Epiphany 5 B - 1 Corinthians 9:16-23

1 Corinthians 9:16-23

“I have become all things to all people” is not such a good thing to be unless it is “all for the sake of the Gospel” but even then it’s a dangerous thing to do. Of course proclaiming the Gospel is a noble and worthwhile endeavor, but I wonder how many professional proclaimers have sacrificed health and home by trying to be all things to all people while never being true to themselves. I’m not confessing.  I’m just asking the question. But truth is according to all sorts of surveys we clergy are a pretty unhealthy lot and it’s not because the devil is out to get us, we can get there without any help, thank you very much. I think it has something to do with the misapplication of this text by a demanding profession with high expectations (mostly unspoken) and low reward (at least in the way the world measures it) and more recently, diminished respect so that the clerical collar is often an object of ridicule in the wider culture. But there is a greater truth and that is that the obligation to proclaim cannot be escaped and “woe to me if I do not proclaim” means the call is not an option. That being said we can be better on both sides of the pew of being true to ourselves while being all things to each other for the sake of Gospel.

Epiphany 5 B - Psalm 147

Psalm 147

The God of abundant power, who can hurl down hail like crumbs and whip up a winter storm on a whim, is the same God who heals the brokenhearted and lifts up the downtrodden. This God does not delight in the things that we might and so we’d do well to pay attention to the things God cares about. God delights in those who hope in the steadfast love that speaks peace to Jerusalem. Even though the God come down was cast out by his own people (who knew his ordinances) God did not deal with them as any other nation for the One cast out by Israel was the blessing to every people and every nation. To fear God, then, is to be people who care for the weak and weary and work for peace while singing praise to the gracious God of infinite patience.

Epiphany 5 B - Isaiah 40:21-31

Isaiah 40:21-31

“Why do you say, my way is hidden from the Lord?” is the complaint of a person wearied by life’s demands. And having been “told from the beginning” is little help when all the indicators point to an absent Almighty. For the children of Israel it was captivity that wore them down so that they “sat by the waters of Babylon and wept” while wishing violence on the offspring of their oppressors. (Psalm 137) Our captivity is closer to home where loss of job or health or spouse saps our spirit so that we lament, “My cause is disregarded by God.” But the prophet speaks into their despair to remind them of what they have always known, the God of Jacob and Israel is a God of the living and not the dead, a God of infinite strength and beauty who cares for the powerless and will one day set them free. The promise is for us as well. The way out is always through. Waiting in hope for the Lord increases the power of the faint and renews the strength of the weary so that we are able to run the course set before us and claim the prize of the heavenward call of Christ.(Philippians 3:14)

Epiphany 4 B - Mark 1:21-28

Mark 1:21-28

Speaking as a scribe – with an unclean spirit - I‘m not sure what to think about this. I’m not saying I’m possessed; unless we’re talking about pride which more often than not is just the disguise worn by self-doubt. Truth is we are all possessed by unclean spirits, from overeating to overwork to sleeping one’s life away and as it turns out present day pastor scribes are no different than people in the pew especially when they pretend to be as holy as people in the pew might want them to be. I know I am taking this story in a direction it never intended to go but it occurs to me that the key to life in Christ was understood by the unclean spirits and rejected by the scribes. The unclean spirits “obeyed him.” The scribes crucified him. The good news for scribes with unclean spirits is that the Holy One of God did not come to destroy us but to give us life and love and freedom by calling us to come out of our places of possession. What is this? A new teaching? Maybe so. So obey and be free.

Epiphany 4 B - 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Differences in theology and practice rarely lead one side to change behavior so as not to offend the other. The more natural course of action is to demonize the opposition and become more firmly entrenched in the absolute truth of one’s own position. Meat sacrificed to idols was a big deal for those who all their life had been taught that destruction follows consumption and God’s righteous judgment could only be appeased by ritual purity. Even the apostle Peter cried, “Heaven forbid” when offered shrimp on the sheet! (Acts 10:14) Paul’s use of the term “weak believers” is not meant to denigrate their faith but merely point out that their trust in the mercy of God is not quite as free from constraints as is Paul’s and because he sees Christ in every believer, weak, strong and in-between he refrains from practicing his freedom so as not to offend. Maybe if we were to think of each other as family, claimed by Christ for whom and through whom all things exist, we would stop sinning against each other by always insisting on having it our way.

Epiphany 4 B - Psalm 111

Psalm 111

The gracious and merciful Lord is ever mindful of his covenant, which is to say God remembers us even if we forget to give thanks with our whole heart. Of course the covenant is a two way street even if God does most of the heavy lifting.  And while we are always on the receiving end of God’s forever covenant of redemption it is God’s intention that in remembering us we would remember God and grow in grace becoming the faithful and just works of God’s hands.  When we practice the beginning of wisdom, which is to recognize God in the everyday and the extraordinary, God rejoices and our whole life is transformed into praise.  

Epiphany 4 B - Deuteronomy 18:15-20

Deuteronomy 18:15-20
I speak “a word” about God everyday without worrying about the Deuteronomy consequences. But maybe in light of the warning (and even within the relative safety of the scriptures as the sole rule and authority and the constraint of the creeds) I should pause before speaking any more “words” about God as Gospel truth. After all God is beyond knowing and anything I might say about God is from my limited knowledge – we know in part and prophesy in part. (1 Corinthians 13:9) But then how can God be known unless we speak (Romans 10:14) So if I have misrepresented God in my preaching and teaching I hope I erred on the side of mercy and not judgment and I am betting my life that the cross will cover a multitude of misspeaks, though I have no doubt this prophet will one day die – though pray God not any time soon.

Epiphany 3 B - Mark 1:14-20

Mark 1:14-20

Jesus has a one sentence sermon that says it all. The time is fulfilled – which means the future has come into the present. The kingdom of God has come near – which means God has come down to dwell with people and the reign of love is as close as your own breath. Repent – which is to say stop living in ways that deny the forever future reign of God can be realized today. Believe the good news – which means live like you trust it is true. The trouble is we have one foot firmly planted in the world while we tap a toe into the life of the forever future and never fully repenting of the past we never fully embrace the future. However, there are moments when random acts of kindness soften a harsh world or times when walking with a loved one right up to the edge of life death really does look like birth or when we become convinced of God’s love for us and others that we give ourselves and others a break and rejoice in the wonder of each moment. One sentence says it all.

Epiphany 3 B - 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

1 Corinthians 7:29-31
If the appointed time has grown short the present form of this world is taking its sweet time passing away. That’s not to say we can’t live each day as if it were the last – not a bad way to live as it means we are more fully present in the present – but truth is Paul was wrong about the timing of Jesus’ return. Some might say that calls the whole work into question but I prefer my apostles to be as human as I am and I know the only truly accurate foresight I have is from the perspective of hindsight. Paul says to live “as if” which means we are free to live more fully into a life with those we pledge to love and mourn without despair and rejoice without needing cause and not place undue value in possessions for when Jesus broke free from the tomb the present form of the world did indeed pass away. That is good news for you and for me and all those whose hindsight is the foresight of the eternal future.

Epiphany 3 B - Psalm 62

Psalm 62:5-12

Waiting in silence is not something that comes naturally to most, especially when unsteady circumstances call for a rock and salvation stronghold that cannot be shaken. Perhaps “pour out your hearts” should begin the psalm and “wait in silence” end it. Or maybe the two can be considered the same thing when one trusts that the God who searches hearts and minds knows what we need before we do. And even if our lives are relatively stable neither those of high degree nor low estate can long delay the inevitable for like a fleeting breath the span of life doesn’t even register on the scale of eternity. But if we trust our lives are in the hands of the One to whom steadfast love belongs we are able to endure even the specter of our inevitable end where we will be repaid according to Christ's deed for we believe because the rock of salvation was crowned with a cross “Lord have mercy” will not fall on deaf ears.

Epiphany 3 B - Jonah 3:1-10

Jonah 3:1-10

God’s mind was changed but Jonah's heart was not. In the beginning of the story Jonah tries to avoid going to Nineveh because he believes God’s word and is counting on it. If the people of Nineveh do not repent they will be destroyed and since Jonah would like nothing more than that he goes in the opposite direction hoping to force God’s hand. But God trumps Jonah and has a great fish swallow him to get him to the church on time. Since the people of Nineveh worship a fish god in the form of a man Jonah doesn’t have to cry out very loudly to get the pagans to pay attention. Jonah is so angry he would rather die than endure God’s mercy for Israel’s enemies but then God is always more willing to forgive than we are. I know Lyle Lovett wasn’t thinking of this story when he wrote God Will but it seems to me if Jonah sang country he could put his heart into this song.  

“And who keeps on loving you
When you've been lying
Saying things ain't what they seem
God does
But I don't
God will
But I won't
And that's the difference
Between God and me.

Of course for those who believe, the “difference between God and me” is Jesus which means there is no difference, for those who have been forgiven are to forgive.

Epiphany 2 B - John 1:43-51

John 1:43-51

Apparently Nathaniel’s disparaging remark about Nazareth is just plain old prejudice and doesn’t count as deceit. Or it could be that Jesus is engaging in a little sarcasm himself. At any rate the encounter with Jesus moves Nathaniel beyond his limited understanding of “can anything good come from Nazareth” to seeing the Good that came from the unlikely place. He proclaims “You are the Son of God” which is to say “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God… and we have beheld his glory…” (John 1:1, 14)  In the knowing Nathaniel becomes one who will see the future in the present because those who believe “have already passed from death to life.” (John 5:24) We are not so different from Nathaniel. We are often found sitting under the fig tree of our own religious prejudice. Can anything good come from St. Louis? (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod)  Or can anything good come from Chicago? (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) Or closer to home, can anything good come from the city on the hill – Dallas Theological Seminary? We who doubt whether good can come from places we dismiss need to be found under the fig trees of our limited understanding and like Nathaniel journey from guile to goodness so that the world will know the Good that came from Nazareth.

The Baptism of Our Lord Year B - Mark 1:4-11

Laughing Dove - Range includes Israel

Mark 1:4-11
I’ve always thought the Holy Spirit descending like a dove was an odd way for the Holy Spirit to appear. Some Dove lovers may disagree but I don’t think doves make a very graceful descent. There’s a lot of flapping involved and their landings look a little unsteady to me. Of course the theological connection with baptism is the dove’s association with purity and innocence and the dove of the flood who returns with the olive branch to let Noah know all is well. (Matthew 10:16). On the other hand I like the idea of the Holy Spirit coming down like a dove as opposed to a Red Tailed Hawk (which when circling overhead makes chickens very nervous) So the Spirit descends on the Son this way and that with a lot of flapping and not like a ballistic bird missile with claws at the ready. And the Voice from heaven declared what John the Baptizer and everyone else had been waiting for. “When the time had fully come…” is how Paul describes it, the Beloved born of Mary was born again in water and word. That’s good news for those of us who in remembering our baptism (even if we can’t) find a sure and certain hope that God comes to us as a Dove and not as a Raptor and as far as God is concerned we too are beloved.

The Baptism of Our Lord Year B - Acts 19:1-7

Acts 19:1-7

The book of Acts makes it sound as easy as 1-2-3. All it takes is a one sentence explanation and these disciples of John who have never “even heard there is a Holy Spirit” become disciples of Jesus and start speaking in tongues. We live in a world where people tend to hold onto what they know a little more tightly and are suspicious of things “we’ve not even heard of”. But maybe these disciples of John were looking for the “one whose sandals I am unworthy to tie” just like John was and all they needed was someone to say, “we’ve have found the one you are looking for.” Maybe it is easy for us as well, as long as we are ready to give a reason for the hope we have (1 Peter 3:15) since it seems like we live in a time when people are anxious for something to hope in. But that means we will have to do something Lutherans generally “have not even heard of” namely talking about Jesus outside of church.

The Baptism of Our Lord Year B - Psalm 29

Psalm 29

You might want to take cover when the small g gods ascribe to the Lord the glory due God’s name. That’s because they recognize the voice of the Lord in thunder and lightning and earth shaking wilderness and bowing down is what you do when the earth starts to skip like a calf. While the ancients attributed such displays of power to supernatural forces they are no less terrifying when one can explain how a super cell becomes super. So a place to hide might come in handy when “ascribe to the Lord” whips up a storm and strips the oak trees bare. There are times when our personal world is shaken and all pretense of being in control is broken so that bowed low we are tempted to ascribe to the Lord blame rather than glory. The psalmist believes God is responsible for everything – the good, the bad, and the in-between – and so praise and plea are the same thing. O Lord, give strength to your people is as much a prayer for the blessing of peace as it is a hope for a place to hide.

The Baptism of Our Lord Year B - Genesis 1:1-5

Genesis 1:1-5
The debate about creation tends to argue about how long it took to get the formless void to take the shape we recognize.  Personally I don’t think the account is about how long it took, but I am perfectly willing to accept that if God wanted the challenge of creation in six twenty-four hour days God was up to it. I find the more difficult question to be why. Some will say that it was out of love that God said, “Let there be light” but I am sure the universe would have been just as happy as a formless void without the darkness humanity has visited upon it. I know I wouldn’t care if I’d never been. How would I even know the difference? So I don’t think the first act of creation was about us. It was about God’s need to bring order to chaos so that God’s creative nature could be expressed in the crowning achievement of creation. And though the scriptures record Adam’s reaction to Eve as “flesh of my flesh” I image God’s reaction after breathing life into the dust that became flesh to be so similar as to be the same. So I stand corrected. It was all about love.