Brad Sullivan
2nd Sunday of Advent, Year C
Sunday, December 6th, 2009
Emmanuel, Houston
Malachi 3:1-4
Canticle 16 (Luke 1:68-79)
Philippians 1:3-11
Luke 3:1-6
John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. By repenting, people turn their lives around and re-orient towards God. Through the forgiveness of sins, people can receive peace. Re-orienting towards God and finding peace seem like two good ways to prepare for Christmas, the arrival of Jesus, the prince of peace.
So, in order to illustrate how we might reorient ourselves towards God and find some peace, I’d like to share an email I was forwarded earlier this week. It was a joke email of a communication from a control tower to a couple of landing planes which read:
Tower: "Tower to Saudi Air 511 -- You are cleared to land eastbound on runway 9R."
Saudi Air: "Thank you Atlanta ATC. Acknowledge cleared to land on infidel's runway 9R - Allah be praised."
Tower: "Tower to Iran Air 711 --You are cleared to land westbound on runway 9R."
Iran Air: "Thank you Atlanta ATC. We are cleared to land on infidel's runway 9R. - Allah is Great."
Pause...
Saudi Air: "ATLANTA ATC - ATLANTA ATC"
Tower: "Go ahead Saudi Air 511."
Saudi Air: "You have cleared both our aircrafts for the same runway going in opposite directions. We are on a collision course…instructions please.”
Tower: "Well bless your hearts, and praise Jesus. Y'all be careful now, and tell Allah "hey" for us."
I had a pretty dim view of the email when I read it and replied, asking the person not to send me emails like that again. I didn’t find it funny, and I thought advocating murder, especially in Jesus’ name to be rather deplorable.
Fortunately, this person wrote me back and we had a really good discussion about the email and the reasons for sending it in the first place. While this person would never actually advocate violence against anyone, he is still feeling angry and afraid after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. We both assumed this person is not alone in feeling that way, angry for the attacks, afraid similar attacks might happen again, afraid for the lives of soldiers who are now fighting because of terrorists.
The killings at Fort Hood give us reasons to be angry. The increase in troop deployments gives some of us reasons to be afraid and for some, reasons to be angry. I’m guessing there are many who are living with anger and fear, if not because of 9/11, then because of something.
In light of such anger and fear, sending the email that I just read is not as horrible as I initially thought. Rather than seeking to incite violence, such an email is really a form of catharsis, of trying to let go of some anger and fear. We need outlets for our anger. We need outlets for our fear.
We even see such outlets in scripture. The last verse of Psalm 137 reads: "Happy shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!" (137:9) Psalm 137 is a lament psalm prayed during the time of Judah’s deportation to Babylon. Jerusalem had been destroyed, and we find in the beginning of the psalm that Israel’s captors were even taunting them saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 'Sing of how great Jerusalem is, being that we just destroyed it,' they said. So, in the midst of captivity, destruction, and torment, the Psalmist prayed, “Happy shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” Like email about the planes on the runway I read earlier, this too was an expression of anger and fear. The beauty of the Psalm is that it doesn’t deny the feelings of anger and fear, rather, it offers those feelings to God (who knows we feel that way already).
Who among us can honestly say we’ve never felt anger toward someone and even had some thoughts of wanting vengeance? At our best moments, we might not actually want to exact vengeance, but we still might feel that desire. God knows we have anger and fear and desires for vengeance, so offering our anger, fear, and desire vengeance to God is the best thing we can do with them. The idea is to be able to release the anger and fear by offering them to God, rather than acting with vengeance on those feelings.
The joke about the planes crashing into each other on the runway expresses a similar sentiment as the Psalm. People still have anger over 9/11 and fear about terrorist attacks. The challenge with the email for me is that it might serve to fuel anger and fear rather than to release them. Depending on who reads the email or how they read the email, it could provoke hatred rather than catharsis.
By offering our anger and fear and even hatred to God, we leave those feelings where we know they will be safe. As we know, God answers all prayers, he just doesn’t always say “yes”. Just because we ask God for vengeance doesn’t mean he’s going to oblige, or he does, it might not be in this life. God will bring justice. Our challenge is to trust him and to live lives of love and forgiveness rather than lives of fear and anger.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
A new birth of creation still to come
Brad Sullivan
Proper 28, Year B
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
Emmanuel, Houston
1 Samuel 1:4-20
1 Samuel 2:1-10
Hebrews 10:19-25
Mark 13:1-8
Last week, we heard about the poor widow who put only two copper coins into the treasury of the temple while others put in vast sums of money. Considering that part of the purpose for the treasury was to take care of the widows, I spoke of possible problem going on with the temple in the first century, that the religion itself and had possibly become too important to the people, eclipsing God. Along a similar vein, we have another discussion in the reading today arising from a comment about the temple.
In today’s Gospel reading, immediately after the story from last week, some of Jesus’ disciples point out how wonderful all the buildings are. I can’t help but think they might be saying this in response to Jesus’ lesson in the temple. “You may say, Jesus, that the widow’s offering was great,” the disciples might have been saying, “but we wouldn’t have such wonderful buildings if everyone only gave a few copper coins.”
The disciples missed one of the points of Jesus’ previous lesson. They were still looking to the temple to find God’s glory. God’s glory, however, is not found or contained in buildings. Indeed, Jesus immediately tells the disciples that the temple will be destroyed. God would of course continue after the destruction of the temple. Ultimately, Jesus was saying, the temple doesn’t matter.
This was undoubtedly a big shock to the disciples who felt Jesus was the messiah and believed that the messiah would bring peace to Israel and that because of him, all nations would flock to Jerusalem, to worship in the temple. There were many prophecies which pointed this idea of peace for Israel coming through a messiah, an anointed king, and that as a part of this peace in Israel, the nations would no longer fight with Israel but flock to Israel to join with her. We find an example of this idea in the forth chapter of Micah:
In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it, and many nations shall come and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Tied to this prophecy was the temple, the Lord’s house on the highest of mountains, mount Zion in Jerusalem, where the temple stood. There is little wonder, then, that the disciples held the temple with such reverence. “Look Jesus, God’s glory is all around us, see how important all these buildings are.” No, Jesus says, the buildings are not important. They’re helpful, they’re useful, but ultimately, God will get along just fine without them. Jesus was changing the disciples’ understanding of God’s glory and of the prophecies.
The ideas of God, of his glory, and of all the nations flocking to God for instruction were so much greater and more cosmic in nature than the disciples realized. Look beyond the temple. Look beyond the present situation. Look beyond your own lives. Nation will rise against nation, there will be earthquakes, famines, false messiahs. Things are going to get really bad, and things are going to remain in some sense as they always have been. “This is but the beginning of the birth pangs,” Jesus said.
That’s always seemed like a very discouraging verse to me. All these bad things are going to happen, and it’s just the beginning of how bad things are going to get, but that’s not what Jesus says. He calls all of these painful events “birth pangs”. If these events are birth pangs, then it would seem there is a birth to follow.
Proper 28, Year B
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
Emmanuel, Houston
1 Samuel 1:4-20
1 Samuel 2:1-10
Hebrews 10:19-25
Mark 13:1-8
Last week, we heard about the poor widow who put only two copper coins into the treasury of the temple while others put in vast sums of money. Considering that part of the purpose for the treasury was to take care of the widows, I spoke of possible problem going on with the temple in the first century, that the religion itself and had possibly become too important to the people, eclipsing God. Along a similar vein, we have another discussion in the reading today arising from a comment about the temple.
In today’s Gospel reading, immediately after the story from last week, some of Jesus’ disciples point out how wonderful all the buildings are. I can’t help but think they might be saying this in response to Jesus’ lesson in the temple. “You may say, Jesus, that the widow’s offering was great,” the disciples might have been saying, “but we wouldn’t have such wonderful buildings if everyone only gave a few copper coins.”
The disciples missed one of the points of Jesus’ previous lesson. They were still looking to the temple to find God’s glory. God’s glory, however, is not found or contained in buildings. Indeed, Jesus immediately tells the disciples that the temple will be destroyed. God would of course continue after the destruction of the temple. Ultimately, Jesus was saying, the temple doesn’t matter.
This was undoubtedly a big shock to the disciples who felt Jesus was the messiah and believed that the messiah would bring peace to Israel and that because of him, all nations would flock to Jerusalem, to worship in the temple. There were many prophecies which pointed this idea of peace for Israel coming through a messiah, an anointed king, and that as a part of this peace in Israel, the nations would no longer fight with Israel but flock to Israel to join with her. We find an example of this idea in the forth chapter of Micah:
In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it, and many nations shall come and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Tied to this prophecy was the temple, the Lord’s house on the highest of mountains, mount Zion in Jerusalem, where the temple stood. There is little wonder, then, that the disciples held the temple with such reverence. “Look Jesus, God’s glory is all around us, see how important all these buildings are.” No, Jesus says, the buildings are not important. They’re helpful, they’re useful, but ultimately, God will get along just fine without them. Jesus was changing the disciples’ understanding of God’s glory and of the prophecies.
The ideas of God, of his glory, and of all the nations flocking to God for instruction were so much greater and more cosmic in nature than the disciples realized. Look beyond the temple. Look beyond the present situation. Look beyond your own lives. Nation will rise against nation, there will be earthquakes, famines, false messiahs. Things are going to get really bad, and things are going to remain in some sense as they always have been. “This is but the beginning of the birth pangs,” Jesus said.
That’s always seemed like a very discouraging verse to me. All these bad things are going to happen, and it’s just the beginning of how bad things are going to get, but that’s not what Jesus says. He calls all of these painful events “birth pangs”. If these events are birth pangs, then it would seem there is a birth to follow.
Problems when religion gets in the way of God
Brad Sullivan
Proper 27, Year B
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
Emmanuel, Houston
Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17
Psalm 127
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44
In our story from Ruth today, you may have noticed that there was a whole lot missing from the middle of the story, 24 verses which really explain what was going on in this story today. I assume some of y’all know the story of Ruth, but for those who don’t. Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi. Naomi, her husband and her two sons were fairly well-to-do Israelites, but there was a famine so they moved away and found wives for their two sons, one of whom was Ruth.
Unfortunately, before very long, all three of the men died, and Naomi, Ruth, and Orpha, the other wife, were all widows. Orpha goes on back to her family, but Ruth seems to love her mother-in-law, Naomi, very much and clings to her. So, they return to Israel.
Now, as widows, Naomi and Ruth were in a tough spot. Back then, they couldn’t just go out and get jobs. Like it or not, by their society and culture back then, women were fairly dependent on men to provide, and so we see in the opening verses of our reading today, Naomi telling Ruth to seek some security by going to their kinsman Boaz. Ruth does so, and in the missing verses, we see a negotiation going on between Boaz and a nearer kinsman to Naomi and Ruth. The negotiation was basically about who would marry Ruth.
Naomi and Ruth had land. Like I said earlier Naomi and her family were fairly well-to-do. Now that they were widows, their nearest kinsmen could purchase the land thereby increasing his own holdings and helping to provide for the widows. The catch was, Boaz tells this nearer kinsman that if he bought the land, he would also have to marry Ruth and raise children for her. He did not want to do that because it might hurt his own financial standing, having to provide for kids, so he and Boaz agree that Boaz would acquire the land and marry Ruth, which we see at the end of our reading that he does.
Now again, we may not like women being negotiated over almost like property, not like property, but almost, however, we see in the actions of Boaz a man who was willing to take on some personal risk in order to care for the widows among them according to the rules of their society. Boaz was a righteous man, caring for the widow.
Fastforward around 900 years. In our Gospel story, today, Jesus is denouncing the scribes because they didn’t take care of the widows among them. Rather, Jesus says, the Scribes “devour widows’ houses”. What exactly that phrase means, I have not found, but here’s my speculation. Perhaps widows in Jesus’ time would sell their land and possessions in order to make ends meat. Scribes were often administrators even over financial matters so perhaps the scribes were taking a good portion of the sale for themselves and for the Temple treasury rather than leaving all of it with the widow.
We may say that even the widows should give something to the treasury, but the scribes were taking far more than they should have been. Further, part of the reason for the treasury was to take care of the widows. Every three years, a substantial part of the tithe was supposed to go to the widows to take care of them. By Jesus’ indictment, it seems that this practice may not have been happening either or at least not to the extent it should have been.
Then, we see the example of the widow giving her two copper coins. We tend to read this as an example of a widow with great faith, giving out of her extreme poverty, and then we all get to feel badly for not giving enough, even if in poverty. The story of the widow giving the coins, however, is placed right next to the indictment against the scribes for devouring widows’ houses. It seems to me that while this woman’s faith and generosity is praisworthy, she shouldn’t have been giving anything to the treasury, or at least not being asked to do so.
The administrators of the treasury should have been taking care of her, not the other way around, but they liked their honors and wealth and pretty clothes and flowing robes (and no, the irony of saying that while wearing an alb an chasuble is not lost on me). The scribes should have been acting like Boaz did when he took care of Naomi and Ruth. Instead, they placed their value on themselves and on the temple and the religion, even if it meant the people in their charge suffered.
Proper 27, Year B
Sunday, November 8th, 2009
Emmanuel, Houston
Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17
Psalm 127
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44
In our story from Ruth today, you may have noticed that there was a whole lot missing from the middle of the story, 24 verses which really explain what was going on in this story today. I assume some of y’all know the story of Ruth, but for those who don’t. Ruth was the daughter-in-law of Naomi. Naomi, her husband and her two sons were fairly well-to-do Israelites, but there was a famine so they moved away and found wives for their two sons, one of whom was Ruth.
Unfortunately, before very long, all three of the men died, and Naomi, Ruth, and Orpha, the other wife, were all widows. Orpha goes on back to her family, but Ruth seems to love her mother-in-law, Naomi, very much and clings to her. So, they return to Israel.
Now, as widows, Naomi and Ruth were in a tough spot. Back then, they couldn’t just go out and get jobs. Like it or not, by their society and culture back then, women were fairly dependent on men to provide, and so we see in the opening verses of our reading today, Naomi telling Ruth to seek some security by going to their kinsman Boaz. Ruth does so, and in the missing verses, we see a negotiation going on between Boaz and a nearer kinsman to Naomi and Ruth. The negotiation was basically about who would marry Ruth.
Naomi and Ruth had land. Like I said earlier Naomi and her family were fairly well-to-do. Now that they were widows, their nearest kinsmen could purchase the land thereby increasing his own holdings and helping to provide for the widows. The catch was, Boaz tells this nearer kinsman that if he bought the land, he would also have to marry Ruth and raise children for her. He did not want to do that because it might hurt his own financial standing, having to provide for kids, so he and Boaz agree that Boaz would acquire the land and marry Ruth, which we see at the end of our reading that he does.
Now again, we may not like women being negotiated over almost like property, not like property, but almost, however, we see in the actions of Boaz a man who was willing to take on some personal risk in order to care for the widows among them according to the rules of their society. Boaz was a righteous man, caring for the widow.
Fastforward around 900 years. In our Gospel story, today, Jesus is denouncing the scribes because they didn’t take care of the widows among them. Rather, Jesus says, the Scribes “devour widows’ houses”. What exactly that phrase means, I have not found, but here’s my speculation. Perhaps widows in Jesus’ time would sell their land and possessions in order to make ends meat. Scribes were often administrators even over financial matters so perhaps the scribes were taking a good portion of the sale for themselves and for the Temple treasury rather than leaving all of it with the widow.
We may say that even the widows should give something to the treasury, but the scribes were taking far more than they should have been. Further, part of the reason for the treasury was to take care of the widows. Every three years, a substantial part of the tithe was supposed to go to the widows to take care of them. By Jesus’ indictment, it seems that this practice may not have been happening either or at least not to the extent it should have been.
Then, we see the example of the widow giving her two copper coins. We tend to read this as an example of a widow with great faith, giving out of her extreme poverty, and then we all get to feel badly for not giving enough, even if in poverty. The story of the widow giving the coins, however, is placed right next to the indictment against the scribes for devouring widows’ houses. It seems to me that while this woman’s faith and generosity is praisworthy, she shouldn’t have been giving anything to the treasury, or at least not being asked to do so.
The administrators of the treasury should have been taking care of her, not the other way around, but they liked their honors and wealth and pretty clothes and flowing robes (and no, the irony of saying that while wearing an alb an chasuble is not lost on me). The scribes should have been acting like Boaz did when he took care of Naomi and Ruth. Instead, they placed their value on themselves and on the temple and the religion, even if it meant the people in their charge suffered.
But Daddy, I don't want to go to bed
Brad Sullivan
Proper 24, Year B
Sunday, October 18th, 2009
Emmanuel, Houston
Job 38:1-7 (34-41)
Psalm 104:1-9, 25, 37c
Hebrews 5:1-10
Mark 10:35-45
Are y’all aware of just how much young children dislike bedtime? My son, Noah, is no exception. If he had things his way, he’d stay up each nigh playing with Kristin and me until he had a total meltdown, was completely exhausted, and inconsolable. He just doesn’t want to go to bed. He wants to play, and he wants to be with Kristin and me. Fortunately for him, Kristin and I are pretty strict on his bedtime. We have a nighttime routine to help him wind down which ends with us reading a book and singing a song to him.
He is now at the point that he requests these things. “Book,” he says once one story is finished, or once we start singing to him, he says “Sing.” He keeps wanting to put off sleep, and he doesn’t know how good sleep is for him. He is mightily disappointed many nights when we finally put him in his crib and leave the room. What he doesn’t know is how much more miserable he’d be the next day if we didn’t make him go to sleep.
By enforcing his bedtime, we’ve got a way of life for Noah that he doesn’t like and doesn’t understand, but it’s a better way of life than he would chose for himself. I bring this up as an analogy for how we humans often relate to the ways of life God has given us. We truly are like little children, with God as our loving parent. God has given us ways of life which we may not initially like or which may not make intuitive sense to us, but by trusting in God, we may just find God’s way of life to be better for us than the way we might choose on our own.
Turning to the Gospel for today, we find James and John with their own ideas for a way of life they’d like to follow. “Lord, my brother and I have been talking, and we know you have other disciples than just the two of us, but we also know we’re really a bit smarter and more capable than the rest of those guys, so we were thinking it would really be a smart move for you if, once you’ve taken over everything, if you made us the second and third most important people in the world, right behind you, of course. Does that sound ok, doable Jesus, if we’re the second and third most important people in the world?”
James and John were definitely being a little bit presumptuous when they asked Jesus if they could at his right and left hand, but I also like to think they were also simply showing there affection for Jesus. I like to think that they really loved Jesus and they really wanted him to love them back. He did of course, but I get they feeling they wanted his approval, like the less cool kid in school wanting approval from the really really cool kid in school. Maybe James and John were just plain old power hungry, but I like to give them the benefit of the doubt that their motives were a little bit out of love than merely out of desire for power.
Whatever their motives, we know that they certainly misunderstood what living in God’s kingdom really is. So Jesus, of course, took the opportunity to teach them. Living in God’s kingdom is not a life of power and domination, but a life of service and love. “You really want greatness,” Jesus said, “then serve other people.” Be meek, not great.
Jesus’ teaching about true greatness is about as counter-intuitive as it comes. Be great and mighty by being a humble servant. That just doesn’t make a whole lot of logical sense in our world of the powerful ruling over the less powerful, and so because Jesus teaching is so counter-intuitive, following that teaching takes a great deal of faith.
One type of faith could be simple obedience. Jesus said to do this so I feel I must obey. This obedience may be done somewhat out of fear. That’s ok. After all, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” but I’d like to emphasize that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, not the end of wisdom. Moving beyond that beginning with the fear of the Lord, we can come to a place of trust and love.
So, another type of faith, a faith that goes beyond obedience not only obeys but trusts. This faith says, “I trust in God. I trust in his goodnes, and I trust that the way of life he taught really is better than another way of life. If Jesus says ‘greatness comes from being a servant,’ then I will trust that he is telling the truth because I believe that he is good and has our best interests at heart when he teaches us his way.”
This faith does not require understanding. It may seek understanding, but understanding how or why the way Jesus taught us to live is better than any other way is not necessary for us to follow in Jesus’ way. This faith follows Jesus’ way out of trust.
I like to think that James and John had this trusting faith in Jesus when he told them that true greatness means being a servant. By the fact that James and John continued to be Jesus’ disciples, I think it’s safe to assume that they submitted submitted to Jesus’ teaching about true greatness. They likely didn’t understand Jesus’ teaching, and they were probably a little embarrased by his teaching. They had asked to be rulers of the world, Jesus said no, and then he taught all of the disciples that James and John were seeking the wrong thing, that true greatness means being a servant.
Despite their embarrasment, however, James and John stayed with Jesus, continued following him, and giving them the benefit of the doubt once more, I like to think they followed Jesus and submitted to his teaching not only out of fearful obedience, but out of loving trust. I like to think that while Jesus’ teaching made no sense to them, that they decided to follow Jesus’ teaching because they trusted in Jesus that his teaching was true and good and beneficial.
Proper 24, Year B
Sunday, October 18th, 2009
Emmanuel, Houston
Job 38:1-7 (34-41)
Psalm 104:1-9, 25, 37c
Hebrews 5:1-10
Mark 10:35-45
Are y’all aware of just how much young children dislike bedtime? My son, Noah, is no exception. If he had things his way, he’d stay up each nigh playing with Kristin and me until he had a total meltdown, was completely exhausted, and inconsolable. He just doesn’t want to go to bed. He wants to play, and he wants to be with Kristin and me. Fortunately for him, Kristin and I are pretty strict on his bedtime. We have a nighttime routine to help him wind down which ends with us reading a book and singing a song to him.
He is now at the point that he requests these things. “Book,” he says once one story is finished, or once we start singing to him, he says “Sing.” He keeps wanting to put off sleep, and he doesn’t know how good sleep is for him. He is mightily disappointed many nights when we finally put him in his crib and leave the room. What he doesn’t know is how much more miserable he’d be the next day if we didn’t make him go to sleep.
By enforcing his bedtime, we’ve got a way of life for Noah that he doesn’t like and doesn’t understand, but it’s a better way of life than he would chose for himself. I bring this up as an analogy for how we humans often relate to the ways of life God has given us. We truly are like little children, with God as our loving parent. God has given us ways of life which we may not initially like or which may not make intuitive sense to us, but by trusting in God, we may just find God’s way of life to be better for us than the way we might choose on our own.
Turning to the Gospel for today, we find James and John with their own ideas for a way of life they’d like to follow. “Lord, my brother and I have been talking, and we know you have other disciples than just the two of us, but we also know we’re really a bit smarter and more capable than the rest of those guys, so we were thinking it would really be a smart move for you if, once you’ve taken over everything, if you made us the second and third most important people in the world, right behind you, of course. Does that sound ok, doable Jesus, if we’re the second and third most important people in the world?”
James and John were definitely being a little bit presumptuous when they asked Jesus if they could at his right and left hand, but I also like to think they were also simply showing there affection for Jesus. I like to think that they really loved Jesus and they really wanted him to love them back. He did of course, but I get they feeling they wanted his approval, like the less cool kid in school wanting approval from the really really cool kid in school. Maybe James and John were just plain old power hungry, but I like to give them the benefit of the doubt that their motives were a little bit out of love than merely out of desire for power.
Whatever their motives, we know that they certainly misunderstood what living in God’s kingdom really is. So Jesus, of course, took the opportunity to teach them. Living in God’s kingdom is not a life of power and domination, but a life of service and love. “You really want greatness,” Jesus said, “then serve other people.” Be meek, not great.
Jesus’ teaching about true greatness is about as counter-intuitive as it comes. Be great and mighty by being a humble servant. That just doesn’t make a whole lot of logical sense in our world of the powerful ruling over the less powerful, and so because Jesus teaching is so counter-intuitive, following that teaching takes a great deal of faith.
One type of faith could be simple obedience. Jesus said to do this so I feel I must obey. This obedience may be done somewhat out of fear. That’s ok. After all, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” but I’d like to emphasize that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, not the end of wisdom. Moving beyond that beginning with the fear of the Lord, we can come to a place of trust and love.
So, another type of faith, a faith that goes beyond obedience not only obeys but trusts. This faith says, “I trust in God. I trust in his goodnes, and I trust that the way of life he taught really is better than another way of life. If Jesus says ‘greatness comes from being a servant,’ then I will trust that he is telling the truth because I believe that he is good and has our best interests at heart when he teaches us his way.”
This faith does not require understanding. It may seek understanding, but understanding how or why the way Jesus taught us to live is better than any other way is not necessary for us to follow in Jesus’ way. This faith follows Jesus’ way out of trust.
I like to think that James and John had this trusting faith in Jesus when he told them that true greatness means being a servant. By the fact that James and John continued to be Jesus’ disciples, I think it’s safe to assume that they submitted submitted to Jesus’ teaching about true greatness. They likely didn’t understand Jesus’ teaching, and they were probably a little embarrased by his teaching. They had asked to be rulers of the world, Jesus said no, and then he taught all of the disciples that James and John were seeking the wrong thing, that true greatness means being a servant.
Despite their embarrasment, however, James and John stayed with Jesus, continued following him, and giving them the benefit of the doubt once more, I like to think they followed Jesus and submitted to his teaching not only out of fearful obedience, but out of loving trust. I like to think that while Jesus’ teaching made no sense to them, that they decided to follow Jesus’ teaching because they trusted in Jesus that his teaching was true and good and beneficial.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Asking God for that which we need
Brad Sullivan
Proper 15, Year B
Sunday, August 16th, 2009
Emmanuel, Houston
I Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
Psalm 111
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58
What can we learn from Solomon? He prayed for wisdom, and that request pleased God so God granted him not only wisdom, but riches and honor as well. So, perhaps we could learn that if one wants to become rich, ask God for wisdom. Some might preach that message, but a lesson for us in this story is not how to get rich without actually trying nor is the lesson in this story really about gaining wisdom. A lesson for us in this story could be to know one’s limitations and to ask for God’s help with those limitations in order to serve God’s people: know one’s limitations, ask God’s help with those limitations in order to serve God’s people.
Ok, so maybe that’s three lessons, but in any case, looking at Solomon’s prayer for wisdom, there are several things we can see. First off, Solomon loved the Lord. That’s the first thing we were told in the lesson today, and his love of the Lord was first and foremost in Solomon’s life. Love the Lord.
There was a fairly young Jewish Rabbi a couple thousand years ago who preached that message. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) Jesus knew and taught the primacy of loving God. That’s the place where we start. Before we lie down at night, before we rise up in the morning, do we love the Lord? If we don’t, then everything else is for naught. Now, I know we all know this already, but it’s helpful to be reminded every once in a while, and it’s a nice thing to think about.
Before anything else, before we start our day, before showers and coffee, we get to love the Lord, and at the close of our day, after the winding down and the tooth brushing, we get to love the Lord.
How we choose to love the Lord in those times is up to each of us. Maybe we’ll simply remember that fact and say, “I love you Lord.” Maybe we’ll read some scripture. Maybe we’ll get down on our knees and pray by our bedside; I know some in this parish who do so every morning and night. Maybe we’ll write out our thoughts of the day, offering them up to the Lord, giving thanks and asking for guidance and help. Maybe we’ll pray prayers from the prayer book, or do whatever brings us nearer to the Lord, and allows us to love the Lord and to rest in his love for a while.
Proper 15, Year B
Sunday, August 16th, 2009
Emmanuel, Houston
I Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
Psalm 111
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58
What can we learn from Solomon? He prayed for wisdom, and that request pleased God so God granted him not only wisdom, but riches and honor as well. So, perhaps we could learn that if one wants to become rich, ask God for wisdom. Some might preach that message, but a lesson for us in this story is not how to get rich without actually trying nor is the lesson in this story really about gaining wisdom. A lesson for us in this story could be to know one’s limitations and to ask for God’s help with those limitations in order to serve God’s people: know one’s limitations, ask God’s help with those limitations in order to serve God’s people.
Ok, so maybe that’s three lessons, but in any case, looking at Solomon’s prayer for wisdom, there are several things we can see. First off, Solomon loved the Lord. That’s the first thing we were told in the lesson today, and his love of the Lord was first and foremost in Solomon’s life. Love the Lord.
There was a fairly young Jewish Rabbi a couple thousand years ago who preached that message. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) Jesus knew and taught the primacy of loving God. That’s the place where we start. Before we lie down at night, before we rise up in the morning, do we love the Lord? If we don’t, then everything else is for naught. Now, I know we all know this already, but it’s helpful to be reminded every once in a while, and it’s a nice thing to think about.
Before anything else, before we start our day, before showers and coffee, we get to love the Lord, and at the close of our day, after the winding down and the tooth brushing, we get to love the Lord.
How we choose to love the Lord in those times is up to each of us. Maybe we’ll simply remember that fact and say, “I love you Lord.” Maybe we’ll read some scripture. Maybe we’ll get down on our knees and pray by our bedside; I know some in this parish who do so every morning and night. Maybe we’ll write out our thoughts of the day, offering them up to the Lord, giving thanks and asking for guidance and help. Maybe we’ll pray prayers from the prayer book, or do whatever brings us nearer to the Lord, and allows us to love the Lord and to rest in his love for a while.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Freedom from our Bad Decisions
July 26th, 2009
Proper 12, Year B
2 Samuel 11:1-15
Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21
This is a brief typed version of the sermon I gave...I did not write out a full text.
Last week, I had the privilige of being on a mission trip with 17 of our youth. We stayed at the Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Houston and served at several organizations around Houston, largely serving Houston's homeless population. The trip was a wonderful experience for me and the youth, and each day, at least one of the youth said the place we worked was their favorite one and he or she wanted to come back.
The trip was not without conflicts, as one might expect. Several of our youth had conflicts with one another, but they all saught reconciliation (sometimes with a bit of coaxing). They admitted their faults to each other, appologized, and were reconciled to each other.
We all make poor decisions in our lives which hurt others; that is part of being human. Even in our baptismal covenant, we state that we will fall into sin and then when we do, we will repent, and return to the Lord. The first part of repentance is admitting fault, saying we did something wrong.
I've been careful not to say repentance involved admitting a mistake. In an incitful article, Leonard Pitts Jr. points out the falacy of calling our poor dicisions, "mistakes". (see article - http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/1127813.html)
True admission of guilt involves owning up to the poor decisions we make. Saying, "I made a mistake", on the other hand, amounts to a denial of culpability. "The serpent made me do it," Eve said. "Eve made me do it," Adam said. "I'm sorry you thought I was insulting you," one might say. All such appologies deny our fault.
This is the problem we find with David in the reading this morning. He made an excedingly poor decision by knowingly having an affair with Bathsheba and then he denied culpability, trying to cover up his poor decision by inviting Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, home so he could be with her and think the child was his. He built up lie upon lie, finally choosing to have Uriah killed than admit his fault.
Proper 12, Year B
2 Samuel 11:1-15
Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21
This is a brief typed version of the sermon I gave...I did not write out a full text.
Last week, I had the privilige of being on a mission trip with 17 of our youth. We stayed at the Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Houston and served at several organizations around Houston, largely serving Houston's homeless population. The trip was a wonderful experience for me and the youth, and each day, at least one of the youth said the place we worked was their favorite one and he or she wanted to come back.
The trip was not without conflicts, as one might expect. Several of our youth had conflicts with one another, but they all saught reconciliation (sometimes with a bit of coaxing). They admitted their faults to each other, appologized, and were reconciled to each other.
We all make poor decisions in our lives which hurt others; that is part of being human. Even in our baptismal covenant, we state that we will fall into sin and then when we do, we will repent, and return to the Lord. The first part of repentance is admitting fault, saying we did something wrong.
I've been careful not to say repentance involved admitting a mistake. In an incitful article, Leonard Pitts Jr. points out the falacy of calling our poor dicisions, "mistakes". (see article - http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/1127813.html)
True admission of guilt involves owning up to the poor decisions we make. Saying, "I made a mistake", on the other hand, amounts to a denial of culpability. "The serpent made me do it," Eve said. "Eve made me do it," Adam said. "I'm sorry you thought I was insulting you," one might say. All such appologies deny our fault.
This is the problem we find with David in the reading this morning. He made an excedingly poor decision by knowingly having an affair with Bathsheba and then he denied culpability, trying to cover up his poor decision by inviting Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, home so he could be with her and think the child was his. He built up lie upon lie, finally choosing to have Uriah killed than admit his fault.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Enduring in our Faith
Brad Sullivan
Proper 7, Year B
Sunday, June 21st, 2009 (Father’s Day)
Emmanuel, Houston
1 Samuel 17:32-49
Psalm 9:16-20
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41
What about the Christian faith keeps you having faith in Christ? What about the Christian faith keeps you going? What soothes you when you are stressed? What calms you when you are angry? What comforts you when you are saddened or lifts you up when you are downtrodden? What brings you peace when you are frantic? What humbles you when you are proud? What brings love to your heart when you are feeling irritated or selfish? In short, what about the Christian faith helps you to endure in your faith?
Endurance seems to be something of a theme in our lessons today. Paul mentions endurance explicitly in his letter, writing about the endurance he and Timothy have in their faith through many hardships. Paul is also alluding, however, to the endurance he prays the Corinthians will have.
In various ways since Paul began the church in Corinth, the Corinthians seem to have fallen away from the faith they had been given. By reading Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we see that some argued over who had the true Christianity, dividing over which apostle or teacher they followed. Some became arrogant. Some became lax in their morality. Some seemed to believe proper religious practice to be more important the faith signified by that religious practice.
From 2 Corinthians, we see that further divisions came in the church by some following supposed apostles who were flashier than Paul, who seemed possibly to preach a lax version of Christianity, flashy, fun, without much substance. Whatever these false apostles preached, it was enough to lead some of the Corinthians to fall away from the faith they had received from Paul.
Perhaps Christianity seemed too difficult and so some Corinthians fell away. Perhaps after the excitement of conversion had died down, Christianity seemed rather dry, dull, and lifeless to some of the Corinthians and so they fell away. Perhaps the fighting within the Corinthian church itself over who was right led some people to fall away. For whatever reason, we find in Corinth, a church divided, a church lax in its faith, it’s morals, it’s works of charity, and we hear these words of Paul encouraging them to endure, to keep or regain their faith.
There is a similar theme of endurance in the story of David and Goliath. As soon as David offers to fight Goliath, he is told that he is unable. The Israelites had been totally cowed by the size of Goliath. No one else had even offered to go fight him. They were afraid not only of losing their lives, but of giving all of Israel into the hands of the Philistines. Goliath was the Philistines’ champion, waiting on a champion from Israel, the deal being that whoever won the fight would win the entire war for their country.
So David was fighting for his life and for all of Israel, no pressure. Then, once he volunteers, the king, his brothers, Goliath himself all tell him he can’t win. Goliath was too big for David to stand a chance. It was like putting me up against Hulk Hogan, but David didn’t care about Goliath’s size. David cared about the fact that God would be fighting for him. David seemed to remember the times in the past when God fought for Israel. Israel had defeated many enemies not because of their military might, but because of their dependence on God.
From a human point of view, the Israelites drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea by Moses waiving around a stick. The city of Jericho was taken because Joshua had a box and some trumpets. When Gideon defeated the Amalekites and Midianites, he had 32,000 men with him, but God decided that was too many, so he left Gideon with only 300 men, and they won the battle with some torches and trumpets. Of course in all of these cases, God was the one fighting for the people of Israel. God was teaching the Israelites to trust in him rather than in their own might.
Fortunately for Israel, David seemed to remember this lesson when he fought Goliath. Unlike Saul and the other soldiers, David trusted in God. He endured in his faith against a seemingly unbeatable enemy.
Now look at today’s Gospel. Jesus was again teaching his disciples to endure in their faith. Now I love this story; it’s very funny to me. Just imagine being in the boat with this huge windstorm and then looking back and seeing Jesus asleep, his mouth hanging open, snoring in the back of the boat. Of course the disciples were upset, “Dude, wake up, Jesus; what are you thinking?”, and of course Jesus wasn’t bothered by the storm. He knew he could handle it. So, he got to teach the disciples again to keep their faith. “Why are you afraid?” he asked them, “Have you still no faith?” He was teaching them to endure in their faith even though they were afraid.
So in the three lessons we heard this morning, we have several calls to endure in our faith and several reason why we might not endure in our faith. Perhaps like the disciples, we are at times afraid. Perhaps like the Israelites, we sometimes forget who God is. Perhaps like the Corinthians, we spend too much time fighting over who is right. Perhaps our faith sometimes loses its luster. Perhaps we’re at times led astray by false apostles. In many different ways, we may find ourselves throughout our lives without much faith in God. The key is to endure. Keep striving after God.
When God seems remote, remember those times when he felt near. When afraid, remember that God is with you, even in death. When God seems boring, and this might be the most insidious, remember, “all that glitters is not gold.” Faith in God may not be flashy. It often isn’t. Faith in God won’t necessarily fulfill our desires for wealth or pleasure, and faith in God my certainly seem boring and slow compared to the fast pace and flashy things of our society. Many activities are more “fun” than prayer. There are many things or activities that are more instantly gratifying than prayer. There are many things or activities that are more instantly gratifying than service to others. There are many things or activities that are more instantly gratifying than following the commandments of God as a healthy and helpful way of life.
Faith in God, however, will help us endure when many other things fail us. A life of service to others will fulfill our lives vastly more than a life lived only for oneself. A life lived following God’s commandments will prove a more healthy and helpful way of life than many other ways of life which seem more instantly gratifying. Enduring in our faith in God is neither easy nor, but enduring in our faith in God will carry us well through this life.
So, looking again at each of our lives and how the texts we heard today speak to our lives, I have several questions to ask. Who is your Goliath; who or what makes you forget who God is? What’s your windstorm; what has you so afraid that you lose your trust in God? Who is your false apostle; who or what pulls you away from your faith in God and God’s way of life for you?
Now, holding those in your mind, think also to your answers to the questions with which I began today. What about the Christian faith keeps you having faith in Christ? What about the Christian faith keeps you going? What soothes you when you are stressed? What calms you when you are angry? What comforts you when you are in need? What brings you peace when you are frantic? What humbles you when you are proud? What brings love to your heart when you are feeling irritated or selfish? We may not have answers to all of those questions yet, but that’s one reason we keep striving, to find more peace, to find, more love, so that we can endure. Amen.
Proper 7, Year B
Sunday, June 21st, 2009 (Father’s Day)
Emmanuel, Houston
1 Samuel 17:32-49
Psalm 9:16-20
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41
What about the Christian faith keeps you having faith in Christ? What about the Christian faith keeps you going? What soothes you when you are stressed? What calms you when you are angry? What comforts you when you are saddened or lifts you up when you are downtrodden? What brings you peace when you are frantic? What humbles you when you are proud? What brings love to your heart when you are feeling irritated or selfish? In short, what about the Christian faith helps you to endure in your faith?
Endurance seems to be something of a theme in our lessons today. Paul mentions endurance explicitly in his letter, writing about the endurance he and Timothy have in their faith through many hardships. Paul is also alluding, however, to the endurance he prays the Corinthians will have.
In various ways since Paul began the church in Corinth, the Corinthians seem to have fallen away from the faith they had been given. By reading Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we see that some argued over who had the true Christianity, dividing over which apostle or teacher they followed. Some became arrogant. Some became lax in their morality. Some seemed to believe proper religious practice to be more important the faith signified by that religious practice.
From 2 Corinthians, we see that further divisions came in the church by some following supposed apostles who were flashier than Paul, who seemed possibly to preach a lax version of Christianity, flashy, fun, without much substance. Whatever these false apostles preached, it was enough to lead some of the Corinthians to fall away from the faith they had received from Paul.
Perhaps Christianity seemed too difficult and so some Corinthians fell away. Perhaps after the excitement of conversion had died down, Christianity seemed rather dry, dull, and lifeless to some of the Corinthians and so they fell away. Perhaps the fighting within the Corinthian church itself over who was right led some people to fall away. For whatever reason, we find in Corinth, a church divided, a church lax in its faith, it’s morals, it’s works of charity, and we hear these words of Paul encouraging them to endure, to keep or regain their faith.
There is a similar theme of endurance in the story of David and Goliath. As soon as David offers to fight Goliath, he is told that he is unable. The Israelites had been totally cowed by the size of Goliath. No one else had even offered to go fight him. They were afraid not only of losing their lives, but of giving all of Israel into the hands of the Philistines. Goliath was the Philistines’ champion, waiting on a champion from Israel, the deal being that whoever won the fight would win the entire war for their country.
So David was fighting for his life and for all of Israel, no pressure. Then, once he volunteers, the king, his brothers, Goliath himself all tell him he can’t win. Goliath was too big for David to stand a chance. It was like putting me up against Hulk Hogan, but David didn’t care about Goliath’s size. David cared about the fact that God would be fighting for him. David seemed to remember the times in the past when God fought for Israel. Israel had defeated many enemies not because of their military might, but because of their dependence on God.
From a human point of view, the Israelites drowned the Egyptians in the Red Sea by Moses waiving around a stick. The city of Jericho was taken because Joshua had a box and some trumpets. When Gideon defeated the Amalekites and Midianites, he had 32,000 men with him, but God decided that was too many, so he left Gideon with only 300 men, and they won the battle with some torches and trumpets. Of course in all of these cases, God was the one fighting for the people of Israel. God was teaching the Israelites to trust in him rather than in their own might.
Fortunately for Israel, David seemed to remember this lesson when he fought Goliath. Unlike Saul and the other soldiers, David trusted in God. He endured in his faith against a seemingly unbeatable enemy.
Now look at today’s Gospel. Jesus was again teaching his disciples to endure in their faith. Now I love this story; it’s very funny to me. Just imagine being in the boat with this huge windstorm and then looking back and seeing Jesus asleep, his mouth hanging open, snoring in the back of the boat. Of course the disciples were upset, “Dude, wake up, Jesus; what are you thinking?”, and of course Jesus wasn’t bothered by the storm. He knew he could handle it. So, he got to teach the disciples again to keep their faith. “Why are you afraid?” he asked them, “Have you still no faith?” He was teaching them to endure in their faith even though they were afraid.
So in the three lessons we heard this morning, we have several calls to endure in our faith and several reason why we might not endure in our faith. Perhaps like the disciples, we are at times afraid. Perhaps like the Israelites, we sometimes forget who God is. Perhaps like the Corinthians, we spend too much time fighting over who is right. Perhaps our faith sometimes loses its luster. Perhaps we’re at times led astray by false apostles. In many different ways, we may find ourselves throughout our lives without much faith in God. The key is to endure. Keep striving after God.
When God seems remote, remember those times when he felt near. When afraid, remember that God is with you, even in death. When God seems boring, and this might be the most insidious, remember, “all that glitters is not gold.” Faith in God may not be flashy. It often isn’t. Faith in God won’t necessarily fulfill our desires for wealth or pleasure, and faith in God my certainly seem boring and slow compared to the fast pace and flashy things of our society. Many activities are more “fun” than prayer. There are many things or activities that are more instantly gratifying than prayer. There are many things or activities that are more instantly gratifying than service to others. There are many things or activities that are more instantly gratifying than following the commandments of God as a healthy and helpful way of life.
Faith in God, however, will help us endure when many other things fail us. A life of service to others will fulfill our lives vastly more than a life lived only for oneself. A life lived following God’s commandments will prove a more healthy and helpful way of life than many other ways of life which seem more instantly gratifying. Enduring in our faith in God is neither easy nor, but enduring in our faith in God will carry us well through this life.
So, looking again at each of our lives and how the texts we heard today speak to our lives, I have several questions to ask. Who is your Goliath; who or what makes you forget who God is? What’s your windstorm; what has you so afraid that you lose your trust in God? Who is your false apostle; who or what pulls you away from your faith in God and God’s way of life for you?
Now, holding those in your mind, think also to your answers to the questions with which I began today. What about the Christian faith keeps you having faith in Christ? What about the Christian faith keeps you going? What soothes you when you are stressed? What calms you when you are angry? What comforts you when you are in need? What brings you peace when you are frantic? What humbles you when you are proud? What brings love to your heart when you are feeling irritated or selfish? We may not have answers to all of those questions yet, but that’s one reason we keep striving, to find more peace, to find, more love, so that we can endure. Amen.
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