After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
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A week from today, I will be boarding a ship and sailing the western Caribbean. It is going to be a wonderful vacation, travelling with my sister.. But in many ways, it is also a dream; someone there to make the beds up in the morning and take them down at night; someone else who will cook and serve and clean up all the meals; as a long-time customer, a private lounge where breakfast, evening hors d’oeuvres and drinks are served; interesting ports, formal nights, and being spoiled completely. For the people who work on those ships, it is real life, and not easy; for us, it’s a dream. Coming back to reality can be a real shock.
Well, if you hadn’t guessed by now, let me just say I love to cruise. In cruisers’ lingo there is a term jokingly called PCD, or Post-Cruise Depression. The joke goes that the only way to live with it is to book another cruise so you can look forward to something. It may sound funny, but depending on the experience, it can really be hard to come back to earth.
I don’t use this story to trivialise what we call mountaintop experiences, but the aftermath is the same. It is so unreal, so good, that coming back “down” is hard.
So what is this transfiguration business? What’s the point? We have some disciples supposedly seeing both Moses and Elijah. How did the disciples know the two figures with Jesus were Moses and Elijah?
Well, we could say it was the story teller’s way of showing that Jesus was really God’s son, and was now the sole authority for God on earth. Moses and Elijah represented the law and the prophets, the very heart of belief for the Jews. It may well be that Mark inserted Moses and Elijah into the text to make the point, that the law and the prophets came together and were incarnated in the person of Jesus.
But maybe that wraps it all up a little too neatly. Maybe we need to wrestle with this passage just a little. We can’t just assume that what we think it says, is it what it really says. Words and their meanings change, the story is set in a period of history about which we know a little, - but not everything. Mark and Matthew are the only two Gospels which mention this experience at all, and there is lots of scholarly literature which would give us ten sermons at least. This isn’t a scholarly sermon.
What would you think if you saw a person’s appearance change “from the inside out”, right before your eyes. “His clothes shimmered, glistening white, whiter than any bleach could make them”. Clearly the vision is beyond description with mere human words.
There is a theory in some quarters that each human gives off light, an aura. In parapsychology and many forms of spiritual practice, an aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation supposedly surrounding a person or object. For example, in religious art, people of particular power or holiness are depicted with a halo around the head, or some light around the body.
Then too, the Celtic peoples talk about the “thin places” where the connection to the spiritual plane is thinnest, and easiest to pass through. All we know in this story is that Jesus and the disciples went up a mountain. Tradition has that it was Mount Tabor, but in fact the mountain is never named. Maybe it doesn’t matter what mountain it was - mountains in the Bible always figure in important events. Was this one of those thin places, where Jesus and the disciples were so in touch with the spiritual that they had this experience? And after it was over they sat there shaking, and asking each other “What just happened?”.
Some of you, I am sure, have had something of the same kind of experience. Maybe you had something “other worldly” occur in your life that might be called a mystical experience, or a “mountain top” experience. You may not have wanted to share it with anyone. You couldn’t find the words to describe it, or you didn’t quite know what had happened yourself; you were afraid someone would think you were crazy. It’s funny isn’t it? We are a church, we are willing to say we believe some of the most unbelievable things, and yet we are afraid to speak about spiritual experiences because people might laugh at us, or call us crazy. We come away from such experiences shaking, saying to ourselves “What just happened?” We not only don’t want to talk about such experiences, but if we do tell someone, we ask them to keep it private, not to tell anyone else.
Then there is the other reality - that in comparison to the brightness, the high of the experience, the real world - the one we live in every day - seems drab in comparison. We want to run back into the experience. Or we are completely stunned and can’t figure what to do next - and we want to hold on.
That was how Peter reacted...wanting to stay in the brightness and colour and clarity of vision of the experience. The wondrous experience didn’t end with the vision. A cloud came down and they heard a voice - or at least they thought they did. And then the cloud lifted; Moses and Elijah were nowhere to be seen, and Jesus appeared once again in his probably dusty clothes. It was a colossal let-down. Mystical encounter with God - over. Can’t hold onto it. Nothing to do now but go back down the mountain into reality.
In every single one of the sermons I’ve heard and written on this text, the major focus is on the reaction of the disciples. It’s almost as if we assume Jesus knew what was going to happen, or made it happen, or made it some kind of teaching. The text doesn’t tell us that, though. The text says that Jesus and the disciples went up a mountain, and this experience happened to all of them. The text tells us that when it was over Jesus told them not to talk about it. In fact it looks to me like Jesus was a little stunned as well. Oh, he had a couple of similar experiences before - fasting in the desert, and then his baptism. But I can tell you from personal experience that no one goes out of his or her way to have one of those experiences. They are too dramatic and intense, and frankly draining. Jesus recognised the nature of the experience, but he also knew what the reaction would be if they all came running down the mountain saying they had seen Moses and Elijah, and seen Jesus talking to them, and shining like the brightest of suns. I have a feeling that despite his previous experience, Jesus was also saying “What just happened?” HE didn’t see Moses and Elijah - at least the text doesn’t say he did, it says the disciples did. And it says their vision was covered by a cloud. So we don’t actually know what happened to Jesus.
When we are fortunate enough to have those kinds of experiences that let us know there is something beyond our earthly world, experiences that leave us wanting to stay in the moment, rather than return to reality, we have to realise that we can’t package them or hold onto them to re-experience whenever we wish. We can’t come out of a prayer time in which God seemed especially close and hold onto that feeling. I think Jesus was wise enough to know that, even if the disciples didn’t. And sometimes the learnings from those experiences take years.. something inside us will shift and we have a moment of insight again, a clearer understanding of the experience.
So here we are, down from the mountain, back from the dream, back to living in a real world that seems rather mundane. What now?
The disciples caught a glimpse of what the realm of God would be like. Jesus kept telling them that the realm was at hand, and here was the view. Then they had to come back to what the world is, and live in it. There was a point. They were being called to come back to the ordinary world, to bring to it something extraordinary. They had to learn how to translate the wonder and insight of their experience into the ordinary day to day world.
It is what we are called to as well. Who are we? What is the vision of the realm? How do we retain the inspiration and joy as we return to the ordinary? Hold these questions, as we begin the walk along the road of Lent, to the cross and the tomb, and beyond. May it be so.
Sources:
1. With thanks to Rev. Beverly Snedeker for inspiration for this sermon.
2. What Just Happened? February 22, 2009 Transfiguration Sunday
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
“Who are the Lepers?” Mark 1:40-45 Sixth Sunday of Epiphany February 12, 2012 Humber United Church
Rev. Nancy Price, in Nova Scotia, tells the story of a young doctor treating a child with AIDS. It was clear this child was suffering, was alone, and because of the child's physical condition would not know love or care. This young doctor hugged and held the child. His family, and even the nurses, chastised him for showing affection and care to this terrified child.
Now, it is clear that AIDS can’t be contracted by hugging someone - but we still treat those suffering as if they are lepers. Remember the proposals to take all the AIDS sufferers and isolate them on a island? Separate everyone from the mainstream population?
Remember the pictures of Princess Diana, hugging people with AIDS, with sick and dying children on her lap? When commenting about Diana, Nelson Mandela said:
"When she stroked the limbs of someone with leprosy, or sat on the bed of a man with HIV/AIDS and held his hand, she transformed public attitudes and improved the life chances of such people; people felt if a British princess can go to a ward with HIV patients, then there's nothing to be superstitious about."
The Biblical word for leprosy includes several types of skin disease, including what today is known as Hansen’s Disease, a kind of tuberculosis of the body. Did you know that today there are about 100 cases in the US each year, and as it becomes more drug resistant, chances are there will be an increase in diagnoses. Leprosy was also a word used for psoriasis, acne, rosacea, liver-coloured birthmarks. Culturally, if the outside was blemished, it was assumed that the “inside” was blemished too. Sin was seen as the root cause of all forms of leprosy. I’m sorry to say that attitude still persists today in some circles.
Remember the stories about sacrifices in the temple? The people believed, because the religious leaders told them, that every animal for sacrifice had to be completely unblemished. Purity laws required it. Someone who was considered unclean was cut off from the community, not allowed to worship with them.
A leper approached Jesus. We don’t know what the skin condition was, or how long he had it. What seems clear is that he was not willing to remain isolated from human contact or human community. He went to Jesus and issued what was tantamount to a challenge. He said to Jesus “If you choose, you can make me clean.”. Some translations say Jesus was angry; some translate the word as ‘indignant’. Some translate is as compassion. I have chosen to see Jesus as angry at religious and cultural attitudes which cut off certain people, and compassionate towards the man who seeks him out.
Note that the man does not directly say to Jesus “make my body whole and unblemished.” He says “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” I see it as a challenge to set aside the norm of society which isolated people who were ill, and to accept them into the mainstream despite their disease.
‘Especially if the translation "declare me clean" is used, this leper is approaching Jesus as a priest -- one who had the power and authority to declare lepers clean and thus restore them to normal society. But the leper also knows that by touching him, Jesus makes himself unclean in the eyes of the religious authorities.
Myers (Binding the Strong Man) writes about this: "The leper appears aware that his approach to Jesus, a nonpriest, was itself in violation of the symbolic system, which is why he gives Jesus a chance to refuse. It is almost as if he says, "You could declare me clean if only you would dare (1:40)."
But there is something more. Our translation reads “reached out his hand”, but a closer translation says Jesus took the man to him. In other words, he hugged the man. By hugging the man, even by touching him, Jesus himself then became “unclean”. So Jesus also could not go into the normal places - synagogue, marketplace. He had to remain isolated and outside as well.
Jesus touched the leper. He left the safety of his ‘clean’ world and entered the world of the leper with the simple act of touching him.
In a couple of weeks, I will be in the city of of Cartagena de Indias, in Colombia. In the Old City, built in roughly 1535, is the Cathedral of San Pedro Claver, a Jesuit known as the Patron Saint of Slaves, who went to Colombia in 1610 as a student priest. Cartagena was a main centre for the slave trade in the Americas for over 100 years. Ten thousand slaves entered the port each year, from West Africa, under conditions so foul that an estimated one-third of the passengers died in transit. Pope Paul III condemned the slave trade, Pius IX called it “supreme villainy" but it continued to flourish. Claver declared himself "the slave of the Negroes forever."
“As soon as a slave ship entered the port, Peter Claver moved into its infested hold to minister to the ill-treated and miserable passengers. After the slaves were herded out of the ship like chained animals and shut up in nearby yards to be gazed at by the crowds, Claver plunged in among them with medicines, food, bread, brandy, lemons and tobacco. With the help of interpreters he gave basic instructions and assured his brothers and sisters of their human dignity and God's saving love. Claver understood that concrete service like the distributing of medicine, food or brandy to his black brothers and sisters could be as effective a communication of the word of God as mere verbal preaching. As Peter Claver often said, "We must speak to them with our hands before we try to speak to them with our lips."
We must speak with our hands before we try to speak with our lips.
So I find myself asking who are the lepers among us today?
People with HIV-AIDS are still seen as “lepers”. Even though you cannot get the disease by touching someone, we still behave as if we can. There have been proposals to round up those with AIDS and put them in one place, a kind of modern-day leper colony. The virus and the disease are spreading throughout the African population particularly. Children are being born with the disease.
Today is Autism Sunday, a day in which we recognise Autism Spectrum Disorder, which affects the function and development of the brain. Autistic individuals see, hear and sense things differently - and as a result their ability to reason, communicate and interact with others is affected. As a spectrum disorder, there is a wide variation in its manifestation. It is not a mental disorder, nor is it a form of mental. It is still not well understood. Yet individuals with autism are still treated as if they are somehow not quite right. I found myself wondering if the man Jesus healed in the synagogue might have been autistic - back then an autistic individual might be seen as being possessed.
These are a couple of examples - but there are more. I encourage you to think about who might be seen as a leper among us.
What does it mean, in this day and age, to be “clean”? Is cleanliness next to godliness? If we shower every day and make sure we don’t have a bad odour, no pimples or acne, no chapped skin - are we godly people? Is that all it takes to be clean inside? Or is it the other way around? Is it that being loving and generous people (godly people) makes us clean inside? Is outer cleanliness an indication of what kind of people we really are?
A few years ago in the Toronto Star, there was a story about a native man who allowed his two children to freeze to death. In petitioning the judge, one of the elders commented that the man should be restored to health, that is, healed - within the circle of the community - that in fact to exclude him from the community would prevent his healing, and hence the community could not be healed either. In this understanding, if someone is unwell and separated from the community, the only way to heal the community is bring the person back within the circle so that all can be healed.
And this is the other part of the story. In reaching out, holding and touching the leper, Jesus did what the priests in the temple have the power to do, but refuse to do - he has restored this man to community. In the same way, in reaching out and touching those who are considered “lepers” today - those lepers are restored to life in community. Healing takes place - perhaps the healing of the disease if that is possible, but certainly the healing of the soul. The community is also healed. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Healing and Touch by Rev. Fran Ota February 14, 2009
2. Rev. Randy Quinn, from the sermon “Cleanliness is Next to Godliness”.
3. Rev. Nancy Price, from the Midrash discussion list
4. Nelson Mandela, November 2, 2002
5. Brian P. Stoffregen Exegetical Notes, at CrossMarks Christian Resources http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/mark1x40.htm
6. St. Peter Claver http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Claver
7. http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/587620
Now, it is clear that AIDS can’t be contracted by hugging someone - but we still treat those suffering as if they are lepers. Remember the proposals to take all the AIDS sufferers and isolate them on a island? Separate everyone from the mainstream population?
Remember the pictures of Princess Diana, hugging people with AIDS, with sick and dying children on her lap? When commenting about Diana, Nelson Mandela said:
"When she stroked the limbs of someone with leprosy, or sat on the bed of a man with HIV/AIDS and held his hand, she transformed public attitudes and improved the life chances of such people; people felt if a British princess can go to a ward with HIV patients, then there's nothing to be superstitious about."
The Biblical word for leprosy includes several types of skin disease, including what today is known as Hansen’s Disease, a kind of tuberculosis of the body. Did you know that today there are about 100 cases in the US each year, and as it becomes more drug resistant, chances are there will be an increase in diagnoses. Leprosy was also a word used for psoriasis, acne, rosacea, liver-coloured birthmarks. Culturally, if the outside was blemished, it was assumed that the “inside” was blemished too. Sin was seen as the root cause of all forms of leprosy. I’m sorry to say that attitude still persists today in some circles.
Remember the stories about sacrifices in the temple? The people believed, because the religious leaders told them, that every animal for sacrifice had to be completely unblemished. Purity laws required it. Someone who was considered unclean was cut off from the community, not allowed to worship with them.
A leper approached Jesus. We don’t know what the skin condition was, or how long he had it. What seems clear is that he was not willing to remain isolated from human contact or human community. He went to Jesus and issued what was tantamount to a challenge. He said to Jesus “If you choose, you can make me clean.”. Some translations say Jesus was angry; some translate the word as ‘indignant’. Some translate is as compassion. I have chosen to see Jesus as angry at religious and cultural attitudes which cut off certain people, and compassionate towards the man who seeks him out.
Note that the man does not directly say to Jesus “make my body whole and unblemished.” He says “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” I see it as a challenge to set aside the norm of society which isolated people who were ill, and to accept them into the mainstream despite their disease.
‘Especially if the translation "declare me clean" is used, this leper is approaching Jesus as a priest -- one who had the power and authority to declare lepers clean and thus restore them to normal society. But the leper also knows that by touching him, Jesus makes himself unclean in the eyes of the religious authorities.
Myers (Binding the Strong Man) writes about this: "The leper appears aware that his approach to Jesus, a nonpriest, was itself in violation of the symbolic system, which is why he gives Jesus a chance to refuse. It is almost as if he says, "You could declare me clean if only you would dare (1:40)."
But there is something more. Our translation reads “reached out his hand”, but a closer translation says Jesus took the man to him. In other words, he hugged the man. By hugging the man, even by touching him, Jesus himself then became “unclean”. So Jesus also could not go into the normal places - synagogue, marketplace. He had to remain isolated and outside as well.
Jesus touched the leper. He left the safety of his ‘clean’ world and entered the world of the leper with the simple act of touching him.
In a couple of weeks, I will be in the city of of Cartagena de Indias, in Colombia. In the Old City, built in roughly 1535, is the Cathedral of San Pedro Claver, a Jesuit known as the Patron Saint of Slaves, who went to Colombia in 1610 as a student priest. Cartagena was a main centre for the slave trade in the Americas for over 100 years. Ten thousand slaves entered the port each year, from West Africa, under conditions so foul that an estimated one-third of the passengers died in transit. Pope Paul III condemned the slave trade, Pius IX called it “supreme villainy" but it continued to flourish. Claver declared himself "the slave of the Negroes forever."
“As soon as a slave ship entered the port, Peter Claver moved into its infested hold to minister to the ill-treated and miserable passengers. After the slaves were herded out of the ship like chained animals and shut up in nearby yards to be gazed at by the crowds, Claver plunged in among them with medicines, food, bread, brandy, lemons and tobacco. With the help of interpreters he gave basic instructions and assured his brothers and sisters of their human dignity and God's saving love. Claver understood that concrete service like the distributing of medicine, food or brandy to his black brothers and sisters could be as effective a communication of the word of God as mere verbal preaching. As Peter Claver often said, "We must speak to them with our hands before we try to speak to them with our lips."
We must speak with our hands before we try to speak with our lips.
So I find myself asking who are the lepers among us today?
People with HIV-AIDS are still seen as “lepers”. Even though you cannot get the disease by touching someone, we still behave as if we can. There have been proposals to round up those with AIDS and put them in one place, a kind of modern-day leper colony. The virus and the disease are spreading throughout the African population particularly. Children are being born with the disease.
Today is Autism Sunday, a day in which we recognise Autism Spectrum Disorder, which affects the function and development of the brain. Autistic individuals see, hear and sense things differently - and as a result their ability to reason, communicate and interact with others is affected. As a spectrum disorder, there is a wide variation in its manifestation. It is not a mental disorder, nor is it a form of mental. It is still not well understood. Yet individuals with autism are still treated as if they are somehow not quite right. I found myself wondering if the man Jesus healed in the synagogue might have been autistic - back then an autistic individual might be seen as being possessed.
These are a couple of examples - but there are more. I encourage you to think about who might be seen as a leper among us.
What does it mean, in this day and age, to be “clean”? Is cleanliness next to godliness? If we shower every day and make sure we don’t have a bad odour, no pimples or acne, no chapped skin - are we godly people? Is that all it takes to be clean inside? Or is it the other way around? Is it that being loving and generous people (godly people) makes us clean inside? Is outer cleanliness an indication of what kind of people we really are?
A few years ago in the Toronto Star, there was a story about a native man who allowed his two children to freeze to death. In petitioning the judge, one of the elders commented that the man should be restored to health, that is, healed - within the circle of the community - that in fact to exclude him from the community would prevent his healing, and hence the community could not be healed either. In this understanding, if someone is unwell and separated from the community, the only way to heal the community is bring the person back within the circle so that all can be healed.
And this is the other part of the story. In reaching out, holding and touching the leper, Jesus did what the priests in the temple have the power to do, but refuse to do - he has restored this man to community. In the same way, in reaching out and touching those who are considered “lepers” today - those lepers are restored to life in community. Healing takes place - perhaps the healing of the disease if that is possible, but certainly the healing of the soul. The community is also healed. May it be so.
Sources:
1. Healing and Touch by Rev. Fran Ota February 14, 2009
2. Rev. Randy Quinn, from the sermon “Cleanliness is Next to Godliness”.
3. Rev. Nancy Price, from the Midrash discussion list
4. Nelson Mandela, November 2, 2002
5. Brian P. Stoffregen Exegetical Notes, at CrossMarks Christian Resources http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/mark1x40.htm
6. St. Peter Claver http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Claver
7. http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/587620
Saturday, February 4, 2012
“All Things to All People?” a sermon based on Mark 1:29-39 February 5, 2012 Humber United Church
As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her right away. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon - possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
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One of my favourite cartoonists has always been Lynn Johnston, who created “For Better or for Worse”. In particular I remember one where Elly is sick in bed with a fever and cold, bags under her eyes, hair sticking out all over and looking as miserable as anyone can be. As she is lying there she is thinking “Let’s see - Michael will be home from school at 4, Elizabeth will be home at 11:30, and John will be home at 5:30. That means I have an hour to be sick.”
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Second century tradition ascribes the Gospel to Mark the Evangelist (also known as John Mark), the companion of Peter. It is supposedly based on the memories of Peter. However, the author uses a variety of sources including a passion narrative, collections of miracle stories, apocalyptic traditions, and sayings. Some of these sources were already written, some were oral. It was written in Greek for a Greek audience, shortly after the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, possibly in Syria. It is generally agreed that this is the earliest of the Gospels, but that the author is unknown.
In some ways, I wonder if it’s really important who wrote the Gospel. I do think, though, that it’s incredibly important that someone thought all of these things should be written down. One of the most interesting features of Mark’s Gospel is that we get no history, no poetic story about a baby as Luke does, no genealogy as Matthew does, and no theologising like John. He starts right in. “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God.”
Mark’s Gospel moves at blinding speed. Jesus arrives with heaven-splitting force, deals with evil in the wilderness, announces the realm of God, chooses disciples and heals a man with a psychiatric illness in the blink of an eye. Everything in Mark happens “immediately”. Within the very first chapter, Jesus has set the framework for his ministry and for all those who would follow him. He moves from the synagogue, to the home, and out into the world.
Beginning with last week’s story of Jesus healing right there in the synagogue, we see that Jesus really doesn’t care where he is, and he really doesn’t care about the religious authorities’ interpretations of Sabbath law. He will heal those who are near him – whether it is a man in the synagogue, a woman in her home, people on the streets, or even in lands far away.
So today’s reading offers the second and third parts of that framework - the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, even as he is a guest in the house. She is ill with a fever, and the house is full of men who somehow don’t know what to do. They’re all hungry, but no one knows quite what to do. It’s still the Sabbath, which means that work should not take place, and (as we learn in many of the stories) even healing on the Sabbath is a violation, supposedly, of God’s law.
Jesus isn’t interested in the meal. He’s concerned about the sick woman upstairs. So he goes to her, and we see a healing touch - he takes her hand. Mark tells us she got up and began to serve them. Peter’s mother-in-law is generally understood to be the first deaconess in the new group. - and it’s a clue that this isn’t so much a story about a healing, as it is an example of the whole of Jesus’ ministry. Simon’s mother-in-law doesn’t see her role as serving a bunch of inept men, she interprets it as the beginning of *her* ministry. The first person to serve Jesus is a woman.
After the meal is over, a crowd begins to gather outside the house. Mark, with his typical exaggeration, says “The whole city was gathered around the door,”!
Well, we know that whenever there have been big events in the news, there is a media frenzy around the home of the families involved – sometimes it’s the home of the victims, sometimes it’s the perpetrators. Peter may have felt as if the entire world was standing outside his door, but Jesus meets the people, listens to their story, and offers a blessing. Like the meal earlier in the day, he kept his focus on the people around him.
Jesus is then fed and goes off to pray. The people keep coming and keep looking for him, and they are selfishly seeking him out so he can meet more of their own needs. Here we find the third piece of the framework for Jesus’ ministry. He sees the needs of people elsewhere, and leaves for other towns and places where healing is needed.
In a few sentences, Mark has given us all the things he considered most important about Jesus. The realm of God is lived out in three parts - synagogue, home, and outside the doors. The synagogue is part of the spiritual life, but always involves ministry, regardless of who the people are. There is no “us” and “them” inside the church. Jesus’ healing of the man in the synagogue demonstrates that to the fullest. Jesus demonstrates, though, that ministry is also outside the doors - right where people are, right where they live - and not necessarily the people *we* think need ministry.
Too often in the church, our primary paradigm is to meet our own needs. We ask what people want in worship, for instance, rather than asking what God wants for our worship. We talk about bringing more people into our church so we can pay our bills, instead of asking how we can help people meet their very real needs. The reality today is that there are a whole lot of people who say they are “spiritual but not religious.” What they are really saying is that they don’t find what feeds them inside our churches. In 1995, Canada’s leading religious sociologist, Dr. Reginald Bibby, wrote a book called “There’s Got to be More”, based on a study he had done of those people who had dropped away from church. He said people have three kinds of needs: spiritual, social and relational. When asked if they would go to church, those people answered “I would, if I thought it would be good for me and my family.” But they know that when churches talk about getting more people in, they care more about paying bills than about meeting needs, or real healing.
Dr. Diana Butler Bass, in her book “Christianity for the Rest of Us”, talks about churches which have transformed themselves into vital and living places of healing and ministry, and how that happened. Calvin Presbyterian Church in western Pennsylvania developed a healing prayer ministry. But they said their healing is not personal or inward. One member says “Incorporating spirituality of prayer and trying to find God in all places has given life to the whole mission of living each other. Through that love, you spread the Gospel. Another one commented “Healing prayer is an attempt to reach needs away from the church, not necessarily here in the building.”
Simply trying to convince people they should come to our church, or come back to church, won’t work if we figure our church is fine just the way it is, and if they come they will see it. That route means WE don’t need to change, we want them to change. But if we want our churches to be vital places of spiritual life, we have to offer something that is meaningful to those people who don’t come. We need to look through the eyes of Jesus, and to do that, we have to shift the way we think. Perhaps most significantly, we have to find a way to allow God to use us to meet the needs of others.
And then what we do can become an answer to the prayers of others, as the good news is experienced in their lives and in our midst. What we do becomes the living embodiment of the ministry of the one we follow. Thanks be to God.
Sources:
1. Seeing the Needs of Others sermon based on Mark 1:29-39 by Rev. Randy L Quinn
2. Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighbourhood Church if Transforming the Faith. Diana Butler Bass. HarperCollins, 2006. P. 106.
3. Barclay, William. The Gospel of Mark (The Daily Study Bible Series). Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975.
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Mark
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One of my favourite cartoonists has always been Lynn Johnston, who created “For Better or for Worse”. In particular I remember one where Elly is sick in bed with a fever and cold, bags under her eyes, hair sticking out all over and looking as miserable as anyone can be. As she is lying there she is thinking “Let’s see - Michael will be home from school at 4, Elizabeth will be home at 11:30, and John will be home at 5:30. That means I have an hour to be sick.”
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Second century tradition ascribes the Gospel to Mark the Evangelist (also known as John Mark), the companion of Peter. It is supposedly based on the memories of Peter. However, the author uses a variety of sources including a passion narrative, collections of miracle stories, apocalyptic traditions, and sayings. Some of these sources were already written, some were oral. It was written in Greek for a Greek audience, shortly after the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, possibly in Syria. It is generally agreed that this is the earliest of the Gospels, but that the author is unknown.
In some ways, I wonder if it’s really important who wrote the Gospel. I do think, though, that it’s incredibly important that someone thought all of these things should be written down. One of the most interesting features of Mark’s Gospel is that we get no history, no poetic story about a baby as Luke does, no genealogy as Matthew does, and no theologising like John. He starts right in. “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God.”
Mark’s Gospel moves at blinding speed. Jesus arrives with heaven-splitting force, deals with evil in the wilderness, announces the realm of God, chooses disciples and heals a man with a psychiatric illness in the blink of an eye. Everything in Mark happens “immediately”. Within the very first chapter, Jesus has set the framework for his ministry and for all those who would follow him. He moves from the synagogue, to the home, and out into the world.
Beginning with last week’s story of Jesus healing right there in the synagogue, we see that Jesus really doesn’t care where he is, and he really doesn’t care about the religious authorities’ interpretations of Sabbath law. He will heal those who are near him – whether it is a man in the synagogue, a woman in her home, people on the streets, or even in lands far away.
So today’s reading offers the second and third parts of that framework - the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, even as he is a guest in the house. She is ill with a fever, and the house is full of men who somehow don’t know what to do. They’re all hungry, but no one knows quite what to do. It’s still the Sabbath, which means that work should not take place, and (as we learn in many of the stories) even healing on the Sabbath is a violation, supposedly, of God’s law.
Jesus isn’t interested in the meal. He’s concerned about the sick woman upstairs. So he goes to her, and we see a healing touch - he takes her hand. Mark tells us she got up and began to serve them. Peter’s mother-in-law is generally understood to be the first deaconess in the new group. - and it’s a clue that this isn’t so much a story about a healing, as it is an example of the whole of Jesus’ ministry. Simon’s mother-in-law doesn’t see her role as serving a bunch of inept men, she interprets it as the beginning of *her* ministry. The first person to serve Jesus is a woman.
After the meal is over, a crowd begins to gather outside the house. Mark, with his typical exaggeration, says “The whole city was gathered around the door,”!
Well, we know that whenever there have been big events in the news, there is a media frenzy around the home of the families involved – sometimes it’s the home of the victims, sometimes it’s the perpetrators. Peter may have felt as if the entire world was standing outside his door, but Jesus meets the people, listens to their story, and offers a blessing. Like the meal earlier in the day, he kept his focus on the people around him.
Jesus is then fed and goes off to pray. The people keep coming and keep looking for him, and they are selfishly seeking him out so he can meet more of their own needs. Here we find the third piece of the framework for Jesus’ ministry. He sees the needs of people elsewhere, and leaves for other towns and places where healing is needed.
In a few sentences, Mark has given us all the things he considered most important about Jesus. The realm of God is lived out in three parts - synagogue, home, and outside the doors. The synagogue is part of the spiritual life, but always involves ministry, regardless of who the people are. There is no “us” and “them” inside the church. Jesus’ healing of the man in the synagogue demonstrates that to the fullest. Jesus demonstrates, though, that ministry is also outside the doors - right where people are, right where they live - and not necessarily the people *we* think need ministry.
Too often in the church, our primary paradigm is to meet our own needs. We ask what people want in worship, for instance, rather than asking what God wants for our worship. We talk about bringing more people into our church so we can pay our bills, instead of asking how we can help people meet their very real needs. The reality today is that there are a whole lot of people who say they are “spiritual but not religious.” What they are really saying is that they don’t find what feeds them inside our churches. In 1995, Canada’s leading religious sociologist, Dr. Reginald Bibby, wrote a book called “There’s Got to be More”, based on a study he had done of those people who had dropped away from church. He said people have three kinds of needs: spiritual, social and relational. When asked if they would go to church, those people answered “I would, if I thought it would be good for me and my family.” But they know that when churches talk about getting more people in, they care more about paying bills than about meeting needs, or real healing.
Dr. Diana Butler Bass, in her book “Christianity for the Rest of Us”, talks about churches which have transformed themselves into vital and living places of healing and ministry, and how that happened. Calvin Presbyterian Church in western Pennsylvania developed a healing prayer ministry. But they said their healing is not personal or inward. One member says “Incorporating spirituality of prayer and trying to find God in all places has given life to the whole mission of living each other. Through that love, you spread the Gospel. Another one commented “Healing prayer is an attempt to reach needs away from the church, not necessarily here in the building.”
Simply trying to convince people they should come to our church, or come back to church, won’t work if we figure our church is fine just the way it is, and if they come they will see it. That route means WE don’t need to change, we want them to change. But if we want our churches to be vital places of spiritual life, we have to offer something that is meaningful to those people who don’t come. We need to look through the eyes of Jesus, and to do that, we have to shift the way we think. Perhaps most significantly, we have to find a way to allow God to use us to meet the needs of others.
And then what we do can become an answer to the prayers of others, as the good news is experienced in their lives and in our midst. What we do becomes the living embodiment of the ministry of the one we follow. Thanks be to God.
Sources:
1. Seeing the Needs of Others sermon based on Mark 1:29-39 by Rev. Randy L Quinn
2. Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighbourhood Church if Transforming the Faith. Diana Butler Bass. HarperCollins, 2006. P. 106.
3. Barclay, William. The Gospel of Mark (The Daily Study Bible Series). Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975.
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Mark
Saturday, January 28, 2012
"Prophetic Visions" Deuteronomy 18:15-20 and Mark 1:21-28 Humber United Church January 29, 2012
Deuteronomy 18:15-20
God will raise up a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.” God said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them prophets like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in the prophet’s mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name; but a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
Mark 1:21-28
They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching--with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
***********************************************************
Two things I have in mind as I start thinking today: one is right at the beginning of the Harry Potter series, when Draco Malfoy says to Harry ‘You don’t want to be seen with the wrong sort, Potter. I can help you there.” and Harry responds “I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks.” This one tiny part defines the whole of the ground of the Potter books - a young man who isn’t afraid to get hurt for what he knows is right, and another young man who is afraid. Harry is the prophet in this story, the one who walks willingly to death for what he believes is right - the power of Love.
The other is the story of First United Church in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side. In case you don’t know, the downtown east side of Vancouver is a centre of drug use and abuse, alcohol abuse, mental illness - and a life expectancy of about 32. First United Church has for many years run a centre where those people who struggle with demons can come for a meal, a place to sleep, connections to help, and unconditional love. First United never saw itself as a shelter, but rather a radical example of the Gospel in action. They became a shelter when the City of Vancouver asked them to do so, because there were not enough shelters for the many homeless. But their rdical living of the Gospel meant that they defied laws which restricted those who could come in to a particular number. They took in anyone who needed a place. They pushed the City to build more shelters. Local police complained they had to answer calls; ambulance attendants claimed they had to go in there to pick up people; there were a couple of assaults. In the end, the shelter will close at the end of March - at the direction of the Presbytery. The three staff who worked to live this radical and prophetic vision of Gospel were forced to resign.
Lots of people these days claim to be speaking on behalf of God. In the current election in the US, people of every stripe, every colour, every religious and political persuasion are all claiming *they* speak on behalf of God. And it’s interesting that much of what God says, according to them, is about hate.
In every denomination, at every level, people claim they speak on behalf of God. The staff at First United on the Downtown East Side said they spoke for God. The Prebsytery says it speaks for God. When we call our ministers, we write in our Joint Needs Assessments that we want strong, relevant preaching, current scholarship, and the word of God. We want prophets to to teach us - but what happens, of course, is that it’s the word of God, if it’s the word we personally agree with, and it isn’t the word of God if we don’t agree.
So the question is, how do we discern who really is speaking for God. Who really carries this authority? In the reading from Deuteronomy we get one idea. Moses is coming to the end of his time, and knows he will not enter the Promised Land. The Israelites want to know who will tell them what God wants, when Moses is gone. Moses tells them that “God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.” But Moses isn’t talking about one prophet, but a new prophet for each generation - the phrase is “raising up prophets.” who will continue to speak on God’s behalf.
In today’s world our guide is not Moses, but Jesus. Anyone who says they are speaking for God must be held up to the ministry and teachings of Jesus. So today Mark takes us to Jesus at the beginning of his public ministry, and in today’s passage, Jesus begins with a sermon in the synagogue in Capernaum. He and the disciples walk in to the synagogue, the resident rabbi hands Jesus the first scroll, and he sits down to teach. So he reads the lesson, and then opens the service with the traditional berakah, or blessing. Probably not more than five minutes into his sermon, it happens. Just when the congregation is starting to notice that the sermon notes are not on an old yellow legal pad, just when they discover that the topic is not being put to them the way the traditional scribes would, just when they are starting to see that faith without action in the world is a dead faith, a raving man in the middle of church shouts vague threats at the young preacher who dared to say something radical.
"I know who you are," the man yells. “You’re God’s holy messenger, come here to destroy us.”
"Be muzzled, you evil spirit" Jesus yells back, jumping up from his chair, "Leave him alone! Stop hurting that man." The man falls to the synagogue floor, tears and shudders going through his body, wails coming from so deep inside they seem to touch a primordial chord in everyone there. Then he becomes calm. He picks himself up, now tranquil and calm, and finds a seat in the congregation.
How would you respond if that happened here? Most of us would be so shocked that we would just sit. Some of us would leave making disgusted faces at such behaviour in church. Maybe we would have called the ambulance and told them to bring the jacket and restraints.
Would you walk out of the church complimenting the preacher on a great sermon? If the teaching went contrary to what you had always been taught by the scribes and Pharisees, what would you do? Isn’t that the LAST thing you would compliment the preacher for? A wonderful teaching, with fresh insight? Yet, that is what happened in Capernaum. The congregation leaves the synangogue commenting about how wonderful the teaching was. What has teaching to do with expunging a demon?
And the crowd is “astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.”(v. 22) This rabbi clearly is different – his teaching sets him apart from those who claim to be the successors of Moses, who claim to have authority from God. We don’t find out *what* Jesus taught, just that he did, and it made an impression.
The religious leaders who claim they speak for God have shunned a man who, according to them, has a “demon”. They have *talked* about the Realm of God on earth. They have used established procedures to interpret and debate the Law of Moses. Their interpretation might be intellectually demanding, but does not demand that they change the way they think, or change their lives.
Jesus is different, because he understands the scholarly interpretations, but he also knows that theory is useless unless it is put into practice. Jesus works to bring God’s realm right in the present situation. So when a man comes to the synagogue, clearly suffering social discrimination, Jesus acts to free the man, so that he has the courage to be who he truly is regardless of what the authorities claim is God’s law.
Jesus’ authority does not come from being born into the *right* family. His authority does not come from attending the right schools or studying with the right people and earning the right degrees. Jesus’ authority is granted by God, and is demonstrated through the many ways in which he works to make the Realm of God a reality throughout his ministry. Jesus is authoritative; but there is a difference between authoritative, and authoritarian.
Two words are crucial in this text; teaching, and authority. Mark wants us to see that in Jesus, God is among us to confront our own demons, the things which hold us back from Gospel of Love. When Jesus is the teacher, teaching is not a snore of a sermon! When Jesus is the teacher at Humber, we all are faced with a choice - to let the demons speak or let Jesus drive them from us so that we learn to live and love in the very same way Jesus did.
All churches tend to deal with issues through the rumor-mill, instead of honest inquiry and ensuring that there is truth. There is not a congregation in any denomination which is free of this behaviour. Talking behind, talking about, half-truth or incomplete information. Gossiping in front of others, putting down things or people. When this happens in a congregation, energies are turned inward, and commitment to the Gospel together is divided. The congregation is divided - the result often is people turn away, just not come because they expect more of us, and we let them down. And interestingly enough, mission and commitment to the world outside our doors begin to take a back seat. Martin Luther once said, "When the gospel is preached, devils are set loose and start to roam among us."
Rev. Thomas Hall, one of my favourite preachers, asks “Could it be that preachers have lost our nerve? Our voice?” I ask “Could it be that we don’t *want* anything transformative to happen at 11 o’clock on Sunday morning? That we don’t want to be disturbed by the Gospel?” Could it be that we preachers have lost our prophetic voice in the face of self-preservation? Could it be that we as a congregation of disciples have lost the sense of mission which brings us to God and then sends us out to Love in risk and sacrifice of ourselves? Could it be that this is a message we want to contain?
If we truly follow Jesus, the stark reality is that we are called to prophecy, even if it gets us hurt. That is the message of the Gospel; Love can get us hurt. Being church can get us hurt. Our task is to work tirelessly at being the “right sort”, so that we are recognisable; our task is to work together for the building up of the whole community of the Gospel.
May it be so.
Sources:
1. The Middle Generations, Joshua 24:1-24 January 27, 2012. A sermon by Rev Christina Berry, outgoing Moderator of the Synod of Lincoln Trails
2. Speaking on Behalf of God? a sermon based on Deuteronomy 18:15-20 & Mark 1:21-28
by Rev. Richard Gehring
3. A New Teaching a sermon based on Mark 1:21-28 by Rev. Thomas Hall
God will raise up a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.” God said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them prophets like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in the prophet’s mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name; but a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
Mark 1:21-28
They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God." Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching--with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him." At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
***********************************************************
Two things I have in mind as I start thinking today: one is right at the beginning of the Harry Potter series, when Draco Malfoy says to Harry ‘You don’t want to be seen with the wrong sort, Potter. I can help you there.” and Harry responds “I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks.” This one tiny part defines the whole of the ground of the Potter books - a young man who isn’t afraid to get hurt for what he knows is right, and another young man who is afraid. Harry is the prophet in this story, the one who walks willingly to death for what he believes is right - the power of Love.
The other is the story of First United Church in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side. In case you don’t know, the downtown east side of Vancouver is a centre of drug use and abuse, alcohol abuse, mental illness - and a life expectancy of about 32. First United Church has for many years run a centre where those people who struggle with demons can come for a meal, a place to sleep, connections to help, and unconditional love. First United never saw itself as a shelter, but rather a radical example of the Gospel in action. They became a shelter when the City of Vancouver asked them to do so, because there were not enough shelters for the many homeless. But their rdical living of the Gospel meant that they defied laws which restricted those who could come in to a particular number. They took in anyone who needed a place. They pushed the City to build more shelters. Local police complained they had to answer calls; ambulance attendants claimed they had to go in there to pick up people; there were a couple of assaults. In the end, the shelter will close at the end of March - at the direction of the Presbytery. The three staff who worked to live this radical and prophetic vision of Gospel were forced to resign.
Lots of people these days claim to be speaking on behalf of God. In the current election in the US, people of every stripe, every colour, every religious and political persuasion are all claiming *they* speak on behalf of God. And it’s interesting that much of what God says, according to them, is about hate.
In every denomination, at every level, people claim they speak on behalf of God. The staff at First United on the Downtown East Side said they spoke for God. The Prebsytery says it speaks for God. When we call our ministers, we write in our Joint Needs Assessments that we want strong, relevant preaching, current scholarship, and the word of God. We want prophets to to teach us - but what happens, of course, is that it’s the word of God, if it’s the word we personally agree with, and it isn’t the word of God if we don’t agree.
So the question is, how do we discern who really is speaking for God. Who really carries this authority? In the reading from Deuteronomy we get one idea. Moses is coming to the end of his time, and knows he will not enter the Promised Land. The Israelites want to know who will tell them what God wants, when Moses is gone. Moses tells them that “God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.” But Moses isn’t talking about one prophet, but a new prophet for each generation - the phrase is “raising up prophets.” who will continue to speak on God’s behalf.
In today’s world our guide is not Moses, but Jesus. Anyone who says they are speaking for God must be held up to the ministry and teachings of Jesus. So today Mark takes us to Jesus at the beginning of his public ministry, and in today’s passage, Jesus begins with a sermon in the synagogue in Capernaum. He and the disciples walk in to the synagogue, the resident rabbi hands Jesus the first scroll, and he sits down to teach. So he reads the lesson, and then opens the service with the traditional berakah, or blessing. Probably not more than five minutes into his sermon, it happens. Just when the congregation is starting to notice that the sermon notes are not on an old yellow legal pad, just when they discover that the topic is not being put to them the way the traditional scribes would, just when they are starting to see that faith without action in the world is a dead faith, a raving man in the middle of church shouts vague threats at the young preacher who dared to say something radical.
"I know who you are," the man yells. “You’re God’s holy messenger, come here to destroy us.”
"Be muzzled, you evil spirit" Jesus yells back, jumping up from his chair, "Leave him alone! Stop hurting that man." The man falls to the synagogue floor, tears and shudders going through his body, wails coming from so deep inside they seem to touch a primordial chord in everyone there. Then he becomes calm. He picks himself up, now tranquil and calm, and finds a seat in the congregation.
How would you respond if that happened here? Most of us would be so shocked that we would just sit. Some of us would leave making disgusted faces at such behaviour in church. Maybe we would have called the ambulance and told them to bring the jacket and restraints.
Would you walk out of the church complimenting the preacher on a great sermon? If the teaching went contrary to what you had always been taught by the scribes and Pharisees, what would you do? Isn’t that the LAST thing you would compliment the preacher for? A wonderful teaching, with fresh insight? Yet, that is what happened in Capernaum. The congregation leaves the synangogue commenting about how wonderful the teaching was. What has teaching to do with expunging a demon?
And the crowd is “astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.”(v. 22) This rabbi clearly is different – his teaching sets him apart from those who claim to be the successors of Moses, who claim to have authority from God. We don’t find out *what* Jesus taught, just that he did, and it made an impression.
The religious leaders who claim they speak for God have shunned a man who, according to them, has a “demon”. They have *talked* about the Realm of God on earth. They have used established procedures to interpret and debate the Law of Moses. Their interpretation might be intellectually demanding, but does not demand that they change the way they think, or change their lives.
Jesus is different, because he understands the scholarly interpretations, but he also knows that theory is useless unless it is put into practice. Jesus works to bring God’s realm right in the present situation. So when a man comes to the synagogue, clearly suffering social discrimination, Jesus acts to free the man, so that he has the courage to be who he truly is regardless of what the authorities claim is God’s law.
Jesus’ authority does not come from being born into the *right* family. His authority does not come from attending the right schools or studying with the right people and earning the right degrees. Jesus’ authority is granted by God, and is demonstrated through the many ways in which he works to make the Realm of God a reality throughout his ministry. Jesus is authoritative; but there is a difference between authoritative, and authoritarian.
Two words are crucial in this text; teaching, and authority. Mark wants us to see that in Jesus, God is among us to confront our own demons, the things which hold us back from Gospel of Love. When Jesus is the teacher, teaching is not a snore of a sermon! When Jesus is the teacher at Humber, we all are faced with a choice - to let the demons speak or let Jesus drive them from us so that we learn to live and love in the very same way Jesus did.
All churches tend to deal with issues through the rumor-mill, instead of honest inquiry and ensuring that there is truth. There is not a congregation in any denomination which is free of this behaviour. Talking behind, talking about, half-truth or incomplete information. Gossiping in front of others, putting down things or people. When this happens in a congregation, energies are turned inward, and commitment to the Gospel together is divided. The congregation is divided - the result often is people turn away, just not come because they expect more of us, and we let them down. And interestingly enough, mission and commitment to the world outside our doors begin to take a back seat. Martin Luther once said, "When the gospel is preached, devils are set loose and start to roam among us."
Rev. Thomas Hall, one of my favourite preachers, asks “Could it be that preachers have lost our nerve? Our voice?” I ask “Could it be that we don’t *want* anything transformative to happen at 11 o’clock on Sunday morning? That we don’t want to be disturbed by the Gospel?” Could it be that we preachers have lost our prophetic voice in the face of self-preservation? Could it be that we as a congregation of disciples have lost the sense of mission which brings us to God and then sends us out to Love in risk and sacrifice of ourselves? Could it be that this is a message we want to contain?
If we truly follow Jesus, the stark reality is that we are called to prophecy, even if it gets us hurt. That is the message of the Gospel; Love can get us hurt. Being church can get us hurt. Our task is to work tirelessly at being the “right sort”, so that we are recognisable; our task is to work together for the building up of the whole community of the Gospel.
May it be so.
Sources:
1. The Middle Generations, Joshua 24:1-24 January 27, 2012. A sermon by Rev Christina Berry, outgoing Moderator of the Synod of Lincoln Trails
2. Speaking on Behalf of God? a sermon based on Deuteronomy 18:15-20 & Mark 1:21-28
by Rev. Richard Gehring
3. A New Teaching a sermon based on Mark 1:21-28 by Rev. Thomas Hall
Saturday, January 21, 2012
“Gifted, Called and Chosen” January 22, 2012 Humber United Church A sermon based upon Jonah 3:2-5, 10; Mark 1:14-20
The word of God came to Jonah a second time, saying,"Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim the message that I tell you." So Jonah went to Nineveh, according to the word of God. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. He cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" The people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that would be brought upon them; and did not do it.
After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea - they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
**************************************************************************
In December of 1955, Rose Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to move to the back of a city bus. Leaders in the African-American community organized a city-wide transportation boycott, and turned to the young black pastor, Martin Luther King, Jr. as the leader. King was just 26 years old, and was torn by issues of call - to ministry, to discipleship. God called him to a vastly different ministry - and the rest is history. He became President of a new organisation called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He organised the great civil rights marches. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. His call spelled the end of his life, figuratively and literally speaking.
January is Black History month, and in particular we remember the call of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday was January 15, 1929. Had he lived, he would have been 83 now.
Poor old Jonah – he really thought he’d got away. In Scene 1, God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah says “no thanks” , takes a ship, and ends up as fish food.
In Scene 2, Jonah is a prisoner in the dank, dark cavern of the fish’s belly. He prays a doleful lament ("God-get-me-out-of-this-jam, selah") that is both inspiring and effective. Up to this point, Jonah’s trip has been a real “downer”. If you follow the Hebrew language, the writer uses the word for "down" to describe Jonah’s journey. Jonah goes . . .
Down to Joppa, down to the ship, down to the innards of the vessel, down into the sea, down into the belly of the fish, down to the land of death.
Then the winds of destiny change. Jonah is now “up” on the beach, having just been dropped off by Moby Dick. Can you see him? He’s still pulling seaweed from his beard when he hears that unmistakable voice.
"Oh Jonah?"
"Yes . . .?"
"It’s me again."
"Oh."
"I still need you to help me."
"Okay, okay. I’ll go where you want me to go, do what you want me to do, etc."
Okay, I said I want you to go to Nineveh.
So Jonah finally arrives at Nineveh to preach. Let’s look at Jonah’s message.
How would you feel if this happened next Sunday at church? Call to worship, hymns, and when when it comes time for the homily, I tell you “In forty days this church will collapse to the ground. May God add his blessing to these words." Well, that is exactly how this reluctant prophet addresses the people of Nineveh. "In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed. The End." The end? What do you mean, "the end?" What’s the rest of the sermon?
Jonah’s message is abrupt. These are the briefest words of prophecy in the entire Bible. We don’t actually know where this brief message came from - God says go and give the message that I will tell you - but nowhere in the entire story does God actually give that particular message to Jonah. Elsewhere in the scriptures, every time a prophet said something, it always started with “Thus saith the Lord....” Every prophet stated clearly and precisely what repentance needed to be done.
We have an interesting insight here that will shed even more light on this revival. The writer carefully uses the word, "Elohim" as the word for "God." Elohim is a generic word, the kind of word you use when you’re not too familiar with God. The people have never heard of Yahweh, but even before all the facts are in, they turn their lives upside down. To the last citizen, the people of Nineveh repent at once.
A couple of thousand years later, Jesus stands before the religious leaders - the equivalent of bishops, and Popes, and says "The people of Nineveh will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But someone greater than Jonah is here, and yet you refuse to repent."
I love comparing the styles of the Gospel writers. Luke is a storyteller, and the writing is graceful. Mark sticks to the bare bones of the story, the ultimate in mininal. Mark has telescoped events that occurred over days, or even weeks, into a couple of moments.
It makes us wonder what Mark considered not important. What’s missing from the text? Andrew was Peter’s younger brother - did he just follow whatever Peter did? What about James and John, the sons of Zebedee? Were they tired of cleaning fish and mending nets? Did they want to get out and see some more of the world?
Mark just tells us a few pieces of information. Two fishermen. Jesus. "Follow me." "At once they left their nets." Repeat again: another two fishermen. Jesus. "Follow me." "At once they left their nets." In five verses Mark tells us an account of how four fishermen just drop everything and follow after Jesus on the whim of an invitation--given in less than twelve words.
Doesn’t that strike you as just a bit odd? Did they really just get up and go, just like that? No
goodbyes? Just immediately drop their plans for their lives? No counting the cost. No weighing of options?
Let’s put it into a more modern context. What would be your response if your teen came to you with this piece of news?
"Guess what? I’ve met this cool guy over the internet."
"Oh? Really? That’s nice."
"Yeah, and he’s asked me to marry him right away, and I said yes!"
"Do you know where he lives? Who his parents are? Does he go to church? Is he Christian? Does he have a job? "
"No, but we’re going to get married right away! Isn’t that great?"
Maybe Jesus wasn’t talking about ‘chronos’ time - chronology, calendar, clock, aging. The words were “The realm of God has come near.” Kairos time, or God’s time. Jonah didn’t want to be part of God’s time, he wanted to do things on his own time. God kept coming after him. Remember the words of Psalm 139 from last week? If I go out into the universe, you are there. If I go to the darkest depths, you are there? Where can I go, that you are not there?
Maybe the fishermen recognised at some deep spiritual level that this was Kairos time. Mark records Jesus using the word "kairos”. God’s time. So when he says “Follow me” he is saying “turn from your sins and embrace this good news." Kairos time means a special time- God’s time - that is, the right time, a time in which your whole life is caught up in a moment, when everything crystallizes, and everything hinges on whether you say yes or no.
I wonder if, to each of us, there comes a time that is Kairos time - a time when we say yes and trust? Martin Luther King recognised that beyond a call to ministry, God called him into an unknown future. The civil rights movement was Kairos time - God’s time.
This isn’t a story about evangelism to other people. It’s a story of invitation--to invite us to open our lives to God’s kingdom. This morning God stands among us calling out to us in kairos time. Time to respond to what God wants to do in your life. Be impulsive! Make a response that comes from deep inside you. Follow your heart, not your head. Plenty of reasons to go back to fishing and mending nets. No time, too busy, have other things to do, gotta cook, work, get the kids through school, attend my aging parent, take a class, sit on a committee. Listen to your heart, respond to God without having all the facts, without knowing, without worrying, just doing it. That’s what being called and named is about.
CALLED
We are called
to leave behind our solitary searching,
to put on that single garment of destiny -
the uniform of faithfulness -
worn by creatures great and small,
old and forgotten,
young and eager,
broken and bewildered,
spirited and set on fire:
sisters and brothers who share not race or tongue,
but whose hearts are claimed by love,
signed by a cross.
Our future is together, arm in arm,
finding healing as we heal,
knowing freedom in our forgiving.
We are the strangest travellers:
seeking no reward at trail's end,
As long as we know the joy of journeying with him.
We are called
Disciples.
We are called His.
Sources:
1. “Called and Named” January 18, 2009 Rev. Fran Ota
2. “God Wants to Save Whom?” a sermon based on Jonah 3:1-5, 10 by Rev. Thomas Hall
3. “Fishers of People” a sermon based on Mark 1:14-20 by Rev. Thomas Hall
4. Poem by Timothy Haut, Deep River, Connecticut. January 18, 2009.
After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea - they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
**************************************************************************
In December of 1955, Rose Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to move to the back of a city bus. Leaders in the African-American community organized a city-wide transportation boycott, and turned to the young black pastor, Martin Luther King, Jr. as the leader. King was just 26 years old, and was torn by issues of call - to ministry, to discipleship. God called him to a vastly different ministry - and the rest is history. He became President of a new organisation called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He organised the great civil rights marches. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. His call spelled the end of his life, figuratively and literally speaking.
January is Black History month, and in particular we remember the call of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday was January 15, 1929. Had he lived, he would have been 83 now.
Poor old Jonah – he really thought he’d got away. In Scene 1, God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah says “no thanks” , takes a ship, and ends up as fish food.
In Scene 2, Jonah is a prisoner in the dank, dark cavern of the fish’s belly. He prays a doleful lament ("God-get-me-out-of-this-jam, selah") that is both inspiring and effective. Up to this point, Jonah’s trip has been a real “downer”. If you follow the Hebrew language, the writer uses the word for "down" to describe Jonah’s journey. Jonah goes . . .
Down to Joppa, down to the ship, down to the innards of the vessel, down into the sea, down into the belly of the fish, down to the land of death.
Then the winds of destiny change. Jonah is now “up” on the beach, having just been dropped off by Moby Dick. Can you see him? He’s still pulling seaweed from his beard when he hears that unmistakable voice.
"Oh Jonah?"
"Yes . . .?"
"It’s me again."
"Oh."
"I still need you to help me."
"Okay, okay. I’ll go where you want me to go, do what you want me to do, etc."
Okay, I said I want you to go to Nineveh.
So Jonah finally arrives at Nineveh to preach. Let’s look at Jonah’s message.
How would you feel if this happened next Sunday at church? Call to worship, hymns, and when when it comes time for the homily, I tell you “In forty days this church will collapse to the ground. May God add his blessing to these words." Well, that is exactly how this reluctant prophet addresses the people of Nineveh. "In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed. The End." The end? What do you mean, "the end?" What’s the rest of the sermon?
Jonah’s message is abrupt. These are the briefest words of prophecy in the entire Bible. We don’t actually know where this brief message came from - God says go and give the message that I will tell you - but nowhere in the entire story does God actually give that particular message to Jonah. Elsewhere in the scriptures, every time a prophet said something, it always started with “Thus saith the Lord....” Every prophet stated clearly and precisely what repentance needed to be done.
We have an interesting insight here that will shed even more light on this revival. The writer carefully uses the word, "Elohim" as the word for "God." Elohim is a generic word, the kind of word you use when you’re not too familiar with God. The people have never heard of Yahweh, but even before all the facts are in, they turn their lives upside down. To the last citizen, the people of Nineveh repent at once.
A couple of thousand years later, Jesus stands before the religious leaders - the equivalent of bishops, and Popes, and says "The people of Nineveh will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But someone greater than Jonah is here, and yet you refuse to repent."
I love comparing the styles of the Gospel writers. Luke is a storyteller, and the writing is graceful. Mark sticks to the bare bones of the story, the ultimate in mininal. Mark has telescoped events that occurred over days, or even weeks, into a couple of moments.
It makes us wonder what Mark considered not important. What’s missing from the text? Andrew was Peter’s younger brother - did he just follow whatever Peter did? What about James and John, the sons of Zebedee? Were they tired of cleaning fish and mending nets? Did they want to get out and see some more of the world?
Mark just tells us a few pieces of information. Two fishermen. Jesus. "Follow me." "At once they left their nets." Repeat again: another two fishermen. Jesus. "Follow me." "At once they left their nets." In five verses Mark tells us an account of how four fishermen just drop everything and follow after Jesus on the whim of an invitation--given in less than twelve words.
Doesn’t that strike you as just a bit odd? Did they really just get up and go, just like that? No
goodbyes? Just immediately drop their plans for their lives? No counting the cost. No weighing of options?
Let’s put it into a more modern context. What would be your response if your teen came to you with this piece of news?
"Guess what? I’ve met this cool guy over the internet."
"Oh? Really? That’s nice."
"Yeah, and he’s asked me to marry him right away, and I said yes!"
"Do you know where he lives? Who his parents are? Does he go to church? Is he Christian? Does he have a job? "
"No, but we’re going to get married right away! Isn’t that great?"
Maybe Jesus wasn’t talking about ‘chronos’ time - chronology, calendar, clock, aging. The words were “The realm of God has come near.” Kairos time, or God’s time. Jonah didn’t want to be part of God’s time, he wanted to do things on his own time. God kept coming after him. Remember the words of Psalm 139 from last week? If I go out into the universe, you are there. If I go to the darkest depths, you are there? Where can I go, that you are not there?
Maybe the fishermen recognised at some deep spiritual level that this was Kairos time. Mark records Jesus using the word "kairos”. God’s time. So when he says “Follow me” he is saying “turn from your sins and embrace this good news." Kairos time means a special time- God’s time - that is, the right time, a time in which your whole life is caught up in a moment, when everything crystallizes, and everything hinges on whether you say yes or no.
I wonder if, to each of us, there comes a time that is Kairos time - a time when we say yes and trust? Martin Luther King recognised that beyond a call to ministry, God called him into an unknown future. The civil rights movement was Kairos time - God’s time.
This isn’t a story about evangelism to other people. It’s a story of invitation--to invite us to open our lives to God’s kingdom. This morning God stands among us calling out to us in kairos time. Time to respond to what God wants to do in your life. Be impulsive! Make a response that comes from deep inside you. Follow your heart, not your head. Plenty of reasons to go back to fishing and mending nets. No time, too busy, have other things to do, gotta cook, work, get the kids through school, attend my aging parent, take a class, sit on a committee. Listen to your heart, respond to God without having all the facts, without knowing, without worrying, just doing it. That’s what being called and named is about.
CALLED
We are called
to leave behind our solitary searching,
to put on that single garment of destiny -
the uniform of faithfulness -
worn by creatures great and small,
old and forgotten,
young and eager,
broken and bewildered,
spirited and set on fire:
sisters and brothers who share not race or tongue,
but whose hearts are claimed by love,
signed by a cross.
Our future is together, arm in arm,
finding healing as we heal,
knowing freedom in our forgiving.
We are the strangest travellers:
seeking no reward at trail's end,
As long as we know the joy of journeying with him.
We are called
Disciples.
We are called His.
Sources:
1. “Called and Named” January 18, 2009 Rev. Fran Ota
2. “God Wants to Save Whom?” a sermon based on Jonah 3:1-5, 10 by Rev. Thomas Hall
3. “Fishers of People” a sermon based on Mark 1:14-20 by Rev. Thomas Hall
4. Poem by Timothy Haut, Deep River, Connecticut. January 18, 2009.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
“Getting to the Front of the Stable” Matthew 1:18-25 Humber United Church, Corner Brook, NL January 8, 2012
A Sunday School was putting on a Christmas pageant which included the story of Mary and Joseph coming to the inn. One boy wanted so very much to be Joseph, but when the parts were handed out, a boy he didn’t like was given that part, and he was assigned to be the inn-keeper instead. He was pretty upset about this but he didn’t say anything to the director.
During all the rehearsals he thought what he might do the night of performance to get even with this rival who got to be Joseph. Finally, the night of the performance, Mary and Joseph came walking across the stage. They knocked on the door of the inn, and the inn-keeper opened the door and asked them gruffly what they wanted.
Joseph answered, "We’d like to have a room for the night." Suddenly the inn-keeper threw the door open wide and said, "Great, come on in and I’ll give you the best room in the house!"
For a few seconds poor little Joseph didn’t know what to do. Thinking quickly on his feet, he looked inside the door past the inn-keeper then said, "No wife of mine is going to stay in a dump like this. Come on, Mary, let’s go to the barn." -And once again the play was back on track!
In all the Christmas pageants performed, Joseph doesn’t get a starring role, but he is far more important than we have ever made him. Think about what he did! Everyone praises the courage of Mary, but who praises the courage of Joseph? Here is a man of integrity who always obeyed religious law, who is engaged to a young girl - he finds out she is pregnant not by him. She says there was no other man, but the Holy Spirit which created the child.
By law he has two choices: he can go through a kind of “divorce”, severing his promise of marriage. Mary and her family would be forced to leave the village go somewhere else, public scrutiny would be too much; by law he could call for her to be stoned to death for adultery.
Yet here is a man who hears angels - and angel who whispers to him to take Mary as his wife, and trust God. So in the English translation, we are told he marries Mary even though she is a ‘virgin’.
However, In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Hebrew meaning of the word used is “young woman”. When the Gospels were written, they were first written in Hebrew - so for Joseph, Mary would not necessarily have been a technical virgin, just a young woman. The word is ‘alma’. In Isaiah 7:14, it says, “a young woman shall conceive and give birth to a child.”
When the Gospels were translated from Hebrew to Greek, there was no corresponding word - and the translator chose the Greek word meaning someone who has not been sexually active.
Yet there was a commitment and a promise between Joseph and Mary. Mary’s father was required to pay a dowry; even though they were technically not married, all the same rules applied. If Joseph should die, she would be called a widow. If she died, he would be called a widower. If the engagement broke up, it would be called a divorce. During the time they were engaged, they were called husband and wife. While they were engaged, they were both to be virgins. The engagement was to last one year and then they were to be married.
In the biblical text, we are told, “Joseph was a just man.” That means that Joseph was a good man, a kind man, an honorable man. The Bible uses the word, “righteous.” Joseph was a righteous man. Then we come to this beautiful line, “Joseph was unwilling to put her to shame.” That line says mountains to us about Joseph. He didn’t want to hurt Mary. He didn’t want to destroy her. He was not punitive. He was not revengeful. He wasn’t out for a pound of her flesh. Instead, Joseph had these feelings of grace towards her, and so he resolved to divorce her quietly. Not tell her parents. Not tell his parents. Not tell the rabbi. Not to tell the court so he could get his money back. So the first story about the birth of Jesus is a story of compassion, a story of grace, a story of a man who had been enormously violated by a pregnant woman and he vowed not to punish her. He had been deeply violated, yet he still cared for her and took care of her.
But the story continues. An angel or divine messenger appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Mary is pregnant by the Spirit of God. The Spirit hovered over her and she is now pregnant. You are to marry her and name the child Jesus for he will save the people from their sins. Call him Immanuel because God is always with us.” And so Joseph remained with Mary because he believed the dream and the message of the angel.
Notice that Joseph never says a word, in the few times he is mentioned in the birth narratives. He listens, he takes actions, but he never speaks. We might assume his words are recorded, because we can imagine the conversations he had with Mary, and the Angel Gabriel. He can “hear” him talking to the innkeeper. We can visualize him teaching Jesus about carpentry…but then he fades from the scene. It is widely thought that Joseph was much older than Mary, which would be consistent with cultural practices. When Jesus finally begins ministry, Mary appears alone - the assumption is that Joseph has died and Mary is a widow.
I think of Joseph as a man of integrity. He was a carpenter - not quite untouchable, but close to the lowest of the low. Yet he was also fluent in several languages - he would have to be, in order to work in the town of Sepphoris near Nazareth, where Greek, Roman and many other cultures rubbed elbows. He would also have been able to read. He seems like a man who plans carefully. When he was secure enough, he began to think about marriage, and approached Mary’s parents. Then he discovered that his bride-to-be was pregnant. As a man of integrity he wanted to do the right thing, in the right way. He considered divorcing Mary when he learned of her pregnancy, but wanted to do so without calling attention to the reason. Instead, he risks being questioned about Mary’s pregnancy and marries her. In those days, a marriage contract was worked out between families, and the engaged couple continued to live with their parents till their wedding. The townspeople could well have thought Mary and Joseph didn’t wait till their wedding. Joseph protected their reputation by moving up the wedding date, and the Roman census took them far away from the town’s questioning eyes.
Although Joseph came from the royal lineage of King David (thanks to the Gospel genealogy), we can easily picture him as a humble man. The brief portrait of him in Scripture suggests he was a quiet, unobtrusive man, available when needed, willing to endure hardship and disappointment. Looking forward to fathering his own child, his first was a child not his own. He accepted the humbling circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth, and he trusted God as much as Mary did.
Instead of being indignant, Joseph accepted this child as his own. Joseph accepted the revealed will of God. He followed the instructions—journeying from Nazareth to Bethlehem, then to Egypt, then back to Nazareth. Instead of putting Mary aside, or rejecting the child, Joseph received the child as a gift from God.
I think it’s high time we take Joseph out from the back of the creche and put him up front, with Mary.
Ann Weems, a Presbyterian elder and lecturer, wrote this poem, called “Getting to the Front of the Stable” (read).
**Note: because of copyright issues, it isn't possible to include the poem here.
Sources:
1. “Getting to the Front of the Stable”, a sermon by Rev. Fran Ota, Christmas 2005.
2. “Joseph and the Virgin Birth”, a sermon by Rev. Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, WA.
3. “Joseph—Father of Jesus” a sermon by Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
4. “Getting to the Front of the Stable”, a poem by Ann Weems. From “Kneeling in Bethlehem”. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. 1987.
During all the rehearsals he thought what he might do the night of performance to get even with this rival who got to be Joseph. Finally, the night of the performance, Mary and Joseph came walking across the stage. They knocked on the door of the inn, and the inn-keeper opened the door and asked them gruffly what they wanted.
Joseph answered, "We’d like to have a room for the night." Suddenly the inn-keeper threw the door open wide and said, "Great, come on in and I’ll give you the best room in the house!"
For a few seconds poor little Joseph didn’t know what to do. Thinking quickly on his feet, he looked inside the door past the inn-keeper then said, "No wife of mine is going to stay in a dump like this. Come on, Mary, let’s go to the barn." -And once again the play was back on track!
In all the Christmas pageants performed, Joseph doesn’t get a starring role, but he is far more important than we have ever made him. Think about what he did! Everyone praises the courage of Mary, but who praises the courage of Joseph? Here is a man of integrity who always obeyed religious law, who is engaged to a young girl - he finds out she is pregnant not by him. She says there was no other man, but the Holy Spirit which created the child.
By law he has two choices: he can go through a kind of “divorce”, severing his promise of marriage. Mary and her family would be forced to leave the village go somewhere else, public scrutiny would be too much; by law he could call for her to be stoned to death for adultery.
Yet here is a man who hears angels - and angel who whispers to him to take Mary as his wife, and trust God. So in the English translation, we are told he marries Mary even though she is a ‘virgin’.
However, In the Hebrew Scriptures, the Hebrew meaning of the word used is “young woman”. When the Gospels were written, they were first written in Hebrew - so for Joseph, Mary would not necessarily have been a technical virgin, just a young woman. The word is ‘alma’. In Isaiah 7:14, it says, “a young woman shall conceive and give birth to a child.”
When the Gospels were translated from Hebrew to Greek, there was no corresponding word - and the translator chose the Greek word meaning someone who has not been sexually active.
Yet there was a commitment and a promise between Joseph and Mary. Mary’s father was required to pay a dowry; even though they were technically not married, all the same rules applied. If Joseph should die, she would be called a widow. If she died, he would be called a widower. If the engagement broke up, it would be called a divorce. During the time they were engaged, they were called husband and wife. While they were engaged, they were both to be virgins. The engagement was to last one year and then they were to be married.
In the biblical text, we are told, “Joseph was a just man.” That means that Joseph was a good man, a kind man, an honorable man. The Bible uses the word, “righteous.” Joseph was a righteous man. Then we come to this beautiful line, “Joseph was unwilling to put her to shame.” That line says mountains to us about Joseph. He didn’t want to hurt Mary. He didn’t want to destroy her. He was not punitive. He was not revengeful. He wasn’t out for a pound of her flesh. Instead, Joseph had these feelings of grace towards her, and so he resolved to divorce her quietly. Not tell her parents. Not tell his parents. Not tell the rabbi. Not to tell the court so he could get his money back. So the first story about the birth of Jesus is a story of compassion, a story of grace, a story of a man who had been enormously violated by a pregnant woman and he vowed not to punish her. He had been deeply violated, yet he still cared for her and took care of her.
But the story continues. An angel or divine messenger appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Mary is pregnant by the Spirit of God. The Spirit hovered over her and she is now pregnant. You are to marry her and name the child Jesus for he will save the people from their sins. Call him Immanuel because God is always with us.” And so Joseph remained with Mary because he believed the dream and the message of the angel.
Notice that Joseph never says a word, in the few times he is mentioned in the birth narratives. He listens, he takes actions, but he never speaks. We might assume his words are recorded, because we can imagine the conversations he had with Mary, and the Angel Gabriel. He can “hear” him talking to the innkeeper. We can visualize him teaching Jesus about carpentry…but then he fades from the scene. It is widely thought that Joseph was much older than Mary, which would be consistent with cultural practices. When Jesus finally begins ministry, Mary appears alone - the assumption is that Joseph has died and Mary is a widow.
I think of Joseph as a man of integrity. He was a carpenter - not quite untouchable, but close to the lowest of the low. Yet he was also fluent in several languages - he would have to be, in order to work in the town of Sepphoris near Nazareth, where Greek, Roman and many other cultures rubbed elbows. He would also have been able to read. He seems like a man who plans carefully. When he was secure enough, he began to think about marriage, and approached Mary’s parents. Then he discovered that his bride-to-be was pregnant. As a man of integrity he wanted to do the right thing, in the right way. He considered divorcing Mary when he learned of her pregnancy, but wanted to do so without calling attention to the reason. Instead, he risks being questioned about Mary’s pregnancy and marries her. In those days, a marriage contract was worked out between families, and the engaged couple continued to live with their parents till their wedding. The townspeople could well have thought Mary and Joseph didn’t wait till their wedding. Joseph protected their reputation by moving up the wedding date, and the Roman census took them far away from the town’s questioning eyes.
Although Joseph came from the royal lineage of King David (thanks to the Gospel genealogy), we can easily picture him as a humble man. The brief portrait of him in Scripture suggests he was a quiet, unobtrusive man, available when needed, willing to endure hardship and disappointment. Looking forward to fathering his own child, his first was a child not his own. He accepted the humbling circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth, and he trusted God as much as Mary did.
Instead of being indignant, Joseph accepted this child as his own. Joseph accepted the revealed will of God. He followed the instructions—journeying from Nazareth to Bethlehem, then to Egypt, then back to Nazareth. Instead of putting Mary aside, or rejecting the child, Joseph received the child as a gift from God.
I think it’s high time we take Joseph out from the back of the creche and put him up front, with Mary.
Ann Weems, a Presbyterian elder and lecturer, wrote this poem, called “Getting to the Front of the Stable” (read).
**Note: because of copyright issues, it isn't possible to include the poem here.
Sources:
1. “Getting to the Front of the Stable”, a sermon by Rev. Fran Ota, Christmas 2005.
2. “Joseph and the Virgin Birth”, a sermon by Rev. Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, WA.
3. “Joseph—Father of Jesus” a sermon by Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
4. “Getting to the Front of the Stable”, a poem by Ann Weems. From “Kneeling in Bethlehem”. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. 1987.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
The Seasons of Our Spirits A Sermon based on Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 January 1, 2012 Humber United Church
Ecclesiastes 3
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. What do workers gain from their toil? I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
*************************************************************************
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRg9NkIdjVs
The book of Ecclesiastes is part of a genre of writing in the Hebrew Scripture known as Wisdom Literature. Job, Proverbs, Psalms are other examples. This particular passage is most often read at funerals, but the more I hear it the more I wonder if we are hearing it with the right pair of ears. We tend to hear it as if everything is preceded by “God has ordained........”, as if everything is out of our hands - and I am not convinced that’s what the passage means.
The question I have, always, is “Is this something God will do without us? Or is this something God will do together with us, when we have the will to do it.” Does planting just happen by itself, and harvesting? Or is it something we have to work at? Does loving and hating happen by itself?
Does peace just happen? Is it just absence of violence? Or is it a choice? I think peace will only happen when people have such a collective desire for war to be ended that there will be no other option, and there will be the will to make it happen. It is not that the differences between nations cannot be overcome - it is that we make choices, and get so attached to believing in the rightness of our way, that we cannot see beyond those things to a different way of being and doing.
It seems to me that this passage is a perfect description of the human condition. Yes, for each of us there is a time to be born and a time to die - and there are times between birth and death where we have a life to live; when there is death we mourn and where there is new life we celebrate. But we also make choices in the life we are given. Remember the words from Deuteronomy - “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” Choose life!
So re-read Ecclesiastes now - but read it this way -
*we* choose the time to plant and a time to uproot,
*we* choose a time to kill and a time to heal,
*we* choose to tear down or to build up
*we* choose to weep and to laugh,
*we* choose to search and to give up
*we* choose to embrace and to refrain from embracing
*we* choose to keep or to throw away,
*we* choose to love or to hate
*we* choose to be silent or to speak
*we* choose war, and *we* choose peace
Between birth and death, our life is a journey. We are travelling a road, whether we like it or not. At Christmas God brought us life and light, and through the Christmas season and Epiphany, the light shines on the road. Every Christmas, God sets before us life and death, blessings and curses - but the *choices* are ours.
As I wrote this I had in the back of my mind the phrase “history repeats itself”, and a kind of niggling memory that it has its roots in Ecclesiastes. Sure enough, in the very opening passage of the book, we read Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look! This is something new?’ It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who come after them.”
In Viet Nam I saw enough of war to believe that if we spent as much time and effort on making peace as we do on making war, we would have had real peace a long time ago. As I watch the news, and people who have become so obsessed by power and control that they will crush others, it becomes almost too much to bear. It seems as if people never change, and the possibility for change is not there.
And yet, the Revelation of John tells us that God creates a new thing, God can do something new, and will bring about a time when there is no more suffering or sorrow, no more pain, only peace and fulfillment for humanity. The question for me is, again, does God it alone? Or are we the ones who make choices to work for those things, with God’s help. As human beings there are lessons we need to learn, and choices which only we can make. As long as we choose hatred, or tearing down, we will not find love, or the building up. The new heavens and the new earth cannot come, so long as we make the wrong choices.
The birth of Jesus, and the life and teaching of Jesus, were a statement that it *is* possible to choose love over hate; it *is* possible to choose peace instead of war; it *is* possible to speak out instead of choosing to remain silent. So in this time, as we step off into a new year, another season in the life of faith, we have to ask what it means to us, individually and as a congregation. Do we take Christmas seriously? Do we take the birth, life and death of Jesus seriously? If we do, we have to believe that life and death, blessings and curses - are ours to choose - and that God wants us to make the right choices - but make no mistake, the choices *are* ours. And we want to make sure that the generations which follow will remember those lessons, instead of repeating the cycle, as we have been doing. Doing nothing is also a choice we make. Trying to hang on to things and keep them from moving is a choice - and with every choice there are consequences.
In his teachings, the Dalai Lama talks about basic steps for everyday living. Here is a smapling of them - what would happen if we all worked at these things?
Great love and great achievements involve great risk.
When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
Follow the three R’s: Respect for self. Respect for others. Responsibility for all your actions.
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
Be gentle with the earth.
Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
There is no other person on this planet exactly like you.
“I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
May it be so.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. What do workers gain from their toil? I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
*************************************************************************
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRg9NkIdjVs
The book of Ecclesiastes is part of a genre of writing in the Hebrew Scripture known as Wisdom Literature. Job, Proverbs, Psalms are other examples. This particular passage is most often read at funerals, but the more I hear it the more I wonder if we are hearing it with the right pair of ears. We tend to hear it as if everything is preceded by “God has ordained........”, as if everything is out of our hands - and I am not convinced that’s what the passage means.
The question I have, always, is “Is this something God will do without us? Or is this something God will do together with us, when we have the will to do it.” Does planting just happen by itself, and harvesting? Or is it something we have to work at? Does loving and hating happen by itself?
Does peace just happen? Is it just absence of violence? Or is it a choice? I think peace will only happen when people have such a collective desire for war to be ended that there will be no other option, and there will be the will to make it happen. It is not that the differences between nations cannot be overcome - it is that we make choices, and get so attached to believing in the rightness of our way, that we cannot see beyond those things to a different way of being and doing.
It seems to me that this passage is a perfect description of the human condition. Yes, for each of us there is a time to be born and a time to die - and there are times between birth and death where we have a life to live; when there is death we mourn and where there is new life we celebrate. But we also make choices in the life we are given. Remember the words from Deuteronomy - “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” Choose life!
So re-read Ecclesiastes now - but read it this way -
*we* choose the time to plant and a time to uproot,
*we* choose a time to kill and a time to heal,
*we* choose to tear down or to build up
*we* choose to weep and to laugh,
*we* choose to search and to give up
*we* choose to embrace and to refrain from embracing
*we* choose to keep or to throw away,
*we* choose to love or to hate
*we* choose to be silent or to speak
*we* choose war, and *we* choose peace
Between birth and death, our life is a journey. We are travelling a road, whether we like it or not. At Christmas God brought us life and light, and through the Christmas season and Epiphany, the light shines on the road. Every Christmas, God sets before us life and death, blessings and curses - but the *choices* are ours.
As I wrote this I had in the back of my mind the phrase “history repeats itself”, and a kind of niggling memory that it has its roots in Ecclesiastes. Sure enough, in the very opening passage of the book, we read Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look! This is something new?’ It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who come after them.”
In Viet Nam I saw enough of war to believe that if we spent as much time and effort on making peace as we do on making war, we would have had real peace a long time ago. As I watch the news, and people who have become so obsessed by power and control that they will crush others, it becomes almost too much to bear. It seems as if people never change, and the possibility for change is not there.
And yet, the Revelation of John tells us that God creates a new thing, God can do something new, and will bring about a time when there is no more suffering or sorrow, no more pain, only peace and fulfillment for humanity. The question for me is, again, does God it alone? Or are we the ones who make choices to work for those things, with God’s help. As human beings there are lessons we need to learn, and choices which only we can make. As long as we choose hatred, or tearing down, we will not find love, or the building up. The new heavens and the new earth cannot come, so long as we make the wrong choices.
The birth of Jesus, and the life and teaching of Jesus, were a statement that it *is* possible to choose love over hate; it *is* possible to choose peace instead of war; it *is* possible to speak out instead of choosing to remain silent. So in this time, as we step off into a new year, another season in the life of faith, we have to ask what it means to us, individually and as a congregation. Do we take Christmas seriously? Do we take the birth, life and death of Jesus seriously? If we do, we have to believe that life and death, blessings and curses - are ours to choose - and that God wants us to make the right choices - but make no mistake, the choices *are* ours. And we want to make sure that the generations which follow will remember those lessons, instead of repeating the cycle, as we have been doing. Doing nothing is also a choice we make. Trying to hang on to things and keep them from moving is a choice - and with every choice there are consequences.
In his teachings, the Dalai Lama talks about basic steps for everyday living. Here is a smapling of them - what would happen if we all worked at these things?
Great love and great achievements involve great risk.
When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
Follow the three R’s: Respect for self. Respect for others. Responsibility for all your actions.
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
Be gentle with the earth.
Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
There is no other person on this planet exactly like you.
“I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
May it be so.
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