Lent 3

• St. Patrick
• You shall not murder
• Good News

Yesterday some of us participated in the St. Patrick's Day parade and skit. This was entertaining and created a lot of laughter. Demographic surveys indicate that middle America wants church to be entertaining. There isn't much joy in the commandments we heard in Exodus. 20:13 You shall not murder.

God is speaking directly to the the people and in Hebrew He says, "you shall not kill." We live in a spiritual dark age. We count how many have died in war and atrocities. Stalin killed more than Hitler and Mao killed more than Stalin.

There is no moral reason for anyone to murder. There are just reasons for was but not moral reasons for war. Cain murdered Able and God forgave him, sent him away and protected him. Seven generations later, Lamech boasts about murdering so God starts over by giving Adam and Eve, Seth. Seven generations after Seth humankind isn't any better, so God starts over with Noah. After Noah, humankind is still evil so God starts over with Abraham.

God speaks directly to the people without a state, church or a priesthood. God is not about killing. Animal sacrifices were done to replace human sacrifices. Jeremiah says that God never asked for sacrifices and that they should take those dead animals and eat them.

It is good news. God's weakness is stronger than our strength. Strong in a weak and foolish fashion.

Our Great Ancestor--Lent Two

• Great Ancestor
• Abraham
• Ancestors
• The Apostle Paul
• Faith and Trust

In his Epistle to the Romans, Paul raises the issue of trust. Today we live in a time where trust has failed. Everyone has faith because everyone trusts in something, even atheists. It costs about 2 cents to print one unit of paper money regardless of what the monetary value, but we trust that a twenty will be treated as such and not as a one or five dollar bill.

An act of faith is as simple as buying sunscreen. Yes, buying sunscreen is an act of faith and trust--trusting that the sun will shine again and that there will be summer weather again. It is also an act of faith and trust that it will block the sun and not burn your skin.

To the emperor Trajan 33. While I was making a progress in a different part of the province, a most destructive fire broke out at Nicomedia, which not only consumed several private houses, but also two public buildings; the town-house and the temple of Isis, though they stood on contrary sides of the street. The occasion of its spreading thus wide, was partly owing to the violence of the wind, and partly to the indolence of the people, who, it appears, stood fixed and idle spectators of this terrible calamity. The truth is, the city was not furnished with either engines, buckets, or any single instrument proper to extinguish fires: which I have now, however, given directions to be provided. You will consider, Sir, whether it may not be advisable to form a company of firemen, consisting only of one hundred and fifty members. I will take care none but firemen shall be admitted into it; and that the privileges granted them shall not be extended to any other purpose. As this corporate body will be restricted to so small a number of members, it will be easy to keep them under proper regulation. Trajan to Pliny 34. You are of opinion it would be proper to establish a company of firemen in Nicomedia, agreeably to what has been practiced in several other cities. But it is to be remembered, that societies of this sort have greatly disturbed the peace of the province in general, and of those cities in particular. Whatever name we give them, and for whatever purpose they may be instituted, they will not fail to form themselves soon into political clubs. It will, therefore, be safer, to provide such equipment as is of service in extinguishing fires, enjoining the owners of houses to assist in preventing the mischief from spreading; and if it should be necessary, to call in the aid of the populace.

Living under a dictatorship or empire, the freedom of self-thinking and self-organizing does not exist. There is no faith and trust. Abraham lived in the age of empires. For 3000 years empires raised and fell in in this time of tyranny, Abram heard and listened to God's voice. That just didn't happen under imperial rule. Yet, he heard God's voice and acted. God told him if you leave and go where I tell you to go, I will make you a great ancestor; the nations will be blessed through you. The nations, that is the people will be blessed, not the empires.

Even if we are not Jewish, we have a great ancestor because of Abraham's faith in the midst of ruling empires. The name, Abraham, means great ancestor.

Any system built on greed will fail; we let our system fail. Taking up a cross and following Jesus--doing something different. You have to be able to say that the authority who has the cross are dealing in death not life. Jesus shows us that the the cross is a means to life, ressurection and new life.

Lent 1

• Jesus
• John the Baptist
• Spirit of God
• Satan
• Wild Beasts
• Angels

"You are my Son, the Beloved. with you I am well pleased." The angels fed him, with angel food cake, perhaps?

In Mark's Gospel Jesus alone saw the heaven's torn apart and he alone heard the voice from above. This was for him to hear. It is called the Messianic Secret. The humans in the narrative don't figure this out until chapter 8. We who hear this narrative, hear the words and are brought into this secret.

These words: "You are my child,the Beloved, with you I am well pleased" How does this rank in our lives? Very high? These are the most important thing ever said to us. They are the necessary and sufficient basis for our relationship with God and for the Church's relationship to God.

It isn't all tickles and giggles and a feast of angel food cake. After hearing those words and believing them comes a life of danger and filled with testing. It is not great feasting--we are fed on what is necessary and sufficient--communion portions perhaps.

In our baptisms we are ordained. We have the right to discern and confirm calls to a special ministry but all baptized are ordained by God's words, "You are my child, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased." God gives us the authority to affirm calls to special ministry. Without God we cannot and without us God will not. There is a unity in our faith with room for disagreement.

The Spirit of God does not turn us into robots. The culture in which we live makes us polarized. There is the sense that if you believe something hard enough it becomes true. In truth, we can say there are differences, but we don't get to demonize someone for disagreeing with us. We disagree yes, but yet, we are all God's children, living together in Faith, Hope and Love. God is well pleased with us.

Transfiguration

• Peter
• James (Jacob)
• John
• Elisha
• Moses
• Jesus

They saw Jesus in his glory. The word glory carries a different meaning today then it did in the First Century. Glory did not mean radiance or shining brightly it meant reputation what people thought of you. The bright light came from God--His reputation. It is real and not scary; it is very joyful.

There is a question of leadership that arises from Peter's statement. This question comes to us today from the Presbyterian Church on who should be the Church leaders and who are the natural leaders. According to one expert the leaders should be the tall steeple pastors. These are the white males who are pastors in larger churches--the ones that used to have the tall steeples. These are the men who live in large houses and drive nice cars.

A tall steeple pastor is a golden boy who might come from a well-to-do family and is a charismatic leader. He is chosen or preferred above other's. The golden boys can bring in the gold through fund raising. They are good looking and they look the part. They sound good and look good and they don't have to be smart, in fact, intelligence is not required nor sought out in a golden boy, because the golden boys maintain the status quo and don't push for change. Golden boys are the ones who are blamed when things turn sour.

Is Jesus a golden boy? No! He opposes the status quo and stirs things up. He was crucified. Crucifixion is not for a golden boy. After his baptism, Jesus is cast out into the wilderness, just as a demon is cast out of someone. Jesus is tested and took the form of a slave and as Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians that every knee will bow. Jesus was raised up by the power of God the Father. No golden boy would even consider risking that.

Many can be raised up with him.

Leadership--the voice in the cloud saying, "This is my beloved son, listen to him" or better yet, "obey him." If you don't obey then you haven't listened. This is hard for Protestants to get. We are told to obey the Bible. The Bible is to be obeyed only because of Jesus. We are not used to listening to Jesus. The responsibility is on us. We need to become like him--the glory, his reputation. We have to let go of our selfishness.

He is the Son of God; he is that because he never turns His glory for his own good but turns it only to serve God and to help us learn to do as well.

Jesus and the Leper

Jesus the healer touched a leper. No one is to touch a leper because they would become unclean. Lepers were isolated from society and we need to pay attention that Jesus was outside the city as well, The leper was outside because of his illness; Jesus was outside the city to get rest away from the crowds. What are the modern day equivalents to Leprosy? Aids perhaps or mental illness? What about sex offenders? Sex offenders have to live in certain places away from schools and have to tell everyone that they to are "unclean." An 18 year-old-male who has sex with a 15 year-old female is treated the same as predatory pedophile or a rapist. These people are treated the same way as Lepers were in the First Century--ostracizing them from society. Just like today there is a fear of illness. Don't forget about mental illness. There are mentally ill people who are in prison because State Hospitals don't have the funding to help them anymore. Jesus us wondering around outside of towns because he can't sleep or rest when he is in town. The sacred canopy is the imaginary dwelling where members of society feel they belong. The Sacred Canopy can be seen as the synagogue where the Galileans gathered together and there within their sacred canopy dwelt a demon, which Jesus cast out. The fear today is that we will fall outside of this sacred canopy as we suffer income loss and job loss. There are people who have lost their homes or losing their homes and the feel that they are falling outside the sacred canopy. We, who follow Jesus, can bring those who feel outside the social canopy and bring them into the true sacred canopy. The leper was following the rules which Jesus breaks by touching him and restoring him. Jesus is now made "unclean" but rather than becoming a leper himself he heals and restores the leper.

Healings

1. Believing in persons or spiritual beings
2. Believing that certain facts are real
3. Believing!

I believe that demons are real. I don't believe in them. What I believe in is found in the Nicene Creed.

Peter's mother-in-law had a terrible fever; she possibly had malaria which untreated can and usually does cause death. This fever is deadly. Jesus lifts her up and heals her. We get to heal also.

Jesus goes outside the religious institution. The early Jesus movement was not a religion; it was a way of life. Even today we are are bound up and together through the trust in Jesus which is not a religion. Religion has priests who perform sacrifices to placate gods and goddesses, or intercede between the gods and goddesses and human beings. We have a priesthood of all believers, we can pray to God directly for ourselves and one another. We do not have a priesthood sacrificing animals to placate God, instead, we have healing. We have healing in place of sacrifices.

Everyone came crowding into Peter's small house free healing was taking place there. In their religion there were outsiders and insiders and these people were outsiders. In Jesus, everyone is an insider and everyone belongs. Healing is a sign of belonging.

Today there is a need for healing--spiritual healing, emotional healing, physical healing, financial healing. When someone loses their job the suddenly feel that they don't belong anywhere. They even stop attending worship services because they don't feel good enough. Death in their family, illness or any type of loss can make anyone feel like an outsider. It takes them out of the narrative of health and success.

Peter's house is filled with people who want to be healed, be included, belong and to be counted. In Jesus Christ we all belong and we share Jesus.

Jesus and the demon

Jesus casts out a demon. Demonic possession is a controversial issue. In C.S. Lewis' book The Screwtape Letters, Screwtape writes in a letter to Wormwood that there are two weaknesses that humans have, a disbelief in demons and an unhealthy interest in them. Horror movie characters, such as, Jason and Freddy are supernatural. They are portrayed as being really powerful and really smart. Watching these movies brings a pleasant thrill of ascetic terror. Good will triumph over evil in the end, We can allow ourselves the indulgence of being scared. The fearfulness and scariness of these creatures is boosted and their creators make them seem more powerful and brilliant than real demon are. Demons are not strong and not are really quite dumb. There is a connection between teaching the Gospel and casting out demons Demons recognize Jesus and calls him "The Holy one of God" in an effort to cast Jesus out by calling him by his name. Exorcists now and from ages past will try to engage in a conversation with a demon to learn it's name in order to cast them out. Jesus rebukes the demon and silences it. In fact, he says, "Shut up and come out of him." cutting the demon off in mid sentence. Christ is the most powerful. Jesus' power is more superior to demons. Demons are quite small but dangerous. It all depends on what you believe. There are three levels of belief:

1. Belief accepted in fact--I believe that....
2. Belief in someone or something...I believe in God.
3. To believe it's real--I believe Jesus, or I trust Jesus.

The Gospel is the a story of Jesus' victory over evil.It is a healing story. The whole synagogue was healed when the demon was cast out.

We are not spiritual heroes we are Lutherans. We do not have to depend on spiritual superstars. We are all counting on Christ's presence.

Fishernen and Repentance

Fishing is really fun and exciting when you catch a fish. The fishermen who Jesus called didn’t fish with a rod and reel but with nets and it was hard work. In some churches you can see boats hanging from the ceiling as a reminder to pray for those who are out at sea and to remind us that we are all fishers of people. Fishermen and Repentance In the late 1980’s a drought lowered the Sea of Galilee and two fisherman brothers found a boat in the mud. It was 27 feet long and 7 feet wide and made up of 10 types of wood. It has been called the Jesus Boat. http://www.jesusboat.com/boat.php “The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe in the good news.” That is it brothers and sisters. The men Jesus called were not religious leaders or leaders of any kind. They were hardworking illiterate men. Why did he call these people? Perhaps it was because their lives following Jesus was going to be hard and he called people who were used to hard work. Perhaps it was because he knew that his message was going to be harsh and we need to get away and fishermen could get him away from the crowds and danger. In the First Century there were the few, the many and the beggars. Jesus is showing that the Kingdom of Heaven is fro everyone, the many not only the few rich who could afford sacrifices. The real outsiders were the Gentiles, which is us, who were not worthy of forgiveness. Repentance: Confession and Forgiveness always go together. Last year during Lent I invited everyone to come and see me for confession. Two people came and they did not confess anything juicy. It was very much like what a priest said about taking confession in the monastery—being stoned with popcorn. There is nothing that we confess that cannot be forgiven. John the Baptist began preaching repentance of sin for the many. It was a letting go of what we are hanging on to. The Gospel of Mark begins with the Heavens being torn open; they are irrevocably changed. God is present with us and the Heaves will not close again. We are forever changed through the transforming power of Christ’s presence. This applies to us! Jesus is our leader. Illiterate fishermen are as good as if not even better leaders than the pre-existing leaders. We are all workers in the Kingdom of Heaven. Today there is no spiritual or moral center in our culture. God is not very important to have a reformer like Martin Luther today. It is rather like the First Century. There was an interest in God, but what they thought was God wasn’t God. Jesus begins to move the spiritual and moral center into the world. There are people who are ready to move into that center. What we have here exists truly, it is the message Jesus brings is the true center of spirituality and morality.

Come and See!

Come and see! How do we see God today? We see God in Holy Communion; we see God in one another and in how people act reveals God. A microscope allows us to see small living organisms, and a telescope allows us to see large bodies in space, which are very far away. We need to learn to see God with the eyes of our heart. .... The message "come and see" maybe familiar to you if you have ever visited our website. Come and see God is a rather larger thing to say. We humans, by nature, are idolaters, that is we make up our own gods. Atheism has become quite popular recently, there are atheists clubs and families that openly declare themselves as atheists. Unlike the agnostics who openly admit they don't know if there is a God or not, atheists say that there is no God at all. So far in what I have heard no one has been theologically minded enough to ask them, "which god don't you believe in?" It really means something when you say God does not exists. ... Perhaps the god they are rejecting is an angry god who causes destruction. We don't believe in that god either. The early Christians were accused of being atheists because they rejected all the gods. Being Christian means loving everyone including our enemies. ... The new generation, Generation Y, have been saying that Christians are a bunch of phonies, because they hate gays and are judgemental. Our claim to fame is not that we are great ; we are not so great, but rather, that Jesus is here. Do you feel and sense that is true? Do you sense the presence of Jesus Christ. ... To find out how real He is, come and see. All those other gods are nothing more than projections of ourselves. What instrument do we use to see God? What part of ourselves is more like God? We see God with our inner beings, our souls where the Holy Spirit connects with us. We can look and not see; we can hear and not listen, and then just not get it. We have to come with our spirit tuned to see God.

Two complicated words: Epiphany and Manifest. They basically mean the same thing. In Mark's Gospel the heaven's were torn open and the Holy Spirit descended like a dove on Jesus. It was an Epiphany and Jesus was the Truth Manifest.

..... John the Baptist was a wild man. At at time when God and gods were important, John was talking about God and people came and listened to him. The understanding of God was that God was all boxed in the Most Holy Place, a small box in the back of the very large Temple. God was only accessible through the priests and they only allowed access to those who made sacrifices to God, and sacrifices cost money. The only acceptable sacrifices were the expensive priestly approved sacrifices.

....

John the Baptist, the wild man, says that you can have access to God if you only repent. Later, Jesus comes around and bring the Holy Spirit to us. With the Holy Spirit comes forgiveness, enlightenment and spiritual gifts. The word spirit is the same word as breath. The Holy Spirit brings us life! As Martin Luther said we are drowned in the waters of baptism, and I will add the Holy Spirit breathes new life into us. The Holy Spirit gives us authority to speak for God. We have all been given this authority through our baptisms into the name of the Holy Spirit. There is no central rule or ideal for a culture. The golden rule is that there are no golden rules. George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman (1903) "Maxims for Revolutionists"Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 - 1950) In the Middle Ages people were killed over the Golden Rule. In reality, it all depends on our philosophy of light. G.K. Chesterton offers this story: Suppose that a great commotion arises in the street about something, let us say a lamp-post, which many influential persons desire to pull down. A grey-clad monk, who is the spirit of the Middle Ages, is approached upon the matter, and begins to say, in the arid manner of the Schoolmen, “Let us first of all consider, my brethren, the value of Light. If Light be in itself good—” At this point he is somewhat excusably knocked down. All the people make a rush for the lamp-post, the lamp-post is down in ten minutes, and they go about congratulating each other on their unmediaeval practicality. But as things go on they do not work out so easily. Some people have pulled the lamp-post down because they wanted the electric light; some because they wanted old iron; some because they wanted darkness, because their deeds were evil. Some thought it not enough of a lamp-post, some too much; some acted because they wanted to smash municipal machinery; some because they wanted to smash something. And there is war in the night, no man knowing whom he strikes. So, gradually and inevitably, to-day, to-morrow, or the next day, there comes back the conviction that the monk was right after all, and that all depends on what is the philosophy of Light. Only what we might have discussed under the gas-lamp, we now must discuss in the dark. (From Heretics) No matter what they wanted, they are now in the darkness. We need to understand our philosophy of light. It is daunting to figure out how to make the light plausible in a world committed to darkness. In St. Francis Cathedral people have been entering there during they day, many more people than there have been. They enter sit and put their head in their hands. We have the light to bring them and those like them.

Second Sunday in Christmas

Gifts--God gives us gifts all the time, not the wrapped up kind in paper, ribbon and bows, but gifts like Jesus. He gives us gifts all the time, like life, light, nature and all creation. With every heartbeat and every breath, within in each nanosecond, God gives us gifts. 1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus: 2Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. 5He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and insight 9he has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, 10as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory. The apostle talked about predestination--to the praise of his glory he says we are destined and chosen. The predestination of which the apostle speaks is not Double Pres destination where the elect go to heaven and the reprobate go to hell; the truth is revealed as to who is what and everyone is sorted at death. He is saying that being predestined is receiving an inheritance, mainly, our inheritance. He is speaking of ourselves only; this was planned for us before we knew we were saved. At some point we realize that God's love is so right that is t was planned for us. nec⋅ro⋅man⋅cy   /ˈnɛkrəˌmænsi/ [nek-ruh-man-see] 1.a method of divination through alleged communication with the dead; black art. 2.magic in general, esp. that practiced by a witch or sorcerer; sorcery; witchcraft; conjuration. King Saul used necromancy to conjure the spirit of the Samuel the prophet to find out what would happen in the future. He died for it. Foretelling the future if all souls comes close to engaging in necromancy. Since God created all humans all humans have the possibility of being redeemed by God, even after they died. In 1 Peter we read that Jesus descended into hell and preached there and some souls were saved. The concept of going to heaven or hell after death comes from Islam. During the Crusades in the Middle Ages the Christians encountered this understanding. The Roman Church (Latin West) developed the teaching of Purgatory form the Islamic influence. Later, John Calvin who liked his theology neat and orderly came up with Double Predestination. We are predestined. The plan was already in place. The mystery of God's saving love can be opened to all people at anytime, even those who are already dead. After All Saint's Day we have All Souls Day where we pray for all those are departed. We don't know what will happen to those who are dead. I was asked recently by Baptist evangelist if I knew whether or not I was going to heaven. It was good that they asked, but they asked the wrong question. The story we have, the only story we have, is the story of God's Grace. We don't have to cone out with the implied threat of hell. There is a Hell but it is for those who chose to be there; they reject God's Love. God's decision is the liberation in Jesus Christ.