Lent 1 A - Matthew 4:1-11

Matthew 4:1-11
It is right after Jesus’ baptism when The Voice from heaven declared “You are my beloved Son” that the Spirit led him into the wilderness for the time of testing. Famished after fasting, the tempter’s first attempt appeals to Jesus’ stomach. “Turn theses stones into bread” is an appetizing option after forty days and nights without food.  But Jesus is well fed on the word of God and trusting The Voice that declared him The Beloved he is not as hungry as the devil thought. The consummate con man changes tactics and using “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” tempts Jesus to give a demonstration of his trust. This temptation is trickier than it appears because proof negates trust but Jesus knows that testing The Voice denies the truth that he is The Beloved.  Believing the third time’s the charm the devil goes back to the basics and uses the temptation that worked so well in the garden. It is a temptation to take power from The Voice who called him The Beloved, even though it appears in bowing down Jesus would have to give power away. But the devil is offering an option, a discount if you will. Bow down on a high mountain or climb a hill to the place called the skull. It’s your choice, Jesus, and don’t let some Voice tell you different. To which Jesus replied, “Nice try.” And the devil said, “damn you” and left knowing he’d have to meet Jesus on the hill and there wasn’t a chance in hell he was going to fool the Beloved there. And the angels came smiling, laughing, rejoicing, as Jesus breathed a sigh of relief and rested in their arms.

Lent 1 A - Romans 5:12-19

Romans 5:12-19

“But the free gift is not like the trespass.” If we take that statement and run with it then the trespass is not nearly as universal as is the free gift of grace. That is not explicitly stated, but (and granted this is a big but) if the free gift is greater than the one trespass by which “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) then “how much more” must mean just that. The effect of the “one act obedience” means the free gift is greater than the trespass as God in Christ was “reconciling the world to himself not counting people’s sins against them…” (2 Corinthians 5:19) Of course some argue that the one act of obedience only makes up for the one act of disobedience (original sin) and that everything else that you or I have done or left undone still has a “payment due” attached to it. That’s not such a free gift good deal if you ask me and so I going to trust that in the end God is going to pick up my tab. Does that mean we party hardy and order a round of sin for everyone? Of course not. Have you ever received a free gift you know you didn't deserve and couldn't possibly pay for even if you wanted to? The only thing you can do when that happens is hug the one who gave you the free gift and say thank you, thank you, thank you and then try to live in the light of such an act of unconditional love. Oh, yes, and there’s usually crying involved but it’s not required. 

Lent 1 A - Psalm 32

Psalm 32

The Lord’s hand “heavy upon me” day and night is a blessing and not a curse for we are more adept at self-deceit than we care to admit. It is a sad truth that our strength to bear our sin silently often has to be dried up as by the heat of summer as the body of our reasonable rationalizations has to waste away until someone hears (or sees) our day and night groaning and invites us to “fess up.” When we finally give voice to the inner monologue and truthfully tell another the burdens we bear silently the “happy are those” is experienced like a breath of fresh air in the stale rooms of our lives. It would be nice if “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” could happen without a third party but silent confession is still… well, silent. So find someone you trust and spill your guts because silence is never golden when it comes to what’s good for the soul.

Lent 1 A - Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7

“Did God say….” is the crafty question that gets Adam and Eve to doubt God’s goodness despite the fact that they live in paradise. On the other hand you could read the story as the ultimate set up. What was God thinking? You don’t populate paradise with naive naked people, a “crafty” serpent and a tree in the middle of the garden that was “good for food, a delight to the eyes and desired for making one wise” that btw you can’t touch. But if you read the story after the fact (as I do) you are not as concerned with the details as you are with the truth it tells. Given paradise we would want a little bit more. Maybe that is the fatal flaw of creation. In the beginning it is God who is not satisfied. Moving through the shapeless void God’s spirit sweeps over the darkness of the deep and out of God’s infinite imagination God calls forth creation culminating in a creature that is equally restless. “In the image of God humankind was created…” (Genesis 1:27) So does God touch the untouchable by eating the forbidden fruit by creating creatures capable of breathtaking beauty and equally breath-stealing cruelty? Maybe I've told too much of the truth that I see in this story but then I think that God is willing to know us better than we are willing to know ourselves. Given paradise God would give it up to touch us. 

Transfiguration Year A - Matthew 17:1-9

Matthew 17:1-9
It’s only been six days since Jesus rebuked Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!” for not understanding picking up the cross as the purpose of Jesus’ life and the only way for disciples to follow. Now blinded by the light Peter wants to stay put and dwell permanently on the mountaintop. It’s the voice, “LISTEN TO HIM” that shuts Peter up and overcome by fear he and his companions faint dead away. It takes the touch and voice of Jesus, “get up and do not be afraid” to wake them and then sworn to secrecy they descend to the less frightening and more familiar places on the plain. It’s a strange story but then that’s the nature of a theophany. The recognizable is transfigured into the mysterious as the Jesus who ate and drank with disciples in the valley glows like a nuclear reactor on the mountain top while talking to the long gone law giver and end time prophet about God knows what. So we who are comfortable with “What a friend we have in Jesus” also sing “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” and hold the two in tension. The familiar and friendly Jesus is the One who in the beginning was the Word and in the end will be judge and jury of all. It may be that in our end, when we come face to face with that terrifying reality, we will faint dead away, but then I’m trusting that the Lord Jesus will touch us and “Get up and do not be afraid” will be the only Word we hear.

Transfiguration Year A - 2 Peter 1:16-21

2 Peter 1:16-21

It is a testimony to the conviction of the first disciples that anyone believed what must have seemed less a cleverly devised myth and more just outright nonsense. But people did believe the eyewitness testimony of these Galilean fishermen and then with equal passion proclaimed the crucified and resurrected Jewish peasant preacher Jesus, who they had never seen, to be the Beloved of God and Savior of the world. Whenever we are tempted to despair of the statistical decline of the church we would do well to pay attention to the lamp of their prophetic message shining in the darkness of our time; not because we fear some future final judgment, but because we are convinced that the same word that captured the imagination of first century people is equally relevant in the 21^st. In that way the prophetic word is always present and working to capture our imagination and fill us with Holy Spirit passion to proclaim in word and deed the saving acts of God. So let us pray that the day will dawn and the morning star will rise in our hearts as it did theirs, and moved by the Holy Spirit we will make know the power and coming of our Lord Jesus.

Transfiguration Year A - Psalm

Psalm 99

The psalm begins as one might expect. The Lord who is King, enthroned above angelic beings, terrifying in their own right, causes people to tremble as the earth quakes. Before the Lord who is exalted over everyone and everything, praise is not optional. Kings of the human variety, with far less power and majesty, tend to magnify themselves at the expense of their subjects. Not so with the Holy God, the lover of justice, who hears the cries of those who pleading for mercy receive forgiveness. But we might pause before we shout alleluia, for while the Holy One forgives the wrongdoer the wrongdoing must be avenged. Like it or not that’s the way equity is established. And as difficult and painful as that is, living outside the boundaries of God’s decrees is more so. The trouble is we always seem to find ways to bear the unbearable and tolerate the intolerable. So the Holy God who knew no wrong becomes a wrongdoer and is avenged with a vengeance. In that avenging of wrongdoing is our salvation and God’s hope is that one day we will love justice as much as God does.

Transfiguration Year A - Exodus 24:12-18

Exodus 24:12-18

Ancient stories sound odd to modern ears. The glory of the Lord in thick clouds and a devouring fire on the top of the mountain sounds a lot like lightning and even if a close one warrants an “Oh my God!” we understand lightning in scientific terms. The ancients saw God’s hand at work in the timing of what we know as a naturally occurring phenomenon. But then we “moderns” often do the same thing by giving extra-ordinary meaning to everyday events as when instead of turning left we turn right and a chance encounter bears blessings. So I guess I’m okay with the children of Israel camped before the mountain giving glory to the Lord for what may well have been Mt. Sinai having a little volcanic hiccup and spewing some smoke. It’s Moses entering the cloud of mountain top devouring fire that defies explanation. He was a reluctant leader in the beginning and even though he carried on a barefoot conversation with a burning bush he was always looking for a way out. Of course the Lord provided that through signs and wonders, not the least of which was the parting of the sea, but that’s not what Moses had in mind. In some ways God has worn down this reluctant leader so that when summoned to come up to the mountain and camp Moses obeys and does not complain. Maybe a faith that follows without complaining or seeking a way out has less to do with spiritual discipline and more to do with God wearing us down so that like Moses the only way out is really the only way in.

Epiphany 7 A - Matthew 5:38-48

Matthew 5:38-48

These are dangerous words and those who attempt to practice them don’t last very long. Evil doers not resisted are free to do evil to those who fail to fight back. Giving away coat and cloak, going the extra mile, giving to everyone who begs or wants to borrow means the giver goes without. Loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you means they win and you lose and no one wants to be a capital L loser. We’d much rather bring a world of hurt down on the head of those who mess with us and given the opportunity we utterly destroy our enemies and turn the table on those who persecute us making them rue the day they were born. We can always fall back on “saved by grace” and confess like the apostle Paul that the good we would do we don’t do and the evil we don’t want to do we do, although a more truthful confession is that loving enemies is the last “good” thing we’d ever want to do. Look at what being perfect and forgiving those who “know not what they do” got Jesus. If that’s what perfection leads to I want no part of it and if you are honest neither do you. So let’s resolve to be less than perfect and keep the practice of our faith safely inside the four walls of our sanctuaries and maybe a little charity on the side as long as it doesn't cost too much and the people who benefit from our generosity are sufficiently grateful. I trust Jesus will understand, after all he’s got to live by his own words and I’m begging I can borrow a little slack and get a free pass on loving my enemies and if that’s a slap in Jesus’ face I’m sorry, but I know he’ll turn the other cheek. That just sounds wrong doesn't it? It even makes me uncomfortable and I wrote it, but that’s what we do when we fail to take these words seriously and put them into practice. We call that failure sin and sin is never more deceptive than when it is practiced by the pious who insulate the life of faith from the life in the world, the world that Jesus died to save by a perfection that got him punished. So what do we do? Maybe perfection is a process and what I do today is the foundation for what I might do tomorrow and slowly but surely the life of faith has less to do with an hour on Sunday morning, as important as that is to many of us, and more to do with using the other waking hours of the days of our week to practice the perfection of mercy and kindness and love. God knows there are plenty of opportunities in a week to get it right. And all sarcasm aside we can always rely on grace without slapping Jesus in the face because Jesus has a robe of righteousness he’s more than willing to lend us.

Epiphany 7 A - 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23

I am always grateful to God and not a little surprised when the foolish church works in wise ways. It is more often the case that God’s temple is adorned with the architecture of this world, jealously and envy, competition and pride, where each one believes their way is the only way. Or in religious terms, the church in it's zeal to be righteous lives the law which is secondary at the expense of love which is primary. That being said, unconditional love can be an excuse for excess and the love that comes from God does not last long when it is consumed by indulgence. Which is why the foundation of faith is not in us or in human leaders or denominational loyalty but is built solely on the foundation of God in Christ becoming one with a humanity easily deceived by self, wise in the ways of the world and enamored by futile thoughts. How is it we cannot get this right? How can we who know in our heart of hearts that we depend fully on God’s mercy for ourselves not extend it to others? It could be that we really don’t believe it for ourselves and run from God like the younger son in the parable of the prodigal or like the older brother stay home and work like a slave for that which already belongs to us. But when the party happens and everyone is invited the wise church acts in foolish ways and the grace of God that created such an unlikely gathering makes the future appear in the present and the one thing we get right makes up for all the things we so often get wrong.

Epiphany 7 A - Psalm 119:33-40

Psalm 119:33-40

Teach me your decrees. Give me understanding. Direct me to delight in your commands that my heart might be turned from selfish gain and my eyes from worthless things. Fulfill your promise and take away the disgrace I dread. It would seem the psalmist has firsthand knowledge of the disgrace of selfish gain and worthless things as do we all. “All we like sheep have gone astray, each of us to our own way”  is how the prophet Isaiah describes the time before we came to our senses to see how far we had strayed and in all our longing how secure we might be, if only… That “if only” is the pivotal point of these verses but the whole point is that the psalmist is wholly dependent on God to teach, give, direct, turn, fulfill and take away. The psalmist is wholly dependent on the Lord to turn the course of worthless wanderings to life preserving paths of righteousness. So what part do we play in all of this? The same part the psalmist plays which is to pray the longing of the heart to know and be known by God or to quote a Kris Kristofferson country classic, “Lord, help me, Jesus…”

Epiphany 7 A - Leviticus 19:1-18

Leviticus 19:1-8

I am not a big fan of Leviticus, in fact in my less pious moments I wonder if the Levites didn’t make a good bit of it up just to pad their pensions. And I question what seem to be arbitrary laws as I am highly suspicious of the tyranny of religious systems. On the other hand I cannot escape my Augustinian understanding of the depravity of the human creature, mostly because I know myself all too well. So what turns out to be saving grace for me in this lesson full of law is the refrain. “I am the Lord your God.” It’s not a threat. It’s a promise. It’s not conditional. It’s guaranteed. The grace that is found in the whole of scripture is God’s desire to be in relationship with us. And like all relationships of significance there are sacrifices made and a joining that calls for compromise. We who are less than perfect are made perfect in God and God who is more than perfect takes on imperfection for the sake of loving us. The part that we often miss or worse reject entirely is the prominent feature of Leviticus. To be “holy” has more to do with how we care for others, especially the neighbor, ones in our employ, the poor, the alien, the deaf, and the blind than the sacrifices we make to God because God’s holiness has everything to do with how God cares for us. So serving the other is serving God and the refrain “I am the Lord your God” is just another way of God saying remember “I love you”.

Epiphany 6 A - Matthew 5:21-37

Matthew 5:21-37
No one can escape this laundry list of sin but those who are angry with brothers and sisters can do so silently, whispering “You fool” under their breath. Those who fail to keep vows to the Lord keep it to themselves and the Lord isn't talking either. Those who look upon another with lust can do so without anyone being the wiser even the one being objectified. But those who carry the certificate of divorce, even when re-married, hear these words of Jesus differently. If Jesus knew the whole story, knew how painful and lonely and hurt I felt, and that I resisted divorce as long as I could because it was the wrong thing I never wanted to do but in the end was the only right thing I could do, what then Jesus, would you still condemn me? The church throughout the centuries has used these words of Jesus to condemn women, but some men as well, to a life of cut off hands and plucked out eyes demanding they deny themselves rather than divorce the one who beats them every night, or day after day makes them feel stupid or dirty or inadequate or simply unnecessary. We can sanitize these words of Jesus and say he’s speaking in hyperbole. We can say he means what he says and we better get serious about sin or suffer the consequence.  Or maybe the anger that destroys relationships, the lust that makes us less than human on both sides of the equation, the dishonesty of vows made and not kept and yes, the promise of the wedding day, so full of hope, so full of joy that ends under the cold hard light of the court is as much hell as anyone needs to know. So isn't there a day of judgment? Of course there is. And we’re all guilty for the way we have failed to live these words or tried to avoid them or worse, the ways in which we who claim the name of Christ have twisted them. Heaven help us. And of course heaven did, though for Jesus it was hell.

Epiphany 6 A - 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

1 Corinthians 3:1-9
I think it is worth noting that Paul never speaks critically of Apollos and since Paul never pulls his punches it must mean that Apollos did not encourage the Corinthian’s divided loyalty. According to Acts 18:24, Apollos was “an eloquent man, mighty in the scriptures” while Paul describes his own abilities as possessing neither wise nor persuasive words. Sadly those who plant and those who water often do not value each other’s roles and promote their own position while demoting the other. Congregations can also sow the seeds of clergy competition, feeding preacher’s egos with flattery and before you know it divided loyalties have fanned the flames of jealously and quarreling. But when servant leaders working together recognize in each other the gift of unique abilities for shared mission and ministry the church is strengthened for the common purpose of blessing the world with the grace of God. That calls for a maturity of faith and the solid food of humility in the pulpit and the pew. That happens when both preacher and parishioner remember that “it is grace, nothing but grace that we are allowed to live in community.” (D. Bonhoeffer Life Together) On a personal note I am blessed beyond measure to share ministry with a gifted pastor who is a trusted colleague and also a friend - except where there is a 5 K race involved.

Epiphany 6 A - Psalm 119:

Psalm 119:1-8

At first blush it looks like the psalmist believes the blessed walk according to the law in ways that are entirely blameless or that following the Lord’s ways means doing no wrong. But then verse four begins with an exclamation “Oh” that is really a lament. Oh, that my ways were steadfast. Oh, that I would not be put to shame. Oh, that I would consider your commands. Even the declaration, “I will obey” is followed by the plea, “do not utterly forsake me.” Now it may be that the psalmist really thought that doing no wrong was within the ability of the blessed but my experience of those who claim to be blameless is that they’re just passing the buck. Even as those who walk in ways that bring shame live the lament “Oh!” in ways that are utterly forsaken. But if these first eight verses of psalm 119 begin where we are, lamenting “Oh” and praying “do not forsake me” then we are walking the walk that seeks the Lord. And while seeking the Lord in honest lament and desperate plea is the beginning of blessing the real blessing is in the life of faith that follows; not a walk that does no wrong but an honest walk that depends fully on the blameless One not forsaking us. 

Epiphany 6 A - Deuteronomy 30:

Deuteronomy 30:

“Choose life” (verse 19) seems an obvious choice and would be if death didn't wear all the cool clothes. By that I mean there must be something compelling about cursed ways of being that make them attractive otherwise we would all choose life and never engage in ways of living that cost more than they can deliver. But then these verses are not so much about personal piety as they are about a communal decision to enter a new reality according to the commandments, decrees, and ordinances of God. Of course the promise of prosperity to Israel was not good news to the people who possessed the land the “choose life” people of Israel were about to enter and in fact the people of God choosing life meant death for every man, woman and child who lived in the land God swore to give to the ancestors of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Which means in the context of possessing the land choosing life for self was to choose death for others and choosing death for oneself meant choosing life for others. If we of the Christian tradition believe Jesus had any insight into what God meant by the commandments, decrees, and ordinances then “love God” and “love others” says it all. (Matthew 22:36-40) Maybe the children of Israel were okay with their decision to choose life for themselves and deal death for everyone else as they were desperate to get out of the desert but it seems to me that if choosing life for one’s self means death for everyone else the only God pleasing choice is life for others and death for self or in other words “we preach Christ crucified.” 

Epiphany 5 A - Matthew 5:13-20

Matthew 5:13-20

Given my passion for all things culinary I like to think that Jesus uses the image of being salt to mean we are to flavor the world not overpower it. After all the purpose of salt is to enhance a dish and bring out the flavors that would otherwise be missed. In the same way light illuminates what is already there by creating a contrast making an image more interesting. We are to flavor the world and shine light upon what is already there. Salt of the earth and light of the world celebrates the human spirit which is able to overcome insurmountable obstacles and endure hardship and suffering with courage and fortitude. These things are not exclusive to the Christian church though for too long in our arrogance we have acted as if salt were the whole dish and light existed for itself. That does not mean there are not bitter dishes that cannot be salvaged or darkness in the human heart that no amount of light can banish. But the salt of the Gospel flavors the best qualities of being human and the light of the Gospel shines on what is noble and good. In the same way that salt without a dish to flavor it is useless and light with nothing to illuminate serves no purpose the fulfilling of the law and the prophets doesn't add to what is already there, it just makes it more visible and if you like, more appetizing. 

Epiphany 5 A - 1 Corinthians 2:1-16

1 Corinthians 2:1-16

The people living in Corinth in the first century AD were not that different from the urbanites living today in two thousand fourteen. Of course the Corinthians could not Google the answer to mysteries or consult Siri for all wisdom but they were in every way as sophisticated in their time as we are in ours. So the foolishness of proclaiming a crucified criminal in Judea as God was beyond believing for the Corinthians in the same way that people outside the shrinking Bible belt have come to question the facts of the Christian faith. At the same time we find those who hold onto the faith while denying the obvious inconsistencies in scripture. On the other side we find those who make no sense of the mystery of God and have little trouble living outside the boundaries of the conventional faith. I think God lives between the orthodox and the absurd and invites us to believe the absurd while clinging to the orthodox. Or in other words I determined to know “nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” 

Epiphnay 5 A - Psalm 112

Psalm 112

Psalm 112 might be titled the “early to bed early to rise makes one healthy wealthy and wise” psalm. But it might also merit a Gospel title as in “to whom much is given much is required.” (Luke 12:48) So even if the psalm sees a direct correlation with “delight in the Lord’s commands” and “wealth and riches are in their houses” the righteousness of those well off comes from being gracious and merciful, honest and generous, by distributing freely to the poor and conducting their affairs justly. So their hearts do not skip a beat when evil tidings come knocking for they are secure in the knowledge that the Lord is infinitely more generous than they are. So I guess the best title for Psalm 112 might be from Romans 14:8 : Whether we live or whether we die, we belong to the Lord.”

Epiphany 5 A - Isaiah 58:1-12

Isaiah 58:1-12

I’m not a big fan of the theological conditional clause “If” which is why I lean towards the Lutheran understanding of saved by grace and even more to Karl Barth’s way of hoping that God’s ultimate plan is the salvation of all people. But then this text is not about eternal consequences and/or rewards just yet. This conditional clause is about the consequences of ignoring God’s “if” in the here and now as imagined long ago by the prophet Isaiah. The consequence of not sharing our bread with the hungry poor is that the poor go hungry. The consequence of not bringing the homeless into our house is that they have no shelter. The consequence of not clothing the naked is that they have no clothes. You get the picture. The consequences of our inaction are borne by those we refuse to help, house or clothe. But we suffer the unseen consequence as the life we think the Lord loves, namely ours, is not known by the Lord which makes all our fasting foolish and our claim to be followers of Jesus a mockery of the One we say we love and serve. But on the reverse side of the conditional clause if we heed the call to meet the needs of the lost and the least we will be what we thought we were all along, namely Christ like.

Epiphany 4 A - Matthew 5:1-12

Matthew 5:1-12

Those of us who have been forever contaminated by close contact to Monty Python’s movie “Life of Brian” are no longer able to listen to or read these verses without thinking of the line “blessed are the cheese makers.” I’ll risk an explanation for those of you who are still pure of heart as long as you agree to never ever watch the movie. In the movie those who are on the edge of the large crowd are having trouble hearing Jesus so one of them asks, “What was that?” The response is, “I think it was blessed are the cheese makers” which in turn prompts the response, “What’s so special about the cheese makers?” I don’t think many outside the church are offended by Life of Brian and probably laugh during it unless they find British humor too British. But I bet a good number of Christians think a movie that makes fun of the sacred story nothing short of blasphemy. So is it? I don’t think so and here’s the point. Satire cannot exist in a vacuum. The reason Monty Python is able to play games with these powerful words of Jesus is because those who follow Jesus have failed to live them. The movie is not a satire of Jesus but of us. To quote another British comedic saying, “It’s a fair cop.” 

Epiphany 4 A - 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

I've spent significant time, energy and resources learning the proper way to talk about this foolish message. It seems ironic to me that maybe a good bit of theology or God talk (theos=God logos=word) is about making the foolish message sound wise. By that I mean (you see how it happens) religious professionals (or is that the professionally religious) carefully define this foolishness so as to fit it into an orthodox box, lest we sound silly and stray into heresy. Don’t get me wrong, how we talk about God matters, but the cross is not a theological construct. It is a sadistic instrument of torture conceived by the wise and powerful human mind. And in Jesus God decided foolishly in weakness to die on one. I think I’ll stop and stay with that thought for awhile before dressing up the ugliness of the cross in carefully constructed theologizing. 

Epiphany 4 A - Psalm 15

Psalm 15

These are not requirements for entering the tent of the Lord but a description of what happens to those who abide there. Ones who slander and do evil to friends, despising their neighbors, who charge for favors and take bribes to pervert justice, prefer mansions in the valley to the tent on the hill. Doing what is right and speaking the truth from the heart, walking the blameless way, is produced by one’s proximity to the Lord who pitches the tent in the first place. It is not a heavenly hill, but it is none-the-less a “hill far away”. The One who really was blameless stood by his oath to save and in His suffering death made the hill where the wicked had their way, holy. There is a transformation which takes place when we consistently see the sunrise from that Holy Hill and days are spent not in pursuing selfish desire but sacrificial love, as in standing by an oath, even when it hurts. 

Epiphany 4 A - Micah 6:1-8

Micah 6:1-8

It is one thing to be told what the Lord requires and quite another to do it. And even though there is no middle ground with a requirement we still try to live there. I’ll work for justice but only for the worthy. I’ll love mercy but not too much lest the guilty go free. I’ll walk humbly with the Lord for an hour a week; isn’t that enough exercise? And like the people of Micah’s time we substitute superficial acts of sacrifice or piety for a real relationship with the One who tells us what is good.  Doing justice, loving mercy, walking humbly with God is good. Good for others. Good for us. Good for God. In the sacrifice of justice, mercy and humility God is pleased and the reign of God is continually coming as the will of God is done. That is why the prophets speaking for God imaged the future day of peace in poetic language; so that we would long for it so desperately we would work for it in the here and now. Not that lambs trust lions well enough to lie down with them just yet but that we would trust God enough to live the dream of the future before it is fully realized. So you know what to do. Just do it.

Epiphany 3 A - Matthew 4:12-23

Matthew 4:12-23

I understand the sentimental attachment Christians have to this call story but truthfully it is not a positive metaphor for evangelism. Fishers of people might be quite happy with the idea that God uses them to catch people for Christ but being caught by those who “fish for people” means the “fished” are ensnared in a net or deceived by a lure or hooked by bait none of which paints the process of conversion in a positive light. More than that there is no life for the fish once caught as living outside their watery world is not an option. Granted I might be overthinking the metaphor. Maybe what Jesus was saying to those fisher folk stripped down and sweating is that getting people to accept Jesus as “God with us” is not that different from sweating over nets and dragging one’s livelihood from the Sea of Galilee. Which means we do what we can do with what we’ve been given. There will be those who object to any effort we make as a violation of their territorial waters of secularism or outright unbelief but truth is we have no reason or right to fish in those waters anyway. What we can and must do is fish every day in daily waters calm or stormy. But not with net or lure or bait but with all our heart, mind and soul so that those who object to the arrogance of the church are won over by the humility of Christianity. We love others so that others will love Christ even though we have all learned the language of love as a foreign tongue.

Epiphany 3 A - 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

This is the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in case you didn't know. It wasn't on my radar either but then I read what I wrote on this text three years ago and there it was in black and white. I suppose with all the other things that occupy the beginning of a new year we might be forgiven for not remembering that the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity always begins with the Feast of the Confession of St. Peter and concludes with the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (January 18-25). Unless of course you live in the Southern Hemisphere in which case it’s celebrated at Pentecost. (Probably a concession for the sake of unity) Truth is Christians live pretty well with each other as neighbors (as long as they mow their lawn and keep their dogs quiet) or when they meet on the street (unless they are driving in traffic) or at Starbucks (unless they take forever to order a latte) or at sporting events (as long as they support the same team) but come Sunday believers circle the wagons and hunker down behind doctrinal divisions or styles of worship or any number of rules, real or imagined, that make the letter to the Corinthians as relevant today as it was when it was penned. We learn the language of love as a foreign tongue. (1 Corinthians 13:1) The sad truth is the church was never one and even those who knew Jesus face to face failed to live fully into the dream that God had for humanity. So why does anyone bother setting aside one week (observed at two different times) to pray for something that has never been realized? Well, maybe the prayer is not that we would be unified but that we would recognize we already are. I happen to follow Luther (but not exclusively, I hope) whose explanation to "Thy will be done" might be helpful. “The good and gracious will of God is done indeed without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.” Jesus prayed that we might be one even as He was one with the One he knew as Father. (John 17:21) So maybe the prayer of Christian unity is that we would live what we already are. Crazy, huh?

Epiphany 3 A - Psalm 27:1, 4-9

Psalm 27:1, 4-9

I don’t know about you but I can think of more than “one thing” to ask of the Lord and even when I’m all “pastored up” I’m not sure I want to “dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” Of course we tend to think these passages refer to the house of the Lord in heaven but that is not quite true to the text. David longs for the comfort of the sanctuary where the “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22) can find sanctuary and be “hidden” from the real life enemies that surround him. But let me take some liberty with the text as well and say we might be too good at hiding in the sanctuary and an isolated life that longs to gaze forever on the beauty of the Lord doesn't help a single soul. On the other hand if the song of the sanctuary is sung fearlessly outside the sanctuary so that the “enemies” hear it in the same way the singer does there may come a time when the light and salvation of the Lord is shelter for everyone.

“Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! And so I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!” (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - 3 April 1968, Memphis, Tennessee)

Isaiah 9:1-4
Isaiah 9:1-4 is a timely text for a day that remembers the light that dawned in this country when the voice of a twentieth century prophet, Martin Luther King Jr., cried out to lift the yoke of burden from the shoulder of African Americans and break the rod of oppression that kept them enslaved to systems that denied them basic civil rights. I hope that no matter where we stand on the political spectrum we can agree that denying people equal access to seats on a bus or at a lunch counter or the right to vote or what school one can attend based on the color of one’s skin violates the very principles upon which this country was founded. And therefore no matter what we think of Dr. King I hope we can acknowledge he was a man of great courage and conviction whose commitment to justice changed our country for the better. But of course that’s not what Isaiah had in mind when he penned this prophecy as the “he” who brought the land of Zebulun and Naphtali into contempt was the same “he” who would later make glorious their way to the sea. What seems ironic to me, in light of my introductory remarks, is why these two tribes were brought into contempt in the first place. When the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali were given the prettiest land in Palestine they didn't obey God’s command and kill the resident Canaanites but lived among them, which meant at some point a Zebulun Romeo fell in love with a Canaanite Juliet and that was not kosher. Of course that’s not the reason the Assyrians brought anguish to these two lands, that happens much later, but it would seem that the very thing that Dr. King preached about having “been to the mountaintop” is at odds with God’s demand for racial purity in the conquest of the original Promised Land. But then the prophet who penned the prophecy could not fully foresee the future that was being promised. The great light that would shine over deep darkness did not come from Jerusalem but from the land corrupted by Romeo and Juliet’s romance. The “he” that would make glorious the way of the sea would lift the yoke of burden and break the rod of the oppressor not by ethnic cleansing but by bearing the anguish of the cross on his shoulders and banishing the deep darkness of death with the light of resurrection dawn. So maybe it is a timely text for a twentieth century prophet who knew himself to be a sinner but by the grace of God a saint as well, a man who like most prophetic voices resisted the call at first but once claimed by the vision did not withdraw even when he knew it would lead to his death. 

Epiphany 2 A - John 1:29-42

John 1:29-42

When Jesus asks John’s disciples “What are you looking for?” they answered by asking Jesus “where are you staying?” It doesn't make a lot of sense unless it was the only way they could avoid admitting they didn't really know what they were looking for. But Jesus knows exactly what they are looking for and where they will find it. “Come and see” invites them into a relationship that will change their lives forever. And it all happened around four in the afternoon. Imagine that. Lifelong Lutherans generally don’t identify a day when they were “saved” let alone a specific hour in the afternoon. Not that we don’t experience moments of spiritual renewal or refreshment. But to be baptized into faith before we could walk let alone “come and see” means we grow into our faith as a gift that is familiar and yet always new. We are continually invited into a life of “come and see” and like Andrew share with others the truth we have come to know. “We have found the Messiah.” Although if Andrew were a Lutheran he would have told his brother, “The Messiah found us.” Which truthfully is what happened that day around four in the afternoon.

Epiphany 2 A - 1 Corinthians 1:1-9

1 Corinthians 1:1-9

The opening verses to the Corinthian correspondence follow the Pauline pattern of over the top thanks for the faithful (the Galatian letter being the exception) before getting down to the heart of the matter. “I hear there are quarrels among you…” (1:11) While Paul might not have always “given thanks” for his brothers and sisters in Corinth he did have affection for them and hoped that they might live more fully into the gifts God had given them. To our great benefit his struggle with those puffed up with pride produced “Love is patient and kind…” which is as good a prose as has ever been penned. The foundation upon which 1 Corinthians 13 “love is” depends is the faithfulness of God who called the Corinthians into fellowship (1:9) and enriched them with gifts so that they might be a blessing to each other and subsequently the world. We might lament of all the ways in which the church has not lived out the grace of its calling but I think a better approach is to marvel at the ways the church works despite its being led by and inhabited by less than perfect humans. So we should not be surprised that the Corinthians coveted the gifts without giving credit to the giver. Or that the Galatians gave up the radical freedom of the Gospel for the familiar security of the law. We should be surprised that despite our failings we will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, which might mean we try harder in the here and now to live into our inheritance.  

Epiphany 2 A - Psalm 40:1-11

Psalm 40:1-11

Waiting for the Lord is only remembered as a “waiting patiently” process when feet are finally planted firmly and the new song is sung. When one is stuck in the miry bog or languishing in the desolate pit the only song you sing is a lament and the prayers that are cried ask for an answer yesterday. Not that we are unable to wait with faith and trust and hope; it’s just that “I waited patiently for the Lord” might make waiting patiently seem to be the only faithful response to being stuck. So while those who are on the other side of being stuck are right to proclaim the glad news of deliverance with songs of praise it would be more helpful to those who still languish in bogs of depression and doubt if our songs of saving help were sung in harmony with the laments they still sing. I’m not saying that we can’t count on God’s deliverance but I’ve come to believe if you can’t get there with me or I can’t get there with you God’s faithfulness means we are given to each other so that the place of desolation, or for that matter the place of deliverance, is not so lonely. 

Epiphany 2 A - Isaiah 49:1-7

Isaiah 49:1-7

“You are my servant” is a dialogue between the “Holy One” and the “polished arrow” who wonders aloud if it was all for nothing. “I have labored in vain…” The one hidden away in the quiver is only as good as the One who draws the bow which is why the arrow expresses confidence in the archer. “My cause is with the Lord…” Even so the plan for vindication before kneeling kings and prostrated princes would not be without pain. God does not work outside the boundaries of our human experience and chooses to use what is weak to shame the strong and what is foolish to confound the wise. (1 Corinthians 1:27) That is not to say God’s way of working does not have real life human consequences and for no fault of their own the lives of the “deeply despised” lit up the night skies of Auschwitz; but then that is why God was nailed to wood and died screaming like a wounded animal. You want pretty? Go somewhere else. God does not offer solutions to human savagery that deny human free will to act in ways that are less than human. In the end humans are responsible for what happens in this world. Salvation is revealed when you and I recognize it is not too light a thing for us to be servants who make a choice for a different world. It might mean crucifixion. No. It will certainly mean crucifixion. But then in the dialogue between what is and what will be crucifixion always anticipates resurrection. “Is it too light a thing that you should be my servant…” 

The Baptism of Our Lord Year A - Matthew 3:13-17

Matthew 3:13-17

Matthew’s version of Jesus’ baptism has more dialogue than Mark or Luke but all three end in the same way. God declares Jesus the beloved Son with something like a dove coming out of heaven to “alight” on him after which Jesus is driven (Mark) or led (Matthew, Luke) into the wilderness to be tested, tried and/or tempted for forty days. The point is not to be missed. Jesus baptism is followed by forty days of fasting followed by three temptations that target the very words that sustained Jesus through the forty days. “You are my beloved Son.” Our baptisms are intended to give us the same confidence so that like Jesus being tempted after suffering solitary silence in the wilderness we might declare, “I am baptized!” as a statement of defiance against all that would make us believe we are less than loved. It doesn't mean all will go well with us in our everyday but rather that we might claim the promise of the future; “Do not fear. I have called you by name. You are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1) in the present. “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) The promise of God that operates outside of human institutions allows those of us who were baptized before our ability to remember to none-the-less name the day we were saved as the moment when the Spirit of God alighted upon us and declared us beloved. But that is only because In the end “I am baptized” is not about our decision but rather God’s declaration, “You are my beloved.” 

The Baptism of Our Lord Year A - Acts 10:34-43

Acts 10:34-43

“I truly understand that God shows no partiality…” I don’t think we can fully comprehend the magnitude of this statement. Everything Peter had been taught about God would have led him to believe the opposite. God is very particular and shows partiality to one nation as a treasured possession out of all the nations of the world. “I will be your God and you will be my people.” (Exodus 6:7) You don’t get any more partial than that. And more to the point Peter heard Jesus say he came only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, (Matthew 15:24). But all that changes when Peter dreaming on the roof of his house is instructed to eat things formerly forbidden. His dream translates to a Spirit led field trip to the house of a Roman centurion named Cornelius where the Spirit falls upon the Gentiles in the same way it fell upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost. And so Peter, who no doubt was pleased to be the one to whom God was partial, (You are the Rock upon whom I will build my church – Matthew 16:18) enters the house of Cornelius and eats and drinks with “goyim” and that is certainly not kosher. I wonder what sacred cows we would give up if like Peter we came to a new understanding and the God we thought we knew by living inside our religious box told us to eat and drink with those who color outside the lines because God is not as partial as we are. It might not be pretty but I think it might just be the picture God intended to paint.

The Baptism of Our Lord Year A - Psalm 29

Psalm 29

Psalm 29 has ten verses of environmental mayhem leading to an eleventh verse that blesses people with peace. It might not be such a positive image in light of the large scale disasters of 2013. Typhoon Haiyan (Philippines) and Phailin (India), hurricanes Manuel and Ingrid (Mexico), earthquakes in the Philippines, China and the Solomon Islands, tornadoes in Texas and Oklahoma City. Some estimate over 20,000 lives loved were lost in these events alone. Ascribing glory to God through the image of what we see as natural disasters (so called acts of God) may make poetic sense but theologically might cause us to question how the whisper of peace can proceed from a voice that breaks the cedars and makes the solid ground skip like a calf. But if the peace that blesses God’s people is the recognition that “God is bigger than the boogie man” (Veggie Tales) than the peace that stills the storms of 2013, and every year for that matter, is that God is the eye in the center of every storm, which I’m told is a place of calm, or in other words, peace.

Baptism of Our Lord Year A - Isaiah 42:1-9

Isaiah 42:1-9

This is the Word for all who languish in solitary prisons real or imagined, who faint from sorrow and suffering, whose light in life flickers and grows dim. This is also the Word that comes as a light to expose the thoughts and ways and deeds that conspire to blind people to the truth and shroud the world in darkness. This Word is as gentle as a whisper, as soft as a mother’s caress, as persistent as a deep desire and as compelling as a well told tale. It stirs hearts and animates lives to action as it fills imaginations with hopes and dreams of all that is good and right and beautiful and true. But it is a Word that has to be heard to be believed which means we have to be stilled to hear it and humbled to accept it. The trouble is we tend to buy into the lottery ticket life where all that glitters really is gold and our luck is about to change even if the ship we were counting on to come in just sank in the harbor. But what if we were to give up on the world’s way of winning and live more fully into the light of the life that God desires. If the Word does not break our bruised reed we should not be so ready to break bones with sticks and stones. If the Word does not quench our dimly burning wick we should not be so quick to extinguish the flickering faith of others. If the Word does not shout in the streets we might accomplish more by speaking our conviction with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15) If the Word is persistent and does not grow faint then we should not be crushed by disappointment or detours. In the end God will make all things new and the brightest and best dreams will come true so we, like the Word, speak of the new things that will spring forth and declare with confident hope what will be before it is.

Christmas 2 A - John 1:1-18

John 1:1-18

This is John’s Christmas story, minus the manger, Mary and Joseph, angels singing, shepherds adoring, magi gifting or even the baby Jesus for that matter. You can tell from the very first verse that John’s Jesus is painted with bigger brushstrokes than the Jesus in Matthew, Mark & Luke. It’s called a “Christology from above” which means a word about Jesus that is focused more on his divinity than his humanity. (Calvary member Dr. Bob Machos calls it the magic Jesus.) That’s true throughout John, even at the end when he lays his life down and picks it up again with no help from anyone, thank you very much. In some ways this picture of Jesus as the “In the Beginning Forever Word” is far removed from the Christ whose cry of dereliction from the cross is proof the divine has fully entered the human condition and therefore is more than able to sympathize with our weakness. (Hebrews 4:15) John’s Jesus is always one step ahead of the opposition and clearly in control except for one brief moment midway through the Gospel when his friend Lazarus dies. Then the true light that banishes darkness, the Word made flesh full of grace and truth and the unchanging glory of the great I AM steps out from behind the smoke and mirrors and in two words the “In the Beginning Forever Word” becomes very human. “Jesus wept.” It might be that this is Jesus at his most divine as well, at least I like to think so. Now that would be magic.

Christmas 2 A - Ephesians 1:3-14

Ephesians 1:3-14

If we were to embody the over-the-top “praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” language of these passages we would be different people. By that I mean we would be more generous, more forgiving, more loving, more Christ-like to ourselves and as a result to others. Truth is all of our less than loving behavior towards others comes from a less than loving acceptance of ourselves. Our inability to love who we are comes from the belief that we are less than worthy of being loved or on the flip side a belief that we are more than worthy of being loved, which in a strange way is really the same thing. I know I’m oversimplifying things but I don’t think I’m breaking new ground in the thought that those who know and believe and accept that they are loved “lavishly” (1:8) period-end-of-sentence love in the same way. But then we know too much about ourselves, even if we are well schooled in the discipline of denial, to believe a perfect Being could tolerate “sinners” such as ourselves. But what if we were to accept that the God who exists beyond time and space is not that different from the very best parent among us who is inextricably connected to the child of their desire and could no more condemn them to hell on earth or beyond than we could and grieves every moment of separation? And more than that, that God, who in good pleasure loves lavishly, depends on the effects of such radical acceptance to transform self-centered individuals into those who live for the praise of God’s glory. Of course that’s the kind of love that got Christ crucified but then maybe lavish love takes crucifixion as a given.  

Christmas 2 A - Psalm 147:12-20

Psalm 147:12-20
I don’t mean to dispute the accuracy of the scriptures but according to Israel-travel-trips.com “the weather in most of Israel is not extreme by any standard, so that the Israeli winter is at best what New Yorkers would call autumn. That means temperatures between 41° and 65° in Tel Aviv. However, Jerusalem can get as low as 34° at night. Brrrrrr! Who can withstand such an icy blast? Of course winter like autumn may be due to global warming and 3000 years ago Jerusalem was a ski resort. Or maybe snow like wool happened so rarely that the people of Jerusalem were like Texans who having never lived through a real winter that lasts from November to April think of snow as a novelty. (Unless it stays around for more than a day, of course) It does seem an odd reference for a warm climate unless we put it in the context of verses two and three; “The Lord builds up Jerusalem and gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” It can get very cold in Babylon and a tiny nation held captive might doubt their favored nation status. But if God controls the weather, even in Babylon, hurling hail like pebbles and stirring up breezes to make waters flow then they are not a small people to be pitied but God’s own people who alone are the keepers of God’s statutes and judgments. It is true for us as well who experience times of doubt, when brokenhearted we are held captive by circumstance and wonder when we will experience peace within our personal borders or be satisfied again with the finest of wheat. The word of encouragement to the exiles returned is a word of encouragement for us to whom the word of God has been revealed, not in an icy blast but in an infant’s cry, not in hail hurled like pebbles but in the child grown to be the Christ crucified and risen.