Brad Sullivan
Maundy Thursday, Year A
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Exodus 12:1-4(5-10)11-14 (not 5-10 at our service)
Psalm 116:1, 10-17
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-17, 31b-35 (only 13:1-15, 34-35 at our service)
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34) “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” (John 13:8b) These two statements of Jesus are tied together, the command to love is tied to the act of service.
Jesus’ command to love seems fairly straightforward. “Love one another.” Ideally, our response is equally straightforward. “Yes Lord, we will love one another.” Immediately after giving the command to love one another, however, Jesus adds an addendum to the command. “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” Now, our response should still be, “yes Lord, we will love one another as you have loved us,” but Jesus’ command also leads us to the question, “how has Jesus loved us?”
Well, as seen in the act of washing the disciples’ feet, Jesus loved by serving, but before Jesus loved or served, he was first loved himself. Jesus gave love, having first received love from the Father. Jesus has been and is loved by God the Father, and therefore Jesus gave and gives that love to us. If we are to love as Jesus loved us, then we are to love one another having first been loved by Jesus. We must receive Christ’s love before we can give Christ’s love. This is how the command to love is tied to Jesus’ statement to Peter, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” (John 13:8b)
Jesus was serving his disciples in the act of washing their feet. He was giving them the gift of his service and love. If they had not let him wash their feet, then they would have been rejecting his gift. Notice two things Jesus said to Peter. “One who has bathed does not need to wash,” and “unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” (John 13:10a, 8b) Peter wanted Jesus to give him a full bath, and Jesus was telling him, “No Peter, you’re missing the point. I’m not bathing you to clean you off; I’m washing your feet in order to serve you.”
The purpose of the foot washing was not cleanliness. The purpose of the foot washing was for the disciples to allow Jesus to serve them. Unless they allowed Jesus to serve them, they had no part in him. Unless we allow Jesus to serve us, we have no part in him. If we reject Christ’s service to us, we reject Christ’s love of us. If we don’t accept Christ’s love, then we don’t have Christ’s love to give. We only give as much as we are willing to receive. Love one another as I have love you, Jesus says. Receive my love, that you may love one another.
We love as Christ loved us first and foremost by being willing to be served and loved by Jesus. As we hear from the first letter of John, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19) So, letting Jesus love us is the fist step in loving each other as he loves us. Doing so may not be that easy. Letting go of our ego, acknowledging the fact that we need to be loved by Jesus can sometimes be difficult. Accepting the fact that Jesus loves us, that we are worth Jesus’ love, can be a difficult thing. Love one another as I have loved you. Accept my love, Jesus tells us. The questions then remains, how are we to love and serve others? How did Jesus love and serve others?
He served in many ways, only a few of which I will mention now. First and foremost, Jesus loved and served others by obeying God’s commandments. As we hear in fist John, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments.” (1 John 5:2-3) Jesus kept his relationship with God the Father strong, seeking first to do God’s will, loving God first, and then loving others.
Jesus also served people by teaching them. He taught people to people to obey God as he obeyed God. He taught people about God, about God’s kingdom. He taught people how to live in God’s kingdom, and he let people know when they were living counter to God’s kingdom. He loved people enough to guide them into proper living, to their relationship with God and others. Jesus loved people enough not to sit idly by and let people continue moving in the wrong direction. When Jesus saw folks living counter to God’s kingdom and commandment, he lovingly pointed them toward God and showed them how to live according to God’s commandments.
Jesus served others also by forgiving them, taking away the burden that is held when people are unforgiven. He forgave individuals of their sins during his life, and he forgave all of us of our sins through his death.
Jesus served others by healing them and praying for them. He had time for people, and he gave of himself to people in need.
If we then, want to love and serve others as Jesus loved and served us, we too, will obey God’s commandments. We will seek first and foremost to love and obey God. Then we can serve others by helping to guide people in their lives, offering correction with love. We can serve by meeting needs when they are expressed as we have ability.
Loving and serving others as Christ loved and served others may seem a monumental task, but remember, we love because he first loved us. Allow Christ to wash you, to serve you. Accept Christ’s love and service so that you will have love and service to give. Finally, listen to Paul’s words in his letter to the Colossians in thinking of how we are to love one another and serve one another.
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:12-17) Amen.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Faith Made Alive Through Action
Brad Sullivan
Second Sunday in Lent, Year A
Sunday, February 17th, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 121
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
John 3:1-17
Today in our Genesis reading, we have an example of faith in action. The last verse of the passage reads, “so Abram went, as the Lord had told him…” God had promised great things to Abram. God said he would bless him, that others would bless him, that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed, and Abram believed God. As Paul tells us, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Abram was made righteous through his faith in God, but remember what I said Abram’s faith is an example of faith in action.
He didn’t just hear God’s promise of blessing, say, “ok, God, that sounds great!”, and then do nothing. Abram acted on his faith. He listened to God’s message, and followed the guidance God gave him. Granted, God promised great things to Abram, blessings upon blessings, but Abram still had faith to believe God’s promise of blessing, and still followed the guidance given in order to attain that blessing. Faith, for Abram, was more than a moment, more than that one moment with God promising blessing.
Abram might have had an easy time believing God in that moment. When God was revealed to Abram and spoke to him, Abram must have been…well, probably a little scared, but enraptured, completely taken by the experience of God. The encounter was probably a big spiritual highlight in Abram’s life, a glorious moment of a clear encounter with God. As wonderful as that experience was, however, Abram did not stay in that moment. He moved on. He probably treasured the encounter with God in his heart, but he did not become stuck in the moment, trying to recreate it over and over. He accepted the gift and the blessings God gave him and then he did what God asked him to do. Abram’s encounter with God was made alive in his life by him living out the encounter with God. Abram’s obedient action kept his faith alive.
We can view our lives of faith in a similar fashion. We are saved through our faith in Christ, but our faith in Christ does not leave us staring forever at the cross. Our faith in Christ leads us to action, to bringing our faith with us, forming the rest of our lives. Looking at our Gospel reading today, Jesus said, “just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes I him may have eternal life.”
Jesus was referring to a time when the Israelites were in the desert after the exodus complaining that God wasn’t taking good enough care of them, so God sent serpents which would bite them, and many of the people of Israel died, but when the people repented, God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole so whenever someone was bitten, they would look at the bronze serpent and live. By telling this story, Jesus was saying look to me and live. Like the people of Israel obeying God, looking to the bronze serpent and living, by turning to Jesus and putting our faith in him, God gives us eternal life.
Our faith in Jesus, however, involves more than staring at the cross. Just as Abram’s faith was made alive by his not only believing but obeying God, so our faith in Jesus is made alive not only by believing in Jesus but by obeying him. Just as Abram did not get stuck in the moment of his encounter with God so do our lives in Christ involve more than being stuck moments of encounters with Christ. We hopefully have moments of encountering Christ in our lives, but when we do, we don’t just say, “yay, thank you so much Jesus,” and then stay there trying to recreate the event forever. When we have encounters with Christ, we thank him for the gift and blessing, and then we take those moments with us as go and do what Christ has asked us to do.
Now, we all may have many different personal encounters with Christ, but for examples of these encounters with Christ to which we can all relate, I’m going to address the sacraments of the Church, the tangible ways which we have been given to encounter Christ in our life together.
Going in reverse of how the sacraments are usually presented, think about Unction, anointing the sick with oil and praying for healing. Healing can come in that instant, but healing is also a process. Spiritual, emotional, and physical healing all take time. When we are healed, even if it is instantly, our lives don’t stop at the moment we are healed. We go on living as healed people. We are changed, and live in that new life.
Considering the sacrament of Reconciliation, the penitent doesn’t stay stuck in the moment of reconciliation, forever at the altar rail or in the priest’s office, but continues on seeking amendment of life having been reconciled to God. The sacrament of Reconciliation marks a new beginning in a person’s life.
Looking at marriage, the sacramental moment is the wedding, but the one event, the wedding, will not sustain a marriage for very long. Long after the wedding, the marriage continues. The sacrament continues in the life of the couple lived together. Ordination and confirmation, like marriage, are more than a moment, more than the moment of a bishop laying hands on the heads of ordinands and confirmands. Ordination and confirmation are sacraments lived out in lives of mission and service. Otherwise, bishops, priests, and deacons would only be bishops, priests, and deacons so long as the bishop’s hands are touching them. People would only be confirmed during the moment of being touched by the bishop’s hands. People often act that way with confirmation, they get their card stamped and then never think much about their lives in Christ again until Christmas and Easter, but in reality, confirmation is not a moment, but an invitation follow Christ in mission.
We encounter Christ in the Eucharist. We have a meal together, remembering the last meal he had with his disciples, but more than a remembrance, Christ is present with us in the Eucharist, and we take him into ourselves. Our souls and bodies are nourished by Jesus himself, and then we leave this place to take that sacrament with us, to nourish those whom we encounter.
Finally, Baptism is the sacrament which begins our lives in Christ. Our sins are forgiven by God through the waters of Baptism. We are made members of the Body of Christ through the waters of Baptism, and in our Baptism, we ask the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. Baptism too is more than a moment. The moments of each of our baptisms are great moments. We commemorate the day with certificates, maybe special clothes, parties, gifts, and the day or moment of our baptisms are great and great things to remember, but our baptisms are not moments in which to get stuck. Remember Jesus’ baptism after which he is immediately driven out into the wilderness. Even the moment of Jesus’ baptism, with the heavens being ripped open, the spirit descending like a dove, and the voice of God speaking to everyone there, even that moment was not one in which to remain, but one which Jesus took with him as he began his ministry.
Our baptisms too are not moments in which to stay. If we believe our baptisms simply to be one moment, then we fall into what Dallas Willard, in his book The Divine Conspiracy, calls “Bar-Code Faith”, something he believes to be grossly inadequate in describing our Christians lives. According to Mr. Willard, the idea of bar-code faith is as follows:
…there is something about the Christian that works like the bar code. Some ritual, some belief, or some association with a group affects God the way the bar code affects the scanner. Perhaps there has occurred a moment of mental assent to a creed, or an association entered into with a church. God ‘scans’ it, and forgiveness floods forth. An appropriate amount of righteousness is shifted from Christ’s account to our account in the bank of heaven, and all our debts are paid. We are, accordingly, ‘saved.’ Our guilt is erased. How could we not be Christians? For some Christian groups the ‘account’ has to be appropriately serviced to keep the debts paid up, because we really are not perfect. For others…every debt past, present, and future is paid for at the initial scan. But the essential thing in either case is the forgiveness of sins. And the payoff for having faith and being ‘scanned’ comes at death and after. Life now being lived has no necessary connection with being a Christian as long as the ‘bar code’ does its job. (P. 37)
According to bar-code theology, baptism really is just a moment. We’re scanned, we have faith, and we’ve got our ticket to heaven. Bar code faith, however, doesn’t match the faith that Abram had. Baptism, or any sacrament, as a moment doesn’t match the faith that Abram had. In our baptism, in that moment, we are forgiven, but like God’s call to Abram, our baptisms are also a beginning. Like Jesus’ baptism, we don’t stay in the water. Our baptisms remain active in our lives as we obey Christ, seek his guidance, and follow him. True belief, true faith involves action. True faith in God involves seeking guidance from God and following that guidance. Our faith is made alive in our lives not only by the big moments when we encounter Christ, but by taking those moments with us and living out our encounters with Christ. Amen.
Second Sunday in Lent, Year A
Sunday, February 17th, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Genesis 12:1-4a
Psalm 121
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
John 3:1-17
Today in our Genesis reading, we have an example of faith in action. The last verse of the passage reads, “so Abram went, as the Lord had told him…” God had promised great things to Abram. God said he would bless him, that others would bless him, that in him all the families of the earth would be blessed, and Abram believed God. As Paul tells us, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” Abram was made righteous through his faith in God, but remember what I said Abram’s faith is an example of faith in action.
He didn’t just hear God’s promise of blessing, say, “ok, God, that sounds great!”, and then do nothing. Abram acted on his faith. He listened to God’s message, and followed the guidance God gave him. Granted, God promised great things to Abram, blessings upon blessings, but Abram still had faith to believe God’s promise of blessing, and still followed the guidance given in order to attain that blessing. Faith, for Abram, was more than a moment, more than that one moment with God promising blessing.
Abram might have had an easy time believing God in that moment. When God was revealed to Abram and spoke to him, Abram must have been…well, probably a little scared, but enraptured, completely taken by the experience of God. The encounter was probably a big spiritual highlight in Abram’s life, a glorious moment of a clear encounter with God. As wonderful as that experience was, however, Abram did not stay in that moment. He moved on. He probably treasured the encounter with God in his heart, but he did not become stuck in the moment, trying to recreate it over and over. He accepted the gift and the blessings God gave him and then he did what God asked him to do. Abram’s encounter with God was made alive in his life by him living out the encounter with God. Abram’s obedient action kept his faith alive.
We can view our lives of faith in a similar fashion. We are saved through our faith in Christ, but our faith in Christ does not leave us staring forever at the cross. Our faith in Christ leads us to action, to bringing our faith with us, forming the rest of our lives. Looking at our Gospel reading today, Jesus said, “just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes I him may have eternal life.”
Jesus was referring to a time when the Israelites were in the desert after the exodus complaining that God wasn’t taking good enough care of them, so God sent serpents which would bite them, and many of the people of Israel died, but when the people repented, God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole so whenever someone was bitten, they would look at the bronze serpent and live. By telling this story, Jesus was saying look to me and live. Like the people of Israel obeying God, looking to the bronze serpent and living, by turning to Jesus and putting our faith in him, God gives us eternal life.
Our faith in Jesus, however, involves more than staring at the cross. Just as Abram’s faith was made alive by his not only believing but obeying God, so our faith in Jesus is made alive not only by believing in Jesus but by obeying him. Just as Abram did not get stuck in the moment of his encounter with God so do our lives in Christ involve more than being stuck moments of encounters with Christ. We hopefully have moments of encountering Christ in our lives, but when we do, we don’t just say, “yay, thank you so much Jesus,” and then stay there trying to recreate the event forever. When we have encounters with Christ, we thank him for the gift and blessing, and then we take those moments with us as go and do what Christ has asked us to do.
Now, we all may have many different personal encounters with Christ, but for examples of these encounters with Christ to which we can all relate, I’m going to address the sacraments of the Church, the tangible ways which we have been given to encounter Christ in our life together.
Going in reverse of how the sacraments are usually presented, think about Unction, anointing the sick with oil and praying for healing. Healing can come in that instant, but healing is also a process. Spiritual, emotional, and physical healing all take time. When we are healed, even if it is instantly, our lives don’t stop at the moment we are healed. We go on living as healed people. We are changed, and live in that new life.
Considering the sacrament of Reconciliation, the penitent doesn’t stay stuck in the moment of reconciliation, forever at the altar rail or in the priest’s office, but continues on seeking amendment of life having been reconciled to God. The sacrament of Reconciliation marks a new beginning in a person’s life.
Looking at marriage, the sacramental moment is the wedding, but the one event, the wedding, will not sustain a marriage for very long. Long after the wedding, the marriage continues. The sacrament continues in the life of the couple lived together. Ordination and confirmation, like marriage, are more than a moment, more than the moment of a bishop laying hands on the heads of ordinands and confirmands. Ordination and confirmation are sacraments lived out in lives of mission and service. Otherwise, bishops, priests, and deacons would only be bishops, priests, and deacons so long as the bishop’s hands are touching them. People would only be confirmed during the moment of being touched by the bishop’s hands. People often act that way with confirmation, they get their card stamped and then never think much about their lives in Christ again until Christmas and Easter, but in reality, confirmation is not a moment, but an invitation follow Christ in mission.
We encounter Christ in the Eucharist. We have a meal together, remembering the last meal he had with his disciples, but more than a remembrance, Christ is present with us in the Eucharist, and we take him into ourselves. Our souls and bodies are nourished by Jesus himself, and then we leave this place to take that sacrament with us, to nourish those whom we encounter.
Finally, Baptism is the sacrament which begins our lives in Christ. Our sins are forgiven by God through the waters of Baptism. We are made members of the Body of Christ through the waters of Baptism, and in our Baptism, we ask the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. Baptism too is more than a moment. The moments of each of our baptisms are great moments. We commemorate the day with certificates, maybe special clothes, parties, gifts, and the day or moment of our baptisms are great and great things to remember, but our baptisms are not moments in which to get stuck. Remember Jesus’ baptism after which he is immediately driven out into the wilderness. Even the moment of Jesus’ baptism, with the heavens being ripped open, the spirit descending like a dove, and the voice of God speaking to everyone there, even that moment was not one in which to remain, but one which Jesus took with him as he began his ministry.
Our baptisms too are not moments in which to stay. If we believe our baptisms simply to be one moment, then we fall into what Dallas Willard, in his book The Divine Conspiracy, calls “Bar-Code Faith”, something he believes to be grossly inadequate in describing our Christians lives. According to Mr. Willard, the idea of bar-code faith is as follows:
…there is something about the Christian that works like the bar code. Some ritual, some belief, or some association with a group affects God the way the bar code affects the scanner. Perhaps there has occurred a moment of mental assent to a creed, or an association entered into with a church. God ‘scans’ it, and forgiveness floods forth. An appropriate amount of righteousness is shifted from Christ’s account to our account in the bank of heaven, and all our debts are paid. We are, accordingly, ‘saved.’ Our guilt is erased. How could we not be Christians? For some Christian groups the ‘account’ has to be appropriately serviced to keep the debts paid up, because we really are not perfect. For others…every debt past, present, and future is paid for at the initial scan. But the essential thing in either case is the forgiveness of sins. And the payoff for having faith and being ‘scanned’ comes at death and after. Life now being lived has no necessary connection with being a Christian as long as the ‘bar code’ does its job. (P. 37)
According to bar-code theology, baptism really is just a moment. We’re scanned, we have faith, and we’ve got our ticket to heaven. Bar code faith, however, doesn’t match the faith that Abram had. Baptism, or any sacrament, as a moment doesn’t match the faith that Abram had. In our baptism, in that moment, we are forgiven, but like God’s call to Abram, our baptisms are also a beginning. Like Jesus’ baptism, we don’t stay in the water. Our baptisms remain active in our lives as we obey Christ, seek his guidance, and follow him. True belief, true faith involves action. True faith in God involves seeking guidance from God and following that guidance. Our faith is made alive in our lives not only by the big moments when we encounter Christ, but by taking those moments with us and living out our encounters with Christ. Amen.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
We're in this together
Brad Sullivan
Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year A
Sunday, March 9th, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 130
Romans 8:6-11
John 11:1-45 (only reading 11:17-45)
In our Gospel story today and in the passage from Ezekiel, we have two different stories of people being raised from the dead. In Ezekiel, we heard about the entire nation of Israel being raised from the dead, and then in John, we heard about the individual, Lazarus, being raised from the dead. The story from Ezekiel was a corporate story of the dead being raised, and the story from John was a seemingly individual story of the dead being raised. These two stories together, then, speak to the nature of our lives both as the corporate body of God’s people and as individual followers of God.
In the first story, Ezekiel was taken in God’s spirit and given a vision of the whole nation of Israel reduced to nothing more than brittle, dry bones. There was no life left in Israel. God’s chosen people by whom the nations of the world would be blessed were gone. God’s blessing then, it seems, was gone from the earth. His people had utterly perished, but then, God gave them new life. God restored them, gave them new flesh and a new spirit. God would not let his people utterly perish. God would not abandon the people of Israel to the grave, to this valley of dry bones.
Now, as we know, through their history with God, the people of Israel continually abandoned God though worshipping idols, through disobeying his commands, but in thinking of the nation of Israel abandoning God, realize the nation abandoned God through the actions of individuals. The people abandoned individually as a part of the corporate body of Israel. One person abandoning God affects the whole body of people. Individual action is tied to corporate action. Individual obedience is tied to corporate obedience as is individual disobedience tied to corporate disobedience.
Now, if one person out of one million people disobeys, can the whole body of people be said to disobey…maybe not, but also, maybe so? How does a nation abandon God? On the one hand, if only one person abandons God, then the rest of the people are still faithful and can help bring that one back to God. With just one person abandoning God, certainly the nation, the people as a whole would still be considered faithful. The faith and obedience of the people would help support the one person who has turned away.
On the other hand, however, if everyone has abandoned God except for one person can the nation still be said to be faithful to God? Presumably not, if we look at the history of the people of Israel. The prophets, for example, were part of the Israel, were faithful to God, and yet were often preaching to a people who were not faithful God. So, do 50% of the people or more have to disobey before the whole nation can be said to disobey? Well, God was never that specific, but the point is our corporate faithfulness to God is tied to each of our individual faithfulness to God.
Each one of us affects the Body of Christ for good or for ill, helping the church to remain faithful to God or helping the church to abandon God. Our thoughts, our actions, our faithfulness, and our unfaithfulness have ramifications beyond ourselves. As with the people of Israel, God’s covenant is with us as a people, not just with us as individuals.
On the flip side of that coin, we see God’s action towards individuals affects more than each individual person. Whereas in Ezekiel we heard about God raising the whole nation of Israel from the dead, in John, we heard of Jesus raising just one man, Lazarus, from the dead. While Jesus’ immediate action was toward an individual, the effects of Jesus’ action reached many, for as John tells us, many of the Jews believed in Jesus because they had seen him raise Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:45 – paraphrase) Lazarus was physically raised from the dead, while many others, it seems, were spiritually raised. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life,” and then he proved it. He gave faith to those who witnessed the raising of Lazarus, and by doing so, he gave them life.
After all, Jesus came not to help one man or one family, but for the salvation of all. Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead was far more than one man being healed. Notice, however, what happened in verse 35 of the passage, “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) God’s covenant is with a people, not just with individuals. Jesus came for all, not just for individuals, and yet when this one person died and his family was crying, Jesus wept. Jesus came for the salvation of all and yet still cares for us individually. God made a covenant with us all and yet still cares for us individually. God is heartbroken with his people as a whole turn away from him, and he is also heartbroken when individuals turn away from him.
God grieves when individuals turn away from him because, as we have already discussed, individuals can turn the whole body away from God, but God also grieves for the sake of the individual. We are each important to God as the specific persons God made us to be and as members of the Body of Christ.
Looking then at our life together, I am briefly going to address our prayer life which is, of course, the topic of our adult class today. Just as God cares for us individually and corporately as his people, we also pray individually and corporately. I spoke earlier about individual faithfulness helping keep the Church faithful, and individual unfaithfulness leading the church away from God. Prayer works the same way. When we pray as individuals, we pray not only for ourselves, but for the whole body. The act of individual prayer is a corporate act.
If as individuals we rarely pray, then obviously our individual relationships with God suffer, but the whole church suffers as well. If we, as individuals, find ourselves setting our minds more and more on the flesh and less and less on the spirit, then we become a church whose mind is set on the flesh and not on the spirit. When we neglect our individual prayer lives, the church suffers for it. Sorry to be so gloomy, but…it is Lent.
On the other hand, the fact that we’re not Christians as individuals is also a joyous thing. We have a responsibility to each other, but we also have each other to lean on and to depend on. There will be times when individuals find faith very difficult to have, when prayer doesn’t easily or at all, when God seems distant, if not completely gone. In those times, the individuals have the rest of the Body of Christ to lean on. The rest of the church can pray for those aren’t able to pray. The rest of the church can have faith when some find faith difficult. Then, those individuals who were finding faith difficult, having been carried through those times by the faith of the rest of the church, can then help carry other people through when they are having a difficult time with faith.
When some of us find faith and prayer difficult, we have the rest of the church to have faith and to pray for us. When some of us are weak, the rest of us can remain strong and so we can carry each other in times of weakness. In this way, no one of us has to be perfect in our faith because we have each other. Together, we remain faithful, faithful to a God who will never abandon us. We remain faithful to a God who loves his people as one body and will never abandon them, and we remain faithful to a God who also loves each individual person and will never abandon any of us. Amen.
Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year A
Sunday, March 9th, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 130
Romans 8:6-11
John 11:1-45 (only reading 11:17-45)
In our Gospel story today and in the passage from Ezekiel, we have two different stories of people being raised from the dead. In Ezekiel, we heard about the entire nation of Israel being raised from the dead, and then in John, we heard about the individual, Lazarus, being raised from the dead. The story from Ezekiel was a corporate story of the dead being raised, and the story from John was a seemingly individual story of the dead being raised. These two stories together, then, speak to the nature of our lives both as the corporate body of God’s people and as individual followers of God.
In the first story, Ezekiel was taken in God’s spirit and given a vision of the whole nation of Israel reduced to nothing more than brittle, dry bones. There was no life left in Israel. God’s chosen people by whom the nations of the world would be blessed were gone. God’s blessing then, it seems, was gone from the earth. His people had utterly perished, but then, God gave them new life. God restored them, gave them new flesh and a new spirit. God would not let his people utterly perish. God would not abandon the people of Israel to the grave, to this valley of dry bones.
Now, as we know, through their history with God, the people of Israel continually abandoned God though worshipping idols, through disobeying his commands, but in thinking of the nation of Israel abandoning God, realize the nation abandoned God through the actions of individuals. The people abandoned individually as a part of the corporate body of Israel. One person abandoning God affects the whole body of people. Individual action is tied to corporate action. Individual obedience is tied to corporate obedience as is individual disobedience tied to corporate disobedience.
Now, if one person out of one million people disobeys, can the whole body of people be said to disobey…maybe not, but also, maybe so? How does a nation abandon God? On the one hand, if only one person abandons God, then the rest of the people are still faithful and can help bring that one back to God. With just one person abandoning God, certainly the nation, the people as a whole would still be considered faithful. The faith and obedience of the people would help support the one person who has turned away.
On the other hand, however, if everyone has abandoned God except for one person can the nation still be said to be faithful to God? Presumably not, if we look at the history of the people of Israel. The prophets, for example, were part of the Israel, were faithful to God, and yet were often preaching to a people who were not faithful God. So, do 50% of the people or more have to disobey before the whole nation can be said to disobey? Well, God was never that specific, but the point is our corporate faithfulness to God is tied to each of our individual faithfulness to God.
Each one of us affects the Body of Christ for good or for ill, helping the church to remain faithful to God or helping the church to abandon God. Our thoughts, our actions, our faithfulness, and our unfaithfulness have ramifications beyond ourselves. As with the people of Israel, God’s covenant is with us as a people, not just with us as individuals.
On the flip side of that coin, we see God’s action towards individuals affects more than each individual person. Whereas in Ezekiel we heard about God raising the whole nation of Israel from the dead, in John, we heard of Jesus raising just one man, Lazarus, from the dead. While Jesus’ immediate action was toward an individual, the effects of Jesus’ action reached many, for as John tells us, many of the Jews believed in Jesus because they had seen him raise Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:45 – paraphrase) Lazarus was physically raised from the dead, while many others, it seems, were spiritually raised. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life,” and then he proved it. He gave faith to those who witnessed the raising of Lazarus, and by doing so, he gave them life.
After all, Jesus came not to help one man or one family, but for the salvation of all. Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead was far more than one man being healed. Notice, however, what happened in verse 35 of the passage, “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35) God’s covenant is with a people, not just with individuals. Jesus came for all, not just for individuals, and yet when this one person died and his family was crying, Jesus wept. Jesus came for the salvation of all and yet still cares for us individually. God made a covenant with us all and yet still cares for us individually. God is heartbroken with his people as a whole turn away from him, and he is also heartbroken when individuals turn away from him.
God grieves when individuals turn away from him because, as we have already discussed, individuals can turn the whole body away from God, but God also grieves for the sake of the individual. We are each important to God as the specific persons God made us to be and as members of the Body of Christ.
Looking then at our life together, I am briefly going to address our prayer life which is, of course, the topic of our adult class today. Just as God cares for us individually and corporately as his people, we also pray individually and corporately. I spoke earlier about individual faithfulness helping keep the Church faithful, and individual unfaithfulness leading the church away from God. Prayer works the same way. When we pray as individuals, we pray not only for ourselves, but for the whole body. The act of individual prayer is a corporate act.
If as individuals we rarely pray, then obviously our individual relationships with God suffer, but the whole church suffers as well. If we, as individuals, find ourselves setting our minds more and more on the flesh and less and less on the spirit, then we become a church whose mind is set on the flesh and not on the spirit. When we neglect our individual prayer lives, the church suffers for it. Sorry to be so gloomy, but…it is Lent.
On the other hand, the fact that we’re not Christians as individuals is also a joyous thing. We have a responsibility to each other, but we also have each other to lean on and to depend on. There will be times when individuals find faith very difficult to have, when prayer doesn’t easily or at all, when God seems distant, if not completely gone. In those times, the individuals have the rest of the Body of Christ to lean on. The rest of the church can pray for those aren’t able to pray. The rest of the church can have faith when some find faith difficult. Then, those individuals who were finding faith difficult, having been carried through those times by the faith of the rest of the church, can then help carry other people through when they are having a difficult time with faith.
When some of us find faith and prayer difficult, we have the rest of the church to have faith and to pray for us. When some of us are weak, the rest of us can remain strong and so we can carry each other in times of weakness. In this way, no one of us has to be perfect in our faith because we have each other. Together, we remain faithful, faithful to a God who will never abandon us. We remain faithful to a God who loves his people as one body and will never abandon them, and we remain faithful to a God who also loves each individual person and will never abandon any of us. Amen.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Finding God through Practicing our Faith
Brad Sullivan
Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year A
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Exodus 3:1-15 (not read)
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:5-14
John 9:1-41
In the Gospel story today, we heard of Jesus giving sight to a man who was born blind, and we heard of people’s unbelief that Jesus had healed him. “This man is not from God,” some Pharisees said, “for he does not observe the sabbath.” The Pharisees refused to believe that Jesus could be a man of God. They refused to believe that Jesus could heal, because he healed on the sabbath, thereby breaking one of the ten laws of Moses, one of the Ten Commandments, you’re not supposed to work on the sabbath.
Healing someone was considered work, and so by healing the blind man on the sabbath, Jesus had broken God’s commandment not to work on the sabbath. By healing the blind man on the sabbath, Jesus had rebelled against God, in the eyes of the Pharisees, and by a strict understanding of the Jewish religion, Jesus had broken God’s commandment. Healing could be considered work.
The blind man, after all, could have just as easily received his sight the day after the sabbath. Jesus could have obeyed God’s commandment and still given sight to the blind man, because as much as giving sight to the blind man was a good thing, there is no greater task, aim, or goal in our lives than to honor and obey God. One cannot be said to obey God if one disobeys God’s basic commandments. What was more important for Jesus to do, heal a man, or obey God? Clearly obedience to God should take priority, and yet there Jesus was, healing the man on the sabbath.
Jesus would not have disobeyed God even in order to heal, and I don’t think God said, “Ok Jesus, you’ve got a lot to do, so the ten commandments are optional for you.” Rather, today’s Gospel story shows that Jesus healing on the sabbath was not contrary to God’s Commandment not to work on the sabbath. So, healing doesn’t equal work. Lesson learned. End of sermon. Thank you much. There are a few slightly more enlightening lessons, however, which can be learned from Jesus’ healing of the blind man than simply healing isn’t work. I’m not even sure “healing isn’t work” is an accurate statement.
Remember what the commandment about the sabbath actually said?
“Remember the sabbath, day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work…for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:8-10a, 11)
The commandment concerning the sabbath day was more than a proscription against work. The sabbath was a day to remember God, a day of rest dedicated to God. The sabbath was to be a holy day, a day set aside from the rest of the week, intentionally different, a day in which work was not done so people could rest and in resting, remember God. Isaiah speaks of this idea of rest and remembrance in the (hopefully) familiar words of our evening devotional, “O God, you will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are fixed on you; for in returning and rest we shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be our strength.” (BCP 138; Isaiah 26:3, 30:15)
Thinking about the sabbath in terms of quietness and trust of God, finding peace by fixing our minds on God, we can see that merely doing no work will not necessarily fulfill God’s commandment concerning the sabbath. One could do no technical work while also not fixing one’s mind on God. One could abstain from any labor while not returning to God for rest. Such a person would seem, by all outward appearances, to be observing the sabbath; the person is doing no work, but again, at the heart of the sabbath is rest, returning to God, and finding our true rest in him.
When the sabbath becomes simply another rule we must follow, then we have stripped the sabbath of its purpose. God didn’t just think, “here’s something bothersome I’ll make people do; I’ll forbid them to work one day a week.” God did not give the law for the law’s sake, but for our sake. God knows we need rest, and God knows we will find our true rest in him. The Pharisees seem to have forgotten that part of the law. Following the rules seems to have become the means and the end to the Pharisees. Work on the sabbath, and you commit sin. Sin, and you are not from God. The Pharisees kept the rules, but by holding the rules for the rules’ sake, they had missed the presence of God. By holding on to the rules too tightly, they seem to have put their faith and trust in the rules rather than in God.
By their rules, the Pharisees knew God and knew how God worked among them. They knew the correct ways to worship God and to live as God had commanded. They lived an ordered, disciplined life according to rules given by God, but unfortunately, they seem to have bound God (or bound their understanding of God) by the rules given by God.
Now, living a life of discipline according to a set of rules can be a good thing. All this Lent, we have been encouraging lives of discipline in order to know God more, continually returning to God to find rest and peace in him. We have not, however, attempted to bind God’s presence or activity in our lives by the order and discipline we have established. The purpose of rules, of order and discipline is not to bind God’s presence and activity in our lives. Rather, the purpose of rules, the purpose of order and discipline is to free us to be able to encounter and experience the presence of God in unexpected ways. We don’t pray four times a day so that God will have four opportunities to talk with us. We pray four times a day to open ourselves to God’s presence in our lives, to open our eyes and hearts to God’s presence in the world. We follow rules and order our lives so that when God does act or reveal himself, we might witness the revelation.
The Pharisees followed the rules, but then blinded themselves to the revelation and presence of God in Jesus and in the healing of the blind man. They were so convinced they were doing everything right, so convinced they could see, that they were blinded to their own blindness. The pride they felt towards their discipline and devotion blinded them to God and stripped the Pharisees’ devotion and rules of their purpose.
There is a multitude of ways in which we too can follow rules and yet be blinded to God’s presence, ways in which pride for living religiously can turn to sin and blindness. Religion itself, if it becomes an end in and of itself, can become a barrier to God. If the rules and structure of our faith life become things we have to do in order to be righteous or to be appropriately religious, then the rules and structure of our faith lose a lot of their meaning. If we begin to feel other forms of worship or ways of practicing Christianity are wrong simply because they are different from how we practice Christianity, then we run into the same problem the Pharisees had, religion for religion’s sake.
There are many practices and ways of life which we can hold on to so tightly that they become impediments in our walks with God. Our prayer life, our morality, even our worship can become rules which limit our ability to experience God’s presence. What are some rules or practices which might have become ends rather than means in your life? We’re going to address our worship during our 10:15 class today, looking at the symbols we use and the words we pray, seeking a deeper understanding of our worship. Whether you can come to this class or not, however, think about how we worship, what we do and why. Realize our way of worshipping is only one way of worshipping. With your spiritual practices, with your prayer life, even with your morality, with your ethical code for Christian living, take care not to substitute rules and practices for faith in God. Rather, allow the rules of your life and the practices of your life to open your eyes and your hearts to God’s presence.
Practice your faith and follow God’s commandments not in order to be righteous, but because doing so will help you find God in the unexpected places of your life. Practicing your faith and following God’s commandments will help you rest in God and find true peace in his presence. Amen.
Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year A
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Exodus 3:1-15 (not read)
Psalm 23
Ephesians 5:5-14
John 9:1-41
In the Gospel story today, we heard of Jesus giving sight to a man who was born blind, and we heard of people’s unbelief that Jesus had healed him. “This man is not from God,” some Pharisees said, “for he does not observe the sabbath.” The Pharisees refused to believe that Jesus could be a man of God. They refused to believe that Jesus could heal, because he healed on the sabbath, thereby breaking one of the ten laws of Moses, one of the Ten Commandments, you’re not supposed to work on the sabbath.
Healing someone was considered work, and so by healing the blind man on the sabbath, Jesus had broken God’s commandment not to work on the sabbath. By healing the blind man on the sabbath, Jesus had rebelled against God, in the eyes of the Pharisees, and by a strict understanding of the Jewish religion, Jesus had broken God’s commandment. Healing could be considered work.
The blind man, after all, could have just as easily received his sight the day after the sabbath. Jesus could have obeyed God’s commandment and still given sight to the blind man, because as much as giving sight to the blind man was a good thing, there is no greater task, aim, or goal in our lives than to honor and obey God. One cannot be said to obey God if one disobeys God’s basic commandments. What was more important for Jesus to do, heal a man, or obey God? Clearly obedience to God should take priority, and yet there Jesus was, healing the man on the sabbath.
Jesus would not have disobeyed God even in order to heal, and I don’t think God said, “Ok Jesus, you’ve got a lot to do, so the ten commandments are optional for you.” Rather, today’s Gospel story shows that Jesus healing on the sabbath was not contrary to God’s Commandment not to work on the sabbath. So, healing doesn’t equal work. Lesson learned. End of sermon. Thank you much. There are a few slightly more enlightening lessons, however, which can be learned from Jesus’ healing of the blind man than simply healing isn’t work. I’m not even sure “healing isn’t work” is an accurate statement.
Remember what the commandment about the sabbath actually said?
“Remember the sabbath, day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work…for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:8-10a, 11)
The commandment concerning the sabbath day was more than a proscription against work. The sabbath was a day to remember God, a day of rest dedicated to God. The sabbath was to be a holy day, a day set aside from the rest of the week, intentionally different, a day in which work was not done so people could rest and in resting, remember God. Isaiah speaks of this idea of rest and remembrance in the (hopefully) familiar words of our evening devotional, “O God, you will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are fixed on you; for in returning and rest we shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be our strength.” (BCP 138; Isaiah 26:3, 30:15)
Thinking about the sabbath in terms of quietness and trust of God, finding peace by fixing our minds on God, we can see that merely doing no work will not necessarily fulfill God’s commandment concerning the sabbath. One could do no technical work while also not fixing one’s mind on God. One could abstain from any labor while not returning to God for rest. Such a person would seem, by all outward appearances, to be observing the sabbath; the person is doing no work, but again, at the heart of the sabbath is rest, returning to God, and finding our true rest in him.
When the sabbath becomes simply another rule we must follow, then we have stripped the sabbath of its purpose. God didn’t just think, “here’s something bothersome I’ll make people do; I’ll forbid them to work one day a week.” God did not give the law for the law’s sake, but for our sake. God knows we need rest, and God knows we will find our true rest in him. The Pharisees seem to have forgotten that part of the law. Following the rules seems to have become the means and the end to the Pharisees. Work on the sabbath, and you commit sin. Sin, and you are not from God. The Pharisees kept the rules, but by holding the rules for the rules’ sake, they had missed the presence of God. By holding on to the rules too tightly, they seem to have put their faith and trust in the rules rather than in God.
By their rules, the Pharisees knew God and knew how God worked among them. They knew the correct ways to worship God and to live as God had commanded. They lived an ordered, disciplined life according to rules given by God, but unfortunately, they seem to have bound God (or bound their understanding of God) by the rules given by God.
Now, living a life of discipline according to a set of rules can be a good thing. All this Lent, we have been encouraging lives of discipline in order to know God more, continually returning to God to find rest and peace in him. We have not, however, attempted to bind God’s presence or activity in our lives by the order and discipline we have established. The purpose of rules, of order and discipline is not to bind God’s presence and activity in our lives. Rather, the purpose of rules, the purpose of order and discipline is to free us to be able to encounter and experience the presence of God in unexpected ways. We don’t pray four times a day so that God will have four opportunities to talk with us. We pray four times a day to open ourselves to God’s presence in our lives, to open our eyes and hearts to God’s presence in the world. We follow rules and order our lives so that when God does act or reveal himself, we might witness the revelation.
The Pharisees followed the rules, but then blinded themselves to the revelation and presence of God in Jesus and in the healing of the blind man. They were so convinced they were doing everything right, so convinced they could see, that they were blinded to their own blindness. The pride they felt towards their discipline and devotion blinded them to God and stripped the Pharisees’ devotion and rules of their purpose.
There is a multitude of ways in which we too can follow rules and yet be blinded to God’s presence, ways in which pride for living religiously can turn to sin and blindness. Religion itself, if it becomes an end in and of itself, can become a barrier to God. If the rules and structure of our faith life become things we have to do in order to be righteous or to be appropriately religious, then the rules and structure of our faith lose a lot of their meaning. If we begin to feel other forms of worship or ways of practicing Christianity are wrong simply because they are different from how we practice Christianity, then we run into the same problem the Pharisees had, religion for religion’s sake.
There are many practices and ways of life which we can hold on to so tightly that they become impediments in our walks with God. Our prayer life, our morality, even our worship can become rules which limit our ability to experience God’s presence. What are some rules or practices which might have become ends rather than means in your life? We’re going to address our worship during our 10:15 class today, looking at the symbols we use and the words we pray, seeking a deeper understanding of our worship. Whether you can come to this class or not, however, think about how we worship, what we do and why. Realize our way of worshipping is only one way of worshipping. With your spiritual practices, with your prayer life, even with your morality, with your ethical code for Christian living, take care not to substitute rules and practices for faith in God. Rather, allow the rules of your life and the practices of your life to open your eyes and your hearts to God’s presence.
Practice your faith and follow God’s commandments not in order to be righteous, but because doing so will help you find God in the unexpected places of your life. Practicing your faith and following God’s commandments will help you rest in God and find true peace in his presence. Amen.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Have a Happy Lent!
Brad Sullivan
Ash Wednesday, Year A
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Isaiah 58:1-12
Psalm 103
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Happy Lent, y’all. Today on Ash Wednesday, we begin the season of Lent, our time of fasting and preparation for Easter. One might call Lent a time of heightened religious observance when we are more intentional about our religious practices, and so as we begin our Lenten journey, hearing the passages from Isaiah and Matthew is very appropriate. Both passages speak proper religious observance, how properly to fast, to pray, to draw near to God.
First, in today’s lesson from Isaiah, the prophet seems to be speaking to a people who are very confused about religious observance. The people ask God: “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” The people think they are very devout in their religious observance, and they probably are. So why does God seem unimpressed? His answer is very direct. “Look,” he says, “you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.”
In short, the people had devout religious observance with little or no connection to the rest of their lives. They wanted God’s blessing and so they followed the religious rules and made the appropriate sacrifices, but then didn’t treat people very well in their work lives, or their home lives, or their public lives outside of the religious establishment.
This same disconnect between religious life and the rest of one’s life still exists today. People often say they can’t behave a certain way because they are in church. People often tell me they can’t tell a certain story or use a certain word because I’m there. “If the priest hears me, then I’m really in trouble.” Now, that we try to be on our best behavior at church isn’t really a bad thing, but there seems to be a feeling that God will really notice if I say or do the wrong thing here. Once I leave these walls, I’m ok.
Such a way of life reminds me of how many of us were as children, going to bed at night, would seek protection from our bed sheets. “The monsters can’t get me if I’m all covered up,” so we wrap ourselves up tight as children, keeping the monsters away. This works pretty well for kids especially since there aren’t really monsters, but for adults thinking, “I’m away from Church, God can’t see me now,” doesn’t really work.
God isn’t pleased if we follow all our religious practices within these walls, but then treat people badly once we leave. How do we treat people outside of church? I remember a scene from the TV show “Dirty, Sexy, Money”, a show I kinda like, where a priest, collar on and everything is cussing a guy out, shouting at him, threatening him, insulting him. Then as the priest turns to leave, the other gentleman asks, “Where are you going?” “I have to go do a Baptism,” the priest replies. There’s a disconnect there.
In order to get over some of the disconnect in our lives, our Youth Minister has given the youth group these purple wristbands from “A Compliant Free World.Org.” The idea behind these bands is to help people see just how often we complain, not just point out something wrong, but complain about it, and to help us stop complaining so much. We wear the band on our left wrist, and then, whenever we complain, we’re supposed to put the band on our right wrist, and then when we consciously don’t complain about something, we can put it back on our left. We’re supposed to go 21 days with it on our left wrist to help form the habit of not complaining. In a week and a half, I have so far gone…one consecutive day without complaining. There’s a disconnect there in how I want to behave and how I am behaving, between how I behave here and when I’m not here.
So, regarding our Lenten fasts this year, thinking about what we’re going to give up, try fasting from acting differently here than from anywhere else. “You mean I can cuss and fight in church now?” Yes, if you think it’s ok to cuss and fight anywhere else. The point is, this Lent (and then hopefully beyond Lent) try making all of your life a religious observance. Don’t think God can’t see or doesn’t care just because you’re not at church, just because you’ve got the bed sheets over you. They may protect kids from monsters, but they don’t stop God from seeing or caring about what we’re doing and how we’re acting. So, this Lent, fast from acting one way in church and another way everywhere else. Make all your life a religious observance.
Now this leads us to the passage from Matthew, which I will address briefly, in which Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them…” (Matthew 6:1a) The second clause of that sentence is a very important one: “in order to be seen by them.” Jesus didn’t say hide your religious observance to make sure no one sees you. Seeing someone’s religious observance can be one heck of a witness.
Jesus advised not to flaunt one’s religious practices in order to be seen and praised for them, but we needn’t hide all of our religious practices either. “I went to church on Sunday,” is a perfectly acceptable answer to the question, “What did you do this weekend?” The problem comes when you tell people about your faith life in order to show off or to make others think you’re a good person.
Thinking about why we pray is important this Lent especially because we’ve decided to observe Lent this year at Emmanuel by each one of us praying four times a day for two minutes each time, using these prayer cards, taken from the Book of Common Prayer. If we all stick to praying four times a day, some of us will likely be praying at work or in places where other people might observe us. Don’t be afraid to let other people know that you’re praying. Doing so could start up a conversation about God. God might use you to draw someone closer to him or to draw someone back to him.
We needn’t hide our prayer. Remember, all of our life should be a religious observance, so we shouldn’t hide our faith. The danger comes when we try to be seen in order to be praised. Don’t flaunt your prayer, but don’t hide it either. Take this Lent as an opportunity to get the rest of your life more in sync with your religious life. Pray these four times each day; don’t flaunt it, but if someone sees you, let them know why you’re praying. Think about how you treat others beyond these walls. Observe the kind of fast God asked for through Isaiah, and have a happy Lent. Amen.
Ash Wednesday, Year A
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Isaiah 58:1-12
Psalm 103
2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Happy Lent, y’all. Today on Ash Wednesday, we begin the season of Lent, our time of fasting and preparation for Easter. One might call Lent a time of heightened religious observance when we are more intentional about our religious practices, and so as we begin our Lenten journey, hearing the passages from Isaiah and Matthew is very appropriate. Both passages speak proper religious observance, how properly to fast, to pray, to draw near to God.
First, in today’s lesson from Isaiah, the prophet seems to be speaking to a people who are very confused about religious observance. The people ask God: “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” The people think they are very devout in their religious observance, and they probably are. So why does God seem unimpressed? His answer is very direct. “Look,” he says, “you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist.”
In short, the people had devout religious observance with little or no connection to the rest of their lives. They wanted God’s blessing and so they followed the religious rules and made the appropriate sacrifices, but then didn’t treat people very well in their work lives, or their home lives, or their public lives outside of the religious establishment.
This same disconnect between religious life and the rest of one’s life still exists today. People often say they can’t behave a certain way because they are in church. People often tell me they can’t tell a certain story or use a certain word because I’m there. “If the priest hears me, then I’m really in trouble.” Now, that we try to be on our best behavior at church isn’t really a bad thing, but there seems to be a feeling that God will really notice if I say or do the wrong thing here. Once I leave these walls, I’m ok.
Such a way of life reminds me of how many of us were as children, going to bed at night, would seek protection from our bed sheets. “The monsters can’t get me if I’m all covered up,” so we wrap ourselves up tight as children, keeping the monsters away. This works pretty well for kids especially since there aren’t really monsters, but for adults thinking, “I’m away from Church, God can’t see me now,” doesn’t really work.
God isn’t pleased if we follow all our religious practices within these walls, but then treat people badly once we leave. How do we treat people outside of church? I remember a scene from the TV show “Dirty, Sexy, Money”, a show I kinda like, where a priest, collar on and everything is cussing a guy out, shouting at him, threatening him, insulting him. Then as the priest turns to leave, the other gentleman asks, “Where are you going?” “I have to go do a Baptism,” the priest replies. There’s a disconnect there.
In order to get over some of the disconnect in our lives, our Youth Minister has given the youth group these purple wristbands from “A Compliant Free World.Org.” The idea behind these bands is to help people see just how often we complain, not just point out something wrong, but complain about it, and to help us stop complaining so much. We wear the band on our left wrist, and then, whenever we complain, we’re supposed to put the band on our right wrist, and then when we consciously don’t complain about something, we can put it back on our left. We’re supposed to go 21 days with it on our left wrist to help form the habit of not complaining. In a week and a half, I have so far gone…one consecutive day without complaining. There’s a disconnect there in how I want to behave and how I am behaving, between how I behave here and when I’m not here.
So, regarding our Lenten fasts this year, thinking about what we’re going to give up, try fasting from acting differently here than from anywhere else. “You mean I can cuss and fight in church now?” Yes, if you think it’s ok to cuss and fight anywhere else. The point is, this Lent (and then hopefully beyond Lent) try making all of your life a religious observance. Don’t think God can’t see or doesn’t care just because you’re not at church, just because you’ve got the bed sheets over you. They may protect kids from monsters, but they don’t stop God from seeing or caring about what we’re doing and how we’re acting. So, this Lent, fast from acting one way in church and another way everywhere else. Make all your life a religious observance.
Now this leads us to the passage from Matthew, which I will address briefly, in which Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them…” (Matthew 6:1a) The second clause of that sentence is a very important one: “in order to be seen by them.” Jesus didn’t say hide your religious observance to make sure no one sees you. Seeing someone’s religious observance can be one heck of a witness.
Jesus advised not to flaunt one’s religious practices in order to be seen and praised for them, but we needn’t hide all of our religious practices either. “I went to church on Sunday,” is a perfectly acceptable answer to the question, “What did you do this weekend?” The problem comes when you tell people about your faith life in order to show off or to make others think you’re a good person.
Thinking about why we pray is important this Lent especially because we’ve decided to observe Lent this year at Emmanuel by each one of us praying four times a day for two minutes each time, using these prayer cards, taken from the Book of Common Prayer. If we all stick to praying four times a day, some of us will likely be praying at work or in places where other people might observe us. Don’t be afraid to let other people know that you’re praying. Doing so could start up a conversation about God. God might use you to draw someone closer to him or to draw someone back to him.
We needn’t hide our prayer. Remember, all of our life should be a religious observance, so we shouldn’t hide our faith. The danger comes when we try to be seen in order to be praised. Don’t flaunt your prayer, but don’t hide it either. Take this Lent as an opportunity to get the rest of your life more in sync with your religious life. Pray these four times each day; don’t flaunt it, but if someone sees you, let them know why you’re praying. Think about how you treat others beyond these walls. Observe the kind of fast God asked for through Isaiah, and have a happy Lent. Amen.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
All Barriers to God Have Been Removed
Brad Sullivan
Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
Sunday, February 3rd, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 2 or 99
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9
Today, in Matthew’s version of the Transfiguration of Jesus, we have something of an opening of the relationship between God and humanity. God was made more accessible to humanity than he previously was, or God was shown to be more accessible than we understood him to be. In the passage from Exodus we heard today, Moses was going up on top of Mount Sinai by himself to talk with God. Only Moses was allowed on top of the mountain to see the Glory of the Lord up close. “The appearance of the Glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel,” (Exodus 24:17) and the people couldn’t come near because they weren’t pure, or they would die, or they were afraid. For several reasons listed in the previous chapters of Exodus, only particular people were allowed to see the face of God, to draw near to God.
These particular persons, then, were to serve as mediators between God and the rest of the people. For the people of Israel just after the Exodus from Egypt, Moses was their means for communication with God. Moses was the one who prayed to God to intercede for the people. Moses was the one who heard God’s commands to the people and then told the people what God had commanded.
Later in the cultic practices of Israel, after they had established the temple, the Israelites had many priests to offer their sacrifices to God, but again, only the high priest was allowed to enter into the inner chamber of the Temple where God dwelled above the Ark of the Covenant. Only one person among all the people was allowed access to God. While anyone could pray to God, there was still only one person who could draw near to God, to intercede for the people.
On the other hand, when Jesus went up on the mountain, he did not go alone. He took with him Peter and James and John. Presumably, Jesus, Peter, James, and John were going up on top of the mountain to talk to God. Looking to the past, Jesus should have gone up by himself, being that one person who could draw near to God, but he didn’t, he took people with him. That fact alone tells us there was a change in our relationship with God, an opening of that relationship. No longer was there only one who could draw near to God, others could go with that one.
Further, we see in the transfiguration of Jesus, a change in how the Glory of God was revealed. Rather than in a cloud, the Glory of the Lord was revealed in Jesus himself. Rather than a devouring fire on top of the mountain, the face of Jesus shone like the sun, and these three disciples of Jesus were there to witness the Glory of the Lord close up, first hand. They were not priests, they were not prophets like Moses, they had not been consecrated, and yet were allowed and even invited to witness firsthand the Glory of the Lord shining through the face of Jesus.
God was opening up his relationship with humanity. No longer were elaborate rituals needed to be pure enough to draw near to God. No longer were only a few or even one allowed to draw near to God. Regular people who wanted to draw near to God now could. The barriers of access to God had been removed.
This is not to say, however, that God had changed who he was. Nor were Peter, James, and John seeing the Glory of a different Lord in the face of Jesus, than Moses had seen on top of the mountain. Moses and Elijah being on top of the mountain with Jesus and the three disciples show Jesus to be the same Lord they had served and witnessed. The biggest problem Moses and Elijah faced as prophets of Israel was apostasy. For Moses, the people of Israel made a golden calf and began worshipping that instead of God. For Elijah, the people began worshipping the Canaanite god Baal, rather than God. Keeping the people of Israel focused on worshipping God, the Lord, rather than other false gods, was of primary importance to both Moses and Elijah, so you know if they were there with Jesus on the mountain top, then the same Lord was being revealed when Jesus was transfigured as when Moses was up on mount Sinai and Elijah was up on mount Horeb.
So, the same God who was revealed to Moses and Elijah was now being revealed to the disciples in the face of Jesus. The relationship of God with people was opened. Some would say, however, Jesus actually closed or narrowed the doorway to God. You may know some people who feel that way. Looking at the fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel, we can see why some feel that Jesus closed the door. “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.’” (John 14:6) While stating you can only get to God through Christ, remember, Jesus is God, the same God served by Moses and Elijah.
Therefore, God is the way to God. We don’t need priests or mediums, or prophets like Moses to talk to God for us. We can all talk to God. We can all draw near to God. In Jesus, God allows us to come near to him by coming near to us. With God as a wholly transcendent God, people devised elaborate rituals to gain access to God. Animals were slaughtered to make ourselves pure. Certain people or places were seen as the access points to God. God was seen as a God who was inaccessible, beyond this world, or at least invisible and hard to witness. In Jesus, however, God became accessible to humans by becoming human, not through ritual or sacrifice on our end.
Ritual, sacrifice, and particular persons had been used to communicate with God because God was seen as so far above us, that we couldn’t raise ourselves up to be with God. So, in Jesus, God came down to our level, or showed he was already here among us. God showed us that he is here with us and will always be here with us. While still accessible through a person, the difference between the person of Jesus and the prophet like Moses is Jesus is not someone other than God. By becoming human, God became accessible to humans. The glory of God was revealed in the face of Jesus, showing that Jesus was and is God.
God, the infinite, became finite, while remaining infinite, and by doing so, he became infinitely accessible. God is accessible through Jesus because Jesus is God. In other words, God is accessible through God. We need no mediator. We need no ritual or sacrifice to connect to the transcendent God because God is here with us, the infinite made finite. God was physically here in the person of Jesus, and we need no mediator between us and God because our mediator to God is God himself. Rather than putting up a barrier to God, Jesus tore all barriers down.
There are many, however, who still like ritual, who find various rituals helpful in communicating with God. To that, I think Jesus would say, “fine.” Rituals can still be helpful. While we can simply talk to God as easily as we talk with one another, just like talking to the person of Jesus, many find simply talking to God to be rather difficult. Many especially find hearing God to be difficult, and this is because the way in which God often speaks to us.
Look at the example of Elijah. Elijah was up on the mountain, a prime place to meet God, and while there, Elijah heard a cacophony of sound: a whirlwind, an earthquake, a fire, but God was not in these. Rather, God spoke to Elijah in a still small voice. That still small voice is often hard to hear. That still small voice may come to us today in many forms, in many places, in our daily lives, in the city, in the voices of people we meet, but we are often so distracted by noise that we fail to hear or recognize the still small voice. Many of us, therefore, still have rituals we practice not in order to gain access to God, but to quiet things down so we can hear God. Many of us still need some ritual not because God is inaccessible, but because we can often be distracted.
For example, I cannot hear a word my wife says to me if the television is on. For us to communicate, there must be a certain amount of ritual: I must turn off or mute the TV. The only barriers to communication between my wife and me are the barriers we put up ourselves. In the same way, the only barriers in communication between each of us and God are the barriers we put up ourselves, and sometimes we have to work to take those barriers down. Often we need to help each other to remove those barriers, but from God’s end, all barriers have been removed.
Maybe Jesus still feels like a barrier. Maybe you prefer to talk to God as Father or Mother. Fine, do so. Maybe you prefer to talk to God as the human person, Jesus. Fine, do so. Maybe you prefer to talk to God as ethereal Holy Spirit. Fine, do so. All access points are open. Maybe you prefer to be out in nature to talk to God, or maybe you prefer to be in the city to talk to God. Maybe you prefer to be alone or maybe you prefer to be with people to talk to God. Fine, do so. Talk to God. Listen to him. God has removed all barriers, so talk to God, and listen, listen to what he has to say. Amen.
Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
Sunday, February 3rd, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 2 or 99
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9
Today, in Matthew’s version of the Transfiguration of Jesus, we have something of an opening of the relationship between God and humanity. God was made more accessible to humanity than he previously was, or God was shown to be more accessible than we understood him to be. In the passage from Exodus we heard today, Moses was going up on top of Mount Sinai by himself to talk with God. Only Moses was allowed on top of the mountain to see the Glory of the Lord up close. “The appearance of the Glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel,” (Exodus 24:17) and the people couldn’t come near because they weren’t pure, or they would die, or they were afraid. For several reasons listed in the previous chapters of Exodus, only particular people were allowed to see the face of God, to draw near to God.
These particular persons, then, were to serve as mediators between God and the rest of the people. For the people of Israel just after the Exodus from Egypt, Moses was their means for communication with God. Moses was the one who prayed to God to intercede for the people. Moses was the one who heard God’s commands to the people and then told the people what God had commanded.
Later in the cultic practices of Israel, after they had established the temple, the Israelites had many priests to offer their sacrifices to God, but again, only the high priest was allowed to enter into the inner chamber of the Temple where God dwelled above the Ark of the Covenant. Only one person among all the people was allowed access to God. While anyone could pray to God, there was still only one person who could draw near to God, to intercede for the people.
On the other hand, when Jesus went up on the mountain, he did not go alone. He took with him Peter and James and John. Presumably, Jesus, Peter, James, and John were going up on top of the mountain to talk to God. Looking to the past, Jesus should have gone up by himself, being that one person who could draw near to God, but he didn’t, he took people with him. That fact alone tells us there was a change in our relationship with God, an opening of that relationship. No longer was there only one who could draw near to God, others could go with that one.
Further, we see in the transfiguration of Jesus, a change in how the Glory of God was revealed. Rather than in a cloud, the Glory of the Lord was revealed in Jesus himself. Rather than a devouring fire on top of the mountain, the face of Jesus shone like the sun, and these three disciples of Jesus were there to witness the Glory of the Lord close up, first hand. They were not priests, they were not prophets like Moses, they had not been consecrated, and yet were allowed and even invited to witness firsthand the Glory of the Lord shining through the face of Jesus.
God was opening up his relationship with humanity. No longer were elaborate rituals needed to be pure enough to draw near to God. No longer were only a few or even one allowed to draw near to God. Regular people who wanted to draw near to God now could. The barriers of access to God had been removed.
This is not to say, however, that God had changed who he was. Nor were Peter, James, and John seeing the Glory of a different Lord in the face of Jesus, than Moses had seen on top of the mountain. Moses and Elijah being on top of the mountain with Jesus and the three disciples show Jesus to be the same Lord they had served and witnessed. The biggest problem Moses and Elijah faced as prophets of Israel was apostasy. For Moses, the people of Israel made a golden calf and began worshipping that instead of God. For Elijah, the people began worshipping the Canaanite god Baal, rather than God. Keeping the people of Israel focused on worshipping God, the Lord, rather than other false gods, was of primary importance to both Moses and Elijah, so you know if they were there with Jesus on the mountain top, then the same Lord was being revealed when Jesus was transfigured as when Moses was up on mount Sinai and Elijah was up on mount Horeb.
So, the same God who was revealed to Moses and Elijah was now being revealed to the disciples in the face of Jesus. The relationship of God with people was opened. Some would say, however, Jesus actually closed or narrowed the doorway to God. You may know some people who feel that way. Looking at the fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel, we can see why some feel that Jesus closed the door. “Jesus said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.’” (John 14:6) While stating you can only get to God through Christ, remember, Jesus is God, the same God served by Moses and Elijah.
Therefore, God is the way to God. We don’t need priests or mediums, or prophets like Moses to talk to God for us. We can all talk to God. We can all draw near to God. In Jesus, God allows us to come near to him by coming near to us. With God as a wholly transcendent God, people devised elaborate rituals to gain access to God. Animals were slaughtered to make ourselves pure. Certain people or places were seen as the access points to God. God was seen as a God who was inaccessible, beyond this world, or at least invisible and hard to witness. In Jesus, however, God became accessible to humans by becoming human, not through ritual or sacrifice on our end.
Ritual, sacrifice, and particular persons had been used to communicate with God because God was seen as so far above us, that we couldn’t raise ourselves up to be with God. So, in Jesus, God came down to our level, or showed he was already here among us. God showed us that he is here with us and will always be here with us. While still accessible through a person, the difference between the person of Jesus and the prophet like Moses is Jesus is not someone other than God. By becoming human, God became accessible to humans. The glory of God was revealed in the face of Jesus, showing that Jesus was and is God.
God, the infinite, became finite, while remaining infinite, and by doing so, he became infinitely accessible. God is accessible through Jesus because Jesus is God. In other words, God is accessible through God. We need no mediator. We need no ritual or sacrifice to connect to the transcendent God because God is here with us, the infinite made finite. God was physically here in the person of Jesus, and we need no mediator between us and God because our mediator to God is God himself. Rather than putting up a barrier to God, Jesus tore all barriers down.
There are many, however, who still like ritual, who find various rituals helpful in communicating with God. To that, I think Jesus would say, “fine.” Rituals can still be helpful. While we can simply talk to God as easily as we talk with one another, just like talking to the person of Jesus, many find simply talking to God to be rather difficult. Many especially find hearing God to be difficult, and this is because the way in which God often speaks to us.
Look at the example of Elijah. Elijah was up on the mountain, a prime place to meet God, and while there, Elijah heard a cacophony of sound: a whirlwind, an earthquake, a fire, but God was not in these. Rather, God spoke to Elijah in a still small voice. That still small voice is often hard to hear. That still small voice may come to us today in many forms, in many places, in our daily lives, in the city, in the voices of people we meet, but we are often so distracted by noise that we fail to hear or recognize the still small voice. Many of us, therefore, still have rituals we practice not in order to gain access to God, but to quiet things down so we can hear God. Many of us still need some ritual not because God is inaccessible, but because we can often be distracted.
For example, I cannot hear a word my wife says to me if the television is on. For us to communicate, there must be a certain amount of ritual: I must turn off or mute the TV. The only barriers to communication between my wife and me are the barriers we put up ourselves. In the same way, the only barriers in communication between each of us and God are the barriers we put up ourselves, and sometimes we have to work to take those barriers down. Often we need to help each other to remove those barriers, but from God’s end, all barriers have been removed.
Maybe Jesus still feels like a barrier. Maybe you prefer to talk to God as Father or Mother. Fine, do so. Maybe you prefer to talk to God as the human person, Jesus. Fine, do so. Maybe you prefer to talk to God as ethereal Holy Spirit. Fine, do so. All access points are open. Maybe you prefer to be out in nature to talk to God, or maybe you prefer to be in the city to talk to God. Maybe you prefer to be alone or maybe you prefer to be with people to talk to God. Fine, do so. Talk to God. Listen to him. God has removed all barriers, so talk to God, and listen, listen to what he has to say. Amen.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Was Isaiah Really Talking About Jesus?
Brad Sullivan
First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
Sunday, January 13th, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:13-17
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;” we hear from Isaiah. “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased,” which we hear from Matthew clearly echoes Isaiah. The passage from Matthew, God’s proclamation after Jesus’ baptism, is clearly linked to the passage we heard from Isaiah. Jesus is God’s servant, whom he upholds, his chosen, in whom his soul delights. Jesus lived as Isaiah’s prophecy stated.
“He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench…” (Isaiah 42:2-3a) Jesus was not a violence inciting revolutionary, trying to gain power for himself through a political revolution. Jesus did not try to overrun his enemies through military conquest. He did not take a broken world and break it even more by forcing justice on people through physical coercion.
“He will faithfully bring forth justice.” (Isaiah 42:3b) Jesus brought forth justice by relying on God. Jesus prayed for himself and others, and led others by serving them. Jesus cast out demons, he healed people, and he followed what he believed was God’s will even when doing so meant great personal sacrifice. In this way Jesus brought justice. Jesus taught the true way, another rendering of the Hebrew word for justice, the true way. Jesus taught, preached, and lived the true way, establishing His way of life on earth.
“He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching. (Isaiah 42:4) Jesus brought the true way of life to the Gentiles, the nations, as well as to the Jews, and Jesus did not stop until his work was accomplished.
So, again, Jesus’ life clearly points to Isaiah’s prophecy, and God’s proclamation at Jesus’ baptism clearly point to Isaiah’s prophecy. On the other side of that coin, however, does Isaiah’s prophecy clearly point to Jesus? Well, no, I don’t think it does. “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights.” Gee, could you vague that up a little bit? Who is God’s servant? It is Isaiah? Is it the people of Israel? Is it some unknown person in a crowd to whom God was pointing? We don’t know.
While Jesus’ life clearly points to Isaiah’s prophecy, Isaiah’s prophecy does not clearly point to Jesus. Otherwise, you’d think Isaiah’s prophecy would have said: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights. His name is Jesus of Nazareth, and he’ll be born in Bethlehem in a little less than 600 years.” Fortunately the prophecy wasn’t quite that specific. I say fortunately because if the prophecy was that specific, then the prophecy would have little to say to any of us.
We would know Isaiah was a great fortune teller, a great predictor of the future. Instead, we know Isaiah as a great prophet, a teaching and exhorting prophet, teaching us even today something about God’s justice, God’s true way. We know from throughout Isaiah God is a God who loves justice. In Isaiah 58 for example God tells the people of Israel what kind of worship he wants, worship through sacrifice and fasting, no. “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed to free, and to break every yoke?”
Seeking after and bringing forth justice is true worship of God. It makes sense, then, that God’s servant in whom his soul delights is one who faithfully brings forth justice. Further, without a clear referent in Isaiah as to who God’s servant is, we could say that anyone who faithfully brings forth justice is God’s servant in whom his soul delights. Anyone who faithfully brings forth God’s true way is God’s servant in whom his soul delights.
Might I be committing heresy here, somehow diminishing Jesus by saying Isaiah’s prophecy wasn’t only for him or by saying somehow that Jesus is not unique. No. Can you imagine Jesus sitting around remorsefully thinking, “Oh, you mean that prophecy isn’t just about me?” I have a feeling Jesus wants Isaiah’s prophecy to be fulfilled as many times and in as many people as possible.
Remember, at Jesus’ baptism, God spoke the words, “This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” and by speaking those words, God pointed to Isaiah’s prophecy, calling that prophecy fulfilled in Jesus, and in our baptisms, we are baptized in the name of Jesus as followers of Jesus.
Do you think Jesus would want his followers to worship him through praise only and not by continuing the work Jesus did? Jesus taught his followers to live as he lived, to bring forth justice as he brought forth justice. Jesus wants that prophecy fulfilled. Remember also that true worship of God is to bring forth justice. Living a life, therefore, that fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy does not diminish Jesus, but is the highest worship of Jesus. For Isaiah’s prophecy to be fulfilled in Jesus’ followers is for Isaiah’s prophecy to continue to be fulfilled in Jesus.
So, when we are baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are baptized as fulfillers of prophecy, or at least potential fulfillers of prophecy. When we are baptized, we are granted forgiveness of sin so there is nothing to separate us from God, and we are raised to the new life of grace so we can continue as God’s beloved, his chosen, in whom his soul delights.
We can choose, of course, not to follow after Jesus. We don’t have to be God’s servants in whom his soul delights. God does not force us by coercion. Just as God’s servant does not bring forth justice through coercion or force, neither does God force us to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy. He gives us the gift of forgiveness of sin. He raises us to the new life of grace, and he let’s us decide whether or not we want to be his servants.
God is just, and kind, and wonderful. We get to decide if we want to be God’s servant. Now, being God’s servant sound like it might be difficult, and Jesus even assures us being God’s servant is difficult, but think about Jesus’ life. Do you get the feeling Jesus was generally joyful or miserable? Jesus had a difficult life being God’s servant, and Jesus had a wonderful, beautiful, joyful life being God’s servant. Think about those words, God’s servant in whom his soul delights…sounds pretty good.
A joyful life of service to God, that’s the life into which we are baptized. Actually, we’re baptized into a life of forgiveness and grace, and we’re invited into a joyful life of service. Through our baptism, we’re invited to have Jesus’ life fulfilled in our lives. Through our baptism, we’re invited to have Isaiah’s prophecy fulfilled again and again. “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” (Isaiah 42:1-3) Amen.
First Sunday after the Epiphany, Year A
Sunday, January 13th, 2008
Emmanuel, Houston
Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:13-17
“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights;” we hear from Isaiah. “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased,” which we hear from Matthew clearly echoes Isaiah. The passage from Matthew, God’s proclamation after Jesus’ baptism, is clearly linked to the passage we heard from Isaiah. Jesus is God’s servant, whom he upholds, his chosen, in whom his soul delights. Jesus lived as Isaiah’s prophecy stated.
“He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench…” (Isaiah 42:2-3a) Jesus was not a violence inciting revolutionary, trying to gain power for himself through a political revolution. Jesus did not try to overrun his enemies through military conquest. He did not take a broken world and break it even more by forcing justice on people through physical coercion.
“He will faithfully bring forth justice.” (Isaiah 42:3b) Jesus brought forth justice by relying on God. Jesus prayed for himself and others, and led others by serving them. Jesus cast out demons, he healed people, and he followed what he believed was God’s will even when doing so meant great personal sacrifice. In this way Jesus brought justice. Jesus taught the true way, another rendering of the Hebrew word for justice, the true way. Jesus taught, preached, and lived the true way, establishing His way of life on earth.
“He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his teaching. (Isaiah 42:4) Jesus brought the true way of life to the Gentiles, the nations, as well as to the Jews, and Jesus did not stop until his work was accomplished.
So, again, Jesus’ life clearly points to Isaiah’s prophecy, and God’s proclamation at Jesus’ baptism clearly point to Isaiah’s prophecy. On the other side of that coin, however, does Isaiah’s prophecy clearly point to Jesus? Well, no, I don’t think it does. “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights.” Gee, could you vague that up a little bit? Who is God’s servant? It is Isaiah? Is it the people of Israel? Is it some unknown person in a crowd to whom God was pointing? We don’t know.
While Jesus’ life clearly points to Isaiah’s prophecy, Isaiah’s prophecy does not clearly point to Jesus. Otherwise, you’d think Isaiah’s prophecy would have said: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights. His name is Jesus of Nazareth, and he’ll be born in Bethlehem in a little less than 600 years.” Fortunately the prophecy wasn’t quite that specific. I say fortunately because if the prophecy was that specific, then the prophecy would have little to say to any of us.
We would know Isaiah was a great fortune teller, a great predictor of the future. Instead, we know Isaiah as a great prophet, a teaching and exhorting prophet, teaching us even today something about God’s justice, God’s true way. We know from throughout Isaiah God is a God who loves justice. In Isaiah 58 for example God tells the people of Israel what kind of worship he wants, worship through sacrifice and fasting, no. “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed to free, and to break every yoke?”
Seeking after and bringing forth justice is true worship of God. It makes sense, then, that God’s servant in whom his soul delights is one who faithfully brings forth justice. Further, without a clear referent in Isaiah as to who God’s servant is, we could say that anyone who faithfully brings forth justice is God’s servant in whom his soul delights. Anyone who faithfully brings forth God’s true way is God’s servant in whom his soul delights.
Might I be committing heresy here, somehow diminishing Jesus by saying Isaiah’s prophecy wasn’t only for him or by saying somehow that Jesus is not unique. No. Can you imagine Jesus sitting around remorsefully thinking, “Oh, you mean that prophecy isn’t just about me?” I have a feeling Jesus wants Isaiah’s prophecy to be fulfilled as many times and in as many people as possible.
Remember, at Jesus’ baptism, God spoke the words, “This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased” and by speaking those words, God pointed to Isaiah’s prophecy, calling that prophecy fulfilled in Jesus, and in our baptisms, we are baptized in the name of Jesus as followers of Jesus.
Do you think Jesus would want his followers to worship him through praise only and not by continuing the work Jesus did? Jesus taught his followers to live as he lived, to bring forth justice as he brought forth justice. Jesus wants that prophecy fulfilled. Remember also that true worship of God is to bring forth justice. Living a life, therefore, that fulfills Isaiah’s prophecy does not diminish Jesus, but is the highest worship of Jesus. For Isaiah’s prophecy to be fulfilled in Jesus’ followers is for Isaiah’s prophecy to continue to be fulfilled in Jesus.
So, when we are baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection, we are baptized as fulfillers of prophecy, or at least potential fulfillers of prophecy. When we are baptized, we are granted forgiveness of sin so there is nothing to separate us from God, and we are raised to the new life of grace so we can continue as God’s beloved, his chosen, in whom his soul delights.
We can choose, of course, not to follow after Jesus. We don’t have to be God’s servants in whom his soul delights. God does not force us by coercion. Just as God’s servant does not bring forth justice through coercion or force, neither does God force us to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy. He gives us the gift of forgiveness of sin. He raises us to the new life of grace, and he let’s us decide whether or not we want to be his servants.
God is just, and kind, and wonderful. We get to decide if we want to be God’s servant. Now, being God’s servant sound like it might be difficult, and Jesus even assures us being God’s servant is difficult, but think about Jesus’ life. Do you get the feeling Jesus was generally joyful or miserable? Jesus had a difficult life being God’s servant, and Jesus had a wonderful, beautiful, joyful life being God’s servant. Think about those words, God’s servant in whom his soul delights…sounds pretty good.
A joyful life of service to God, that’s the life into which we are baptized. Actually, we’re baptized into a life of forgiveness and grace, and we’re invited into a joyful life of service. Through our baptism, we’re invited to have Jesus’ life fulfilled in our lives. Through our baptism, we’re invited to have Isaiah’s prophecy fulfilled again and again. “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.” (Isaiah 42:1-3) Amen.
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