The 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany - The Light House by Barb Baker Scira

Barb was our guest preacher on 1-26-14.

Isaiah 9:1-4; Ps. 27:1, 5-13; 1 Cor. 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23

     Epiphany could be called "The Light Bulb Moment’’ season. It’s a season when we can join shepherds, wise men and even angels for that moment of understanding that comes in a flash; "a moment of revelation and insight." Jesus has been revealed to us and we’ve caught the hem of his garment. Epiphany is the season for all of us who have "walked in darkness and seen a great light." Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, talks in its preface about the annual rhythm of seasons in our church. Shane Claiborne says "Advent [is] to prepare for Christ’s coming, Christmas to celebrate the Prince of Peace, Epiphany to remember the Light (a light outsiders often recognize before we do) and Lent to confess to our resistance to the Light…"

     Resistance to the Light? Do we really do that? Of course, the answer is yes. Sometimes we get used to walking around in the dark. Maybe it’s because there are things in our hearts we don’t want dragged into the light, our pettiness, our lack of forgiveness, our fears. Maybe it’s because sometimes things can get so bad we believe the darkness is all there is…until we see the Light.

     John the Baptizer joined a long line of prophets who told people "Change your life, God’s Kingdom is NEAR!" Unlike other prophets who believed the Messiah would come along in some distant time, John had the advantage of knowing Jesus was ‘’on the ground" NOW. John’s preaching was so powerful; people began to ask if he was the Messiah. The Gospel of John tells it like this:  "There once was a man, his name was John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. ..John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light."

     That’s our job too. To point the way to the Christ.

     In our Gospel today, John has been thrown in jail because his simple message of repentance bothered the powerful, who weren’t thrilled with their flaws being pointed out in public. When he finds out about John’s arrest, Jesus moves from Nazareth to Capernaum.  At first it seems like he may be avoiding the authorities. Yet, instead of lying low, Jesus picks up where John left off, preaching, "Change your life. God’s kingdom is HERE!" One day, while Jesus is walking down the beach, he sees some ordinary fishermen doing their regular work. It wasn’t an easy job. Biblical scholar Sarah Dylan Breuer tells us, "fishing wasn't an escape from work for folks like Simon Peter and Andrew and James and John. It was work. Fishing was a major industry in the Galilee, and fishers like the two pairs of brothers we encounter in this Sunday's gospel were very small cogs in the whole works…fishers of fish, even those who owned their own boats, weren't their own bosses; they were cogs in a machine…"

    "Come with me," calls Jesus. "I’ll teach you to be fishers of people."

     The Rev. Dr. Janet H. Hunt, pastor of First Lutheran in DeKalb, Illinois says, "I imagine that those disciples who Jesus called had grown accustomed to walking around in the dark.  Now it could be that their lives were pretty good ones…probably they had families to go home to and a community where they were held in high regard.  Even so, we also know that they lived in a country that was occupied by the army of another. That they paid taxes to a ruler who was not their own…more than that, we can also be certain, because they are human, that they had felt the inevitable pain of living with what may have been unspeakable losses. Indeed, there must have lived in them some longing for light, else they would not have abandoned all that had been so quickly to follow this one who promised them something more.  Maybe they thought they had grown accustomed to the darkness.  Perhaps they had finally given up hope for any kind of meaningful change.  And maybe in Jesus' voice they saw the promise of light in their darkness.  And so when Jesus walks by and calls their names and the light shines on them, they go. They just drop their nets and go."

     The Light of the World walks up and calls them to join him and they do! On the spur of the moment! They are the ancestors of our faith, the ones who left the ordinary in hopes of finding something extraordinary.

     Jesus doesn’t call them to further his political machine, to tell him he’s terrific, or to tell them that they are. He’s not there to bully people into believing in him or to head "Occupy Jerusalem."  Jesus calls the disciples into a relationship with him, so that through knowing and loving him, they could know and love God, our Father, who created us, loves us and who fills each of us with the light of his presence. And as Shane Claiborne reminds us, we have family across the globe and "we must connect our prayers to the rest of God’s children throughout the world and through all time and space, people who are reading the same Scriptures, singing the same songs, praying the same prayers, and grafting their lines into the same old story" [how I love to tell that Story] "of a God who is forming a people who are set apart to be God’s light and to show the world what a society of love looks like."

     Paul gives us the manual for a society of love in 1 Corinthians: "Love never gives up, cares more for others than for self, doesn’t want what it doesn’t have, doesn’t strut, have a swelled head, force itself on others, isn’t always 'me first,' doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of other people’s sins, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trust God always, always looks for the best, never looks back but keeps going till the end."

Rob Bell says, "Love is what God is,

Love is why Jesus came,

And love is why he continues to come,

Year after year to person after person."

     Jean Vanier, founder of the L’Arche communities wrote "to love someone is not first of all to do things for them, but reveal to them their beauty and value, to say to them through our attitude: ‘You are beautiful. You are important. I trust you. You can trust yourself. We all know well that we can do things for others and in the process crush them, making them feel that they are incapable of doing things by themselves. To love someone is to reveal to them their capacities for life, [for] the light that is shining in them."

     If we each treated all in that way, how much light would that bring to this world where so many people walk in darkness?

     That would indeed be God’s Kingdom come.

     We are God’s light to the world in this age. For God’s kingdom to come; our lives must bear witness to His Light. That’s our job. Our calling. The same calling Jesus issued to Simon Peter and Andrew, James and John, is ours. That call, according to David Lose, Preaching Chair at Luther Seminary is "to be in genuine and real relationships with the people around us, and to be in those relationships the way Jesus was and is in relationship with his disciples and with us: bearing each other's burdens, caring for each other and especially the vulnerable, holding onto each other through thick and thin, always with the hope and promise of God’s abundant grace."

     Today, may you know how beautiful and important you are in the eyes of God and in the eyes of this parish. May you spread the love and Light Christ has kindled in you, to all you meet. And may your little light, bolstered by the Light of Christ, shine with all the power it has, in all the dark places where you must go.

Amen

The 2nd Sunday after Epiphany - "You are not lacking . . ."

         To be called, to be sanctified or set apart as holy in Christ Jesus, to be enriched and to be strengthened in the gifts we need:  St. Paul offers this pattern of God's work among the people who came together to form what we call "the early church."  As we look at our own journeys in Christ, does this pattern seem to apply to our experiences?  If so--even it isn't an exact match--it may be close enough to warrant a closer look.

Two important aspects of St. Paul's first letter to the Christian community in Corinth: first, although Paul mentions individuals in this letter, he intends to address the community as a whole; second, all this positive, supportive language at the beginning of this letter serves as a quick prelude to some serious, stinging criticism.

          We have a difficult time viewing salvation as belonging to a congregation as a whole.  It is only slightly easier to view serving in Christ's name as a community goal.  We are an individualistic culture, and we have a very personal understanding of salvation.  Yes, conversion--as a instantaneous event or as a slow process--does occur one person at a time.  But for Paul the life of the Christian community bears witness to that conversion.

Verse two begins "To the church of God."  In Greek the word is ekklesia that can be more closely translated as "assembly"--a bunch of folks getting together.  Or in southern speak: "To y'all of God."  How often do we think of this assembly of folks called "St. Nicholas' Episcopal Church" as doing well at worshipping and serving our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Even the sign on the door to this worship space works against that understanding.  It says "Servant's Entrance." That's servant-apostrophe-"s," not servants-with an "s" then an apostrophe.  It's singular when perhaps it should be plural.

Some might argue that each of us must embrace our servanthood, before the church can claim its servanthood.  But I would say this in response: if we claim we are a servant community, then we set the atmosphere against which we can measure how we are doing, individually and collectively, at any moment in our lives together.  As we look through the Annual Reports in the booklet we will receive, as we remember how we worked together in projects to raise money to give back to the community, as we remember how we felt supported by other members of this community in their prayers, as we remember how we love each other even when we get frustrated by what someone says or does: then we realize that St. Paul was speaking truth when he says, "I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus. . ." 

Look to your right, to your left and across to the other side of the church, can you say Paul's words to the people you have looked at?  You are not thanking God for their competence or their hard work—although we would have a difficult time without these things—but you are giving thanks for the "grace of God" that you see within them, placed there by God.  It's easy, of course, to see this in those folks you like or who share your points-of-view.  But we must remember that Paul said this to folks he was pretty unhappy with, because they were dividing themselves into factions, because some of them were holding themselves up as more spiritually astute than others, because they were quarreling and acting with jealousy toward each other, and because they were using the idea of freedom to behave immorally.  How in the world could he say these positive things he says in this introductory passage, given he was about to condemn their behavior?

This question brings us to the second aspect of this introductory passage, Paul's words at the beginning of I Corinthians offers a stark contrast to criticism after criticism as he continues this letter.  In this contrast is he using irony as a rhetorical device?  Is he trying to get the Corinthians on his side, so they will listen to his critique? Or is he holding up the truth of human nature, especially our nature, we who have promised to love God and live as Jesus taught us?  Indeed, to quote verse seven, we "are not lacking in any spiritual gift as [we] wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ." The truth for the Christian assembly of Corinth and the truth for us today at St. Nicholas' can be summed up this way: we have all we need to be a "light" to the folks who share our lives—even to be a “light” to the whole world—or as our baptismal promise states, to "seek and serve Christ in all persons loving [our] neighbor as our self."

St. Paul explains this in the 13th chapter of this letter to the Christian assembly in Corinth that begins, "Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude."  We know how difficult this standard of self-giving love is, whether in our personal lives or in the life of this assembly of folks who worship together at St. Nicholas'.  Yet beginning from the Christian community in Corinth and all to today here at St. Nicholas'—no matter what criticisms might be fairly leveled against us and no matter how we difficult we find living faithfully as Christ's servants—Paul's words of affirmation still ring true,". . .you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He will also strengthen you to be so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

In other words, at times we may live righteously or at times we may fail to live as Christ taught us, yet as an ekklesia--an assembly of those who believe God has called them to live faithfully and to love generously—God has our back—it’s God’s “amazing grace.”  And for this there is only one response: "Thanks be to God."

The 2nd Sunday of Christmas: Wisdom and Revelation

        You came this morning expecting to hear about the men who visited the stable where Jesus and his parents were staying? Of course, since this Sunday is closest to the date on which we celebrate their coming.  O.K., help me out here: tell us why we call them "wise men?"  Yes, you got it--they stopped and asked for directions.

          Today I want to consider for a little while the nature of wisdom and how that ties in to receiving a revelation--particularly a revelation from God.

The idea of wisdom as both a gift from God and a goal for humankind appears in the Hebrew scripture. We said this verse verses our psalm today: "No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who walk with integrity."   Wisdom is a good thing in a theological sense, as we learn from the book of Proverbs--written to help young people become wise.  Chapter 3, beginning at verse 6, says: "For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield for those who those who walk blamelessly, guarding the paths of justice and preserving the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; prudence will watch over you and understanding will guard you."

From this passage you can see how being a wise person meant being a just and a righteous person. Yet more than that, God gives us this wisdom that will reside within us and give us pleasure.  We are told that Jesus was already studying scripture as a very young man and could discuss it with much older and more experienced religious scholars--but he "forgot" to check in with his parents to tell them he was staying in the temple with those scholars.  I'm sure his parents did not see this a prudent behavior, no matter how wise Jesus was in understanding scripture!

So from a theological perspective we see that wisdom involves gaining knowledge of God and living in a way that reflects the goodness of God. So who in our readings today shows such wisdom?

Magi, whom we also call wise men and sometimes kings, appear in Matthew's gospel to be astrologers who read signs in the stars and planets that pointed to the birth of a king of the Jewish people.  These non-Jews from "the east" had a certain type of wisdom already, but they were open to receiving more knowledge and to pursuing the information they gained--living in a way that reflects what they believed they were called to do.  Their call was to pay homage--a type of behavior that shows respect and adoration--good behavior when the ruler is worthy.

Although King Herod gathered those who had knowledge of the scriptures to supply the knowledge the wise men needed, Matthew depicts him as an evil manipulator, unworthy of the title of King of the Jews, and not a wise person!

The magi exemplified people possessing wisdom--even though they were foreigners, not among those who considered themselves a people chosen by God. Which is where the importance of revelation comes in.  Being a person possessing wisdom allows one to be ready to receive a revelation from God about God.  The paradox, of course, is that our scripture describes wisdom as a gift from God as well.  Christian mystics, such as Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila, and John of the Cross, lived in this paradox, as they sought to understand the revelations they believe came from God and to live righteously as they followed what they believed God's call to them was.

Mary, we know from Luke's account of Jesus birth, treasured what she saw and heard and pondered it in her heart.  These are characteristics of wisdom, which led her to be present for her son at times, even at times when he may not have wanted her.  How else could she have come to understand all that happened to her before and at his birth and to him as he engaged in his ministry?   Revelation of who her son was came slowly, but in the end gave her the strength to endure seeing him crucified.

Both Joseph and the magi received revelation in dreams that spoke to a specific situation they faced.  First, Joseph had a dream that told him to take Mary as his wife, despite her pregnancy.  Then both the magi and Joseph had dreams to help them deal with the duplicitous King Herod.  

Joseph's wisdom came from his desire to behave in a compassionate way toward poor pregnant Mary.  His second revelation came in a dream when he was told to flee with Mary and Jesus to safety in Egypt.  The magi's wisdom came as they drew on all they learned and followed their call to pay homage to a righteous and rightful king.  Their wisdom allowed them to understand and follow the revelation they received in a dream.

Can we, living in the 21st century, receive wisdom from God and behave in a way may be called "blameless" that "guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of [God's] faithful ones?"  It would seem a difficult task, perhaps a nearly impossible goal. The questions of our Baptismal covenant that serve to direct us in such holy living receive this answer: "I will, with God's help."  Despite the examples of Mary, Joseph, the magi and many other holy women and men we often fail to live as wise people open to God's call to us, open to living in the paradox of wisdom as both gift from God and the goal of our Christian journey.  Yet when we fail to live as wise people, we are still beloved by God and must remember and depend on God's grace summed in that simple response, "I will, with God's help."