5 Lent - Year B
March 22, 2015
Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX
John 12:20-33
Jesus’ response to the news that some Greeks were looking for him seems
odd.
“The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified.”
Just before this, Jesus had come into Jerusalem, the crowds cheered, and
the Pharisees said, “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the whole
world has gone after him.”
The Greeks’ appearance and searching confirms what was said by the
Pharisees – “the whole world has gone after him.”
The cat’s out of the bag and there’s no stopping it now.
They were right. Early church had no buildings or organized support.
They could not worship in the synagogues, nor in the Roman temples, and
yet the church, Jesus’ believers spread like wildfire.. They had to
believe in Jesus, trust in him, and risk for their belief in Jesus…and
the church thrived.
The Gospel of Jesus and belief in Jesus spread like
wildfire.
Contrast with:
How many articles, seminars, discussions have I read, attended, and
participated in which have to do with growing the church again and
reversing the decline of church attendance? People have spoken of
church as a business – we need more people in order to keep the lights
on.
I love our church, our buildings, etc. I recognize the reality that
with church attendance decline, the thought of this building not being
here in 100 years is a possibility. I don’t operate out of fear of that
possibility.
“Those who want to save their life will lose it.”
Ultimately, we’re talking about risk. Greeks risked. Early followers
of Jesus risked being kicked out of their synagogues, which they were.
Gentiles risked being ostracized.
Gospel of Jesus demands risk, and it demands that we invite others to
share in the Gospel, not solely for our sake, but for theirs as well, we
risk becoming something other than what we are.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Remove the Fig Leaves
4 Lent - Year B
March 15, 2015
Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX
John 3:14-21
Jesus said he came to bring light, to save the world. There seem to be a lot of "no"s with Jesus, e.g. the 10 Commandments. There are several things we are not supposed to do. Those "no"s, however, are really a way of saying "yes" to something else.
We say no to harming people (adultery, theft, murder, lies against someone) so that we might say yes to loving other people. We say no to putting things in front of or in place of God so that we can say yes to God, yes to life, love, beauty, and relationship. We say no to hiding in the darkness, to keeping ourselves covered with fig leaves.
In the Garden of Eden, the first thing Adam and Eve did after disobeying God was to cover themselves up with fig leaves. They were ashamed and they hid. That way they no longer had to connect to God or each other. They tried to stay safely hidden and invulnerable to each other.
There are all kinds of fig leaves with which we try to cover ourselves. Sometimes rules and law become those fig leaves that we hide behind. Jesus was talking with Nicodemus about the need that we have to be born from above, and Nicodemus totally didn't get it. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and as such, he had all the rules down pat, but those rules seem to have become fig leaves with which they covered themselves so they didn't have to be vulnerable with God.
March 15, 2015
Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX
John 3:14-21
Jesus said he came to bring light, to save the world. There seem to be a lot of "no"s with Jesus, e.g. the 10 Commandments. There are several things we are not supposed to do. Those "no"s, however, are really a way of saying "yes" to something else.
We say no to harming people (adultery, theft, murder, lies against someone) so that we might say yes to loving other people. We say no to putting things in front of or in place of God so that we can say yes to God, yes to life, love, beauty, and relationship. We say no to hiding in the darkness, to keeping ourselves covered with fig leaves.
In the Garden of Eden, the first thing Adam and Eve did after disobeying God was to cover themselves up with fig leaves. They were ashamed and they hid. That way they no longer had to connect to God or each other. They tried to stay safely hidden and invulnerable to each other.
There are all kinds of fig leaves with which we try to cover ourselves. Sometimes rules and law become those fig leaves that we hide behind. Jesus was talking with Nicodemus about the need that we have to be born from above, and Nicodemus totally didn't get it. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and as such, he had all the rules down pat, but those rules seem to have become fig leaves with which they covered themselves so they didn't have to be vulnerable with God.
Sunday, March 8, 2015
This Won't Do - Transformed
3 Lent, Year B
March 8, 2015
Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX
John 2:12-33
Philippians 4:1
I stopped drinking coffee last week, not out of a Lenten discipline, but simply because I was drinking too much, still tired all the time, and I thought, "This won't do." The week was fine until Thursday. I had a long day leading to a long night, and I wanted just one cup of coffee in the afternoon. Then I thought, "I can do all things through God who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13). I prayed that scripture, and I was suddenly no longer tired. God answered yes, and gave me strength.
I realized then that my comments in weeks past about diet coke and chocolate not meaning that much as Lenten sacrifices were wrong. If giving those things up can bring you to pray, "I can do all things through God who strengthens me," then it is a great disciple. Anything in your life that just won't do is a great Lenten sacrifice.
Jesus saw the money changers and the animals in the temple and thought, "this won't do." He was not, however, cleansing the temple as many Bible section headings say. Jesus was seeking to reform the temple. Money was paid to the temple for its upkeep, and the money changers were there to trade foreign coins for coins proper for the temple. It was like a currency exchange when we go to other countries. There was likely however some underhanded profit going on, and that wouldn't do. The animals that were there were supposed to be there. People were supposed to bring animals for sacrifice, the best they had. If their animals were deemed unworthy sacrifices, they would be redeemed for a certain amount of money. This was practice recorded in Leviticus.
It seems that for Jesus, however, the practice had gone on long enough. My guess is that the heart of the practice (giving the best you had to the Lord) had departed somewhat, and it had simply become a transactional arrangement. Not to mention that for centuries, God had been speaking through the prophets saying, "stop sacrificing animals. I made them all and I don't need any from you."
March 8, 2015
Saint Mark's Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX
John 2:12-33
Philippians 4:1
I stopped drinking coffee last week, not out of a Lenten discipline, but simply because I was drinking too much, still tired all the time, and I thought, "This won't do." The week was fine until Thursday. I had a long day leading to a long night, and I wanted just one cup of coffee in the afternoon. Then I thought, "I can do all things through God who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13). I prayed that scripture, and I was suddenly no longer tired. God answered yes, and gave me strength.
I realized then that my comments in weeks past about diet coke and chocolate not meaning that much as Lenten sacrifices were wrong. If giving those things up can bring you to pray, "I can do all things through God who strengthens me," then it is a great disciple. Anything in your life that just won't do is a great Lenten sacrifice.
Jesus saw the money changers and the animals in the temple and thought, "this won't do." He was not, however, cleansing the temple as many Bible section headings say. Jesus was seeking to reform the temple. Money was paid to the temple for its upkeep, and the money changers were there to trade foreign coins for coins proper for the temple. It was like a currency exchange when we go to other countries. There was likely however some underhanded profit going on, and that wouldn't do. The animals that were there were supposed to be there. People were supposed to bring animals for sacrifice, the best they had. If their animals were deemed unworthy sacrifices, they would be redeemed for a certain amount of money. This was practice recorded in Leviticus.
It seems that for Jesus, however, the practice had gone on long enough. My guess is that the heart of the practice (giving the best you had to the Lord) had departed somewhat, and it had simply become a transactional arrangement. Not to mention that for centuries, God had been speaking through the prophets saying, "stop sacrificing animals. I made them all and I don't need any from you."
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