrase. “Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on his law day and night.” This leads to the question, “What does it mean to delight in the law of the Lord?” Innately we all have some sense of what it means, but let’s unpack it a little.
Often when we think of “the Law of the Lord” what do we immediately think of? Rules. The Ten Commandents. The Law of Moses. The 613 mitzvot that pious Jews keep. That certainly is one definition. And we can broaden the scope to the Word of God, the Bible, the Old and New Testaments. To delight ourselves in the reading, studying, “marking and inwardly digesting” of God’s Word. This is very close to what the Psalmist is driving at here but it still comes up a bit short. What the Psalmist is driving at, that thing we ought to delight in, is the entirety of God’s divine will. One commentator summarizes it this way, “It is not merely study and intellectual awareness that bring divine favor. Study of the law is suggestive of the correct attitudes and behavior that should result from an awareness of and commitment to God's moral will.” Not merely study and intellectual but the correct attitude and behaviors that result from a commitment to God's moral will. One translation of this verse puts it this way “he finds pleasure in obeying the LORD's commands.” To delight in the Law of the Lord is to find pleasure in obedience to God’s will. Our greatest delight ought to be in the things of Him.
We ought to do some personal inventory and ask ourselves, “What is it that I delight in?” What are the ways that I find pleasure in obeying God’s will? What are some areas of life that I can work on this? And what are some things that need to go to make room for this?
The other half of this verse rounds it out for us. To “meditate on his law day and night.” So what does this mean? The original language carries the connotation of muttering to oneself, pondering, or speaking to oneself. So this means to speak to yourself God’s will day and night. I’m reminded of Paul’s exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing”. In the Eastern Orthodox Church one application of Paul’s exhortation here has been manifested in what’s called the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The book the Way of the Pilgrim describes a man who, after hearing the Epistle to the Thessalonians read in Church, wants to learn to pray without ceasing and so is instructed by his spiritual director to pray this prayer daily: first 1,000 times a day; then 3,000; 6,000 and so on. It sounds incredible. [It may beg the question: Is this what Jesus was speaking against in Matthew 6:7 when he says, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words”? No! The key adjective is empty and to pray in the Name of the Lord in faith is never empty.] And as this pilgrim prayed this prayer it trained his mind and his heart to be in a state of constant awareness of, responsiveness to and communion with the Lord. He was meditating on God’s will day and night. So our prayers are one way we meditate on the Law of the Lord.
Another practical way to do this is to memorize the Scriptures and speak them to yourselves throughout the day. Memorize a Psalm. Memorize this Psalm! Μemorize the Beatitudes, the Ten Commandments, a short Epistle. [I suggest Jude!] Fill your mind and your heart with the Holy Scriptures and speak back them to yourselves, pray them to the Lord. Meditate upon Him. Day and night. One of the commentators I read has a great line, “An individual is formed by what one loves and reflects on continually. What delights us invades us.” To be invaded by our delight in the law of the Lord, invaded by our pleasure in obeying His will. What do we know about being invaded? Invaders take over. Isn’t it a wonderful thought to be completely taken over by pleasure in obeying the Lord?
So as we see, one of the hallmarks of the righteous person in this Psalm is consistency. Stability. To stand as a saint requires our consistency. And the Psalmist makes two very clear pictures for us of this. A fruitful tree and chaff blowing away. Why the image of a fruitful tree? Because a tree that is bearing fruit is fulfilling the purpose for which it was created. When we delight in the law of the Lord and meditate upon it day and night, we are fulfilling the purpose for which we were created. We are gathering life for eternity. We are standing firmly as a saint. May we cultivate the discipline of meditating on the law of the Lord, of finding pleasuring in obeying His will, of asking ourselves what we delight in, in guarding our path that we can be found like a tree planted by a stream of water, fulfilling the purpose for which we were created. Amen.
Then how should one live? Gather life for eternity, which means to live life asThat is the picture the Psalmist is painting for us in Psalm 1. He is answering the question “How should one live?” Answer? Gather life for eternity. And eternity, this sense of permanence or stability is at the heart of this Psalm. We have two contrasting images. Eternity, permanence or stability on the one hand versus slipping away, a downward spiral or being blown away like chaff on the other.
being eternal.
Another image in Psalm 1 is that of a path. And the Psalmist seems to lay it before us as a choice. He gives these competing images as if to say, “Here are the two ultimate options for your life. Choose.” Interestingly he begins by presenting the negative imagery. “Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful!” So he begins by saying what ought to be avoided in order to be happy, or blessed as other translations render it. And you’ll note an interesting pattern here. Those “who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor lingered in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seats of the scornful.” Walked. Lingered. Sat. It’s an incredibly insightful picture of how we can be seduced away from the Lord isn’t it? It’s not as though one day we are completely solid in our walk and the next we’re firmly planted in wickedness. No, it’s a process. And it begins when we’re willing to listen to the “counsel of the wicked”, to be influenced by those whose chief priority is not the Lord. Whether it’s friends, family, the things we listen to on the radio, watch on TV or movies, magazines we read. It’s sitting idly by and allowing those things which are not of the Lord to seep into our soul. This is entertaining the “counsel of the wicked” and we must avoid it. At this point, says the Psalmist, we’re still in motion, we’re walking. But then it degenerates into “lingering in the way of sinners”. We’re not just tolerating ungodly things, we’re spending time there. We’re hanging out there. And then finally we stop and make our home there. We “sit in the seat of the scornful.” Unlike “walking” or “lingering” which imply a passive toleration “to sit in the seat of the scornful” means to actively participate in the mockery of the sacred. We become a mocker, a scoffer. And this is why we have to be so careful to guard where we walk. To guard our path. And I think this is especially pertinent for the young adults among us. To be especially thoughtful about how you spend you’re time, who you spend it with, what you spend it doing.
I’d like to illustrate this with a story about two friends. When they were young men they met shortly after giving their lives to the Lord. They shared their joy in their newfound faith together, partnered in ministry together, shared their new families' lives together and for a number of years seemed to be on the same path. Both of them came from similar backgrounds, had similar struggles and (initially) similar levels of discipleship. Same kind of guys. Same path. You’d think they’d wind up at the same destination wouldn’t you? Sadly, this isn’t the case. Fast forward a decade and these two men, who had started at the same point on the same path, arrived at two very different destinations. One of them became an ordained minister in the Church. The other went through a bitter, painful divorce after succumbing to adultery; declaring bankruptcy and finally found himself hospitalized after alcohol, drug and gambling addictions nearly killed him. How did these two men arrive at such vastly different destinations? One of the key differences was the choice whether to guard their path or not. Again, same kind of guys, similar backgrounds, similar struggles, similar levels of discipleship, same starting point but two different destinations. One clearly identifiable difference was the choice “not to walk in the counsel of the wicked”. Not to allow oneself to receive influence from those things which are not of God. While it may seem like a small choice now not to associate with a certain individual, or avoid certain TV shows or movies, or music, or magazines, or places, or activities I can attest that a small choice not to avoid “the counsel of the wicked” now can lead to a trail of pain and brokenness years ahead. We must guard our path diligently. And I say this especially to you young people. Think carefully about how you spend you time and who you spend it with. It can change the entire course of your life. Because these choices will lead to one of two things. Standing among the saints, or slipping away with the scoffers.
So how do we stand among the saints? How do we gather life for eternity? As I said, first, we need to guard our path. This is our spiritual discipline of abstinence. But what is a discipline of engagement? The Psalmist sums it up with one phrase. “Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on his law day and night.” This leads to the question, “What does it mean to delight in the law of the Lord?” Innately we all have some sense of what it means, but let’s unpack it a little.
Often when we think of “the Law of the Lord” what do we immediately think of? Rules. The Ten Commandents. The Law of Moses. The 613 mitzvot that pious Jews keep. That certainly is one definition. And we can broaden the scope to the Word of God, the Bible, the Old and New Testaments. To delight ourselves in the reading, studying, “marking and inwardly digesting” of God’s Word. This is very close to what the Psalmist is driving at here but it still comes up a bit short. What the Psalmist is driving at, that thing we ought to delight in, is the entirety of God’s divine will. One commentator summarizes it this way, “It is not merely study and intellectual awareness that bring divine favor. Study of the law is suggestive of the correct attitudes and behavior that should result from an awareness of and commitment to God's moral will.” Not merely study and intellectual but the correct attitude and behaviors that result from a commitment to God's moral will. One translation of this verse puts it this way “he finds pleasure in obeying the LORD's commands.” To delight in the Law of the Lord is to find pleasure in obedience to God’s will. Our greatest delight ought to be in the things of Him.
We ought to do some personal inventory and ask ourselves, “What is it that I delight in?” What are the ways that I find pleasure in obeying God’s will? What are some areas of life that I can work on this? And what are some things that need to go to make room for this?
The other half of this verse rounds it out for us. To “meditate on his law day and night.” So what does this mean? The original language carries the connotation of muttering to oneself, pondering, or speaking to oneself. So this means to speak to yourself God’s will day and night. I’m reminded of Paul’s exhortation in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray without ceasing”. In the Eastern Orthodox Church one application of Paul’s exhortation here has been manifested in what’s called the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The book the Way of the Pilgrim describes a man who, after hearing the Epistle to the Thessalonians read in Church, wants to learn to pray without ceasing and so is instructed by his spiritual director to pray this prayer daily: first 1,000 times a day; then 3,000; 6,000 and so on. It sounds incredible. [It may beg the question: Is this what Jesus was speaking against in Matthew 6:7 when he says, “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words”? No! The key adjective is empty and to pray in the Name of the Lord in faith is never empty.] And as this pilgrim prayed this prayer it trained his mind and his heart to be in a state of constant awareness of, responsiveness to and communion with the Lord. He was meditating on God’s will day and night. So our prayers are one way we meditate on the Law of the Lord.
Another practical way to do this is to memorize the Scriptures and speak them to yourselves throughout the day. Memorize a Psalm. Memorize this Psalm! Μemorize the Beatitudes, the Ten Commandments, a short Epistle. [I suggest Jude!] Fill your mind and your heart with the Holy Scriptures and speak back them to yourselves, pray them to the Lord. Meditate upon Him. Day and night. One of the commentators I read has a great line, “An individual is formed by what one loves and reflects on continually. What delights us invades us.” To be invaded by our delight in the law of the Lord, invaded by our pleasure in obeying His will. What do we know about being invaded? Invaders take over. Isn’t it a wonderful thought to be completely taken over by pleasure in obeying the Lord?
So as we see, one of the hallmarks of the righteous person in this Psalm is consistency. Stability. To stand as a saint requires our consistency. And the Psalmist makes two very clear pictures for us of this. A fruitful tree and chaff blowing away. Why the image of a fruitful tree? Because a tree that is bearing fruit is fulfilling the purpose for which it was created. When we delight in the law of the Lord and meditate upon it day and night, we are fulfilling the purpose for which we were created. We are gathering life for eternity. We are standing firmly as a saint. May we cultivate the discipline of meditating on the law of the Lord, of finding pleasuring in obeying His will, of asking ourselves what we delight in, in guarding our path that we can be found like a tree planted by a stream of water, fulfilling the purpose for which we were created. Amen.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sermon: Trusting God When We Give What Up Cherish Most ~ Genesis 22:1-14
Preached at Three Pillars Nursing Home in Dousman, WI on June 27th, 2008...
In today’s reading we have the story of Abraham’s Sacrifice of Isaac, which is probably as familiar to us as it is confusing. So what is it all about? Well, we have Abraham…whom the Bible describes as the father of all who believe: He’s our forefather in the faith. But why isn’t this special place given to say Noah, or Adam? It can all be boiled down to one word: Trust. He is the example par excellence of what it means to trust God.
All throughout Abraham’s life God gives him opportunities to trust. These start with God asking Abraham to leave everything he knows and go somewhere completely unknown. God says, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.” And I know many of you have left everything to go somewhere unknown too, like Maria and Wanda have done (Eastern European immigrants who live at the Nursing Home I'm working at), you’ve left your country and your family to come to here to America. That’s what Abraham did. And it was an incredible act of trusting God.
Abraham’s entire life was characterized by God giving him these opportunities to trust and all of these culminate in our story today. God asks him to give up Isaac, his only son. Now, this is the son Abraham had dreamed of and prayed for his entire life; when all hope seemed lost, when Abraham was 100 years old, God miraculously gives him his son Isaac. All his dreams had come true. But now God was asking Abraham to give up Isaac, the son he cherished.
And I know all of you have had to give up things that are precious when you came here to Three Pillars (the Nursing Home). You’ve had to give up careers, and homes, your old neighborhood; living near your children and grandchildren. You’ve had to say good-bye to some dear friends as they’ve passed on. And most painful of all, you’ve had to say good-bye to your husbands or wives who died. There are so many things you’ve had to surrender, those things you’ve cherished the most.
So what does this have to do with Abraham being our forefather in faith? Well, the reason God chose Abraham to be our forefather in the faith is because of his example. Abraham trusted God even when he had to give up the things he cherished most in his life: his country, his family, even his own son. Abraham is the ultimate example of trusting God when that’s the hardest thing to do.
But it’s not a blind trust. Rather, it’s a trust that is based upon the absolute reliability of God. We can trust God because He’s reliable. Just as Abraham said at the end of today’s story “The LORD will provide”…I believe that God always provides what we need. Maybe not what we think we need, or what we want; but what God knows we need. God loves us so immensely and so incredibly that he will never let us down. Now I realize that’s a daring thing to say, that God would never let us down. But I believe God proved it to us when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place and pay the penalty for our sins. God Himself knows what it’s like to surrender someone he cherishes, and loves more than anyone else. This is God’s evidence that He’ll never let us down.
And we need to follow the example of Abraham and when we’re struggling with the things we’re called to give up; when it’s scary, or lonely, or confusing, or frustrating, or painful we need to trust God. And the beautiful thing is that when we have those days where it’s difficult to trust Him we can pray and say, “Lord I’m, having trouble trusting You, please help me.” Which is what the Psalmist did today, he begins the Psalm with a lot of despair “How long O LORD, will you forget me forever? How long shall I have perplexity in my mind and grief in my heart, day after day?” Does that sound familiar? (Raise my hand). But how does he end, “But… I put my trust in your mercy, my heart is joyful because of your saving help.” The Psalmist ends by reminding himself of God’s saving help. We need to do likewise. Like the Psalmist we need to go to God and talk to him about our struggles with trusting. But then we also need to listen for His answer. And the most tangible way to listen to God is by reading His Word, the Bible. And so I’d encourage you to spend time reading the Bible and hearing God’s answers to you. And if you’d ever like someone to read the Bible with you David, or Marcus, or myself; or Sunny (the other Chaplains) would absolutely love to read the Bible or pray with you.
So may we follow the example of Abraham, and when we have to give up the things we cherish most, may we trust God.
In today’s reading we have the story of Abraham’s Sacrifice of Isaac, which is probably as familiar to us as it is confusing. So what is it all about? Well, we have Abraham…whom the Bible describes as the father of all who believe: He’s our forefather in the faith. But why isn’t this special place given to say Noah, or Adam? It can all be boiled down to one word: Trust. He is the example par excellence of what it means to trust God.
All throughout Abraham’s life God gives him opportunities to trust. These start with God asking Abraham to leave everything he knows and go somewhere completely unknown. God says, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.” And I know many of you have left everything to go somewhere unknown too, like Maria and Wanda have done (Eastern European immigrants who live at the Nursing Home I'm working at), you’ve left your country and your family to come to here to America. That’s what Abraham did. And it was an incredible act of trusting God.
Abraham’s entire life was characterized by God giving him these opportunities to trust and all of these culminate in our story today. God asks him to give up Isaac, his only son. Now, this is the son Abraham had dreamed of and prayed for his entire life; when all hope seemed lost, when Abraham was 100 years old, God miraculously gives him his son Isaac. All his dreams had come true. But now God was asking Abraham to give up Isaac, the son he cherished.
And I know all of you have had to give up things that are precious when you came here to Three Pillars (the Nursing Home). You’ve had to give up careers, and homes, your old neighborhood; living near your children and grandchildren. You’ve had to say good-bye to some dear friends as they’ve passed on. And most painful of all, you’ve had to say good-bye to your husbands or wives who died. There are so many things you’ve had to surrender, those things you’ve cherished the most.
So what does this have to do with Abraham being our forefather in faith? Well, the reason God chose Abraham to be our forefather in the faith is because of his example. Abraham trusted God even when he had to give up the things he cherished most in his life: his country, his family, even his own son. Abraham is the ultimate example of trusting God when that’s the hardest thing to do.
But it’s not a blind trust. Rather, it’s a trust that is based upon the absolute reliability of God. We can trust God because He’s reliable. Just as Abraham said at the end of today’s story “The LORD will provide”…I believe that God always provides what we need. Maybe not what we think we need, or what we want; but what God knows we need. God loves us so immensely and so incredibly that he will never let us down. Now I realize that’s a daring thing to say, that God would never let us down. But I believe God proved it to us when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place and pay the penalty for our sins. God Himself knows what it’s like to surrender someone he cherishes, and loves more than anyone else. This is God’s evidence that He’ll never let us down.
And we need to follow the example of Abraham and when we’re struggling with the things we’re called to give up; when it’s scary, or lonely, or confusing, or frustrating, or painful we need to trust God. And the beautiful thing is that when we have those days where it’s difficult to trust Him we can pray and say, “Lord I’m, having trouble trusting You, please help me.” Which is what the Psalmist did today, he begins the Psalm with a lot of despair “How long O LORD, will you forget me forever? How long shall I have perplexity in my mind and grief in my heart, day after day?” Does that sound familiar? (Raise my hand). But how does he end, “But… I put my trust in your mercy, my heart is joyful because of your saving help.” The Psalmist ends by reminding himself of God’s saving help. We need to do likewise. Like the Psalmist we need to go to God and talk to him about our struggles with trusting. But then we also need to listen for His answer. And the most tangible way to listen to God is by reading His Word, the Bible. And so I’d encourage you to spend time reading the Bible and hearing God’s answers to you. And if you’d ever like someone to read the Bible with you David, or Marcus, or myself; or Sunny (the other Chaplains) would absolutely love to read the Bible or pray with you.
So may we follow the example of Abraham, and when we have to give up the things we cherish most, may we trust God.
Sermon: Inscribed on His Palm ~ Isaiah 49:8-16
Preached at Light of Christ Anglican Fellowship in Kenosha, WI on May 25th, 2008...
Before our son Jude was born each day I would lean over and say to him in Tammy’s tummy, “This is your Daddy, and I love you.” And after he was born I changed it to a question, “Who loves Jude?...Daddy loves Jude.” When he was an infant I would say the question and then answer it for him. And then when he started to talk I would ask him, “Who loves Jude?” and he would reply, “Daddy loves Jude!” And the reason I would do this every day is because I wanted to ingrain in him, at the core of who he is the truth that I love him. So that no matter what the circumstances, he would never question that Daddy loves Jude. I still ask him that question every day. And as we’ve entered toddler-hood there’ve been those times when he’s needed to be disciplined and afterwards I’ll ask, “Who loves Jude?” “Daddy loves Jude.” Of course, in that moment he might not feel as though Daddy loves Jude, but I want him to know that even when it doesn’t feel like it, Daddy always loves him.
And this is where we find Zion in today’s reading. They don’t feel like God loves them. They’ve been disciplined and it just doesn’t feel like God loves them anymore. So what happened?
Isaiah is writing about 750 years before Jesus and he’s prophesying to Israel about what will take place 150 years in the future. And it’s a prophecy of judgment. You see; they’d been rebellious, and sinful and turned against God. And Isaiah is prophesying to them that they’ll be disciplined for their sin and disobedience. He’s prophesying about what will arguably be the worst event in the history of Israel: the Great Exile into Babylon and the destruction of the Temple.
One of the greatest sources of security Israel had was their land. It was the sign of God’s promise to them. It was the symbol of their Covenant with God. And as long as they were in the land, they could rest securely in that promise. But Isaiah's prophesy is that their greatest source of security, their land, would be stripped away. They’ll be exiled to Babylon. And not only that, but the symbol of their identity will also be destroyed: the Temple. The Temple for them was the source of their ethnic identity, their political identity, and their faith identity…it was where the Presence of God dwelt among them in the Holy of Holies and where their sins could be atoned for. Isaiah is prophesying to them that all of their security and the source of their identity will be destroyed. Why? They’re being disciplined.
Isaiah lays out how it is they’ll be disciplined and then we see a shift in his message. He begins to tell them of a Servant. And this is where we find today’s passage. It follows one of the Servant Songs of Isaiah, a more notable of these is Isaiah 53 which describes the Suffering Servant. Each of these describe the Servant who will restore Zion. In verse 6 immediately before today’s reading we see the mission of the Servant summarized: "to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." And so we shift from a prophesy of judgment to one of restoration. God has just told Zion about the Servant He will raise up to restore them, and He then goes on to describe for them how He’ll do it. And how does He tell them about their restoration? He woos them.
In English we lose the poetry of this passage. When God is speaking in this passage he’s using poetic language. And the sense I get when I read this and studied it in Hebrew was that it was like a poem or even a lullaby. God is telling them what their restoration will look like by wooing them, by singing them a lullaby. There’s an almost sing-song sort of rhythm as God is speaking to Zion. It’s beautiful language; peaceful, comforting. The Lord is extending His hand to reach out to them in love. But how does Zion respond? As Isaiah exhorts them to? By "singing for joy” or “exulting”? No. After all these words of comfort and compassion; after the Lord reaches out His hand to them they say, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” The LORD Himself is telling them of His comfort and compassion and yet they feel forsaken and forgotten. Why?
It’s because they think that God is who their circumstances say He is. Not who He’s telling them He is. They have let their circumstances dictate to them who the LORD is for so long that they can’t even consider another picture of God, even if He Himself tells them! It is as if they been driving down the same old road for so long that the tire ruts are so deep they can’t turn and get out of them anymore. God tells of His comfort and compassion and all they can feel is forsaken and forgotten. And why do think they’re forsaken and forgotten? Because they think they’ve out-sinned the love of God. They rebelled against God and were disciplined harshly and therefore they feel abandoned by God, or maybe they feel as though they don’t deserve his love because they’ve “sinned too much”. God is reaching out His hand to them telling them how He will intervene smack into the midst of their circumstances, into the midst of their exile, and restore them; but they don’t believe He will or that He wants to because they’re feel like they’re not worthy.
And how does the Lord respond to Zion? He tells them that His love for them surpasses even the most powerful kind of human love: that of a mother for her baby. He uses the imagery of motherhood to paint a picture for them of the depth of his tenderness and compassion for them and how he will never forsake them or forget. And He uses imagery which may seem a little starnge to us today. He says He’ll inscribe their name upon His hand. But what does that mean? What exactly is He saying when He says this? Once again He is using imagery of tenderness and intimacy. For the ancient Hebrews the palm of the hand was a symbol of intimacy, of closeness, of being cherished. Like placing your palm on your loved one's cheek. And God says it is exactly in this place, the cherished place, that He will inscribe Zion’s name.
When we hear this in English I think it might conjure up imagery of writing a name on your hand with a laundry marker, pretty permanent, but eventually it’ll fade. This is not the imagery the LORD is using. The word Isaiah uses for “inscribe” is the same word used elsewhere in the Old Testament for engraving or carving. Utterly permanent. The Lord is telling Zion, “Just like something is etched in marble, that is how your name is kept in my cherished place. You’re name is carved in the palm of my hand.” And I can’t help but think of palms of the hand of Jesus. Which were also stretched out for the restoration of God’s people. And that in a sense, our names were carved into the palms of His hands by the nails He was crucified with.
It is the hand of God, which is reaching out to us that we need to cling to when we’re letting our circumstances tell us who God is and we can’t hear who He is telling us He is. Because just like Zion we get stuck in those ruts. We don’t believe that God will intervene in our lives. Or we don’t believe that we deserve it. We might hear stories of missionaries or “super-Christians” who have miraculous healings or provision or protection and we believe God does it for “those extra-holy Christians” but we don’t believe He will for us. We read the book of Acts and relegate those miracles to the lives of the Apostles. We tell ourselves we’ve out-sinned the love of God. Or even if we know in our heads that the Lord forgives us and desires to restore us, we don’t live our lives like we believe it. So what do we do?
We have to stop and look at what we believe about God. Do we believe that he desires to restore us? To forgive us. To transform our lives. No matter where we’re at. No matter how far we feel from Him. And do we believe that He will intervene in our lives? That by His grace He’ll transform us. That He will fashion us more and more into the image of His Son; and that we’ll be less and less that broken image of ourselves. Once we’ve identified those wrong attitudes, those areas where our faith is broken, we need to say, “These are the ways I’ve wrongly believed who God is” and let them go at the foot of the Cross. Once we’ve done that we need to fill ourselves with who God says He is. Just like Zion, He’s telling us who He is and how He’ll restore us. He’s reaching out His hand to us.
That’s why we need to allow ourselves to hear God’s voice every day. We need to be in God’s Word; reading, studying, memorizing it and reflecting on it. We need to make time for prayer and worship, to be face to face with God. We need to be connected to other believers: to meet for discipleship or mentoring or spiritual direction, and to have accountability and as James says, “confess our sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” All of these are ways in which God communicates to us who He is. They are ways He reaches out His hand to us. Through our faithfulness in our spiritual disciplines we build our foundation of faith. We live our belief that God is who He says He is. And when our circumstances want to get the best of us and tell us something false about God, or our feelings deceive us, our faith will help us to see His Hand reaching out. The hand that has our name etched into its cherished place. The hand of Our Lord Jesus, which was pierced that we might be restored. If we commit ourselves to knowing God through a disciplined spiritual life then in those moments when our feelings deceive us we’ll be able to hear His voice calling out, “Who loves you?” “Daddy loves you.”
Before our son Jude was born each day I would lean over and say to him in Tammy’s tummy, “This is your Daddy, and I love you.” And after he was born I changed it to a question, “Who loves Jude?...Daddy loves Jude.” When he was an infant I would say the question and then answer it for him. And then when he started to talk I would ask him, “Who loves Jude?” and he would reply, “Daddy loves Jude!” And the reason I would do this every day is because I wanted to ingrain in him, at the core of who he is the truth that I love him. So that no matter what the circumstances, he would never question that Daddy loves Jude. I still ask him that question every day. And as we’ve entered toddler-hood there’ve been those times when he’s needed to be disciplined and afterwards I’ll ask, “Who loves Jude?” “Daddy loves Jude.” Of course, in that moment he might not feel as though Daddy loves Jude, but I want him to know that even when it doesn’t feel like it, Daddy always loves him.
And this is where we find Zion in today’s reading. They don’t feel like God loves them. They’ve been disciplined and it just doesn’t feel like God loves them anymore. So what happened?
Isaiah is writing about 750 years before Jesus and he’s prophesying to Israel about what will take place 150 years in the future. And it’s a prophecy of judgment. You see; they’d been rebellious, and sinful and turned against God. And Isaiah is prophesying to them that they’ll be disciplined for their sin and disobedience. He’s prophesying about what will arguably be the worst event in the history of Israel: the Great Exile into Babylon and the destruction of the Temple.
One of the greatest sources of security Israel had was their land. It was the sign of God’s promise to them. It was the symbol of their Covenant with God. And as long as they were in the land, they could rest securely in that promise. But Isaiah's prophesy is that their greatest source of security, their land, would be stripped away. They’ll be exiled to Babylon. And not only that, but the symbol of their identity will also be destroyed: the Temple. The Temple for them was the source of their ethnic identity, their political identity, and their faith identity…it was where the Presence of God dwelt among them in the Holy of Holies and where their sins could be atoned for. Isaiah is prophesying to them that all of their security and the source of their identity will be destroyed. Why? They’re being disciplined.
Isaiah lays out how it is they’ll be disciplined and then we see a shift in his message. He begins to tell them of a Servant. And this is where we find today’s passage. It follows one of the Servant Songs of Isaiah, a more notable of these is Isaiah 53 which describes the Suffering Servant. Each of these describe the Servant who will restore Zion. In verse 6 immediately before today’s reading we see the mission of the Servant summarized: "to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." And so we shift from a prophesy of judgment to one of restoration. God has just told Zion about the Servant He will raise up to restore them, and He then goes on to describe for them how He’ll do it. And how does He tell them about their restoration? He woos them.
In English we lose the poetry of this passage. When God is speaking in this passage he’s using poetic language. And the sense I get when I read this and studied it in Hebrew was that it was like a poem or even a lullaby. God is telling them what their restoration will look like by wooing them, by singing them a lullaby. There’s an almost sing-song sort of rhythm as God is speaking to Zion. It’s beautiful language; peaceful, comforting. The Lord is extending His hand to reach out to them in love. But how does Zion respond? As Isaiah exhorts them to? By "singing for joy” or “exulting”? No. After all these words of comfort and compassion; after the Lord reaches out His hand to them they say, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” The LORD Himself is telling them of His comfort and compassion and yet they feel forsaken and forgotten. Why?
It’s because they think that God is who their circumstances say He is. Not who He’s telling them He is. They have let their circumstances dictate to them who the LORD is for so long that they can’t even consider another picture of God, even if He Himself tells them! It is as if they been driving down the same old road for so long that the tire ruts are so deep they can’t turn and get out of them anymore. God tells of His comfort and compassion and all they can feel is forsaken and forgotten. And why do think they’re forsaken and forgotten? Because they think they’ve out-sinned the love of God. They rebelled against God and were disciplined harshly and therefore they feel abandoned by God, or maybe they feel as though they don’t deserve his love because they’ve “sinned too much”. God is reaching out His hand to them telling them how He will intervene smack into the midst of their circumstances, into the midst of their exile, and restore them; but they don’t believe He will or that He wants to because they’re feel like they’re not worthy.
And how does the Lord respond to Zion? He tells them that His love for them surpasses even the most powerful kind of human love: that of a mother for her baby. He uses the imagery of motherhood to paint a picture for them of the depth of his tenderness and compassion for them and how he will never forsake them or forget. And He uses imagery which may seem a little starnge to us today. He says He’ll inscribe their name upon His hand. But what does that mean? What exactly is He saying when He says this? Once again He is using imagery of tenderness and intimacy. For the ancient Hebrews the palm of the hand was a symbol of intimacy, of closeness, of being cherished. Like placing your palm on your loved one's cheek. And God says it is exactly in this place, the cherished place, that He will inscribe Zion’s name.
When we hear this in English I think it might conjure up imagery of writing a name on your hand with a laundry marker, pretty permanent, but eventually it’ll fade. This is not the imagery the LORD is using. The word Isaiah uses for “inscribe” is the same word used elsewhere in the Old Testament for engraving or carving. Utterly permanent. The Lord is telling Zion, “Just like something is etched in marble, that is how your name is kept in my cherished place. You’re name is carved in the palm of my hand.” And I can’t help but think of palms of the hand of Jesus. Which were also stretched out for the restoration of God’s people. And that in a sense, our names were carved into the palms of His hands by the nails He was crucified with.
It is the hand of God, which is reaching out to us that we need to cling to when we’re letting our circumstances tell us who God is and we can’t hear who He is telling us He is. Because just like Zion we get stuck in those ruts. We don’t believe that God will intervene in our lives. Or we don’t believe that we deserve it. We might hear stories of missionaries or “super-Christians” who have miraculous healings or provision or protection and we believe God does it for “those extra-holy Christians” but we don’t believe He will for us. We read the book of Acts and relegate those miracles to the lives of the Apostles. We tell ourselves we’ve out-sinned the love of God. Or even if we know in our heads that the Lord forgives us and desires to restore us, we don’t live our lives like we believe it. So what do we do?
We have to stop and look at what we believe about God. Do we believe that he desires to restore us? To forgive us. To transform our lives. No matter where we’re at. No matter how far we feel from Him. And do we believe that He will intervene in our lives? That by His grace He’ll transform us. That He will fashion us more and more into the image of His Son; and that we’ll be less and less that broken image of ourselves. Once we’ve identified those wrong attitudes, those areas where our faith is broken, we need to say, “These are the ways I’ve wrongly believed who God is” and let them go at the foot of the Cross. Once we’ve done that we need to fill ourselves with who God says He is. Just like Zion, He’s telling us who He is and how He’ll restore us. He’s reaching out His hand to us.
That’s why we need to allow ourselves to hear God’s voice every day. We need to be in God’s Word; reading, studying, memorizing it and reflecting on it. We need to make time for prayer and worship, to be face to face with God. We need to be connected to other believers: to meet for discipleship or mentoring or spiritual direction, and to have accountability and as James says, “confess our sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” All of these are ways in which God communicates to us who He is. They are ways He reaches out His hand to us. Through our faithfulness in our spiritual disciplines we build our foundation of faith. We live our belief that God is who He says He is. And when our circumstances want to get the best of us and tell us something false about God, or our feelings deceive us, our faith will help us to see His Hand reaching out. The hand that has our name etched into its cherished place. The hand of Our Lord Jesus, which was pierced that we might be restored. If we commit ourselves to knowing God through a disciplined spiritual life then in those moments when our feelings deceive us we’ll be able to hear His voice calling out, “Who loves you?” “Daddy loves you.”
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Sermon: the Road to Emmaus ~ Luke 24:13–35
Preached at Light of Christ Anglican Fellowship in Kenosha, WI on April 8th, 2008...
In this morning’s Gospel St. Luke is writing in such a way as to communicate two messages to his audience. The first is what he made clear at the beginning of his Gospel which is “to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed.” (v. 3-4) To simply provide a record of the events of Jesus’ life, and that of the nascent Church, just as a journalist or historian would. The second is his intention to convey, by the way he writes, some deeper truths and patterns for the early Church.
The Road to Emmaus is about how Christ is revealed. How He was revealed to Cleopas and his traveling companion, and how Christ is revealed to the Church and to us.
Our Gospel this morning begins on the day of Christ’s Resurrection, the women have just returned from the empty tomb to tell the Eleven of their encounter with the Angel who proclaimed the Resurrection and reminded them of all that Jesus had told Him about Himself. The scenes changes and the camera pans to two disciples walking down the road talking. They’re leaving Jerusalem for Emmaus. They’re headed home. And this is a strong indication of the condition of their hearts, because as they themselves say, they heard the testimony that Christ had indeed been raised (v. 22-24) but what did they do? Headed home. Contrast this with Peter’s response, what does he do? (v. 12) “But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.” Peter runs towards the tomb and when he confirms what the women say, he marvels. On the contrary these two disciples aren’t interested in confirming it. They leave town disbelieving. Their hope that Jesus was the Messiah crushed.
Into this sad walk home steps Jesus who “drew near to them” to engage them in dialogue. And it’s at this point that we find the first of a few unusual things. First, they are prevented from recognizing Him. It’s not that their grief, or tear-filled eyes, or their presumption that He’s dead is confusing their ability to recognize them. They’re prevented from recognizing Him.
But why might they be prevented from recognizing Him? What if they did recognize Him immediately? They would be elated, ecstatic and respond much like Mary Magdalene and the other women at the tomb and Peter. But if this happened something important would be lost. You see, one of the problems these two disciples had is that they had forgotten what the Scriptures said about the Messiah. And obviously they’d forgotten what Jesus had told them about Himself. They needed to be firmly planted in what the Scriptures teach about Messiah in order to properly understand Jesus. But if they had immediately recognized Jesus this opportunity to be instructed and firmly rooted in Jesus’ identity as the Messiah foretold by Scripture might have been lost in the moment. And a correct understanding of who Scriptures say the Messiah is, is absolutely crucial to our faith isn’t it? It’s like when an airplane’s travels 1 compass degree off its intended course. If you go ten miles, you’re not too far away from your destination, but travel 100 or a 1,000 miles with your compass 1 degree off and you’re nowhere near your destination. Properly understanding the Messiah, and having this understanding firmly planted in what the Scriptures foretell about Him, is so important that Jesus prevents His disciples from recognizing Him in order that He might instruct them in this most important Truth. What an incredible teaching it must’ve been to have Our Lord “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
What do these two reflect about it? That as Jesus did so their hearts were burning within them. To me, it creates this image of the refiner’s fire. They have some dross of wrong belief in their heart, about who Jesus is, and as the Lord teaches them their hearts burn within them, the dross is burned away and what is left is a pure belief in the Messiah.
The second unusual feature is when and how Jesus is finally revealed to them. It’s not once He’s done teaching them. That would seem to make sense wouldn’t it? He’s taught them, corrected their misunderstanding and then…BAM!...He reveals himself. But He doesn’t. It’s also not when they beg Him not to depart but stay with them. This would seem to be an opportune moment to reveal Himself to them. They’ve been taught and then beg Him to stay with them. They certainly seem ready to recognize Him. But He doesn’t reveal Himself here either. No. Where is He revealed to them as Messiah? In the breaking of bread.
They recognize Him in the breaking of bread. Is this random? Is it because at that moment they finally recognized something familiar about Him? His gestures. His hands. The specific prayer He used to bless the bread? Maybe a particular phrase that He had always used before? Is it a coincidence that they recognize Him in the breaking of bread? No. Why not? Because what happens the instant they recognize Him? He vanishes. He would not do something as miraculous, as dramatic, as His vanishing without a specific intention. There was a reason He vanished. And there was a reason He vanished at the precise moment He did. It was because He wanted to punctuate that He had revealed Himself to them in the moment in which He broke bread. Imagine your at the Eucharist on Sunday and immediately after Fr. Eirik (our priest) breaks the bread and says “Christ our passover has been sacrificed for us…” then whoosh! He disappears. Gone. Vanished. You would remember that Eucharist for the rest of your life wouldn’t you? Jesus didn’t vanish after the teaching. He didn’t vanish before they could urge Him to come stay and eat with them. No. He vanished after they recognized Him in the breaking of bread. After instructing them in Scriptures about Himself, the Messiah revealed Himself in the breaking of bread.
And so we have Luke’s journalistic narrative of this event. What about the deeper Truths he’s communicating to his audience, the Early Church? The modern scholars, as well as the early Saints and Fathers of the Church agree that the way in which Luke describes the breaking of bread here is his classic way of describing the Eucharist throughout his Gospel and the Book of Acts. What Luke is driving at by his specific use of language is that “the risen Christ will be present to his assembled disciples, not visibly, but in the breaking of bread.” What he’s driving at for his audience is that, just as the Lord was revealed to the Emmaus disciples in the breaking of bread, he can be revealed to them, and therefore to us, in the breaking of bread.
And this emphasizes how crucial for our Christian life our participation in the weekly Eucharist is. You see, these disciples had been with Jesus for some portion of the last three years of their life. Jesus taught them that the Messiah would suffer and rise in three days, as they themselves indicate when they said, “And it is now the third day.” They had likely witnessed Jesus miraculously break bread in the feeding of the 5,000 and His many other miraculous signs and healings. But in three short days since His crucifixion they’d forgotten it all. They were leaving town. A tragedy occurred and they’d forgotten all they’d been taught…and by Jesus Himself!
And it’s not much different for us. We come to worship Jesus in our celebration of the Eucharist each Sunday and often have those days where we feel great joy, or strength, or faith during our worship. But then Monday comes…life. Now, we don’t always face a tragedy like these two disciples did but we still have distractions: jobs, kids, school, family, bills and homes. And our rooted-ness in the Truth about the Messiah can wane and get watered down by these distractions. We begin to forget that He is who He says He is, who the Scriptures say He is. And He starts to become who we think He is or who we think He ought to be. Or who are circumstances may be trying to tell us He is. But all of these are false.
This is why our liturgy begins with the proclamation of God’s Word: the reading of Holy Scripture, an exposition of these Scriptures by the preacher and then an affirmation of who the Messiah is in the Nicene Creed. All of these have the power to burn away the dross of mistaken belief in our hearts. To correct our compass when it’s just that one degree off.
You see our faith is an anchor, and our instruction in the Word is like adding more weight to that anchor. It makes us more stable in our Faith. Less easily tossed around by the waves of life. This is why it’s so important to return each week to the Eucharist: to the celebration of the Word and the Table. Because if these two disciples, who were instructed by Jesus Himself, can go astray in three days, be tossed around by the waves of life, how much more can we in seven?
But beyond mere correction, don’t our own hearts often “burn within us” when we hear the Word? A particular verse of Scripture, something the preacher says or a point we profess in the Creed touches us in a meaningful and powerful way and “jumps out” at us. We need to make room for the Word to burn within our hearts regularly and one of the best places for this is in the weekly Eucharist.
And then we move from the Word to the Table. To that place where Our Lord so strategically chose to reveal Himself to us as He made so clear by His preventing, revealing and then vanishing from these two disciples. Jesus desires to reveal Himself to us in the breaking of bread. As the Holy Scriptures teach, and our Anglican heritage has inherited, we believe that Jesus is truly present under the forms of the bread and wine. Jesus is revealed before us in our celebration around the Table, in the words of institution prayed over the bread and wine and in the bread and the wine itself, His most precious body and blood.
This is why the weekly celebration of the Eucharist is the anchor of our Faith. And why it is so important to return to it each week. To dispel our doubts and distractions, to reorient the compass of our belief, to allow the word to burn in our hearts and to receive the revelation of Jesus in the breaking of bread.
So we’re faced with a decision. When the waves of life toss us around how will we respond. Will we forget what the Scriptures say and leave town, like these two disciples? Or will we respond like Peter, who ran towards Jesus and when He discovered the empty tomb marveled? May we respond like Peter and run towards the revelation of Jesus available to us in our weekly celebration of the Eucharist.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Sermon: Be Holy, For I the Lord Your God Am Holy ~ Leviticus 19
Preached in my Old Testament class at Nashotah House Theological Seminary, WI on December 5th, 2007...
This text is arguably one of the most significant passages in all of Scripture. It begins with the injunction to “be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” and concludes saying “love your neighbor as yourself”. And it is this very Scripture which both Our Lord and the Apostle Paul say is the summary of the entire Law and the Prophets and leads to eternal life. Eight times we find this Scripture referenced in the New Testament with similar references found elsewhere in Leviticus and Numbers, as well as its striking similarity to the Decalogue (Ten Commandments). You could say this is the “Short Catechism” for Yahweh’s people. So what is the origin of this Catechism?
The Hebrews have fled Egypt, they are encamped in the wilderness and the Lord is now dwelling among them. He has tabernacled Himself among His people. Into this context He addresses Moses at the Tent of Meeting giving him instructions, which are essentially the book of Leviticus. Within the book of Leviticus we find specific instructions on holiness, the Holiness Code, which extends from chapter 18 through 26. And it is within this Holiness Code that we find our text. So Yahweh has delivered His people, He is dwelling among them and He now intends to catechize, or teach, them regarding how to be His people.
He declares “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” thus saying that their identity is to be intrinsically linked with Him. More than anything else His chosen people are to be identified with His character, the culmination of which is His holiness: His sacred-ness, His moral perfection, His set-apart-ness. St. Gregory the Great unpacks it this way: God is telling them “Choose me and keep away from what displeases me. Do what I love; love what I do.”
Having declared the source of their identity He then provides examples of what holiness should look like. First, and most importantly, the evidence of holiness is made manifest in our relations to one another. And while these examples are very specific I would suggest that rather than being an exhaustive list of commandments they are illustrations of what holiness incarnated, or made real in your life, looks like. It looks like an obligation to those who are in need, allowing the Truth to reign in our life and relationships, fairness and compassion, righteousness impartiality…all of which can be summed up in one thing: Loving our neighbor as ourselves. It’s important to note that these illustrations are punctuated by their identification with Yahweh. Each one ends with the refrain “I am the Lord your God”. So as we can see this Catechism has a movement from its foundation in Yahweh and an exhortation to be holy, to an illustration of what holiness incarnated looks like, to its culmination in love for our neighbor.
Another important point is that these illustrations are a cross-section of all our dealings in life. Our holiness is not intended to be “compartmentalized” into one safe place but to permeate every aspect of our existence. While some scholars, such as Martin Noth, would like to suggest that the disjointed-ness of these illustrations indicate they existed independently prior to being collected here in the book of Leviticus, I suggest; along with scholars as varied as Everett Fox and St. Augustine; that this seeming disjointed-ness is not evidence of their being a collected group of miscellaneous sayings. The purpose behind this is to show that holiness is intended to permeate of all the various areas of our life. And I believe Our Lord and St. Paul’s references to them as the summation of the Law and Prophets support this.
Having said all this it begs the question, “Do we allow our own identification with Yahweh to permeate every aspect of our life? Or do we relegate it to our time at Church?” Is our pursuit of holiness rooted in the character of God? Or is it rooted in our Church's particular brand of piety or mountaintop experiences? This Scripture suggests that our identity as Christians absolutely must be rooted in the character of Almighty God. And the only way to accomplish this is to devote ourselves to learning about, and receiving, godly character through our worship, our prayer and study of His Word. And our litmus test of whether or not we are growing in holiness is if it affects the way we relate to one another. To know if we are indeed “holy as the Lord our God is Holy” we only need ask ourselves, “Is there evidence in every aspect of my life that I the Lord with all my heart, mind soul and strength and that I love my neighbor as myself?”. To paraphrase Blessed Johnny Cash, "If you were on trial for being a follower of God would there be enough holiness in the evidence to convict you?"
This text is arguably one of the most significant passages in all of Scripture. It begins with the injunction to “be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” and concludes saying “love your neighbor as yourself”. And it is this very Scripture which both Our Lord and the Apostle Paul say is the summary of the entire Law and the Prophets and leads to eternal life. Eight times we find this Scripture referenced in the New Testament with similar references found elsewhere in Leviticus and Numbers, as well as its striking similarity to the Decalogue (Ten Commandments). You could say this is the “Short Catechism” for Yahweh’s people. So what is the origin of this Catechism?
The Hebrews have fled Egypt, they are encamped in the wilderness and the Lord is now dwelling among them. He has tabernacled Himself among His people. Into this context He addresses Moses at the Tent of Meeting giving him instructions, which are essentially the book of Leviticus. Within the book of Leviticus we find specific instructions on holiness, the Holiness Code, which extends from chapter 18 through 26. And it is within this Holiness Code that we find our text. So Yahweh has delivered His people, He is dwelling among them and He now intends to catechize, or teach, them regarding how to be His people.
He declares “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” thus saying that their identity is to be intrinsically linked with Him. More than anything else His chosen people are to be identified with His character, the culmination of which is His holiness: His sacred-ness, His moral perfection, His set-apart-ness. St. Gregory the Great unpacks it this way: God is telling them “Choose me and keep away from what displeases me. Do what I love; love what I do.”
Having declared the source of their identity He then provides examples of what holiness should look like. First, and most importantly, the evidence of holiness is made manifest in our relations to one another. And while these examples are very specific I would suggest that rather than being an exhaustive list of commandments they are illustrations of what holiness incarnated, or made real in your life, looks like. It looks like an obligation to those who are in need, allowing the Truth to reign in our life and relationships, fairness and compassion, righteousness impartiality…all of which can be summed up in one thing: Loving our neighbor as ourselves. It’s important to note that these illustrations are punctuated by their identification with Yahweh. Each one ends with the refrain “I am the Lord your God”. So as we can see this Catechism has a movement from its foundation in Yahweh and an exhortation to be holy, to an illustration of what holiness incarnated looks like, to its culmination in love for our neighbor.
Another important point is that these illustrations are a cross-section of all our dealings in life. Our holiness is not intended to be “compartmentalized” into one safe place but to permeate every aspect of our existence. While some scholars, such as Martin Noth, would like to suggest that the disjointed-ness of these illustrations indicate they existed independently prior to being collected here in the book of Leviticus, I suggest; along with scholars as varied as Everett Fox and St. Augustine; that this seeming disjointed-ness is not evidence of their being a collected group of miscellaneous sayings. The purpose behind this is to show that holiness is intended to permeate of all the various areas of our life. And I believe Our Lord and St. Paul’s references to them as the summation of the Law and Prophets support this.
Having said all this it begs the question, “Do we allow our own identification with Yahweh to permeate every aspect of our life? Or do we relegate it to our time at Church?” Is our pursuit of holiness rooted in the character of God? Or is it rooted in our Church's particular brand of piety or mountaintop experiences? This Scripture suggests that our identity as Christians absolutely must be rooted in the character of Almighty God. And the only way to accomplish this is to devote ourselves to learning about, and receiving, godly character through our worship, our prayer and study of His Word. And our litmus test of whether or not we are growing in holiness is if it affects the way we relate to one another. To know if we are indeed “holy as the Lord our God is Holy” we only need ask ourselves, “Is there evidence in every aspect of my life that I the Lord with all my heart, mind soul and strength and that I love my neighbor as myself?”. To paraphrase Blessed Johnny Cash, "If you were on trial for being a follower of God would there be enough holiness in the evidence to convict you?"
Monday, February 18, 2008
Sermon: Kingdom People are Cross People ~ John 3:1-17
Preached at Light of Christ Anglican Fellowship in Kenosha, WI on February 17th, 2008...
Today’s Gospel contains what’s arguably one of the most popular and familiar verses for the Church. John 3:16. I suspect many of us even have it memorized. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” It rolls off our tongue. And it’s an incredible verse, in it we have the entire message of the Gospel summarized. But I think sometimes it’s become so familiar it simply becomes a cliché that is disconnected from the dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus in which we find it. So it’s my hope that by looking at it in light of the entire passage we can see more clearly the crux of this message which I believe is that Kingdom People are Cross People.
So we have Nicodemus, he’s a Pharisee and a ruler of Jews and would be considered one of the best and most trusted teachers of Israel. And he comes to Jesus to tell him he thinks Jesus is sent from God. It seems like an admirable thing to do, doesn’t it? “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” You would think Jesus would commend him for this. But how does Jesus reply? "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Huh? It almost seems like Jesus answer doesn’t even match what Nicodemus just said. Sort of, “Hey I just said I think you’re from God because of your signs and wonders and you reply by telling me I can’t see the Kingdom of God unless I’m born again?” Why would Jesus respond this way? Well what’s Nicodemus really saying?
First, he addresses Jesus as Rabbi. Now with Nicodemus being who he is, a Pharisee and teacher, by addressing Jesus as Rabbi what he’s saying is, “We’re equals. I’m a Rabbi, you’re a Rabbi. This is a safe relationship.” Second, and more importantly he says he knows something. He knows that Jesus is a teacher sent from God because of the signs He does. Nicodemus is telling Jesus, “I understand the Kingdom of God and what it looks like.” He’s telling Jesus, “I have the Kingdom of God all figured out. I know what it looks like. I’m a Kingdom Person.” And I think what Nicodemus wants to tell himself is, “I’m safe. I’m in. I’m doing enough. I’m doing enough to be a Kingdom person. I don’t need to change.” But Jesus’ reply says to him, “Actually, you’ve got it all wrong.”
What Jesus’ reply says to Nicodemus is, “You’re claiming to see and understand the Kingdom of God. You’re claiming to be a Kingdom Person. But I’m telling you, you can’t even see the Kingdom of God unless you’ve been born again.” Jesus starts his statement with “Truly, truly…” which is his customary way of saying “Listen up! Because what I’m about to tell you is one of the most important things you’re ever going to hear.” And what is this most important thing? If you want to be a Kingdom Person you’ve got to be born again. Kingdom People are Cross People. To paraphrase an early Christian Saint, Theodore of Mopsuestia, what Jesus is telling Nicodemus is “If you really believe I’m from God, and my miracles have convinced you of it, then you have to do something about it.” You have to have a completely and utterly new way of life. A Kingdom life. St. Basil, another early Christian, says that being born again means you have to cut off your old life and then start a brand new life. What would it look like to cut off our old life? Many of us might think of this in monumental terms of our first big step toward Jesus when we first surrender our life to Him. Our conversion. And at that moment we cut off our old life to begin our new life with Him. But what about those little pieces of our old life that still pop up from time to time? We need to cut those off too, and sometimes it may be a daily process. It may be frustrating and difficult. But if we want to be Kingdom People, we can’t play it safe like Nicodemus. We have to completely surrender ourselves to Jesus. We have to be born again.
So Jesus replies to Nicodemus’ claim to be a Kingdom Person by telling him he has to be born again. Nicodemus then is confused or struggling with what Jesus is telling him. He asks how a man can be born again and takes it in a literal sense. So Jesus explains it for him. Being born again means being born of the water and the Spirit. So what does that mean? I suggest that for Nicodemus the phrase, “born of the water” would call to mind for him something like John’s baptism. A baptism of repentance. A baptism that is that cutting off of the old life in order to start a new life. A taking up our Cross. “Born of the Spirit”, to a Jew of the time like Nicodemus would bring to mind the Holy Spirit, which hovered over the waters at Creation, who spoke through the mouths of the prophets and rested upon the Kings of Israel…this same Spirit will empower us and transform us when we start our new life. And isn’t this exactly what the Sacrament of Baptism is? It’s our profession that we desire to cut off of our old life and the means by which we begin a Spirit-empowered new life in Christ. All of us need that cutting off of our old life. To die to ourselves by taking up our Cross. And by doing so we receive the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit which makes us, and empowers us as Kingdom people.
So Nicodemus claims to be a Kingdom Person and Jesus says you’re not because to be Kingdom People are Cross People. Nicodemus doesn’t understand so Jesus explains it to him: being born again means being born of water and the Spirit. And Nicodemus still doesn’t get it. But it’s not that he simply doesn’t understand. I think he’s refusing to because he doesn’t like what he’s hearing. He doesn’t want to take up his cross, he doesn’t want to change. The reason I think so is because of how Jesus responds: “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this?” Essentially Jesus tells him, “You come to me as a Pharisee, one of the most trusted teachers in all Israel. Claiming to be my equal. Claiming to understand the Kingdom of God. Claiming to be a Kingdom Person. And you can’t even understand the most basic things of the Kingdom?” And he then tell him “you do not receive our testimony.” You’re rejecting what I’m telling you.
I think this begs the question for us: Are we coming to Jesus with what we want to see? With our expectations of what the Kingdom of God should look like? And when Jesus shows us the Truth do we resist? Or are we willing to cut off the old life and allow the Holy Spirit to help us? Because the question isn’t, “Will this happen in our life?” but “When this happens?” There are going to be times when we’ve got it all wrong. We’re going to think we’ve got it all figured it and that we know what being a Kingdom Person means. But the Lord will show us an area that needs to be cut off. He’ll give us an opportunity to take up our Cross. And sometimes we’re like Nicodemus. The Lord is trying to tell us something, and explain it, but we resist. But we need to surrender to Him and allow the Lord to change us because if we don’t then we’re going to get stuck spiritually. Stagnant. Jesus tells Nicodemus, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” In order to see the Kingdom we’ve got to trust the Lord in the mundane things, only then will wee see the heavenly things.
And this leads to what seems to be a disjointed set of statements by Jesus. “No one has ascended into heaven…” and “As Moses lifted up the Serpent…” Why would Jesus throw these in here? He just got done telling Nicodemus “If I’ve told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” and then says He’s descended and will ascend to Heaven. Why? He’s telling Nicodemus “You shouldn’t resist what I say because I speak with more authority regarding the Kingdom of God than anyone because I alone came from heaven and will return to it.” Those moments will arise when Jesus is a calling us to believe Him in an area of our life in order to be Kingdom People. If may feel scary or unsafe or difficult. But the reason why we can put our absolute trust in what He says is because He is the final authority on the Kingdom of God.
And He is not merely the final authority on the Kingdom of God, He is the source of the Kingdom of God. What makes the Kingdom of God possible is the Cross. For the Jews, like Nicodemus, the reference to Moses lifting up the serpent would have been a symbol of the provision of life for God’s people. When Moses lifted up the serpent people were saved. They were healed. Jesus is telling Nicodemus that He is God’s provision of life, of salvation and of healing for His people. And this brings us back to John 3:16, that Jesus is the source of the Kingdom of God. And the source is His Cross. Kingdom People are Cross People.
And the season of Lent is such an appropriate time to submit ourselves to this. Lent is that great season in the Church, to quote Fr. Eirik Olsen, of preparation and fulfillment. In Lent we’re preparing to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. What greater celebration of the Kingdom is there than the feast of the Resurrection? But in order to come to it rightly we need to prepare ourselves. We enter the Kingdom through the Cross. And in Lent we have two disciplines of abstinence and engagement. Abstinence which is fasting from perfectly good things simply to make more room for God to work but also cutting out the pieces of our old life. And engagement being the taking on of disciplines such as meditating on Holy Scripture, more prayer, giving alms or acts of service. By taking up our Cross, and participating in the Cross of Jesus through our remembrance of His Passion, we can truly become Kingdom People. And sometimes it the thought of taking up our Cross sounds burdensome, or difficult, or frustrating. And this is why we have to keeps our eyes fixed upon the goal, the Kingdom. We have to let the Kingdom fill our horizon and hold our Cross in the foreground. And then, with our horizon filled with Kingdom, our cross is in its appropriate perspective…like a little scraggly tree cast against a tremendous beautiful sunset. Keeping our eyes fixed on the Kingdom while we bear our Cross is our source of expectant hope. What could be more wonderful to become a Kingdom Person? A person formed into the image of Jesus Christ. This Lent may we truly be born again, of water and the Spirit, transformed; that we might see the Kingdom of God. Amen.
Today’s Gospel contains what’s arguably one of the most popular and familiar verses for the Church. John 3:16. I suspect many of us even have it memorized. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” It rolls off our tongue. And it’s an incredible verse, in it we have the entire message of the Gospel summarized. But I think sometimes it’s become so familiar it simply becomes a cliché that is disconnected from the dialogue between Nicodemus and Jesus in which we find it. So it’s my hope that by looking at it in light of the entire passage we can see more clearly the crux of this message which I believe is that Kingdom People are Cross People.
So we have Nicodemus, he’s a Pharisee and a ruler of Jews and would be considered one of the best and most trusted teachers of Israel. And he comes to Jesus to tell him he thinks Jesus is sent from God. It seems like an admirable thing to do, doesn’t it? “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” You would think Jesus would commend him for this. But how does Jesus reply? "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Huh? It almost seems like Jesus answer doesn’t even match what Nicodemus just said. Sort of, “Hey I just said I think you’re from God because of your signs and wonders and you reply by telling me I can’t see the Kingdom of God unless I’m born again?” Why would Jesus respond this way? Well what’s Nicodemus really saying?
First, he addresses Jesus as Rabbi. Now with Nicodemus being who he is, a Pharisee and teacher, by addressing Jesus as Rabbi what he’s saying is, “We’re equals. I’m a Rabbi, you’re a Rabbi. This is a safe relationship.” Second, and more importantly he says he knows something. He knows that Jesus is a teacher sent from God because of the signs He does. Nicodemus is telling Jesus, “I understand the Kingdom of God and what it looks like.” He’s telling Jesus, “I have the Kingdom of God all figured out. I know what it looks like. I’m a Kingdom Person.” And I think what Nicodemus wants to tell himself is, “I’m safe. I’m in. I’m doing enough. I’m doing enough to be a Kingdom person. I don’t need to change.” But Jesus’ reply says to him, “Actually, you’ve got it all wrong.”
What Jesus’ reply says to Nicodemus is, “You’re claiming to see and understand the Kingdom of God. You’re claiming to be a Kingdom Person. But I’m telling you, you can’t even see the Kingdom of God unless you’ve been born again.” Jesus starts his statement with “Truly, truly…” which is his customary way of saying “Listen up! Because what I’m about to tell you is one of the most important things you’re ever going to hear.” And what is this most important thing? If you want to be a Kingdom Person you’ve got to be born again. Kingdom People are Cross People. To paraphrase an early Christian Saint, Theodore of Mopsuestia, what Jesus is telling Nicodemus is “If you really believe I’m from God, and my miracles have convinced you of it, then you have to do something about it.” You have to have a completely and utterly new way of life. A Kingdom life. St. Basil, another early Christian, says that being born again means you have to cut off your old life and then start a brand new life. What would it look like to cut off our old life? Many of us might think of this in monumental terms of our first big step toward Jesus when we first surrender our life to Him. Our conversion. And at that moment we cut off our old life to begin our new life with Him. But what about those little pieces of our old life that still pop up from time to time? We need to cut those off too, and sometimes it may be a daily process. It may be frustrating and difficult. But if we want to be Kingdom People, we can’t play it safe like Nicodemus. We have to completely surrender ourselves to Jesus. We have to be born again.
So Jesus replies to Nicodemus’ claim to be a Kingdom Person by telling him he has to be born again. Nicodemus then is confused or struggling with what Jesus is telling him. He asks how a man can be born again and takes it in a literal sense. So Jesus explains it for him. Being born again means being born of the water and the Spirit. So what does that mean? I suggest that for Nicodemus the phrase, “born of the water” would call to mind for him something like John’s baptism. A baptism of repentance. A baptism that is that cutting off of the old life in order to start a new life. A taking up our Cross. “Born of the Spirit”, to a Jew of the time like Nicodemus would bring to mind the Holy Spirit, which hovered over the waters at Creation, who spoke through the mouths of the prophets and rested upon the Kings of Israel…this same Spirit will empower us and transform us when we start our new life. And isn’t this exactly what the Sacrament of Baptism is? It’s our profession that we desire to cut off of our old life and the means by which we begin a Spirit-empowered new life in Christ. All of us need that cutting off of our old life. To die to ourselves by taking up our Cross. And by doing so we receive the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit which makes us, and empowers us as Kingdom people.
So Nicodemus claims to be a Kingdom Person and Jesus says you’re not because to be Kingdom People are Cross People. Nicodemus doesn’t understand so Jesus explains it to him: being born again means being born of water and the Spirit. And Nicodemus still doesn’t get it. But it’s not that he simply doesn’t understand. I think he’s refusing to because he doesn’t like what he’s hearing. He doesn’t want to take up his cross, he doesn’t want to change. The reason I think so is because of how Jesus responds: “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this?” Essentially Jesus tells him, “You come to me as a Pharisee, one of the most trusted teachers in all Israel. Claiming to be my equal. Claiming to understand the Kingdom of God. Claiming to be a Kingdom Person. And you can’t even understand the most basic things of the Kingdom?” And he then tell him “you do not receive our testimony.” You’re rejecting what I’m telling you.
I think this begs the question for us: Are we coming to Jesus with what we want to see? With our expectations of what the Kingdom of God should look like? And when Jesus shows us the Truth do we resist? Or are we willing to cut off the old life and allow the Holy Spirit to help us? Because the question isn’t, “Will this happen in our life?” but “When this happens?” There are going to be times when we’ve got it all wrong. We’re going to think we’ve got it all figured it and that we know what being a Kingdom Person means. But the Lord will show us an area that needs to be cut off. He’ll give us an opportunity to take up our Cross. And sometimes we’re like Nicodemus. The Lord is trying to tell us something, and explain it, but we resist. But we need to surrender to Him and allow the Lord to change us because if we don’t then we’re going to get stuck spiritually. Stagnant. Jesus tells Nicodemus, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” In order to see the Kingdom we’ve got to trust the Lord in the mundane things, only then will wee see the heavenly things.
And this leads to what seems to be a disjointed set of statements by Jesus. “No one has ascended into heaven…” and “As Moses lifted up the Serpent…” Why would Jesus throw these in here? He just got done telling Nicodemus “If I’ve told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” and then says He’s descended and will ascend to Heaven. Why? He’s telling Nicodemus “You shouldn’t resist what I say because I speak with more authority regarding the Kingdom of God than anyone because I alone came from heaven and will return to it.” Those moments will arise when Jesus is a calling us to believe Him in an area of our life in order to be Kingdom People. If may feel scary or unsafe or difficult. But the reason why we can put our absolute trust in what He says is because He is the final authority on the Kingdom of God.
And He is not merely the final authority on the Kingdom of God, He is the source of the Kingdom of God. What makes the Kingdom of God possible is the Cross. For the Jews, like Nicodemus, the reference to Moses lifting up the serpent would have been a symbol of the provision of life for God’s people. When Moses lifted up the serpent people were saved. They were healed. Jesus is telling Nicodemus that He is God’s provision of life, of salvation and of healing for His people. And this brings us back to John 3:16, that Jesus is the source of the Kingdom of God. And the source is His Cross. Kingdom People are Cross People.
And the season of Lent is such an appropriate time to submit ourselves to this. Lent is that great season in the Church, to quote Fr. Eirik Olsen, of preparation and fulfillment. In Lent we’re preparing to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. What greater celebration of the Kingdom is there than the feast of the Resurrection? But in order to come to it rightly we need to prepare ourselves. We enter the Kingdom through the Cross. And in Lent we have two disciplines of abstinence and engagement. Abstinence which is fasting from perfectly good things simply to make more room for God to work but also cutting out the pieces of our old life. And engagement being the taking on of disciplines such as meditating on Holy Scripture, more prayer, giving alms or acts of service. By taking up our Cross, and participating in the Cross of Jesus through our remembrance of His Passion, we can truly become Kingdom People. And sometimes it the thought of taking up our Cross sounds burdensome, or difficult, or frustrating. And this is why we have to keeps our eyes fixed upon the goal, the Kingdom. We have to let the Kingdom fill our horizon and hold our Cross in the foreground. And then, with our horizon filled with Kingdom, our cross is in its appropriate perspective…like a little scraggly tree cast against a tremendous beautiful sunset. Keeping our eyes fixed on the Kingdom while we bear our Cross is our source of expectant hope. What could be more wonderful to become a Kingdom Person? A person formed into the image of Jesus Christ. This Lent may we truly be born again, of water and the Spirit, transformed; that we might see the Kingdom of God. Amen.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Sermon: Always pray. Don’t lose heart. God is faithful. ~ Luke 18:1-8
Preached at St. Mark's Church of the Anglican Communion in Silvis, IL on October 21st, 2007...
Always pray. Don’t lose heart. God is faithful. Our Gospel this morning opens by saying that “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Always pray and not give up. But why does Jesus need to tell his disciples to always pray and not give up here?
In order to understand this we need to look at the passage preceding it in Luke 17:20-37. The Pharisees ask when the Kingdom of God will come and Jesus responds by telling them they’ve got it wrong because it is “within you”. He then tells his disciples “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it”. He then goes on to explain that it will be dreadful and catch people unaware. And afterward his disciples respond in a way that shows they will indeed long to see His day… “Where, Lord?”
So Jesus tells them they’ll long to see one of His days, but won’t therefore pray always and don’t give up. Some other versions of the Bible translate it…“never quit”, “not become weary”, “not lose heart” and “not faint”. And I believe what Jesus is giving them in one sense is some preventative medicine. Because longing that goes unrealized has the potential to lead to despair or anger or apathy. Think of a situation where you’ve longed for something that hasn’t come to pass. What might we do? We doubt God, we lose hope, we become angry at God, or we just stop caring. All of these are attitudes that have the potential to become faith destroyers. And into this Jesus presents us with the example of how to overcome these potential faith destroyers. And what does he prescribe to overcome these? Hopeful, prayerful perseverance. And He shows us what it looks like to persevere, to be one who always prays and doesn’t lose heart. And who in Jesus’ opinion models it for us? A widow.
To understand how powerful Jesus’ example of hopeful, prayerful perseverance is we have to understand what it meant to be a widow. To be a widow in Jesus’ day typically meant, that in addition to the trauma of losing her husband, she was poverty-stricken, helpless, oppressed, exploited and unable to get justice. Widows were a symbol of utter helplessness. Now contrast this with judges. They held great power and authority and therefore were called to be absolutely impartial, to shun bribes, to not favor the rich or the poor. Judges had to be absolutely blameless. So when Jesus describes this judge as unjust he describing this person as a scoundrel among scoundrels. So here we have one of the most helpless members of society seeking justice from one of the most corrupt people in society. If ever there were an utterly hopeless situation this is it. The most helpless seeking justice from the most corrupt. It certainly would be easy to lose heart, to give up, to throw your hands in the air and say “It’s hopeless”. Or to get angry and say “Not fair!” But does the widow do this? No, what does Jesus say? “She kept coming to Him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.” She kept coming to him. The original languages imply that, she kept coming to him again and again and again. It reminds me of the scene in the Passion of the Christ where Our Lord is being flogged and it’s absolutely brutal. He’s knocked down, suffering and the Roman soldiers are standing over Him as He’s lies on the ground, helpless…and then He gets up! And their expressions of mocking and jeering turn to astonishment. And this is what the widow models for us. A completely hopeless situation. But rather than give in to despair she perseveres. She refuses to lose heart, she refuses to give up. She keeps coming to the judge. And we likewise need to keep praying. Because prayer is our anchor in those times when we’re longing and waiting and hoping. Not simply because we’re continuing to ask for our need to be met. But because by praying we’re maintaining our relationship with the Lord during our time of need. We’re returning to our source of strength and peace. And more than any other time in our life, it is when we feel desperate that we absolutely have to cling to God. This is when we have to always pray, don’t lose heart, don’t give up.
And one of those reasons we should not lose heart is because God is faithful. Jesus concludes His parable by saying, “Listen to what the unjust judge says…” Now in the language of His day this was how you said, “Pay attention, I’m about to give you the moral of the story here”. “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly.”
Pay attention, this is really important…The lesson here is this: God will come through for those who persevere. When we’re longing, when we’re waiting we have to remember God is faithful. He will come through.
Now in the Gospel here it says, “He will see that they get justice, and quickly”. And it’s important to spend a little time on what ‘quickly’ means. I think what we might hear is that God is going to do what I pray for fast. If I pray today, He’ll answer tomorrow. But this isn’t what this means here in Jesus’ language. He’s not saying God will grant justice ‘after a short waiting period’ but He will grant justice ‘suddenly’. Bam! And this is consistent with Jesus parable, the widow doesn’t get her request the next day does she? What Jesus is saying is, God is faithful and He will answer suddenly, sort of “when you least expect it God will show that He’s faithful”.
And this is an important thing to remember when we’re in a place of longing, of desiring justice or what’s fair. God isn’t necessarily going to work according to our schedule. He’s not going to do things the way we want Him to or according to our plan. But He is going to come through. And when He does it’s going to be perfect. And if we are mindful that God will come through, and that when He does it will be exactly what we need how could we give up? When our longing is placed upon one who has a perfect plan for us and loves how could we lose heart?
Therefore, how we wait is what will make the difference. Will we be like the widow? Prayerful, hopeful, persevering? Always pray. Don’t lose heart. God is faithful.
And this is how Jesus ends this lesson. “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” At first it sounds a bit disconnected from the rest of what He's saying. Almost an out of the blue. But I believe what He’s saying is, “Will I find this prayerful, hopeful perseverance? Will I find the faith of these widows? Or will I find those who’ve given up? Who’ve stopped praying? Who’ve given up on God, their source and their strength?” What He’s saying is, “God will prove Himself to be faithful, will you?” God will prove Himself to be faithful, but will Jesus find those who always pray, who don’t lose heart, who are characterized by prayerful, hopeful perseverance? Not even, but especially when it hopeless. When we want to throw in the towel. When we’re just exhausted, spent. When we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel… That’s when we need to always pray, to not give up, to not lose heart and to remember that God is faithful. In those times will Jesus find that kind of faith in us? Jesus tells us in this passage that God will prove Himself faithful. Will we? Always pray. Don’t lose heart. God is faithful.
And for those of us who have given our lives to Jesus this is what we’re called to. And there might be some of us here today who haven’t even given much thought to God, or maybe you struggle with believing that He’s really there or that He cares; maybe you don’t believe that God is real at all, maybe your running from Him. Wherever you are, if you’ve never said yes to God, then I challenge you to take a risk. To take Jesus at His word. To allow God to prove that’s He’s faithful, that He cares for you, that He’ll come through and that He’s real. If that’s a decision you’d like make today, then say Yes to Jesus.
Always pray. Don’t lose heart. God is faithful. Our Gospel this morning opens by saying that “Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Always pray and not give up. But why does Jesus need to tell his disciples to always pray and not give up here?
In order to understand this we need to look at the passage preceding it in Luke 17:20-37. The Pharisees ask when the Kingdom of God will come and Jesus responds by telling them they’ve got it wrong because it is “within you”. He then tells his disciples “The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it”. He then goes on to explain that it will be dreadful and catch people unaware. And afterward his disciples respond in a way that shows they will indeed long to see His day… “Where, Lord?”
So Jesus tells them they’ll long to see one of His days, but won’t therefore pray always and don’t give up. Some other versions of the Bible translate it…“never quit”, “not become weary”, “not lose heart” and “not faint”. And I believe what Jesus is giving them in one sense is some preventative medicine. Because longing that goes unrealized has the potential to lead to despair or anger or apathy. Think of a situation where you’ve longed for something that hasn’t come to pass. What might we do? We doubt God, we lose hope, we become angry at God, or we just stop caring. All of these are attitudes that have the potential to become faith destroyers. And into this Jesus presents us with the example of how to overcome these potential faith destroyers. And what does he prescribe to overcome these? Hopeful, prayerful perseverance. And He shows us what it looks like to persevere, to be one who always prays and doesn’t lose heart. And who in Jesus’ opinion models it for us? A widow.
To understand how powerful Jesus’ example of hopeful, prayerful perseverance is we have to understand what it meant to be a widow. To be a widow in Jesus’ day typically meant, that in addition to the trauma of losing her husband, she was poverty-stricken, helpless, oppressed, exploited and unable to get justice. Widows were a symbol of utter helplessness. Now contrast this with judges. They held great power and authority and therefore were called to be absolutely impartial, to shun bribes, to not favor the rich or the poor. Judges had to be absolutely blameless. So when Jesus describes this judge as unjust he describing this person as a scoundrel among scoundrels. So here we have one of the most helpless members of society seeking justice from one of the most corrupt people in society. If ever there were an utterly hopeless situation this is it. The most helpless seeking justice from the most corrupt. It certainly would be easy to lose heart, to give up, to throw your hands in the air and say “It’s hopeless”. Or to get angry and say “Not fair!” But does the widow do this? No, what does Jesus say? “She kept coming to Him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.” She kept coming to him. The original languages imply that, she kept coming to him again and again and again. It reminds me of the scene in the Passion of the Christ where Our Lord is being flogged and it’s absolutely brutal. He’s knocked down, suffering and the Roman soldiers are standing over Him as He’s lies on the ground, helpless…and then He gets up! And their expressions of mocking and jeering turn to astonishment. And this is what the widow models for us. A completely hopeless situation. But rather than give in to despair she perseveres. She refuses to lose heart, she refuses to give up. She keeps coming to the judge. And we likewise need to keep praying. Because prayer is our anchor in those times when we’re longing and waiting and hoping. Not simply because we’re continuing to ask for our need to be met. But because by praying we’re maintaining our relationship with the Lord during our time of need. We’re returning to our source of strength and peace. And more than any other time in our life, it is when we feel desperate that we absolutely have to cling to God. This is when we have to always pray, don’t lose heart, don’t give up.
And one of those reasons we should not lose heart is because God is faithful. Jesus concludes His parable by saying, “Listen to what the unjust judge says…” Now in the language of His day this was how you said, “Pay attention, I’m about to give you the moral of the story here”. “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly.”
Pay attention, this is really important…The lesson here is this: God will come through for those who persevere. When we’re longing, when we’re waiting we have to remember God is faithful. He will come through.
Now in the Gospel here it says, “He will see that they get justice, and quickly”. And it’s important to spend a little time on what ‘quickly’ means. I think what we might hear is that God is going to do what I pray for fast. If I pray today, He’ll answer tomorrow. But this isn’t what this means here in Jesus’ language. He’s not saying God will grant justice ‘after a short waiting period’ but He will grant justice ‘suddenly’. Bam! And this is consistent with Jesus parable, the widow doesn’t get her request the next day does she? What Jesus is saying is, God is faithful and He will answer suddenly, sort of “when you least expect it God will show that He’s faithful”.
And this is an important thing to remember when we’re in a place of longing, of desiring justice or what’s fair. God isn’t necessarily going to work according to our schedule. He’s not going to do things the way we want Him to or according to our plan. But He is going to come through. And when He does it’s going to be perfect. And if we are mindful that God will come through, and that when He does it will be exactly what we need how could we give up? When our longing is placed upon one who has a perfect plan for us and loves how could we lose heart?
Therefore, how we wait is what will make the difference. Will we be like the widow? Prayerful, hopeful, persevering? Always pray. Don’t lose heart. God is faithful.
And this is how Jesus ends this lesson. “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” At first it sounds a bit disconnected from the rest of what He's saying. Almost an out of the blue. But I believe what He’s saying is, “Will I find this prayerful, hopeful perseverance? Will I find the faith of these widows? Or will I find those who’ve given up? Who’ve stopped praying? Who’ve given up on God, their source and their strength?” What He’s saying is, “God will prove Himself to be faithful, will you?” God will prove Himself to be faithful, but will Jesus find those who always pray, who don’t lose heart, who are characterized by prayerful, hopeful perseverance? Not even, but especially when it hopeless. When we want to throw in the towel. When we’re just exhausted, spent. When we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel… That’s when we need to always pray, to not give up, to not lose heart and to remember that God is faithful. In those times will Jesus find that kind of faith in us? Jesus tells us in this passage that God will prove Himself faithful. Will we? Always pray. Don’t lose heart. God is faithful.
And for those of us who have given our lives to Jesus this is what we’re called to. And there might be some of us here today who haven’t even given much thought to God, or maybe you struggle with believing that He’s really there or that He cares; maybe you don’t believe that God is real at all, maybe your running from Him. Wherever you are, if you’ve never said yes to God, then I challenge you to take a risk. To take Jesus at His word. To allow God to prove that’s He’s faithful, that He cares for you, that He’ll come through and that He’s real. If that’s a decision you’d like make today, then say Yes to Jesus.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Sermon: If You Want More Faith, Be Faithful ~ Luke 17:5-10
Preached at Light of Christ Anglican Fellowship in Kenosha, WI and St. Mary's Chapel at Nashotah House on October 7th, 2007...If you want more faith, be faithful. “Lord, increase our faith.” This is the request the apostles make of Jesus in our Gospel today. I’m sure we’ve all prayed a prayer similar to this: “Lord increase my faith”. But notice that Jesus responds to this request with strong words. He says, “If you had even a mustard seed of faith you could say to this mulberry tree ‘be uprooted’ and it would obey you.” And he then gives the example of the dutiful servant. So they make a request which elicits strong words from Jesus. But why did they ask this and why does Jesus respond so strongly?
Immediately before they make their request Jesus gives them a challenge for radical discipleship. He tells them if their brother sins against them to forgive him up to seven times. Now, the Rabbis of their day were telling them if you forgive your brother three times you were doing really well. But Jesus doubles it and adds one. He demands radical forgiveness and His disciples respond by asking "Lord, increase our faith”. Essentially, "That’s too hard for us, we can’t do it so you’re doing to have to make it happen." Their request is an acknowledgment of their resignation. It reminds me of a scene in the Star Wars movie the Empire Strikes Back. Luke Skywalker is on the planet Dagobah being trained to become a Jedi by Yoda the Jedi Master. At one point Yoda tells Luke to use the force to lift his X-wing fighter out of the swamp. Luke kind of sighs and says, “I’ll try” and Yoda sternly responds by saying, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.” The Message, a paraphrase of the Bible, translates it this way "You don't need more faith. There is no 'more' or 'less' in faith.” Of course I’m not comparing Jesus to Yoda but I couldn’t help but noticing the similarity here. Luke Skywalker and the Apostles are issued a challenge, they respond with resignation and then are fittingly rebuked for it and told “Do. Or do not”, “there is no more or less in faith”, "If you had even a kernel of faith you could do incredible things." It’s a harsh reply from Jesus, he’s essentially saying you either have faith or you don’t, so have it! If you want more faith, be faithful.
And I believe the reason Jesus responds so strongly is because understanding this is crucial to being a disciple. Faith is the foundation. He’s sending them the message, “Pay attention! You have got to get this one right because it is the basis for everything else you’re going to do”. He is using a strong example to explain to them that faith is so important, so foundational because it is a source of incredible power for us. This is an example He uses often in the Gospels, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can move a mountain, tell a mountain to go into the sea, tell a tree to go into the sea”. What Jesus is saying is that if you have even a kernel of faith you can do incredible things for God. "Pay attention to this guys because it’s the foundation of your life in God and a source of great Kingdom power."
He then gives, what to us as modern people, might seem to be an unusual example. A servant comes in from working hard in the fields and tending sheep and instead of sitting down to eat he changes clothes, serves his master until he’s done, and then he eats. He doesn’t get any praise for going above and beyond because he’s simply done his job. Jesus is using this example because it's something His disciples would’ve understood. Sort of a, “Of course a servant doesn’t sit down and eat until his master’s done. We get it.” And Jesus ends it by saying, “So you too, when you’ve done all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.” We don’t get special accolades for being faithful. Doing all that Jesus commands isn’t going above and beyond. Being faithful is our duty. It’s what’s expected of us as Christians. And if we want more faith, we need to be faithful.
Someone whom I think embodies this example of the faithful servant is St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis was the wealthy and popular son of a merchant when he had a powerful conversion to Jesus. He had an incredible desire to be faithful to the Lord and spent his days in prayer, in serving lepers, preaching and living a life pleasing to God. And...He took Jesus at His word. As people started to follow him he decided they would need a Rule of Life. To compose it he asked a priest to open the Gospel three times and whatever passages it opened to would be their Rule. Upon doing so he received the following: “If you will be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor", "Take nothing for your journey" and "If anyone wishes to come after me, let them deny themselves, take up the cross and follow me." So what did he do? Exactly what these Scriptures said he should! He did “all the things that were commanded of him”. He craved more faith. And he knew exactly how to obtain it. By being faithful. If you want more faith, be faithful. What was the result? Within his lifetime those who wished to follow his way of faithfulness numbered in the thousands and St. Francis sparked a movement that would help the medieval Church, which had “forsaken its first love” (see Rev 2:17), return to its Gospel center.
And I believe this is one example of the power of faith Jesus was talking about when He said “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’ and it would obey you”. If you have even a kernel of faith, you can do the most incredible things for the Kingdom of God. As I think about Light of Christ Anglican Fellowship and Nashotah House’s place in the Kingdom of God right now I’m excited to see evidence of the power of our faith at work. It reinforces for me the importance of these works being utterly founded on our faithfulness. Who knows where these wonderful things begun now can go if they remain grounded upon faith?
But I think it important to take a moment to talk a little about what exactly faith is. It’s a word that is so commonly used in our culture that I think it can easily be taken for granted. As I studied what faith means I found that it has elements of belief, trust and hope. So one aspect of faith is belief, do we believe that God is who He says He is and that His Word is true? And is there evidence that we believe Him by the way we live our lives? Another aspect of faith is trust, the kind of trust that empowers someone on the windowsill of a towering inferno to jump to the fireman with outstretched arms who says “I’ll catch you!” And finally hope, that forward-looking virtue which is expectant of the Kingdom of God to appear in our lives. This is what we should desire more of; belief, trust and hope. The virtues that when weaved together become faith. If you want more faith, be faithful.
As we prepare to receive from the Lord in the Eucharist I encourage each of us to take a moment in quietness and ask the Lord to reveal any areas where we need to yield to Him in faith: in our belief, our trust, our hope. May each of us respond in the way of St. Francis, in the way of the dutiful servant and may we do all the things which Jesus commands us saying, “We have only done that which we ought to have done”. May we obtain the power that lies in faith, by being faithful.
Sermon: Real Princes Wear Aprons, Not Crowns ~ Matthew 20: 20-28
Preached at Christ Church (Episcopal) in South Hamilton, Mass on July 15th, 2007...
Our passage opens with a Mom and her two boys. And she wants the best for her boys so she makes a bold request: that they sit at the right and left of Jesus when He comes into His Kingdom.
She desires greatness, honor, prestige, position, power. Now it might be easy to look down our noses at Mom and the Zebedee boys here. You know, “The nerve!” Βut we’re culpable too. We may not be as bold as Mama Zebedee about it but we need to admit we all want greatness. It’s something that’s built into the fabric of our culture. What’s the direction we all work towards in our careers or vocations? Up! Promotions. Μore money. Or what about: “I golf every Tuesday with Rick Warren” or “My brother-in-law…he just became CEO of Microsoft” or “I graduated from Oxford”. What do we think we hear statements like these? “Wow, I sure would like to be them.”
So we need to be honest and examine ourselves and ask, “What kind of greatness am I pursuing?” I know I myself struggle with this as a man entering the clergy. You know, I get to wear a clerical collar now and when I put on my collar and my robes and I look in the mirror there’s a part of me that thinks, “This looks good! I like how this feels.” But it’s false. It’s not real. Because real princes don’t wear crowns. And I think each of us needs to look into our heart and figure what kind of crowns we’re chasing after.
Our desire for greatness is fed by our sense of entitlement. We’ve earned it. We’re ready for it. We deserve it. And that’s what we see in this passage. Jesus says, “You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” And they boldly reply, “We are able.” I think the reason they’re asking this is because they really believe they’re able. If they didn’t think they had some kind of entitlement they couldn’t ask. And how does Jesus respond, “to sit on my right My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those it has been prepared by My Father.” You’re asking the wrong question. They’re asking for something Jesus can’t give them. They want to be princes. And they want to wear crowns. But the problem is real princes aprons, not crowns. In God’s economy you can’t be a real prince and wear a crown. And sometimes we’re asking things of God for ourselves that aren’t possible because they go against the character of God or His will. When we examine our desires we need to ask; “Is this consistent with the character of God??”
So we’ve got the Ζebedee brothers who think they’re entitled to top billing in the kingdom of God. And what do the other disciples do when they hear this? They’re indignant. They get into an argument based on a worldly economy. “What makes them think they’re any more entitled to that than we are?” But Jesus says, hold on guys you’re called to be different. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you” To paraphrase, “C’mon guys…you know that’s how the world operates. But you’re called to be different”. Worldly greatness looks like that, but Kingdom greatness looks like this. And if you want to be Kingdom great you’re going to have to change your thinking. Remember, real princes wear aprons, not crowns.
If we as Christians are going to understand what it means to be great we have to change our thinking from that of the world. And the Lord is saying that greatness looks exactly the opposite of it. “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.” You want to be a REAL prince? Stop window shopping for a shiny new crown and instead go put on an apron and get to work. And for the disciples and those of Jesus day I have to think his words must’ve had some startling impact. Be a slave? Someone who does the most menial tasks for others? The most humbling, humiliating of all stations in life? Slaves don’t even own the right to themselves? And like a slave someone who’s truly great in the Kingdom of God completely relinquishes their right to themselves and serves others. Jesus tells the disciples that greatness means being a servant and then gives Himself as the example, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”. And this is exactly what He models for them the night before He died. He stripped down, put a towel around His waste, got down on the floor and washed His disciples’ dirty feet like a slave. Their Teacher, their Rabbi, is doing the most menial task in their culture possible for them. He shows them that greatness is about serving and to be truly great you need to strip down, wrap a towel around your waste and wash dirty feet.
So do we desire greatness? Ιf we do, have we examined that desire? Do we want to be really great for the Lord? Then we need to follow His example. If we want to be a real prince in the Kingdom of God then we need to put on an apron and serve our brothers and sisters. Because real princes wear aprons, not crowns.
She desires greatness, honor, prestige, position, power. Now it might be easy to look down our noses at Mom and the Zebedee boys here. You know, “The nerve!” Βut we’re culpable too. We may not be as bold as Mama Zebedee about it but we need to admit we all want greatness. It’s something that’s built into the fabric of our culture. What’s the direction we all work towards in our careers or vocations? Up! Promotions. Μore money. Or what about: “I golf every Tuesday with Rick Warren” or “My brother-in-law…he just became CEO of Microsoft” or “I graduated from Oxford”. What do we think we hear statements like these? “Wow, I sure would like to be them.”
So we need to be honest and examine ourselves and ask, “What kind of greatness am I pursuing?” I know I myself struggle with this as a man entering the clergy. You know, I get to wear a clerical collar now and when I put on my collar and my robes and I look in the mirror there’s a part of me that thinks, “This looks good! I like how this feels.” But it’s false. It’s not real. Because real princes don’t wear crowns. And I think each of us needs to look into our heart and figure what kind of crowns we’re chasing after.
Our desire for greatness is fed by our sense of entitlement. We’ve earned it. We’re ready for it. We deserve it. And that’s what we see in this passage. Jesus says, “You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” And they boldly reply, “We are able.” I think the reason they’re asking this is because they really believe they’re able. If they didn’t think they had some kind of entitlement they couldn’t ask. And how does Jesus respond, “to sit on my right My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those it has been prepared by My Father.” You’re asking the wrong question. They’re asking for something Jesus can’t give them. They want to be princes. And they want to wear crowns. But the problem is real princes aprons, not crowns. In God’s economy you can’t be a real prince and wear a crown. And sometimes we’re asking things of God for ourselves that aren’t possible because they go against the character of God or His will. When we examine our desires we need to ask; “Is this consistent with the character of God??”
So we’ve got the Ζebedee brothers who think they’re entitled to top billing in the kingdom of God. And what do the other disciples do when they hear this? They’re indignant. They get into an argument based on a worldly economy. “What makes them think they’re any more entitled to that than we are?” But Jesus says, hold on guys you’re called to be different. “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not so among you” To paraphrase, “C’mon guys…you know that’s how the world operates. But you’re called to be different”. Worldly greatness looks like that, but Kingdom greatness looks like this. And if you want to be Kingdom great you’re going to have to change your thinking. Remember, real princes wear aprons, not crowns.
If we as Christians are going to understand what it means to be great we have to change our thinking from that of the world. And the Lord is saying that greatness looks exactly the opposite of it. “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.” You want to be a REAL prince? Stop window shopping for a shiny new crown and instead go put on an apron and get to work. And for the disciples and those of Jesus day I have to think his words must’ve had some startling impact. Be a slave? Someone who does the most menial tasks for others? The most humbling, humiliating of all stations in life? Slaves don’t even own the right to themselves? And like a slave someone who’s truly great in the Kingdom of God completely relinquishes their right to themselves and serves others. Jesus tells the disciples that greatness means being a servant and then gives Himself as the example, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”. And this is exactly what He models for them the night before He died. He stripped down, put a towel around His waste, got down on the floor and washed His disciples’ dirty feet like a slave. Their Teacher, their Rabbi, is doing the most menial task in their culture possible for them. He shows them that greatness is about serving and to be truly great you need to strip down, wrap a towel around your waste and wash dirty feet.
So do we desire greatness? Ιf we do, have we examined that desire? Do we want to be really great for the Lord? Then we need to follow His example. If we want to be a real prince in the Kingdom of God then we need to put on an apron and serve our brothers and sisters. Because real princes wear aprons, not crowns.
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