Christmas 2 C - John 1:1-18

 John 1:1-18

These opening verses of John’s gospel are like an overture to a grand symphony. The themes and images and theology that will make up the twenty-one chapters of John are introduced, the most important being the nature of the Word who was before anything began. My friend, Dr. Bob, calls the Jesus in John the magic Jesus. That’s because John’s Jesus always knows what people are thinking and what’s coming next and makes things happen like magic especially in the end when he lays down his life and picks it up again all by himself. Of course magic Jesus is just a fun way of saying John has a high Christology which is the point John makes in the beginning. This Word that was before anything existed brings light and life into the world by becoming flesh as a Son so that the Father can be revealed. If you have seen the Son you have seen the Father. To tell you the truth I prefer a less magic Jesus like the one in the Gospel of Mark and yet there is something compelling about this Word revealing the mystery of the God beyond knowing. I think it is because this Jesus retains so much of his eternal beginning in his earthly end that he really could have blinked his eyes and legions of angels would have done an Armageddon on those who did Him in. But that would have been darkness overcoming light because given the choice God choosing to die as Jesus is how God so loves the world. That’s the twist the world couldn’t see coming. God’s dying is how we are born into grace and truth, the life of God. And like all good magic tricks the only thing you can do is be surprised and amazed and ask to see it again.

Christmas 2 C - Ephesians 1:3-14

Ephesians 1:3-14

Paul spent a good bit of time in Ephesus but it was not as pleasant as the opening of his letter might lead one to believe. He was imprisoned more than once and faced opposition so far beyond his ability to endure that he despaired of life itself. But he stayed on despite feeling himself under the sentence of death because of the opportunities that persecution presented him. It is in the face of external opposition and inner turmoil that Paul makes these claims that seem to fly in the face of reason. You are holy and blameless and blessed with every spiritual blessing. You were destined from the beginning of time to inherit the riches of God’s grace and sealed by the promised Holy Spirit to live for the praise of God’s glory. These are words of encouragement for Paul as well as the Ephesians to see beyond the temporal into the eternal and so endure even though the whole world conspired to persecute the church to death. While we do not suffer such persecutions we do experience hardships beyond our ability to endure and one does not need to be thrown into prison or face wild beasts in the arena to despair of life itself. The temptation is to believe the temporary will never end because what Paul might call “slight and momentary hardships” (2 Corinthians 4:17) are anything but when you are the one living in them. But that is why faith looks to the past, before the foundation of the world when we were chosen by God, and at the same time peers into the future when the inheritance of unfading glory will be fully realized. It does not mean we will not despair of life itself or face hardships beyond our ability to endure. It does mean that all is not lost even if your whole world conspires against you because the present, no matter how long it lasts, is temporary and even if you cannot endure, God will. And that is a promise you can count on no matter what.

Christmas 2 C - Jeremiah 31:7-14

Jeremiah 31:7-14

In Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy and Fairytale the American theologian, Frederick Buechner, writes “the Gospel is bad news before it is good news.” That is certainly true for Jeremiah whose long career as a prophet is characterized by weeping. From the beginning his was the kind of ministry that no one appreciates because he was a truth teller to those who fabricated and lived by lies. But his was the voice that could not be silenced, though like the Truth that would one day come, Jeremiah was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and familiar with grief. In the end Jeremiah will die in exile and the last words of his book will describe the burning and looting of the temple in Jerusalem. But despite the overwhelming bad news for Judah and the suffering that will ensue as the consequence of unfaithfulness God speaks a greater truth through the tears of the weeping prophet. On the other side of mourning is joy; on the other side of sorrow is gladness. The young will dance and the old shall be merry for the Lord who scattered them will bring them back to life like a well-watered garden. But this greater truth can only be experienced if one accepts the lesser truth, the first truth about ourselves. That we like Judah prefer an easy word to a hard one and have perfected the art of living illusionary lives believing secret sins can be confessed without being acknowledged. In the end captivity will come if it hasn’t already. But that is the good news for only from captivity do we listen to the greater truth. That in His weeping the Truth dried our tears for His pain purchased our joy, His death our life. And knowing that the Truth has set us free makes it much harder to go back to living a lie. And that is good news indeed.

Christmas 1 C - Colossians 3:12-17

Colossians 3:12-17

Paul’s fashion advice to the Colossians begins with the remembrance of who they are in Christ. Remember you are chosen by God. Remember you are holy and beloved or in other words remember you are a desirable object of God’s affection. So what to wear? Paul’s list should simplify our selection and would if not for closets filled with thoughts and ways of being that don’t fit or have worn out or were never very attractive in the first place. And cleaning out the closet is painful even when helped by loving admonishment. But in the end cleaning our closets and improving our fashion sense is only possible if we are helped by those who bear with us and forgive us and encourage and compliment us. You look good in kindness. That compassion really sets off the color of your eyes. You make that patience work, girl. So what to wear? Remember to put on Christ and everything else will fit perfectly. 

Christmas 1 C - Psalm 148

Psalm 148

There's a Psalty Kids Praise CD that says when a cow goes moo it’s praising God. I don’t mean to be a naysayer when it comes to animal praise but I think moo means feed me or milk me or maybe both. Granted the animal praise list of Psalm 148 includes cattle and that might support the moo theory of praise, but then it also has sea monsters and fruit trees and all the weather conditions a Texan can experience in the same day. So this is not the sort of scripture that one takes literally or over thinks. This is a noisy over the top psalm because the very existence of all that is was commanded and established and fixed in place by God, which is how you make it on the praise the Lord list. So praise is not about the sound you make but about you being made. Which means praising the Lord does not require one’s circumstances to be praiseworthy. So I guess I stand corrected.  Praise can sound like you are hungry or just need to be milked. 

Christmas 1 C - 1 Samuel 2:18-26

 1 Samuel 2:18-26

This is just the beginning of Samuel’s story but the beginning of the end for Eli. It is a tragic tale of a father who cannot bring himself to do what must be done. His sons have desecrated the sanctuary and have turned the people’s sacrifice into profit for themselves. Eli hears the reports and confronts his sons with their sin but cannot bring himself to condemn them to death which is what the law demands. And so in the end it will be Eli and all of Israel that will have to pay for the sins of the sons. The good news in the story is that God’s gift to the barren Hannah is Samuel who is and will be everything Eli’s sons were not and through his intercession Israel will be saved. It is a story that repeats itself throughout the scriptures and all of human history. The practice of faith meant for blessing becomes instead a source of priestly power or superficial ritualized religion or worse the justification for hatred and violence. But God is always working to turn the curse back into a blessing which is why Hannah is gifted with Samuel who in turn is a gift to Israel. And of course that is the story of Christmas. We, like Eli’s sons have sinned against the Lord in thought, word and deed and cannot intercede for ourselves. But Jesus is and will be everything we are not. And so the gift to Mary becomes a gift for the world as God works to turn the curse into a blessing. But good news for us will be bad news for Jesus who is born to die for us, instead of us, ahead of us so we do not suffer the consequence our sins deserve. I know it might not be such a pleasant way to begin the week of Christmas but then our sin is the real reason for the season. And in a strange sort of way that really does make for a Merry Christmas.

Advent 4 C - Luke 1:39-56

Luke 1:39-56

Mary went with haste to the hill country for good reason. To be unwed and pregnant was not a condition a woman wanted to be found in, especially in a small town where gossip once whispered would grow louder as Mary grew larger. She goes to see Elizabeth, who has had a remarkable conception herself, which may have made her more open to the extraordinary mother and unborn child who greeted her that day. John leaping in her womb prompted an exclamation, which seems to be the proper response to someone leaping in your womb, but this is more than an “Oh my!” Elizabeth knows that this is one of those moments when heaven and earth meet and all of history pauses to hold its breath as the Holy and Invisible and Immortal is revealed to flesh and blood. And while she proclaims “Blessed are you…” Elizabeth knows that Mary’s blessing is hers as well and one thing leads to another and before you know it there is singing. It is a magnificent song that remembers the promise that God has remembered, to show mercy and strength, to embrace the humble and let the proud be lost in their futile thoughts which is a lonely place to be. Mary sings the powerful brought down and the lowly exalted, the hungry fed and the well fed hungry and in the singing I imagine the two unborn may have done a little leaping. It is lovely thing to imagine, two pregnant women embracing, dancing, singing because while the whole world just kept spinning as if nothing had happened they know the secret about to be revealed in the birth of the child, God with us. But of course as lovely and magnificent as that moment was the song will not be complete until punctuated by a victorious cry of anguish “it is finished.” It is in the finishing that our song begins and the only way to sing it is to enter it, to allow our proud thoughts to be scattered and see that the hungry are well fed and whenever that happens the song goes back to the beginning, My soul magnifies the Lord. 

Advent 4 C - Hebrews 5:5-10

 Hebrews 5:5-10

“You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings.” Really? Did anyone tell the lambs, doves and cattle? It seems like the covenant set in motion from Sinai was based solely on sacrificing something living so God wouldn't strike the children of Israel dead. There were a few prophets who speaking for God imagined that the sacrifice God really desired was for God’s people to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8) but that didn't stop or even slow down the system of sacrifice that, dare I say, the Levites (who have no land) depended on for their sustenance. Jesus came to do God’s will by putting an end to such sacrifice even though it meant the end of him. We don’t kill our pets to appease God but we have own religious systems that like the system of sacrifice allow us to keep God at a safe distance just in case, heaven forbid, we would become more like Jesus because we all know what doing God’s will did to him.

Advent 4 C - Psalm 80:1-7

 Psalm 80:1-7

The lectionary offers the option of using Mary’s song, “My soul magnifies the Lord..” in place of the psalm, but I think the lament of Psalm 80 helps put both the prophetic word of Micah and its fulfillment in Luke into the proper context; namely God’s response to all that leads one to lament. Lament is the question of the scriptures; “How long, O Lord, will the wicked prosper?” and the cry of the abandoned, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” And so it is for us when in days and nights of questioning, with tears for our bread, when scorned and derided by life’s circumstances, we cry out, how long, O Lord? But there is within lament’s question the anticipation of Mary’s song for “How long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?” believes there will be a day of restoration. That is what makes Mary’s song magnificent. She and all of Israel have waited for this day not in silence but in complaint and when the silent God who is always present finally speaks through the offspring of Mary’s womb the centuries of lamenting are forgotten in the infant’s cry. For the cry of Mary’s offspring on the cross will be God’s lament whereby we are saved.

Advent 4 C - Micah 5:2-5a

 

Micah 5:2-5a
The lectionary for Advent 4C begins with verse 2 of Micah chapter 5 and ends before the fifth verse is finished. Maybe because the rest of Micah predicts the “one of peace” who comes from the little clan of Judah will do some damage to the Assyrians “and in anger and wrath execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey.” (5:15) It’s not quite the stuff of Christmas carols but then Micah was written to people who had suffered the kind of carnage that calls for revenge or at the very least the reversal of fortunes. The Christ that was born in “O little town of Bethlehem” is nothing like the Messiah Micah imagined God would send. It will take a prophet like Paul to realize that God chooses what is foolish to shame the wise, what is weak to shame the strong and that the reversal of fortune that saves the world happens when the “one of peace” dies a violent death.

Advent 3 C - Luke 3:17-18

Luke 3:17-18

We don’t hear many “Brood of Vipers” sermons in the Lutheran church. It’s not that we don’t all need and even welcome a stern word now and then it’s just that Lutherans draw the line at being called poisonous reptiles. We’re happy to sing “Chief of Sinners Though I Be” and confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean but call us snakes and we might hiss at you. But with or without the snake reference this may be more of a true word for us than we’d care to admit. While we don’t presume to be children of Abraham we bet on being children of grace and bearing fruits worthy of repentance is more often a postscript than a priority. Like those who came out to be chastised and challenged by John the end of our confession must be “What then should we do?” Of course the question, as important and as necessary as it is, follows God’s answer for Christians of the Lutheran flavor. God’s forgiveness does not depend on our doing; our doing depends on God’s forgiving. True repentance anticipates absolution and in the freedom of forgiveness one cleans out the closet and gives away the extra coat. The good news of John’s exhortation is the end of our comfortable relationship with dishonest ways and vain striving after wealth and power. All of this is made possible by the powerful One who follows, the only anti-venom for a brood of vipers. 

Advent 3 C - Philippians 4:1-13

 Philippians 4:1-13

 “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice” is a four part round I sang for years at church camp. It's one of those rounds you just keep singing because it has no obvious ending  and though not nearly as obnoxious as “It’s a Small World After All” it can get stuck in your head. Maybe that’s the point of these four verses – not the obnoxious part – but a way of living that gets stuck in your head and has no ending unless you choose to stop. Of course sometimes stopping is a choice made for us as anxiety mounts and prayers spoken into the silence of God defy our ability to understand. But then that is why we have to sing “Rejoice in the Lord always” as a round. Four parts compelling each other to keep singing and you cannot tell who is leading or who is following and every measure has a Rejoice. It is through the prayer of our life together that the peace of God transcends anxious times to guard hearts and minds and keep the song from stopping. So rejoice in the Lord always and again I say Rejoice!  

Advent 3 C - Isaiah 12:1-6

Isaiah 12:1-6

Isaiah 12:2-6 is the text for The First Song of Isaiah by Jack Noble White. The first time I heard it was some eighteen years ago at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church when I presided over a funeral for one of their members. The funeral was for a woman who had courageously battled cancer for more years than her original prognosis predicted possible and while we felt a deep sadness at the loss of one so faithful and beautiful and loved, we had a confident hope because of the truth of this scripture set to song. “Surely it is God who saves me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid. For the Lord is my stronghold and my sure defense and He will be my Savior.” In this scripture set to song the physical and spiritual weakness of human flesh, the fear, the doubt, the overwhelming sorrow is lifted with the melody as our singing is joined and supported and sustained by an invisible cloud of witnesses for whom the song is more true than we can at present imagine. Surely it is God who saves me… It is a song of defiant faith against all that would wither the soul with doubt and fear.  Surely it is God who saves me… It is a song of courage for times of trial and a song of comfort for times of sorrow. Surely it is God who saves me… a song for all our days until at last we reach the endless tomorrow. Surely it is God who saves me.

Advent 3 C - Zephaniah 3:14-20

Zephaniah 3:14-20

These are the last verses of the short book of Zephaniah. The rest of the book reads more like the first verse of the prophecy. "I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the LORD. Zephaniah predicts “a day of distress and anguish, of trouble and ruin, of darkness and gloom,” because Jerusalem has become complacent thinking God will do neither good nor evil. In the same way Assyria, that carefree city, “I am and there is none like me” is full of pride. But those who seek humility and righteousness, who accept the Lord’s correction, will sing for joy for they will be renewed in God’s love. The truth of this short book is that both spiritual complacency and pride are deadly in the life of the believer. We think that nothing we do really matters because God is like the kindly grandparent who might get a little upset but still has milk and cookies for us at bedtime. Or we are full of our own spiritual prowess and piety thinking that we can overcome sin itself and so judge all others accordingly. The woe that complacency and pride visit upon us is the same as the dreadful judgments of Zephaniah. We forget how to sing the song of the heart’s rejoicing and cannot hear the God who longs to exult over us with loud singing. So accept the Lord’s correction this day. Seek after humility and righteousness and sing out loud the song of rejoicing that is in harmony with the Lord.

Advent 2 C - Luke 3:1-6

Luke 3:1-6

Luke names the powers that rule the world because he is writing an orderly account for the most excellent Theophilus and though a physician by training he is an historian at heart. And so he grounds the story of salvation in the names and dates of human history. But Luke the theologian names the powers of the political and religious world to clothe the prophetic word in flesh and blood. The powers of empire and temple cannot hear it yet but the voice that cries in the wilderness will resound throughout the world of Jerusalem and Rome.

The mountain of Tiberius and Pilate will be made low. The valley of Herod’s wickedness will be filled. The crooked path of Annas and Caiaphas will be made straight as the rough ways of empire and temple are made smooth. Of course history repeats itself and so we would do well to listen for the voice crying in our time, for the salvation that all flesh will see is not clothed in the trappings of empire or church but in acts of justice, mercy and peace. Closer to home the good news is that when we hear the voice and see that salvation for ourselves the mountain of our pride is brought low, the valley of our fear and self loathing is filled, the crooked paths that have become well worn and familiar are made straight and all the rough ways that keep us from loving are made smooth. And that is good news indeed.

Advent 2 C - Philippians 1:3-11

Philippians 1:3-11

If the Galatians and Corinthians were like thorns in Paul’s flesh then the Philippians were the healing balm for the pain in Paul’s neck. It’s not that the Philippians didn't have troubles of their own, it’s that despite the trials they faced they were more than willing to share his. That is the way of partnership in the Gospel. Or as Paul will write to the law bound Galatians, bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Or to the spiritually arrogant Corinthians, you can babble on in whatever language you like but the language of love is the only one that matters. The Philippians understood the rule of love from the beginning when they were the only church to support Paul’s efforts in Macedonia. It’s hard to image how their love might overflow more than it already has but that is Paul’s prayer for those who share his joy and his suffering. It is a prayer for the church of every age when by only speaking the language of law bound doctrine and dogma it is no longer conversant in the language of love. The church is always in need of a Philippian reformation that the good work begun on the day of our Pentecost might be completed on the day of resurrection. Be a Philippian today!

Advent 2 C - Luke 1:68-79

Luke 1:68-79

The lesson that occupies the place of the psalm this Sunday is Zechariah’s Song and expresses the hopes and dreams of a people who have been waiting forever for their fortunes to change and their ship to come in. Zechariah sings it because he is a new father and his voice which had been taken from him earlier in the chapter has returned and that is reason enough to sing. But it is more than the song of a voice returned or a proud father who has high hopes for his son; no less than a prophet of the Most High! No, it is more than that for in a moment of Holy Spirit joy Zechariah sings the longing of every people oppressed by enemies or hands that hate, the longing of all people who yearn for light to shine in the darkness and the shadow cast by death itself. In that sense it is a song for all of us who are often our own worse enemies. Oppressed by thoughts and deeds that lead us far from God we hear a word of promise that in the mighty Savior floating in Mary’s womb tender mercy will rescue us and guide our hearts and minds in the ways of peace. And that calls for a song.    

Advent 2 C - Malachi 3:1-4

 “Christ Driving the Money Changers from the Temple” by New Zealand artist Michael Smither, 1972 (Victoria University of Wellington Art Collection, New Zealand)

Malachi 3:1-4

The offerings of Judah and Jerusalem have been less than pleasing and have wearied the Lord. Blind, lame and sick animals are substituted for lambs without blemish and the Lord would rather the temple doors be closed and locked than endure the stench of such dishonest offerings. The priests participate and profit from the scheme while the workers are oppressed, widows and orphans are not cared for, and the alien is thrust aside. Perhaps it was because God seemed distant and the rules and regulations of the covenant relationship appeared arbitrary and economically oppressive. What’s a blind ram to an invisible God? And so corners are cut and liberties are taken and before you know it the relationship that enriched the people and God has impoverished both. Therefore God will pay a visit to the temple and do some housecleaning. With overturned tables and coins of money changers scattered the refining fire speaks the word of judgment, “It is written, my house will be a house of prayer but you have made it a den of robbers!” Not a week later the fullers’ soap speaks the cleansing word from a hill above the temple, “It is finished.” We who are more like Judah and Jerusalem than we care to admit need to hear the word of the refiner when our offerings are less than the best and corners that count are cut. And like Jerusalem and Judah in the days of old and former years the cleansing word will make our offering pleasing to the Lord.

Advent 1 C - Luke 21:25-36

Luke 21:25-36

I’m afraid it may just be hard wired into our anxious DNA to divide the world into those who faint from fear at the end of all things and those who stand up and cheer. While there is no question that Jesus used the language of apocalypse to speak of the end of all time, all the Gospels contain such speeches, how can the Crucified One come back to save a few only to crucify the vast majority of human beings with vengeance? The first time around the Kingdom of God contained some unlikely subjects, such as tax collectors and sinners, prostitutes and people of questionable character, so why would they be less welcome the second time around? So I find some comfort that Jesus uses the image of spring to talk about the signs. Despite the roaring of the seas and the signs that make one faint it will be like daffodils that pop up through the snow. Despite the signs in the sky it will be like Lady Bird Johnson’s legacy of Bluebonnet blanketed Texas highways. Maybe the best way to escape all the things that will take place and stand before the Son of Man is to trust that the second coming Christ will be like Jesus the first time around.  

Advent 1 C - 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

The Thessalonians were worried that the day of the Lord had come and gone and they had been left behind or it hadn't come and those who had already died had missed out on the second coming. At any rate, what was lacking in their faith was a confident hope that despite the doubts and fears about the end times their ultimate future was still secure. Sometimes a face to face is the only way to restore confidence and so Paul prays day and night that he might visit those for whom his love abounds. But he had other congregations that demanded his attention and were not nearly as receptive and presumably not as much fun and so it would take some time for his day and night prayer to be answered. In the meantime he writes what is most likely the first letter of the New Testament. To those in doubt he writes encouraging words for abounding love and strengthened hearts that are a word for us as well. May you believe the unbelievable that despite what you know about yourself you will be blameless before the Lord Jesus and the cloud of witnesses that will accompany his return.

Advent 1 C - Psalm 25:1-10

Psalm 25:1-10

Be mindful of your mercy and your steadfast love but do not remember the sins of my youth. Which is to say, in the forgetting of my sin don’t forget me. It is the prayer of the thief who recognizes Jesus’ innocence and fully aware of his own guilt asks to be remembered. Jesus, remember me when you reach the place where the memory of mercy and forgetfulness of sin matters the most. It does not mean there are no consequences for the sins of our youth or middle age or even our golden years. We are not as forgetful as God and sins of the past and present have a way of accusing us that we are not worthy of God’s forgetting sin and remembering mercy. That is why we lift up our soul to the One who instructs us to forget what has been forgiven and remember the path of what is right which is to remember the consequence of youthful sins long enough so as not to repeat them.

Advent 1 C - Jeremiah 33:14-16

 Jeremiah 33:14-16

The days “that are surely coming" seem to have taken a detour or at the very least got stuck in the traffic jam of history. By that I mean that even if you count the Christ as the righteous branch that “sprang up” He did not execute righteousness and justice in the land in any lasting way and Jerusalem was less secure after his coming than it was before his birth. So what do we do with prophecies that leave us wanting more? In theological speech we say the promised fulfillment is “already but not yet” (aka the proleptic reign of God) which might be called the religious version of having your cake and eating it too. But what if the days that are surely coming really came and the only reason we have to add “not yet” to “already” is that we are not willing to live as if “already” trumps “not yet” period end of sentence. What if we have been given everything we need to execute justice and righteousness in the land and make every city live in safety? I’m sure this version of the righteous branch is like sitting on the wrong end of a shaky limb but then I wonder if the Lord expects us to fulfill a few prophecies on our own in the "already" while we wait for the Lord to finish the "not yet" in the day that will surely come. 

Christ the King Year A - John 18:33-37

 John 18:33-37

“What is it you have done?” It could have been the name calling. “You brood of vipers. You white washed tombs. You blind guides.” It could have been the consistent breaking of Sabbath laws. It could have been the incident in the temple. Or we could take Caiaphas at his word, “it is better that one man die for the people than the whole nation perish." Fear is a powerful motivator and even a nation under Roman occupation tries to hold onto the illusion of being in control by any means available. But Jesus is doing something else. If we take him at his word, He lays down his life only to take it up again to draw all people to himself because the world will perish unless he dies. And the greater truth of this Christ who is the King, handed over to a puppet politician by self-righteous religious rulers, is that he dies for them as well. That really is a kingdom from another place. Granted the clash of kingdoms continues even though the life laid down and picked up is a done deal. But that is the nature of life in the “already but not yet” so that even those who know the truth that sets people free are in bondage to the sin that makes the kingdom of Jesus look more like Pilate’s. But one day the kingdom from another place will be the only kingdom there is. Whenever and wherever we resist the allure of earthly kingdoms and listen to the truth that draws all people to Jesus the “other place” kingdom breaks into our world and the future is truly present.

Christ the King Year B - Revelation 1:4-8

 Revelation 1:4-8

The letter that vividly describes a violent and final end for so many begins rather nicely for the seven churches. Of course this good beginning was written to seven churches facing an even more imminent end themselves. That is helpful to remember because I don’t think we can fully comprehend what the word from the One who is and was and is to come meant to the rightful recipients of John’s letter. I think I know what we've done with it and even though the best selling series Left Behind was red hot for a while I think God might put it in the lukewarm category. So how do we hear a word for us even though it is clearly addressed to them? First of all one does not need to be persecuted or enslaved by temporal powers in order to desire freedom. We are all in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves. And while some may face a more imminent end, all of us face an inevitable one and can find comfort that the first born from the dead opens a way for those who will follow. And finally the promise of Jesus’ coming on the clouds, whether one wails or not, is a promise that the world as we know it will come to an end. And maybe that is the best news of all.

Christ the King Year B - Psalm 93

Psalm 93

The Lord is more majestic than roaring floods or mighty waters or the crashing waves of the sea. That is because God exists outside the boundaries of our imagination and is always greater than any image we employ, even rising floods and mighty waters and majestic waves. The psalmist celebrates the awesome power and strength of God and while that is certainly true, more often than not the rising floods and noisy waters and crashing waves of life need a God who is a little more accessible than the One who was “established from old” and “majestic on high”. It is through the “less than” image of the one familiar with suffering and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53) that the God far off draws near to us; the floods subside, the thunder of the waters is quieted, the waves slow to a gentle swell and the Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise inhabits human flesh. That is the sure decree we can trust and the holiness we can touch. That is to say it is in the God who is “less than” that we experience the God who is “greater than” anything we could imagine.

Christ the King Year B - Daniel 7:1-18

Daniel 7:1-18

The lectionary leaves out the bulk of Daniel chapter seven, including Daniel’s own commentary. “As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me and the visions of my head terrified me.” (7:15) There are endless web pages dedicated to the terrifying visions that troubled Daniel’s spirit. They offer a detailed explanation of what will be which, truth to be told, only seem to serve the purpose of further troubling and terrifying. If you want to see some interesting art work just do an image search on Daniel 7! But then apocalyptic writings encourage fanciful thinking. Dreams and visions beg for explanation as we are far more curious than the proverbial cat, especially if we think some advantage may be gained in the knowing. But the ultimate purpose of the apocalyptic vision of the future is to provide hope in the present. The simple truth of Daniel is this: the four arrogant kingdoms hell bent on devouring the weak will themselves be devoured and those they threaten will endure. All the hope of the people and nations and languages is in the One presented before the Ancient of Days. Not a talking horn king but the King of Kings who comes not to devour but to bless. This One given dominion and glory and kingship is not arrogant or rude, jealous or boastful, but full of mercy and compassion. Is it necessary then, or even helpful, to speculate as to future applications of Daniel’s dream of kingdoms and talking horns? I don’t think so for when we focus on end times imagination we often neglect to provide in the present for the very people the King of Kings came to save, which makes us more like an arrogant horn than the King we seek to serve. 

Lectionary 33 Year B - Mark 13:1-8

 Mark 13:1-8

I imagine upon reading the Gospel of Mark the unnamed disciple was glad he remained anonymous. Only moments before the disciple exclaimed “Look teacher!” Jesus had elevated an invisible widow and two small copper coins above the offerings of excess from those who, like large stone buildings, made themselves hard to ignore. Of course we too are enamored by an impressive edifice of flesh or stone, more often than not our own. But the temple was more than just an extraordinary piece of architecture. In the mind of the people it was the only place where heaven and earth met, where the Holy consecrated the profane, where the presence of God hidden behind a curtain kept watch over Israel. The temple had become more important to the faith than the One it was built to house and so Jesus directed the disciple to look more closely. Do you see…? God does not dwell in a house made by human hands but in the heart of a widow. It is a word for those who might be impressed by stone structures of denominations or distressed at their possible demise. Do you see…? It applies to the beginnings of the birth pangs as well, which might indeed be cause for alarm but for the promise at the end of this chapter “heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not.” Do you see…? It is a question for all who are alarmed by personal conflicts within and without, by divisions, by everyday disruptions that make one hunger for something stable and trustworthy. Do you see…? It is in this different way of seeing that God is found for when all appeared lost for Jesus all in fact was won. “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” is the prelude to “It is finished” in the same way that the birth pangs, as alarming as they may be, anticipate the advent of something new. Do you see?

Lectionary 33 Year B - Psalm 16

 Psalm 16

“I have no good apart from you” while those “who choose another god multiply their sorrows.” I’m afraid we often turn “I have no good apart from you” into “another god.” By that I mean we build walls around the boundary lines of the “pleasant places” so that we become the landlords of the Lord’s lot and deny others the grace we freely accept for ourselves. That doesn't mean there are not drink offerings that should not be drunk or names of false gods that are better not uttered. But if we listen to the instruction of the Lord and obey the counsel of the Christ our delight and fullness of joy will lead us to care for those who have chosen to go down to the pit in such a way that they might choose to step out of the Sheol of their own design and onto to the path of life that is the light and love of the Lord. 

Lectionary 33 Year B - Daniel 12:1-3

Daniel 12:1-3
The only trouble with writing a lectionary based blog is you can’t avoid difficult passages. So let me say first that doom and gloom scriptures with everlasting judgment trouble me even if I count myself as one of the wise. And there are plenty of scripture passages that will support the idea that the chance of being one of the wise shiny ones is akin to winning the lottery which is even more troubling because I never win anything. Later verses in the 12th chapter of Daniel are considered by some to be the key to unlocking the riddle of the time of tribulation in the Book of Revelation where the vast majority of people hold a losing lottery ticket and are left behind. That is not to say God cannot do whatever God wants, even sentence the whole lot of us to shame and everlasting contempt. But in light of the cross I find that unlikely and for me the cross is always the key to unlocking the mystery of scripture. There are certainly things worthy of judgment and I count myself guilty on all counts, but as my theology professor Walt Bouman liked to say judgment is a penultimate word, or the word that comes before the ultimate word which is the cross which is grace and mercy and God’s self-sacrifice for wise and foolish alike. The truth of Daniel is more apparent in its immediate context. It is a word for persecuted people held captive in a foreign land and more than one of their loved ones are sleeping in the dust. It is a promise that the scales of justice will be tipped in their favor and despite a time of unprecedented anguish deliverance will have the final say. Does it mean that everyone will shine and no one will be eternally ashamed? I don’t know, but God does and somehow knowing that the God of the cross has the final say makes even doom and gloom scriptures less troubling.

The Feast of All Saints Year B - Revelation 21:1-6

Revelation 21:1-6

Here at the end of John’s dream (which is really just the beginning) the God far off, who came so close to the creation in the Christ as to die our death, moves in with mortals. In that day the city of peace, Jerusalem, finally lives into its name as tears are wiped away by God’s own hand and death is dealt with once and for all. Those who first heard the promise of John’s vision were able to endure all that causes mourning and crying and pain by holding onto the hope that they would be rescued and their persecutors crushed. The persecution of loss and pain and sorrow we experience is no less real, even if we are not put upon for proclaiming the faith, which means their hope is our hope and that one day God will move in to stay and death will be crushed once and for all. 

The Feast of All Saints Year B - Isaiah 25:69

 Isaiah 25:6-9

Isaiah imagines all peoples have a reservation at the feast of rich food, fine wine and choicest meats. Of course the Moabites will be trodden on like straw in the dung (vs.10) but then how can one rejoice in deliverance unless someone else is damned? Truth is the needy poor are first on the guest list of “all peoples” (25:4) but before we venture into class warfare it turns out the strong and ruthless also recognize God’s goodness, albeit because God makes the fortified city a ruin. In the end death is the great equalizer and it doesn't matter if you are a princess or a pauper when death comes to your door. The good news for everyone of every class is that when God hosts the banquet all people feast on fine things while God dines on death. In the here and now it would seem that if the feast of fat things is to be filled then those who "have" will have to share with those who "have not" (James 2:14-17) so that faith in our ultimate future is not dead in the present.

The Feast of Reformation - John 8:31-36

 John 8:31-36

Freedom: i.e. "the power to determine action without restraint." Even in a nation founded on the principle of freedom we are constrained by laws that limit our power to determine action. But then personal freedom, to do and say and act as I desire, is ultimately a selfish ambition that in some ways denies others their freedom to do say and act as they like. So Jesus is not speaking about personal freedom to do and say and act as we desire. He is speaking of a freedom that changes the way we understand our relationship with God. The Jews “who had believed in him” were still depending on their connection with Abraham to claim their non-slave status as God’s own people even while their land was occupied by the Roman Empire. The freedom Jesus offers is summed up in the idea that those who believe have passed from death to life. (John 5:24) No one is more free than the one who by believing can confess “whether we live or whether we die we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8) trusting that “nothing can separate us from the love of God”. (Romans 8:38-39) Here’s the twist. Being made free by the Son makes you the slave of all. (John 13:12-17) Go figure. 

The Feast of the Reformation - Romans 3:19-28

Romans 3:19-28

It is God’s righteousness that matters because none are justified in God’s sight without the divine forbearance that passes over the sins of the “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Faith in Jesus matters as well because without it there is no reason to be confident. However, when Jesus is reduced to a private password for paradise then faith becomes another version of the law where the work of faith saves one from “the wrath that is to come” and not the grace of God. But if faith proves “in the present time” that God determines what “the future time” will be then our hope is in divine forbearance rather than retribution. 

The Feast of Reformation - Psalm 46

 Psalm 46

Outside the city made glad by streams, the Lord of Hosts was led like a lamb to the slaughter. The "Refuge and Strength" that comes to those who are in trouble was himself in need of help but there was none to be found. On the day the voice of the “be still and know that I am God” was silenced the earth quaked and darkness descended on the earth and the curtain that hid the habitation of the most high was torn in two. If that were the end of the story there would be no help for us when morning dawns but as it is the earth could not contain the one who created the heavens and the morning that dawned on him was resurrection for us all. Our refuge and strength, our very present help in time of trouble, is in our confidence that if we have died with Christ we shall also rise with him and therefore we will not fear when the ground of our lives gives way. There may yet be a day when God causes wars to cease and the human race sings “ ain't gonna study war no more” but in these days the help we receive is that God stills our souls and calms our fears even though kingdoms totter and nations make noise. 

The Feast of Reformation - Jeremiah 31:31-34

Jeremiah 31:31-34

I shudder whenever someone says “the days are surely coming” because it sounds like whatever is coming is bad news. But Jeremiah, the bad news prophet, is talking about a good news day that is “surely coming” where “know the Lord” will be in human DNA. Of course the “surely coming” days still seem to be a long way off and in the waiting time children continue to suffer for sins of parents and covenants are broken before the ink dries on the dotted line. But we who wait in expectant hope of the good news day that will surely come have the advantage of knowing that the future will not be like the present no matter what the bad news prophets of our day may say. That means in some ways we already know the Lord which means the day that is surely coming has already arrived.