Fear and Awe

Fear and Awe: Transfiguration 030214

Matthew 17:1-9

“Six days later”—later than what?  6 days after Jesus begins to tell the disciples that he’s heading for suffering.  And of course at that point, the ever impetuous Peter says, no no it can’t be so.  But Jesus tells them yes it is so, and they need to be willing to go there with him if they’re really going to be his followers.  So 6 days after that….

“Jesus led them up a high mountain”—mountains again! Remember Theva pointed out that mountains have huge significance in ancient, and even modern spirituality…they are holy places of revelation, where they stand on holy ground….we climb mountains seeking something special ourselves, to watch a sunset or sunrise, to  get away from our busy lives into quiet….. Jesus invites them away from the usual for a brief time, and he led them; they didn’t take it into their heads themselves to go seeking….they listened and were ready to agree to follow him, not knowing what might happen. We’ll come back to this listening and ready stuff later.

And there he was transfigured before them, his face shining, his clothes dazzling white—light, brightness: like the mountain image, this puts more emphasis on the holiness of the moment—light also is an integral part of spiritual insight, ancient and modern, people describe aha moments as a flash, others experience light at near death times. 

Something clearly very out of the ordinary is going on here.

Then they see Moses and Elijah talking with him—now we’re really into an odd state.  Remember Matthew is the most Jewish of the gospels; it’s important that his readers understand Jesus as legitimately in the line of the ‘greats’…..Moses the law giver, Elijah the prophet, together the sum of Jesus’ faith.

I imagine this was just as important a moment for Jesus as it was for the disciples, or for Matthew’s readers….if he has recently come to understand where his ministry is taking him, to experience the affirmation of his ancestors must have been a powerful encouraging vision.

As Jesus ‘morphs’ from an ordinary guy into someone of great glory, whose inner Spirit shines from the inside out, he and we are all reminded of the power of God ‘way beyond the ordinary.

But one of our tendencies in those illogical incomprehensible  is to explain an experience—it was just a dream, or it’s just a metaphor for something else….biblical scholarship often does this.  Another tendency is to box it in and package it in some acceptable way.  Unfortunately both tendencies water down the incredible awesomeness of the experience, because what’s really AWE gets expressed in FEAR, which we know better.  We fear what we can’t explain.   We control what we fear.

That’s what happens to Peter.   He’s trying to hold on to this experience long enough to find an explanation, so he blabs the first thing that comes to mind:

I’ll put up three shrines here, one for each of you

But while he’s still speaking a bright cloud overshadowed them and from the cloud came a voice

More doo doo doo doo language—cloud and voice from nowhere are added to mountain and light……do we get it yet?  This is powerful stuff challenging our Christian tepidity.  I found a quote this week online, from Annie Dillard’s “Teaching a Stone to Talk”

(from Sermons.com)

While Peter is still speaking his marketing babble, this voice shuts him right up.  There are some situations where words just won’t do.  These words from the cloud must have reminded Jesus of his baptism, words again of deep affirmation and love, now adding “listen to him”.  Do we?  What has God or Jesus said to you recently?  How well have we been listening?

Quote from vacation book “On Looking” by Alexandra Horowicz—

The human ear is open all the time; it has no lid to naturally refresh the auditory scene.  Even holding our hands over our ears in the way children do, elbows akimbow and face a-grimace, many sounds get in. But while our ears are always open, we only half attend to sounds they carry, given the racket coming from within our own heads.

We need to learn to shut up and listen.  Perhaps Lent is a good time to do that.

Illogical, incomprehensible, indescribable moments still happen.

The sudden death of a loved one, or the birth of a baby

A difficult diagnosis, an unexplained healing

A September 11 event, a random act of kindness

In them all, the voice says listen.  

Listen to what?  Listen to Jesus.  So what did Jesus say?

Jesus came and touched them saying, Get up, do not be afraid.

When have you been afraid?  God says Listen, Jesus says do not be afraid.

When have you been awestruck?   God says Listen, Jesus says do not be afraid.

When have you found yourself in a situation you just don’t understand? God says Listen, Jesus says do not be afraid.

One day on vacation I was out for a walk, struggling with a difficult personal decision that had me a bit afraid.  I turned the corner into the lane back to our hotel and there in front of me was an awesome rainbow.  God says, listen.   What does the rainbow mean?  God’s promises can be trusted.  Jesus says do not be afraid.

If we just shut up and listen, we will receive those cosmic love letters.

Let’s make Lent a good time to practice that.  Shut up and listen.

God says Listen, Jesus says do not be afraid.

Amen.

on being perfect (Theva)

On Being Perfect!

Matthew 5:38-48

We have been reflecting on Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount for the last several weeks. For today I want to explore the following questions: Why is it called the sermon on the mountain? What is the sermon on the plains? For Matthew his message is predominantly directed at the Jewish readers. For a Jewish person mountain is a location of great religious significance. It was on the mountain called Mount Sinai;Moses received the two tablets of the Ten Commandments. Remember the words of today’s Psalm 119 “LEAD ME IN YOUR PATH OF YOUR COMMANDEMENTS”. “HELP ME FIND DELIGHT IN YOUR COMMANDMENTS”. Abraham took his son Isaac to offer him as a burnt sacrifice to God on a mountain called Morriah. Then we have mount Carmel, mount Olive and the Mount Zion on which Jerusalem was built. In the context of Matthew and the mountain, let me share with you another Psalm” I WILL LIFT UP MY EYES TO THE HILLS FROM WHERE WILL MY HELP COME? MY HELP COMES FROM THE LORD WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH. Psalm121.Here the Psalmist is challenging every Jewish believer to know the ground to which they belonged. Tillich the theologian defined God as the ground of our being. So the Psalm 121 is a reminder for them to know the rock from which they were hewn and the quarry from which they were dug. These are phrases of Prophet Isaiah. I am not really surprised as to why Matthew is locating Jesus’s sermon on a mountain. How about the plains? I am of the opinion that Luke’s favourite people were the commoners, the outcast, the gentiles and the people of the margin. I think it is so convenient for such people to gather and listen to a talk by Jesus on a plain ground rather than climbing up and down the mountains. In the power point pictures for today both locations are captured by the artists. One is the Matthew’s version of the Sermon on a mountain side and the other is the Lukan version on the plains. One more thing: we are also told by some biblical scholars the Lukan version is more of a seminar for the disciples.

        And now I want to share with you a word about the context. We need to look at Galilee two thousand years ago, a land filled with the ostracised and marginalised, the drunkards and the prostitutes. Not so much of the land of milk and honey but of lepers and the lame, the deaf and the blind and they were roaming around the lake all the time. This part of the world was referred to as the Galilee of the nations. It meant that in Galilee there were gentiles from all over the world. This section of Israel was also a battlefield where the Roman Army and the Zealots were at war. In brief it was here the Galileans were witnessing death and destruction on a daily basis. If I remove this sermon out of this context will be something like the annual state of the union address in Washington in which we hear the same old same old stuff year after year. And then to give a caption that our union is stronger than ever. Or perhaps it will sound like a religious lecture in a crystal cathedral which is often far removed from the hustle and bustle of our daily struggles and the global problems of Syria and Ukraine. The context is important and here it is characterized by murder and violence, and defined by suspicion and fear rather than freedom and trust. A context in which violence was the order of the day and Jesus appears in the midst of it and says boldly: Blessed are you when you suffer, blessed are you when you are persecuted, blessed are you when you thirst for justice. Blessed are you if you can be the light of the world. How can I be a light of the world if I cannot burn even a little bit of myself in order to brighten the path to my neighbour? This is not the image of the 21^st century electronic age folks. Jesus is referring here to the wax and the wicks of light, of melting and burning or the oil lamps of his days. Blessed are you if you can be the salt of the earth. How can I be the salt without dissolving myself to enrich the life of my neighbour? It is in this particular context Jesus says boldly: LOVE YOR ENEMIES. Friends! We know that Hinduism directs us to the understanding of God as truth and the meaning of brotherhood and sisterhood are to be found in the teachings of Islam. Buddhism however takes us to the depth of compassion and Judaism is wrapped up in commandments, the laws and the prophets teachings summed up. How about Christianity? It is a religion of love. No wonder wrote Charles Wesley: LOVE DIVINE ALL LOVES EXCELLING.JOY OF HEAVEN TO EARTH COME DOWN.   terrific! I will take six of those. Jesus said in our scripture today “you have heard it was said, love your neighbour and hate your enemies, but I say to you now, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

        The text I chose for you today is the very last verse of the 5^th chapter of Matthew. Be perfect therefore as your heavenly father is perfect. What is perfection? It is at times a scary word, depending on who is using it and when it is being used. People often say they make a perfect couple; it was a perfect wedding. You have done a perfect job. You preached a perfect sermon. What do these expressions mean? Well the dictionaries both the Webster and the Oxford, define perfection as precise, accurate, exact and free from faults and defects. There is another meaning: Perfection is a state of being. And one thing more: perfection is a highest degree of excellence. John Wesley said in religious terms, perfection is the work of sanctifying grace. Let me simplify it. He said perfection is never a finished job. We are on the way to perfection. We have a mandate from Jesus, to love God and to love our fellow beings. And Wesley said it is a life time endeavour. However Jesus said in Matthew 5: BE PERFECT. How can I be perfect for my daily struggle is always whether to be or not to be? The Psalmist says BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD. The only way to be on the way to perfection is to learn to be. The most difficult thing for us is to be. To be or not to be is our daily struggle. Be kind to one another. Be of good cheer. One of the books Theologian Paul Tillich wrote long ago is”The courage to be”. Jesus said “if you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruits. Be! Be Still! And Be Perfect.

       Now I would lie to conclude this message probably the way Jesus concluded it with his disciples. After his long spiritual discourse, Jesus asked his disciples: Do you have anything to add? Simon Peter asked” Do we have to write this down? Andrew asked are we supposed to memorize this. James asked: Will we have a test on this? Bartholomew asked: Do we have to turn this in? John asked: Do all disciples have to learn this? Mathew asked: when do we get out of here? Judas asked: what does this have to do with real life? There were also some Pharisees present in the seminar and one of them asked Jesus his lesson plans and inquired of Jesus his terminal objectives in the cognitive domain.

Jesus wept.

message from the mountain (Theva)

A Message from the Mountain!

Matthew 5: 21- 37

Our preacher who preached here last Sunday is a retired United Methodist pastor and so am I. He told us a story of a minister in his first appointment who preached the same sermon for the first three Sundays. I want to begin with a similar story. On his new appointment this preacher preached for 20 minutes on his first Sunday and 30 in his second Sunday and took 40 minutes to complete his sermon on his third Sunday. That was enough for the Staff Parish Relations Committee to summon him for a little chat. To their relief he had a ready explanation. “The Saturday before the first sermon, I had my teeth pulled and my mouth was still terribly sore. But, by the time a week had gone by, I’d gotten used to my new dentures”. Here the minister paused, and blushed deeply. ”And for last Sunday…. Well, I am afraid that I picked up my wife’s set of teeth by mistake!”

          Dear friends! You have been listening to some sermons on the Sermon on the Mount for the last few weeks. This sermon is made up of ethical discourses, moral principles; code of conduct and in brief some very valuable lessons for life. This sermon revolutionized the thinking of many people, including Gandhi and Martin Luther king Jr.  We know that Gandhi never became a Christian and belonged to a church however he lived his life by these words of Jesus. Why? Because Jesus not only preached these words from a mount, but he lived out those words every minute of the day and night. He demonstrated to the world by this sermon that our moral authority is not from Herod or Caesar, or from the high priest or the Sanhedrin, but from God alone. This sermon taught Gandhi the basis of radical faith. This sermon taught him the essence for non-violent living. This sermon gave him the courage for his involvement in the freedom struggle for India. We are dealing today with topics like anger and murder, love, lust and divorce, forgiveness, reconciliation and swearing. I know that Jesus has a message for us today. Perhaps the Sermon on the Mount will inspire us to get closer a bit to Jesus.

       People in Jesus ‘time thought they were chosen people and they had a special blessing from God and could expect special favors as well. With long prayers and fasting, by attending the synagogue on a regular basis and observing the laws flawlessly, they thought they earned the merit of private heaven. With their outward religious practices and almsgiving and of keeping the Sabbath holy, they thought they were entitled for good health and great wealth and smashing success and worldly fame.   Jesus On this mountain, preached, hope to the hopeless, comfort to those in pains and to those in the margin, power. Pastor Margaret reminded us a few weeks ago the words of Prophet Micah: “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness and walk humbly with your God”. Let me say to you today that Jesus echoes the same words of Micah who lived 800 years before his time. If you thirst for justice and find joy in your acts of kindness and reflect humility in your life style, you have already become children of God.  Matthew 5, 6, and 7, is called the Sermon on the Mount and we also have a sermon on the plain in Luke chapter 6. I will speak next Sunday as to why Matthew and Luke are changing these locations.  Jesus was a Jew and his religious text during childhood was the Pentateuch the first five books of the Old Testament. He lived by the guide lines of the Ten Commandments. And now he says that we must be able to rise above and beyond the dos and the don’ts of these guidelines. He is challenging us to learn to live recklessly for God. In the reckless living for God we must learn to turn the other cheek. We must be willing to go for the second mile. We should be ready to lose our life and then gain it back. Who is this Jesus? The more I reflect on his life I see him as a transparent and simple human being. In him there is as an embodiment of divine wisdom. He doesn’t let the praises of people lose his humanness. He doesn’t let the blames and accusations of politicians and religious leaders crush him. Friends! To know Jesus is to know the truth. To follow Jesus today is to live a life of just peace.

        In the story of a woman caught in adultery, she was brought to be stoned to death.  Jesus asked those who accused this woman; let the one who has not committed any sin throw the first stone. There was no one around her at that point. All the men are now vanished. And to the woman who was standing there accused of adultery Jesus uttered with compassion “GO SIN NO MORE”. If you are angry with your brother or sister Jesus said you must make up with them as early as possible. He didn’t know about  anger management seminars those days. Jesus said don’t swear at all for you don’t know how to live up to the promises you have made. You know only how to say with your lips, truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and then quickly turn and twist the real truth to lies to your advantage. Promises and pledges are easy to make but fulfilling them is a stupendous task. All the topics in Matthew 5 deal with relationships, trust and faithfulness. The causes for all our problems whether murder or divorce, adultery or swearing are caused by strife and jealousy envy and dissensions factions and slandering one another. What is the solution? Paul talked about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians.

        Jesus is calling us to put on a new identity. Jesus is asking us to live counter culturally. The media today is bombarding with commercials after commercials, drawing our attention to an unfounded myth that those who die with many toys win. We just gathered a few weeks ago to watch the super bowl as though we were having a memorial day or the President’s day national celebration. In a world people die in thousands due to starvation and 70 million American people are without health care, we just spent 2.5 million dollars for every 20 seconds of commercials during the super bowl.

          Friends! Are we better off today than 25 years ago? In our space age, with modern technology and advanced medicine, we have more violence, more wars, more guns, more hatred, more suspicion, more pain, more unfaithfulness, more insomnia, more boredom, more depression and more psychotherapists. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus is challenging us to radicalize our existing culture. Friends! What we are the world is. Bill Coffin in his book: The courage to live, says “there are people and things in this world, and people are to be loved and things are to be used”. When was the last time we looked at someone and said “we love you” and “we care about you”. An Indian sage and a Nobel Prize winner by the name Rabindranath Tagore said “IN LOVE ALL OF LIFE’S CONTRADICTIONS DISSOLVE AND DISAPPEAR. ONLY IN LOVE DUALITY AND UNITY ARE NOT IN CONFLICT”. Jesus said 2000 years ago, I will give you a new commandment. Love one another. And in this new commandment he summarized all the laws {for the Jewish people had 613 of them} and all the prophetic words together. Why am I

 so anxious? Why am I so afraid? Why am I so down hearted? Perhaps I have not yet figured out as to what is really important in my life. My closing story is from a book by Elie Wiesel,”SOULS ON FIRE” When we die and get to heaven and meet our God, God is not going to say to us “Why didn’t you become a messiah?’ or “why didn’t you discover the cure for cancer?” the only thing that God would ask all of us at that precious and sacred moment is;” WHY DIDN”T YOU BECOME YOU?’ Normal anxiety and every day worry are all part of life. We should be able to face them without feeling guilty. Sickness and death are part of life and we should be able to accept them with vulnerability. Jesus said that in this world you will have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world. Be of good cheer. 

faith is.....active

Faith is….active 020214                                                                                                                                                             Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; Matt 5:1-12

It’s been one of those weeks that should produce a perfect storm, where all elements come together just right to create the perfect sermon. The Micah text—do justice, love mercy, walk humbly- plus a friend’s sharing her awful experience of our justice system, and a judge’s lack of mercy, plus our daily reading from the Rule of Benedict is currently on humility, plus our Heart Listening group watching the documentary “I am” plus the Beatitudes, blessing those who grieve….surely a perfect storm.  

But they were all rattling around in the head and not cooperating at all….indeed an overabundance.  So I’m just going to let them rattle around in your heads and hearts as well by just sharing some thoughts that have come to me.

Imagine first the scene from the Micah text.   The setting is a court room.  God is prosecuting, the nation is the defendant, accused of forgetting God and going their own way instead of God’s way.  In previous chapters the social evils of the day have been listed, and now the prosecution is summing up:

How have I deserved this asks God. Have you forgotten what I have done for you? I brought you out of slavery, I sent you Moses and Aaron and Miriam….don’t you remember all my saving acts?

Imagine the silence after this plea.   The nation knows it’s true.    Then one lone voice cries out into the silence,

What can we do?  We could bring sacrifices better than ever before, finest animals and barrels of oil.  Will that do? asks the defence.    Then Micah the prophet stands up, puts his arm around this pleader, and gently says, you know what God wants, don’t you?  Three simple rules: do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God.

Or as in psalm 15, do what is right, speak the truth, walk blamelessly.

Do justice……blessed are those of my people who hunger and thirst after what’s right, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake

Love kindness…..blessed are those of my people who are merciful, blessed are those who mourn for they shall receive comfort

Walk humbly….blessed are those of my people who are meek (notice not the weak, but Meek), blessed are the pure in heart

Jesus’ first century beatitudes describe how life is in the community of his followers, and his words are shot through with Micah’s words from 5 centuries before.  They call to us, 20 centuries later, and ask us,  as God’s people – as a congregation, a denomination, even as a nation “under God”, do we

do justice

Love kindness

Walk humbly

In a day when $4m buys a 30 second commercial at the superbowl….when Rochester is in the top twenty of poverty ratings…..when individualism, competition and winning are high values and community, cooperation and sharing are low values….do we

Do justice

Love kindness

Walk humbly?

Just what part of that don’t we understand?   In the documentary I am, GK Chesterton responds to the question, what is wrong with the world? By writing, I am.

It doesn’t have to be big or dramatic or earth-shaking….do justice in your work place…..show mercy and love kindness at school…..walk humbly at the grocery store….

…bless the poor in spirit by lifting them up…..bless the grieving with your comforting presence….work for justice and right instead of leaving it to someone else…welcome as sisters and brothers those who make peace……offer kindness to those who need it.

May it be that when asked what’s RIGHT with the world, God’s people might all learn to say, I am.

on naming the unnameable--Theva

 John 1:29-42.

 Dear Friends!

Our text begins today with these words “on the next day” (John 1:29) and so I contextualized the events of the previous day or perhaps even days. It was about John the Baptizer baptizing crowds of people at river Jordan. At the end of reading that scripture, I opened the pages of the Wall street journal which I usually do. I found in the newspaper a picture of Pope Francis baptizing one of 32 infants in the Sistine chapel of the Vatican. You can see it on the power point today. Let me remind you that the rite of baptism does not belong only to the bygone days. Let me assure you that it will not disappear at any time in the future because baptism is the right of every child.

        On seeing John baptizing a large crowd, the priests and the Scribes wanted to make sure whether the Messiah had arrived in the person of John the Baptist. To their direct question John simply said “I AM JUST A VOICE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, THE ONE WHO IS COMING AFTER ME IS FAR GREATER THAN I AM”. On that occasion of baptism, the Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove. A voice was heard from heaven “you are my beloved child and with you I am well pleased.” Jesus was named on that occasion “as God’s beloved child”. This is a sermon about naming. In the Hebrew tradition they gave several names to the unnamable, YHWEH, means Lord, and ELOHIM and ELSHADAI. Some time we give names to persons so casually and callously.

       A Pastor friend told me he baptized a child with the first name Justin and the last name Case. When my parents named me Thevanesan they put on me the best biblical name Theophilus, means the lover of God. However I know that I have not always lived up to what my name stands for. Whenever I wavered and slipped and got involved in all kinds of pranks in school and later in college, I got reminded as to why my parents named me Theophilus. And then quickly I came to my senses. The early settlers in America showered all their passion in the very naming some of our cities and towns. And I am asking you today: Are they living up to the significance of their names? How about Hope in New Providence? How about Bethlehem in Pennsylvania? Bethlehem means the home of bread. How about Bliss in Philadelphia which means a city of love. The baptism moment at river Jordan was a sacramental experience. Jesus was affirmed as God’s beloved child, a child of promise and blessing, fully human and truly human.

          A Pastor whose first name is Fred made a practice of carrying newly baptized babies down the church aisle and back. On one occasion as he passed a pew in which a six year old Jimmy regularly sat with his parents, the boy looked up at his pastor and said “Hi God”. Holding the baby the Pastor stopped and said with a wink,” Why don’t you call me Fred?” A look of astonishment came over the little boy’s face, as he turned to his mother and said with amazement, “Mama, God said that I could call him Fred”. Jesus became one of us in baptism and I become a child of God through baptism.

      In today’s scripture the two disciples of John were curious to know who Jesus was. And when Jesus was passing by John said “Here goes the Lamb of God”. So as the two began to follow Jesus, they asked him, “Where are you staying Rabbi? Here is another professional name for Jesus, Rabbi. The meaning of the word Rabbi is more than a teacher; it means a guru, which is completely an eastern phenomenon. I cannot do justice in explaining the meaning of it in today’s 15 minutes discourse for it can be developed into a sermon in itself. Jesus’s response to the question about his whereabouts was Come and see. In the words of Theologian Matthew Fox “Jesus’ disciples were persons who met him, saw him interacting with others, heard him speak and hence they were attracted to him”. The enlistment of the disciples by Jesus did not happen the way the gospels describe it. I believe the making of the disciples happened over several days of conversation and sharing meals and learning lessons. Friends we are happy to emulate Jesus, crown him with many crowns and grant him a glorified status. I am reminded of a hymn written by John Newton more than 200 years ago: How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer’s ear. Singing of the sweetness of Jesus alone will not make us followers of Jesus. Following Jesus on a daily basis is a real challenge.

         Tomorrow we will be observing and celebrating the birth day of a great prophet this country has ever produced by the name Martin Luther King Jr. He followed the footsteps and practiced the values of Jesus passionately. He worked tirelessly for the attainment of freedom of every individual. He gave his life for a cause of the preservation of human dignity and racial justice. He saw the Promised Land even before his actual death. His gift of seeing the invisible is a rare gift. No wonder when Jesus extended his invitation for prospective disciples, he simply said: Come and see.

      Now Andrew, on seeing Jesus and having been attracted by his words and the living situation, felt the need to rush home and meet his brother Simon Peter. Andrew in his encounter with Jesus must have experienced something miraculous that created an exuberance and excitement, so he shouted at the top of his voice: “Pete! WE HAVE FOUND THE MESSIAH, THE ANNOINTED ONE”. Now we have added another name for Jesus, The Messiah. My sermon today is a call to examine our ability to listen to a voice. A call to name whatever that is unnamable. It is a call to discern our own giftedness and to see something extra ordinary amidst the ordinary and the mundane.

      Do we know Jesus? One of the leading Jesus scholars in our country by the name Marcus Borg who has written many books and the one I want to lift up today is: Meeting Jesus again for the first time. In this book he writes about growing up in a small town in North Dakota attending the church regularly as a small boy and later became disinterested in church. He writes about being a closet agnostic some time, but his desire to know Jesus never ceased. He writes about his college days and his days of study and research in the University of Oxford in England. Today he is in great demand as a speaker worldwide. In this book he brings about a distinction between the pre-Easter Jesus and the post-Easter Jesus. His new images of Jesus are fascinating. He presents Jesus to us as a Spirit person and as the wisdom of God.

      I am asking us today to continue with our search for who Jesus is? Let us make every effort to meet Jesus whether in the sanctuary or in the celebration of the sacraments, whether listening to the preached word or walking outside in the market square, whether during the reading of scripture or in our involvement in the struggles of human liberation and justice. Keep asking the question: Who is Jesus today?  Amen!

       

baptismal ID

Baptismal ID 011214

If someone asks for my ID, I either feel flattered, if it’s a grocery clerk and I’m buying cough medicine or beer….or I feel worried, if it’s a police officer!

My ID apart from drivers license used to say I was a resident alien…which I rather like…..now it says permanent resident, which is silly, nothing is permanent!

But who are we, really?  under the faces and facades and masks we wear what’s our real identity,?  Who am I?   If you have blank ID tags like these on the screen, what would you engrave?   Look at Linked In, online, or Facebook and you’ll see what people THINK their identity is:  name, job title, things they do well (or in the case of FB what they had for breakfast! Our culture tends to believe you are what you do.  But our faith says, no.  You do what you are; our identity comes first.

We live in a culture that promises success and acceptance if only we are…..skinny enough, rich enough, strong enough, popular enough, beautiful enough, and so on.  Never before have so many people been willing to offer us an identity, usually linked to a product being sold.   And all of us fall for it, because we crave a sense of identity, belonging and purpose.

Which brings us to this ancient story of Jesus’ baptism. 

By the time Matthew is writing his gospel, it is clear that the young movement of Christianity is struggling a bit with baptism, especially why Jesus had to be baptized.  Only Matthew has this odd little conversation between Jesus and John.

The first time Jesus speaks in Matthew, he says he needs to be  baptized. How odd.  Yet it’s a forecast of things to come.  He’s turning stuff upside down: first by identifying with the ordinary people (which some great Messiah kind of person should hardly have to do) = and also by equalizing the re3latiosnhip between him and John, who’s an old school hierarchical thinking man.

In fact it will become a characteristic of the whole Jesus movement then and now, that all human  expectations are redefined.  He’s hardly a messianic figure, this Jesus.  He’s born in poverty, maybe illegitimate, defenseless and vulnerable, persecuted, with no political or financial means…pretty much like everybody else in his class.  Nobody special….until this moment…until he humbles himself into baptism.

(BTW I may change this after I’ve finished reading “Zealot”!)

These people, and Jesus, stand in the wilderness, like their ancestors with Moses, and symbolically cross the Jordan river like they did, into a new life…out of the wilderness, thru the water, into a new ID as a named claimed love source of pleasure to God.

You know, we’ve badly softened baptism into a welcoming ritual for babies. A little touch of water on the forehead, a little sweet moment.   But it’s so much more.   My own baptism was a dramatic act of immersion in water….. It’s an act that signifies our separating ourselves from sin, the old life, the wilderness, and moving through the water to a new life, a new id

We should splash audaciously!

Jesus doesn’t set himself apart; he aligns himself with the rest of us.  He knows, as we do, that we can’t do it alone.  I’m betting he is none too certain of his own call, the meaning of his life, or his purpose.  I think he may not have much of an identity yet, but he is actively involved in the community and with God.  Like all of us, I am sure he grew into his identity, and it was first clearly named and claimed in his baptism.   In Matthew’s version, like Luke’s, he is blessed, named, claimed and appreciated.  He is given a core identity.

That’s still what happens in baptism today, and again at confirmation:  we say:  the HS work within you, so that you may live as a  faithful disciple. Identity.

That is our baptismal ID—named claimed loved source of pleasure for God…..so are we?

Every baptism gives us the chance again and again to come out of the wilderness of our old ways, wade through the waters immersed with the Spirit, and come up renewed and refreshed and ready for our mission and purpose….a new id: (from a website this week) the children of God tell the truth in a world that lies,                                                                                                                             Give in a world that takes,                                                                                                  love in a world that lusts                                                                                        make peace in a world that fights,                                                                      serve in a world that wants to be served,                                                              pray in a world that  waits to be entertained,                                                                           and take chances in a world that  worships safety.                                        The baptized are citizens of an eccentric community where financial success is not the goal, security is not the highest  good, and self giving is a daily event.  (ministry matters, the first step)

When we go out of here into that new ID, the wilderness may look the same, but we are different.  We are named and claimed and loved sources of pleasure for God.

The message of baptism is that God has said we are good enough, that we are beloved just as we are, and that God takes pleasure in us and has great hopes for us.  (opportunity to come forward during postlude to touch the waters….etc)

Let’s not disappoint God, or falsify our Identity.

Amen.

Christmas Eve's Angel voices

Angel Voices      Christmas Eve                                                                           

It’s a familiar story, and we know it well…..but do we see ourselves in this story, in God’s story?

Teenagers like Mary, innocent and just beginning to explore more grown up relationships, but puzzled about who she might become. Mary, barely a woman, struggling to find herself, finds herself in deep trouble and having to trust God absolutely and completely…and it will change her life too…..

Faithful men like Joseph, very upright and proper, newly engaged, with all the hopes and questions that brings…. Joseph, uncertain but faithful, faces a difficult decision to drop, or continue a relationship….

Hard workers like the shepherds, desperately trying to make ends meet, outsiders often, in the social scheme of things, and unlikely characters to have much to do with God – except maybe one holy night a year….shepherds  busy trying to get by without a thought of deep spiritual matters, are struck suddenly out of the blue with a holy experience…….

To each of the story’s characters, and to each of us, an angel appears, with news—strange, illogical news

it seems so strange and illogical in the 21^st century, so  we get a little afraid that this odd life-transforming news might be too hard to take: so we’ll give them a hearing, but just tonight, when we can suspend our logical factual beliefs, but only momentarily…tomorrow the angels will be gone, the manger empty, the hillsides once again full of sheep that need attending, the problems rushing back in on us.

But what if….what if we didn’t just hear the same old same old Christmas Eve stuff……

What if we really LISTENED to the angels: what might they have to say?  To each one of these the angel appeared and the first thing the angel said was the exact same thing:  Do not be afraid……

To the faithful and tired, the angel says

Do not be afraid, God has work yet for you to do

To the upright and proper, the angel says

Do not be afraid, step out of your comfort zone

To those who are in deep trouble

Do not be afraid, I am with you; together we can bring great things out of this

To the outsider, the marginalized, those struggling to get by,

Do not be afraid, I can give you purpose and meaning

To the hardworking cynic, the angel says

Do not be afraid to believe God cares about even you-and that YOU might have a role to play in transforming the world!

Sshh   Listen    There’s an angel calling your name……

Shhh    Do not be afraid

This child can transform your life

This child can bring you meaning

This child can give you purpose

Listen    The angel is bringing you the news YOU need this night:

A word of assurance that your prayers are heard

A word of courage to do the right thing

A word of purpose calling you into something new

A word of peace for your troubled soul – and for our troubled world

Shhhh   Listen

Do not be afraid.

 

let us begin afresh-Theva

Let Us Begin Afresh!

John 1:10-18.

Dear friends,

Today is an auspicious occasion for it is the first Sunday of a brand New Year. Even otherwise by rendering the most meaningful worship to our God and by raising some critical questions as to what does it mean to begin a year again and afresh, we can make this day auspicious. We have now put our Christmas celebrations on hold for another year, the pageants and the cantatas, the carol singing and the candle lighting. I heard someone say here in church last Sunday “now since Christmas is behind us my stress level is a bit low”.

          When a little boy reached school age, the mother worked hard to make him enthusiastic about school. She bought him new clothes. She told him about other children he would meet in school. So on the first day of school he went eagerly, attended classes and came home with excellent reports of what school was like. Well! the next day the mother went into the bed room and said” Son, wake up”. And he said what for? You have got to go to school the mother said. The boy said what? Again? Christmas emphasizes on a yearlong work plan. Beside our celebrations have we spread the Christmas spirit around Fairport? Have we challenged already the powers and the systems of oppression and corruption? Have we worked hard enough to promote the efforts for just peace in our communities? Have we done our best in feeding the hungry healing the sick and freeing the imprisoned? Have we worked tirelessly for the reconciliation of those who have alienated themselves from friends and families?

       Now here is a word about the New Year. The American born, British poet, T.S Eliot, after having had a spiritual experience and an inward shift from agnosticism to faith in God, he penned these lines: “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring, will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.” You don’t need a preacher to remind you that in this New Year we will have births, deaths, marriages, anniversaries, job changes and relocations as it was in 2013. You don’t need a Pastor to predict to you that just as we lost some world leaders like Margaret Thatcher, Nelson Mandela by death we will lose a few more this year as well. I am not a meteorologist however I can predict we will have some heavy snowfall in some parts of the country. There will be earthquakes and floods and hurricane in some other parts of the world. And in Fairport there will be some cold nights in February, a gloomy overcast in June and some gorgeous and warm summer days in July and August. The comedian, Hentry Youngman, tells about the time he was thrown out of an antique shop. “All I did”, he said, “was walk in and asked: What is new”? Think about it. There may be nothing new in an antique shop however each time we enter into it can we go in with new eyes? Can we anticipate 2014 to be filled with a measure of optimism and wonder? Can we cultivate love, friendship and a Spirit of understanding to thrive among our communities and nations in such a way we have never done before? What are we seeking after? Are we seeking after success and popularity? What are we striving for? Are we trying to make a fortune? Are we trying to find our names in the headlines of New York Times? Think for a moment, even the best scholars in the world whether Einstein or Thomas Edison, Steven Hawking, who occupies the chair of sir Isaac Newton in Cambridge in England or the Microsoft big name Bill Gates any one of them knows less than one tenth of one percent of all that might be known on this planet earth. Let me recommend my prayer to you as well. “Deliver me O God from the Spirit of regrets and resentments, revenge and bitterness for they are not good for my soul”. “Give me fresh energy, fervent faith and new dreams for a new year”.

          In a “peanuts” comic strip Lucy is speaking with Linus at the base of a hill. She says “Someday I am going over that hill and find the answers to my dreams”. “Someday I am going to find hope and fulfillment”. “I think, for me all the answers to life lie beyond these clouds and over that grassy slope of that hill”. Linus removes his thumb from his mouth, points towards that hill and responds ”Perhaps there is another little kid on the other side of that hill looking this way and thinking that all the answers to life lie on this side of the hill. Lucy looks at Linus and turns towards that hill and yells” forget it kid”. Human life is made of good times and bad, sunshine and shadows.

          Our worship is also called a condensed form of a covenant service. John Wesley 250 years ago, urged the entire Methodists around the world to renew their covenant with God on the first Sunday of the year. We will sing a covenant hymn today and pray a covenant prayer. Our text for today is from John chapter 1. And the word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son full of grace and truth. That ancient word, that energy of the cosmic fabric, that rational principle of the universe, came and lived among us. With grace and truth our lives can be transformed to be an incarnational life. This cannot be attained by going to an academic institution, attending classes and sit for an exam and pay our semester fees? I do not think that I can win it like a lottery. I do not think that I can achieve it like Michel Jordan, Julia Roberts, Tiger Wood and Serena Williams in basketball, acting, golf and Tennis with systematic practices and persistent discipline. Grace and truth are gifts freely available to all of us. We have to reach out and receive them. The problem with the world today is that we do not know how to receive free gift. Who said there is no free lunch? But I can guarantee you, there is free grace available, so that we don’t have to be aimless and wander. Why do we behave like dead and graceless people? Why do some of our churches look helpless and suffer from lack of spontaneity, hospitality and gracefulness. Walker Percy a secular novelist is asking a pertinent question in his novel” The Second coming: “If Christ has brought life into the church then why do the churches smell of death?” How can we make our lives incarnational? How can we begin a new year afresh? How can we begin to live again as though this is the first time of our living on this planet earth? Amen.