Full time faith, 12.29.13

Matthew 5:13-19

13“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 14“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. 15No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house.16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.


17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.


John 15:9-17

9As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.


12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
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A lot of the ways we talk about Jesus focus on big moments. If you read the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicean Creed, two landmark statements of faith not only for the Presbyterian Church, but for the church universal, all they say about Jesus’ life is that he was “conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.”


Those are all important things, but they are not the whole story. Jesus lived a whole life between those moments. His incarnation, his becoming human for us was not just his birth. His sacrifice for us was not just his suffering and death on a cross. His life also tells us about God’s priorities and it shows us what it means to live a life in sync with God. That whole life is our example, not just the highlights.


There’s a feeling about our lives too that can go along with the highlight reel Jesus. We can think of our life mostly in terms of big moments too: our birth, graduation, our wedding, the birth of our children, et cetera. We might think of our faith journey in moments too: memories of Sunday school, confirmation, when we first claimed our faith, the moment we were “saved.” The big moments are important, they provide the outlines of our lives and give shape to something that often feels pretty squishy, pretty nebulous, but they are not the whole story or even the most important part.


The biggest part of our lives, and Jesus’ life is the little stuff. While the major moments are easier to pick out, ultimately, the day to day direction of our life is more important. While we can call single episodes defining moments with some honesty, the day to day details are what make the definition true or false. If I say I’m a Christian, then not just the big moments, but also the small, even unnoticed details should say the same thing. Otherwise, I’m a hypocrite, not a Christian.


Jesus didn’t just appear to die, and he didn’t just come to free us from sin in a flash so we could have a ticket to heaven. He came to show us what a faithful life looks like, to show us how to live here and now in this troubled, but also sacred world. If we follow Jesus, our goal is for our lives to match his life, not perfectly, not exactly, but in general. If Jesus is light in the darkness for us, we are called to be light in the darkness for others. As the Father sent Jesus into the world, Jesus sends us into the world now.


One thing we see when we look at Jesus’ life is that the whole thing fits together. In other words, Jesus lived with integrity. His birth in a barn was strange, but it wasn’t disconnected from the rest of his life. His birth was about taking a step from heaven to earth, and choosing to step into human history in a particularly humble way.


The rest of his life showed the same concerns; he lived a humble life and focused his ministry on the poor. His teachings talked about putting God first, about the last becoming first, about the care of others in all our decisions. He died a humble death like a slave or a rebel, hung between two thieves, one of whom he was welcoming into God’s kingdom. The big moments and the consistent teaching in Jesus’ life speak the same message: love God and love others.


Our goal is the same: not only to speak the faith of Christ but to live it as well. Not only to live our faith in our worship, our “saving moment,” but in our everyday choices, at work, at the bar, taking our kids to activities, in our family relationships.


The point of everything we do in church is not a moment when someone says, “I believe, sign me up.” The point is to produce and nurture lives of faithfulness that will touch other people with God’s love and grace. The goal is the overall trajectory and integrity of our lives. The goal is day in and day out loving faithfulness.


Our passages don’t use those words, but they do share that idea. Jesus tells his disciples they are the salt of the earth, which means they have to stay salty; they can’t just be salty at the beginning. He says they are the light of the world. That means they need to shine their light so people can see their good deeds and give praise to God. That means they have to do good deeds regularly, not just when people are looking. They need to shine light for others all the time, not just when it’s convenient.


The key word in the passage from John is “Abide.” That means, stay or remain. Jesus tells his disciples to abide in his love by keeping his commandments. That means we’re not just supposed to feel Jesus’ love at Christmas and Easter; we’re invited to rest in Christ’s love all the time. Along with abide, we see the word commandment; in other words, resting in Christ’s love isn’t passive, we don’t just receive love, we also actively seek it out through a life of obedience.


The other key idea is matching Jesus’ life of love. Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so I love you; love one another as I have loved you.” Jesus invites the disciples, he invites us, to take his life as an example for our lives. We see something special in Jesus. There’s something compelling, something inviting about his life; his story catches our attention. We’re called to be filled and transformed by his love, and to live that love for others in our own lives.


Jesus lets the disciples know that the love he’s talking about isn’t a warm fuzzy feeling, but full of courageous and sacrificial action: “No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” He’s right up front with them that their love for others, like his love for them, is going to cost them dearly. The disciples at that table won’t all die for their faith, but they do all put love into action as the guiding commitment, the consuming passion of the rest of their lives.


That means we can expect hardship to be part of our life too. Our faith is going to cost us something. The life we live as Jesus’ disciples is not a spectator sport, but an active engagement with other people in a loving way. Different Christians live that out in different ways, but true discipleship can’t be just a small part of our life.


When I think about Christians laying down their lives for their friends I think about Christian Peacemaking teams. These are groups of Christians trained in non-violence, who go to unstable places in the world to support people there. Christian Peacemakers from the US travelled to Iraq before and after the US invasion to put themselves where US bombs were going and show that the church in the US cared.


Similar ministries happened in Columbia at the height of the violence there. Christian accompanists stood alongside Columbian peacemakers to show that they were not alone. These folks risked their lives to show the love of Jesus for those in harm’s way.


I think also about civil rights protestors in the American south who put their bodies on the line for freedom and dignity. I think about the women’s prayer movement that took to the streets to protest the Liberian civil war and to pray for peace. Through Christian and Muslim women praying, marching and working together, the Liberian dictator Charles Taylor was thrown out and hope for peace under a democratically elected president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is alive and well.


These are examples of Christians laying down their lives to put their faith into action. In many of these cases the ministries were not only moments of courage and risk, but also consistent commitment to a faithful struggle. The women of Liberia sang and prayed publically for peace for more than a year. Many of the civil rights leaders in the US put the rest of their lives on hold to commit to the movement. Accompanists in Columbia trained extensively and then moved to Columbia for months or even a year.


More to the point, these actions are the fruit of lives of committed discipleship. Even if they are highlights, they rise out of preparation and practice so that the Christians are ready to lay down their lives when the moment comes. The lives of true disciples are consistently about love; remarkable episodes of faithfulness are part of the wider story, not disconnected moments.


All that sounds very heavy, and discipleship is serious, life-changing business. It’s also joyful. Jesus says he’s giving his disciples this commandment to love so that their joy may be complete. Following Jesus is hard sometimes, but it’s also wonderful and freeing. When we decide to follow Jesus we are set free from chasing worldly success. We’re set free from the stress of measuring ourselves against other people in terms of wealth or accomplishments. We’re free to simply love other people, to serve other people, to listen, to care. We’re free to rest in the love of Jesus and to let that love shine through us to the world.


You and I have somehow been drawn to Jesus. Something about his story and his love attracts us, so here we are. In some way we have all decided to follow Jesus, but maybe we haven’t really committed to that yet. Maybe we’re still trying to follow with part of our life. If that’s the case for you, if you think of your faith as one small part of your life you probably feel stress and tension. You probably feel unsure about how your life fits together, and phrases like “complete joy,” don’t describe how you think about your faith and life.


Jesus calls us to follow, not as one activity we do, but as the core and meaning of our whole life. When we truly live as disciples that discipleship shapes everything else we do. Jesus tells us that’s going to demand sacrifice, but also that it’s going to bring us joy. So today I invite you to take another step in your commitment and choose to follow Jesus with your whole life. I invite you to bow your head and pray with me for a new birth of Christ within us, a new Christmas of commitment and discipleship and joy. Let’s pray:



Loving Jesus, you came to us as a baby born in a manger. Your whole life told the story of love and commitment, commitment to the world and love especially for the outcasts. You taught your disciples that love through your example and you invited them to follow. Help us follow you today and every day. Help us commit fully to your example of love, courage and sacrifice. Fill us with the joy of discipleship, the joy of community, the joy of an integrated life wholly dedicated to love. Guide our steps and claim our heart for your own. We pray these things in your precious name as we seek to truly make you our Lord, amen.

Risen indeed! 3.31.13

Mark 16:1-8

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ²And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” ⁴When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.

⁵As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. ⁶But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. ⁷But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” ⁸So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

1 Corinthians 15:1-7, 12-26

Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, ²through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. ³For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, ⁴and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

¹²Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; ¹⁴and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. ¹⁵We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. ¹⁷If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. ¹⁸Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. ¹⁹If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. ²¹For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; ²²for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. ²³But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. ²⁵For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

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            The Easter story is the core of the Christian faith. It’s also a little hard to swallow. For many of us the basic story of Jesus makes sense. We grew up hearing stories of Jesus and his teachings. We’ve learned about his commitment to justice, his love and welcome for surprising people. We connect with his call to love others as we love ourselves and treat other people as we want to be treated. Even if we didn’t grow up in a church, our greatest values as a society were shaped by Jesus’ teachings.

            We can probably understand Jesus’ conflict with the religious leaders too. He guided people to God directly without getting obsessed with religious rules and traditions and authorities. That made the leaders uncomfortable, like serious change does in any institution. They couldn’t dismiss him, so they found a way to put him to death. We know enough about human selfishness and violence to believe that. It’s tragic and terrible, but it fits with what we know is wrong with the world.

            The resurrection is harder to believe. It doesn’t fit with what we know at all. When people die, they don’t come back. We’d like to believe in the resurrection, but it’s awfully hard to accept. We want to believe. We want love to be stronger than death. We long for a reason to hope that the world’s story has a happy ending, but we almost don’t dare.

            We’ve been disappointed before. So many things that we’ve hoped for haven’t materialized. The world is hard, and we don’t want to look soft. We don’t want to be suckers. It’s easier not to trust too much, and the resurrection is a huge leap of faith.

            We’re in good company when we have trouble believing the resurrection. Thomas couldn’t believe until he’d seen Jesus himself. The women in our story today were not only amazed, but afraid as well when they heard the news. They saw the angel with their own eyes and heard his message in the same tomb in which they had seen Jesus’ body laid. Still, the enormity of the angel’s announcement overwhelmed them, and they couldn’t share the message. If they struggled then, how can we believe now?

            I wasn’t there myself, and I can’t prove the resurrection to you. What I come back to every time is the testimony of the disciples. The women who followed Jesus from Galilee saw him alive after his death. The eleven disciples who had spent the last three years with Jesus saw him alive again after his death. Other disciples who had met Jesus along the way saw him alive on the road to Emmaus, or in a locked room or somewhere else in the month after his resurrection. Paul says Jesus appeared to more than 500 believers after his resurrection.

            They saw him alive, after they knew he had been killed. And more than just seeing him and telling others about it, which they could have made up if they wanted to, they committed their lives to his message. Many of the apostles died for their faith. Many other early Christians did too. They bet their life on the truth of Christ’s resurrection, the truth of Christ’s victory over death. They wouldn’t have done that if they weren’t really sure.

            Beyond that, the apostles and the growing community around them experienced the power of the risen Christ in their lives. People kept meeting Jesus, even those who hadn’t known him during his live. People, like Paul, who had never met Jesus experienced his presence in a transformative way, and gave their lives to the good news of God’s love in Christ. The power of the resurrection went beyond Jesus.

            That’s what Paul’s talking about in our passage from First Corinthians. The resurrection we celebrate today starts with Jesus, but it goes beyond him. From Adam and Eve until Jesus, death was the end of the line. Death had the final say. All the money, all the success, all the power in the world couldn’t stop death.

            Jesus changes all that. Human power, hatred and jealousy did their worst. The religious leaders and political powers fought against him. They tortured and killed him. But for Jesus death was not the end. In that moment death lost its victory. In Jesus’ resurrection love triumphs over death once and for all, not just for Jesus, but for all of us too.

            On the outside, it seems like nothing has changed, but everything has changed. Jesus has been raised and one day we will be raised up too. The power of the resurrection offers us new life. When we read about the early church, we see that the power of the resurrection is true. Those men and women decided to trust the risen Christ. They chose to believe that death wasn’t going to win. They didn’t just believe it in their heads; they bet their lives on it. They spend their lives telling other people about God’s amazing love. They spent their lives building community so strong that people shared everything.

Some traveled across the world to share the message of love. Others dropped everything to host missionaries in their towns. When a deadly plague struck Rome, everyone who could, left the city, except the Christians. The Christians in Rome stayed to care for the ill and dying. They did that because they knew they didn’t need to fear death, because Jesus had already conquered it.

That resurrection power, the faith that God can overcome every evil and deadly force, that hope is stronger than death, that love is stronger than fear runs through the history of the church. It was at work in nameless Christians teaching new believers when they knew the Empire might kill them for it. It was at work in St. Augustine watching barbarians destroy Rome, the center of Christian faith, but still trusting that God could use even that disaster for some good purpose.

The power of the resurrection was at work in St. Francis, serving the poor and restoring a church fallen into cynical isolation. It was there in Martin Luther, facing death for his faith, and in Martin Luther King believing God’s promise that in Jesus Christ all human divisions are overcome.

The power of Christ’s resurrection is still working in the world. It’s working in churches in Africa where there are so many people coming to know Jesus that they can’t fit into the church buildings. It’s working in Egypt, where it’s risky to follow Jesus, but people are following anyway. It’s happening in Chicago where a church of 30 that everyone expected to close rediscovered their neighborhood and the power of Christ in community.

It’s happening right here at Laurelton, where years of declining membership and finances are starting to turn around. A small congregation is opening its doors to the neighborhood and finding new life in the power of Jesus. Neighbors are discovering relationships and community in a simple breakfast. People are learning and growing by talking about the Bible over supper. We’re building community with new people and learning to ask deeper questions about what it means to follow Jesus today.

I’ve found in my own life that the more I trust Jesus, the more I cling to the resurrection, the more I let go of my fear, the better my life gets. Resurrection power isn’t just life after death, it’s also more life now.

Jesus bet his life that God’s calling was real. He faced death on the cross for you and me, and sure enough, love triumphed over death as he rose from the grave. Since then women and men across the centuries and around the globe have been betting on the resurrection, trusting that life conquers death. I’m betting my life on the resurrection now, and I invite you to join in the adventure of following the risen Jesus.

The power of the resurrection doesn’t mean everything is clear or easy. Things still go wrong, we make mistakes, recovery is fragile, people we love still die. But we can trust that death or error or fear or financial trouble will not have the last word. Christ is risen, and one day we will rise with him to see the redemption of all creation. We have nothing to fear because love is stronger than death. Christ is risen indeed.

Thanks be to God.

"Death to life" Easter, 2012

Luke 23:55-24:12

⁵⁵The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how his body was laid. ⁵⁶Then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. ²They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³but when they went in, they did not find the body.

⁴While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. ⁵The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. ⁶Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, ⁷that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” ⁸Then they remembered his words, ⁹and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.

¹⁰Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. ¹²But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Romans 6:1-11

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? ³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

⁴Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For whoever has died is freed from sin. ⁸But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

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            Jesus had been traveling for three years. He had healed and taught, welcomed outcasts and called sinners to repentance. Often huge crowds followed him to hear his comforting and challenging words.

Besides the crowds, Jesus had a core group of followers who went everywhere with him. Twelve leaders, called apostles were the most famous, but there were also others Jesus sent out in his name to teach and heal. Other disciples supported and cared for Jesus in his ministry, especially many women.

            Jesus and his followers started to make their way to Jerusalem, the capital of Jewish life and worship. Along the way, Jesus told his disciples that he would be killed in Jerusalem, but that he would rise again. The disciples knew enough to be sad about that prediction, but they didn’t really understand, even though Jesus repeated it three times.

            When they got to Jerusalem, a huge crowd welcomed them with shouts of praise and songs to crown a king. Israel hadn’t really had a king in 600 years, but the people’s hope for someone to trust and follow hadn’t died. A welcome like that must have been a high point for the disciples. All Jesus’ talk about the kingdom of God seemed to be coming true. On top of that, the excitement of the big city at festival time thrilled these small-town fishermen.

            Then things went horribly wrong. The religious leaders had never liked Jesus. They worried about his teachings and were downright terrified of the attention he might bring from the Roman rulers. They also worried that Jesus’ teachings could weaken their power. As Jesus’ ministry continued, the conflict with the religious leaders got more and more intense, until they finally decided to kill him.

            At the Passover supper, Jesus told his closest friends that one of them would betray him and the rest would run away. Despite their passionate denials, that’s exactly what happened on Thursday night when officers from the Temple came to arrest Jesus.

            A whirlwind of interrogation, trial and torture followed, and by Friday evening Jesus had died on a Roman cross and been buried. True to his prediction, the disciples ran away. A few women and a man named Joseph made sure Jesus was buried decently before sunset, and the women made plans to go back to the tomb on Sunday morning after the Sabbath was over.

            That morning, Jesus proved once again that he wasn’t interested in playing by the rules. He’d been surprising people since birth, and death wasn’t going to limit Jesus any more than tradition had. The women came expecting to find their teacher’s body, expecting to anoint him with spices as a sign of their love for him, a last expression of care. Instead, they found the rock door rolled away from the front of the tomb and no body to be found. 

            It’s a great story, but all that happened almost two thousand years ago, so what difference does it make for us today? That answer will be a bit different for everyone since faith is a bit different for each of us, but Paul’s words to the church in Rome ring true today: faith is about deep questions, life and death importance.

            Christian faith is about following Jesus. Like the first disciples, we never do it perfectly. We misunderstand and fall short of our calling. A lot has changed over the two thousand years since the women and Peter found Jesus’ tomb empty. The early church was surrounded by threats from religious leaders and the Roman Empire. Following Jesus was very obviously a matter of life and death.

In the US in the 21^st century, we face different threats. We’re free to worship or not, and we’re free to believe whatever we want to. I thank God for our freedom, but I worry that the Christian majority in this country makes it easy to follow Jesus halfway and easy to forget that following Jesus is still a matter of life and death.

When we choose to follow Jesus we aren’t picking a club or a team or a style. We are choosing to join Jesus in his death. We are choosing to leave our sin and selfishness behind, to die to the world and begin a new life with Jesus. We are choosing to put Jesus first, to make him the center of our existence.

Faith can seem complicated and confusing. There are so many churches, so many opinions, so many points of view. Christians think different things about the Bible, politics, organization, money, family and everything else.

At the same time, faith in Jesus is simple because it means choosing to trust and follow Jesus. All the complications are second, and very distantly second. The point is following Jesus; everything else falls into place when we put Jesus first.

New year, new calling, 1.1.12

Isaiah 61:10-62:3

^61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹  For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

^62:1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.
²   The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give.
³   You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

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This story picks up where we left off on Christmas Eve. Jesus has been born, and the angel announced his birth to shepherds, who came to welcome him into the world. Today’s story skips eight days ahead to his naming and circumcision and then another 25 days to her purification. I’m going to break the text up a little bit, not because it’s complicated, but because it’s long and easy for the wonderful details to get lost if we read it all at once.

Luke 2:21-40

²¹After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. ²²When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), ²⁴and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Mary and Joseph bring the offering Leviticus prescribes for poor people, which reminds us again that they were not a wealthy couple. This whole sequence of events also reminds us that Mary and Joseph intentionally and carefully observed their faith. Jesus was raised as an observant and faithful Jew. This part of the story is expected; it’s what would have happened with any family having their first son. At that point the story takes a turn, and we’re reminded how special Jesus is.

²⁵Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. ²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, ²⁸Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, ²⁹“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; ³⁰for my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, ³²a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” ³³And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.

            I’m not surprised Joseph and Mary were amazed by what Simeon said. Imagine if you brought your new baby to church for the first time and an old man you didn’t know took the baby in his arms and spontaneously praised God for salvation through your child.

Of course, people in that time seem to have had a stronger sense of community and a weaker sense of privacy than we do now. And Mary and Joseph already knew that their child had a special calling. Still, hearing it from someone else, especially someone they didn’t know, would still be surprising. Maybe that moment made the whole thing more real for them. Maybe hearing that a stranger recognized God’s plan in your child’s life would solidify the amazing journey you had ahead.

I think about this moment from Simeon’s point of view too. He’s lived a long life, and has longed for God’s chosen Messiah to bring salvation to Israel. He had heard God say that he would see the Messiah with his own eyes, but I bet as the years went on he may have started to wonder.

Then one day he felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit to go to the temple and there he saw a little baby with his parents. I can imagine Jesus coming into Simeon’s sight and a light going off in Simeon’s heart. He knows right away why he needed to come to the temple when he did. He knows his waiting is over; he knows God is bringing salvation through this child. He recognizes too that Jesus brings salvation not just for Israel, but for the whole world. Simeon recognizes that God is reaching out to everyone.

³⁴Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed ³⁵so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

            This closing word and blessing from Simeon always sticks in my heart. Simeon recognizes not only the universal reach of salvation in Jesus, he also recognizes that his path won’t be smooth. Until this point in the story we’ve heard about how wonderful Jesus will be and how great God’s salvation is. That’s all true, but we also know that Jesus’ ministry as the savior is not an easy one.

            Simeon recognizes that, while God’s love bursting into the world is for everyone, not everyone will welcome it. Jesus will be praised by some and hated by others. His ministry will be good news to some and bad news to those who benefit from the injustice of the system as it is. Simeon may not know about the specifics, but he knows Jesus’ way will be hard.

            Simeon also recognizes that Jesus hardship will be Mary’s hardship. She will have to watch as the religious leaders scheme against her son. She’ll have to listen as people whisper that he’s crazy or drunk or indecent. She’ll have to hear the rumors when he gets arrested; she’ll have to look on helplessly as he is beaten and nailed to a cross. The suffering of her son will be a sword piercing Mary’s soul.

³⁶There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. ³⁹When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

           

            Anna drives home Simeon’s point yet again. Like Simeon, she has followed God all her life and has a deep connection with God’s Spirit. When she sees Jesus she also recognizes that God’s redemption has come, that something special is happening through this little child.

            As we begin a new year together, a new year as disciples seeking God’s calling in our lives, it makes sense that we come back to the beginning of the story of Jesus. This story of Jesus being presented at the temple lifts up his special calling and it points us to look at his whole life and ministry again. The praise of strangers makes Joseph and Mary pause, wondering: what will God do next? How will God’s calling play out in our son’s life.

Word of Love, Christmas Day

Isaiah 52:7-10

⁷   How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
     who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
⁸   Listen! Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy;
     for in plain sight they see the return of the LORD to Zion.
⁹   Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem;
     for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
¹⁰  The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations;
     and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

John 1:1-18

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. ¹⁴And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

¹⁵(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

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         Last night we heard the story of a special baby born in a manger. We heard a story about young parents following God’s calling on an amazing journey. That story is earthy; while it has some unusual characters like angels, we can picture it pretty clearly in our minds. We can embrace this image of Mary and Joseph bringing their new baby into the world. We can wrap our minds around this child who is born to save us all from our sins.

         John’s Gospel tells the story very differently; he puts it in cosmic perspective. The beginning of John’s Gospel isn’t easy to picture; it’s poetic and philosophical instead of narrative. The way John tells it, we aren’t just talking about a child at Christmas; we’re talking about the eternal word of God.

That notion of God’s word is very Greek and philosophical. In Greek thought the Word, the logos, was the creating power of the whole universe. Underneath the structure of everything we can see, philosophers discerned a hidden power, a hidden logic that bound all creation together. That logic, that wisdom, was the logos, the word.

         John says the word of God was with God at the beginning of time. God created everything through that eternal word; the wisdom of God shaped and molded the whole universe. Not only did the word of God create the objects that make up creation, God’s word also touched the universe with the divine spark, the light of the world. In that moment at the beginning of creation the world came to life; God’s life sparked life and light in every living being God created. The plants and animals and people came to life by the loving, creative touch of God’s word.

         The eternal word of God was active throughout history. God created the world through the word, and God’s word and spirit continued to give light to those who had eyes to see it. Prophets and wise men and women saw the world by God’s light. They pointed others to the light of God’s love and justice. They reminded their neighbors that the world wasn’t really about power or wealth; it was about making sure everyone had enough to thrive.

They pointed to the light even in dark times. Elijah pointed to the light of God’s love even though he was chased into the desert by royal persecution. Jeremiah pointed to the light when he was locked up by powerful people who didn’t want to hear his message. Ruth pointed to the light of hope when she and her mother in law seemed all alone in a dangerous world. Even in the darkest times God’s light still shone; no darkness could quench that light.

Then the truly incredible happened. Maybe God got tired of waiting for people to see the light and change their lives. Maybe God’s heart ached so much because of our wandering, because of how we hurt and took advantage of each other. Maybe God missed us too much to hold back anymore. For whatever reason, one day the time was right and God’s word, God’s light, God’s love became flesh and lived with us.

He is Risen!

Acts 10:34-43

³⁴Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality,³⁵but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.³⁶You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ — he is Lord of all. ³⁷That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: ³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

³⁹We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; ⁴⁰but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, ⁴¹not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Matthew 28:1-10

¹After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ²And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. ⁴For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men.

⁵But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.⁷Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.”

⁸So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. ¹⁰Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

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            Once there was a man named Jesus. God sent him to bring light and healing into a world full of trouble and pain. Jesus taught people about God’s kingdom and love. He healed the sick and welcomed people who were caught at the edges of society and rejected by religious people.

            Jesus gathered huge crowds who were longing for God’s love. Many of them had been told all their life that they didn’t belong, that they weren’t righteous enough to please God, but Jesus welcomed them. It was obvious watching Jesus that God was doing something special. The power in his words, the warmth of his welcome and the strength of his healing set him apart.

            At the same time, he didn’t fit the mold of a holy man. He colored outside the lines of social boundaries and religious tradition. He criticized the religious leaders and challenged the comfortable. Some people, especially powerful people, thought Jesus might be dangerous, that he was leading people away from God. They also worried that his radical teachings could upset the delicate balance with the Roman Empire that allowed Jewish people freedom of worship.

            Finally, the religious leaders got fed up with Jesus and the challenge he represented to their authority. They found one of his closest followers to lead them to his hideout away from the adoring eyes of the crowd. They arrested him, condemned him of blasphemy for saying he was God’s son and they handed him over to the imperial governor of Jerusalem, Pontius Pilate.

            After some convincing and a staged demonstration calling for Jesus to be crucified, Pilate agreed. Jesus was whipped and beaten and mocked. Then he was led up a hill outside the city and nailed to a cross. That afternoon he died a horrible death, was buried in a tomb carved into a rock and the tomb was sealed with a huge rock guarded by soldiers.

            Even before his death Jesus’ followers had run away and hidden. In Matthew’s account none of his followers are there when he dies except for three women and a man named Joseph we never hear anything else about. The women went right up to the tomb on that Friday afternoon to see where he was buried so they could bring spices and ointments on Sunday morning to do one last kindness for Jesus.

            Everything seemed finished. Hope had died; fear had won; and nobody knew who else might be arrested.

            But God wasn’t finished yet.

Christ is alive!

Acts 10:34-43
34Then Peter began to speak to them: "I truly understand that God shows no partiality,35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.36You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ — he is Lord of all.37That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced:38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.39We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem.
They put him to death by hanging him on a tree;40but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear,41not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."
John 20:1-18
1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.
11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

15Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." 16Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
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“I truly understand that God shows no partiality.” That’s how Peter begins his sermon in the house of a Roman military commander named Cornelius. For Peter, God has been turning his life upside down ever since a man named Jesus walked by where he was fishing and said to him, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.”

Peter followed, and in the course of his three year ministry with Jesus saw healing he never thought possible; he heard about the love of God with power he never imagined; he saw God’s love in Jesus embrace people that surprised him. As Peter and the other disciples came closer to Jerusalem Peter saw the growing conflict with the religious leaders threaten and finally kill this man they had followed along so many roads.

But the journey of God’s unexpected love didn’t end there. Sunday morning finds surprising news reach Peter’s ears, “They have taken the Lord, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Running to the tomb Peter and his companion find…nothing. The linen cloth Jesus was buried in is rolled up; the head cloth rolled up not far away, but no body, no sign of anyone.

Stranger still, that evening Jesus himself appears to Peter and the others, alive and well with only nail marks and a spear wound to show that Friday’s crucifixion had ever happened. Jesus breathes a Spirit of power on the disciples and sends them out to tell the world that he is risen and reigning.

come to the water (3.7.10)

Luke 13:1-9
1At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2He asked them, "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them — do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."
6Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7So he said to the gardener, 'See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?' 8He replied, 'Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.'"

Isaiah 55:1-12
1Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.

I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. 4See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.

6Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; 7let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 12For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
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Last week we talked about making peace with death and living fearlessly from that foundation. This week Jesus points us to death again, but in a different way. In a way it’s fitting that we would spend these two weeks talking about death; after all, Lent is a season lived in the shadow of the cross. Jesus points us to death today to jar us out of our complacency.

We spend most of our time taking care of everyday things. We go to work, we buy groceries, we cook dinner, put the kids to bed, maybe we read or watch some TV as we wind down our day. Our life is mostly made up of routine. Often that routine is comforting and comfortable; sometimes it’s boring or stressful, but the routine is a big part of our lives.

Routine is such a big part of our lives and the pressures of everyday life take up so much of our energy that we sometimes forget that life doesn’t go on forever. Shockingly, people die in the middle of their lives everyday. Those Galileans going to the temple to worship had no idea they wouldn’t come back. Those folks standing underneath the tower of Siloam had no reason to think that would be the day the tower came down.

But life is unpredictable. We pretend that things will go on as planned, and probably we have to do that most of the time to get on with life, but we honestly can’t be sure what tomorrow will bring or if we will have a tomorrow at all.