Feb 2, 2020          Wisdom/Foolishness                                         

This morning, I would like to tell you about a Scottish theologian named Pelagian. Pelagian believed that God had given us the church in order to perfect humankind. And Pelagian believed that by making men and women moral, that that would achieve God’s purpose. Now a group of Pelagian’s followers decided to put his theology into practice. First of all they got rid of their priests, who didn’t meet up with their standards, and then they encouraged all the parishes in their diocese to do the same. Finally, they got rid of their bishop, and found one that more lived up to their ideals. At this, the followers of Pelagian rejoiced, they announced themselves free of the Catholic church, and set about to make all the men and women in their parish more moral people.

Problem is, that within 40 years, all of the churches who had left the Catholic church at that time, had given up on Pelagianism and had returned to the Catholic church. Writing at the time, St. Augustine gave his reason why this happened, because the followers of Pelagian had replaced the crucified Christ as the head of the church, with an image of their own moral purity. Under these conditions, they no longer had any good news to preach to those who were broken, hurting, or lost. All they had was condemnation, division and death.

The reason I am bringing this up this week is because of our reading from 1 Corinthians this morning. A lot of the problem the Corinthians are having is about some members putting themselves above other members, and some members judging the worthiness of other members to participate in the life of the church. And to those members who are making these distinctions, Paul preaches Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Gentiles. What? What does that mean?

In case I haven’t said it before, Jesus Christ is a stumbling block to the Jews because he was denounced as a blashphemer and cursed for being hung on a tree – the cross. So, how could a righteous Jew, the keeper of God’s moral law, follow such a sinner. And Jesus Christ is foolishness to the Gentiles, because he was a loser – he stood up to Rome and got crucified for it – it would be foolishness to follow someone like him. In saying these things about Jesus, Paul is trying to tell the Corinthians that in playing these moral games, in playing the games of winners and losers, that they are sowing divisions among themselves, which in the light of Jesus Christ is true sin and true foolishness.

Now I have preached many times on our gospel lesson this morning, often going through each one of the beatitudes in order to understand them better, but in light of Paul’s speech to the Corinthians this morning, this time I will take a general approach to them. In general the beatitudes speak of the blessedness of suffering the broken condition of humankind. Blessedness, because in the coming of Jesus Christ, in the coming of God’s kingdom, these people who are sinners and losers in the world, will know forgiveness and grace. They will obtain mercy, they will be comforted, they will find peace, they will be satisfied, they will see God. This is the same reversal of fortune that we find in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, for those who believe in Jesus Christ.

And there are two very important things to remember about this. First that through faith in Jesus Christ, we shall receive God’s grace and mercy, and second, we are called to offer that grace and mercy to all who are sinners and losers in this world. For in the wisdom of God, that is the path to all human salvation, and that is the Good News of Jesus Christ! 

Jan 26, 2020            Discipleship                                                

Our gospel reading last week was from the gospel of John. In it, we heard about the beginning of Jesus ministry as John proclaimed him the “Lamb of God” and John’s disciples left John to follow Jesus. When John’s disciples asked Jesus, where he was staying, Jesus replied, “Come and you will see.”

As I thought about this passage from last week, I thought about what it was the disciples would come and see by staying with Jesus. They would come and see someone who ate and drank with sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes. They would come and see a Jewish rabbi who spoke with, and associated with gentiles - strangers, and foreigners. They would come and see someone who dared to touch lepers, who healed the sick, the lame, the blind. They would come and see someone who fed the hungry and gave water to the thirsty. They would come and see someone who cast out demons – healing those who suffered from mental and emotional diseases. They would come and see Jesus create a community of disciples whose lives were not built upon the flesh, but upon the spirit. In short, by following Jesus, they would come and see how God intended the world to be, how our lives should be, rather than the world as it was.

Our gospel reading from Matthew takes a different tack. While it is still about Jesus calling disciples, Matthew drags up the image of the lives of those living in Zebulun and Naphtali. As I noted in my introduction to the gospel lesson, Zebulun and Naphtali, were two regions of Israel bordered by Assyria. These regions were repeatedly over run by conquerors who took their crops, and lives. They were treated as foreigners, strangers, and worthless by their oppressors. Being a citizen of Zebulun or Naphtali was as bad a human existence as you could get in the Old Testament. Matthew uses that image to suggest that under the rule of Rome, things had gotten that bad for the people of Israel. So bad, that when Jesus starts to call disciples, to fish for people, they are ready to drop their nets and follow him.

Now many of us may say, “What does this have to do with us? We live a wonderful life in the greatest nation on earth, we don’t have things near as bad as those people from Zebulun and Naphtali.” And perhaps you are right, but we still have our oppressors in the world today. We are oppressed by banks, mortgages, and credit card companies. We are oppressed by health insurance, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies.  We are oppressed by financial markets, oil speculators, and housing crises. We are oppressed by political leaders, who care very little for justice, and very much about power. We are oppressed by our fears of foreigners, immigrants, and strangers. We are oppressed by agism, sexism, racism, and all the other isms. We are oppressed by our fears, our angers, and our sense of human righteousness. Just like any other time in human history, we are oppressed by the powers of sin and death, whatever form they may take. And in the midst of that oppression, our attitudes, beliefs and behaviors can become twisted, and we become less than what we could be, who God made us to be.

And so, Jesus call to those disciples in the gospel to follow him, is a call to us as well. And Jesus call for us to come and see, is a call to us as well. We are called to come and see what life would be like if we followed Jesus. If we cared about the poor, fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty, found shelter for the homeless, gave comfort to the sick, the orphan, and the widow or widower. We are called to come and be a part of a community of disciples who do not worship money, or power, or other human idols – but instead worship God. We are called to be a part of a community of people that welcome those who are strangers, who speak out on behalf of those treated unjustly, who care about what happens to immigrants, who are willing to walk with those who are struggling in life, and encourage them to get better. We are called to be a part of a community of people who live without fear or favor, who give of themselves freely, without thought of praise or reward, and we are called to invite people to come and see, to dwell with us, and discover how that could make a difference in their lives.

Now as in many of my sermons, people might get the idea that I am tone deaf to all that you are already doing for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not. I see your discipleship in the way you are with one another. Imperfect as we all are, you indeed each have moments where your faith in Jesus Christ shines, where you function as disciples, and as the community of disciples that is the church of Jesus Christ. And lest you forget, there are thousands of churches throughout this great nation and beyond, that are all working for the same thing. You are not alone! So I encourage you to continue to grow in your faith in Jesus Christ, and grow in your service to bring God’s kingdom into the midst of the world and the lives of others.

That’s who we are called to be as disciples of Jesus Christ, that is who we are called to be as Christ’s church, and that is the Good News of Jesus Christ. Amen.  

Jan 12, 2020                   Like a Dove                                                 

If you were with us last week, you would have heard me talk about the ancestors of Jesus. Among those ancestors, some were good, some not so good, some bad, some very bad. At the conclusion of that sermon, I tried to note a couple of things. First, that despite the all the bad people in the world and throughout history, God still worked through them for Jesus to be born into the world. Good News! Second, that despite our bad moments, our mistakes, our failures, our sins, God still works through us, for Christ to be present in the world.  More Good News! And finally, I noted that there was a world of difference between those who live mostly for themselves, and those who choose to live a life in communion with God, in the spirit of God. Really Good News! And that is where we come to our gospel lesson this morning, because in our gospel lesson this morning, we are going to get a number of clues as to what that Spirit looks like.

This morning Jesus comes to John to be baptized, and in Matthew’s gospel, John objects, because John knows himself to be a sinner and recognizes Jesus to be without sin. But Jesus tells him, that Jesus needs to be baptized by John to fulfill all righteousness. Now some commentators talk about Jesus humility, but I would rather like to think that Jesus allows himself to be baptized by someone who is a sinner – because it reveals the power of God to work through those circumstances to  can send the Holy Spirit into the world.

One of my colleagues at our Somonauk lectionary group picked up on that theme, and spoke about how Jesus intentionally chooses to come with the sinners to the Jordan river, which was a rather dirty river, and be baptized. The message he got was that the Spirit of God is not just found in temples, synagogues and churches, but can be found, indeed is most powerfully seen, in those unscrubbed places in the world, in the midst of sinners, in the midst of the world.

The biggest clue, of course to the Holy Spirit is the form that it takes when Jesus is baptized, and that form is a dove. For anyone who has read the bible, in the Old testament, God’s Holy Spirit comes in the form of fire. The burning bush, the pillar of flame, the fire on the mountain of Horeb, the anger of the Lord that causes the temple to smolder and smoke in Isaiah, the fire called down by Elijah to consume the prophets of Baal. John the Baptist himself speaks about the Holy Spirit coming as a fire to burn the chaff that are those who are set against God.

But of course, in the baptism of Jesus, that Spirit descends like a dove and alights upon him. Oh, I am not saying that the spirit of God does not consume with fire those who are set against God, their spirits are indeed anxious, fearful, and troubled, but in the gospels we see the good news of the spirit alighting on those who are faithful to God, and the peace and joy it can bring to their lives. It’s not a different God, but it’s a new way of looking at God, that we have been given in Jesus Christ. Roman’s 5:5, if you like proof texts, says it this way, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us,..” Anyway, I think that is what we should take away from the baptism of Jesus.

         Now this morning, in our children’s sermon, I told the story of the boy who moved to a new school and was asked to introduce himself. And when he came to the part about what his mother did for a living, he said she was a minister ordained, and the next kid introduced himself and said his father was a hardware clerk ordained, and the next and the next.

        The point of the story, as I told the kids was to think about what it would mean if all of us, were ordained not just to our jobs, but also in our faith. What would it mean if we all saw ourselves as ministers of the Christian faith? Because I think that’s the message of the gospel for all of us, sinners though we might be, we are called not to keep ourselves separate from sin and suffering, high above and far away, but ministering to those who are sinners, in the midst of the living of our lives.

        And I think most of you get this point. Not just through your attendance at church, you contributing to it’s support, but through your fellowship and work, through your missions, and mostly in your lives. You are minister’s ordained to turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, offer you coat if you have two. You are minister’s ordained who realize that you are called to save lives, rather than condemn them. You are all minister’s ordained, on whom the Holy Spirit alights, and who know the peace and joy of your Baptism into Jesus Christ. And that is Good News!

Jan. 5, 2020                 God With Us                                               

On New Year’s this year, I spent the day talking on the phone with each of my four sisters, catching up on what has been going on in their lives, and sharing what is going on in mine. One of my sisters, Elizabeth, told me that she has been doing genetic research on our family history. Now that might sound impressive, but what that means is she got one of those 23 & me, kits from Target and sent in a saliva sample and they sent the results to her. And, since she is the keeper of our family history, she encouraged me to get one of those kits, because I am the boy in the family, and I carry the only y chromosome, etc. etc. etc.

Now I am kind of skeptical about this whole genetic testing stuff, not because I don’t believe in the science, but I am skeptical of the people who produce the results. They may send back to me results that tell me I am descended from Russian Czars, or German princes, Genghis Kahn, George Washington, or the first Dali lama. Of course, I will do the test for my sister, but I really don’t need to know who I was descended from. All I need is my faith that whoever my ancestors were, good or bad, God was at work in their lives.

And that’s where we come to our reading from the gospel this morning. In our gospel lesson, we read Matthew’s geneology of Jesus Christ. Now in Matthew’s day, geneologies were used by kings as propaganda to justify their own authority. So they were always a list of men, no women involved, and they were always these great men, who did nothing but good, and etc., etc., etc.

But Matthew’s geneology is a little different, and to illustrate this point, I thought it would be fun to reread Matthew’s geneology interactively. My first card says, “Hooray!” for the people who are spoken well of in the bible, “Booo!” for the people who did bad things, and “Who??” for the people we don’t know a lot about. So let’s get to it.   

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Hooray! Isaac the father of Jacob, Hooray! Jacob the father of Judah! Hooray!  Judah the father of Perez by Tamar. Booo!  Tamar was Judah’s daughter in law and when her husband died, Judah refused to give his other son to her in marriage, so she dressed up as a prostitute, and lured Judah into a brothel in order to blackmail him. Oh, to be clear we are booing Judah, not Tamar, who was in on throwing Joseph into a pit, and other assorted slaughters. Perez the father of Hezron, Hooray!  Hezron the father of Aram, Who??  Bible doesn’t say much about Aram son of Hezron. Aram the father of Aminadab, “Boo!! Aminadab was an earthly person who didn’t believe in God. Aminadab the father of Nahshon, Who??, Again, not much in the bible about Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, Hooray! and Salmon the father of Boaz Hooray! by Rahab, Who??  Rahab was the prostitute who hid the spies of Israel in Jericho. Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, Hooray! Boaz was a good guy, and we all know the story of Ruth, a foreigner who believed in God. I think of her as the female Abraham. So let’s get an extra Hooray for Ruth! Hooray! Obed the father of Jesse, Hooray!  Jesse the father of King David. Hooray!

David the father of Solomon, by Uriah’s wife.  Booo! Solomon was wise, but ultimately he enslaved his own people to build his kingdom. Oh and Uriah’s wife, Who?? was Bathsheba. We aren’t booing her, because we don’t really have all the info. Solomon the father of Rehoboam.  Hooray! He seemed to be a good king.  Rehoboam the father of Abijah. Hooray! Tried to reunite Israel and Judah. Abijah the father of Asaph. Who?? Not much known about Asaph. Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat. Hooray! Jehoshaphat instructed people in God’s law. Jehoshaphat the father of Joram. Booo!  He led Judah into idolatrous worship. Joram the father of Uzziah.  Hooray! By all accounts a good king who had leprosy by the way. Uzziah the father of Jotham. Hooray! Jotham ran the temple during his father’s reign, lepers not allowed in the temple. Jotham the father of Ahaz. Booo! A schemer who didn’t trust in God. Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. Hooray! Close relationship with God. Hezekiah the father of Manassah. “Booo!” Manasseh turned from God to practice witchcraft and was a pretty evil king. Manasseh the father of Amos. Who? Not much said about Amos. Amos the father of Josiah. Hooray! Led Judah back to God. Josiah the father of Jechoniah. “Boo!” Jeconiah was cursed by the prophet Jeremiah for his return to evil ways. His kingdom was conquered by Babylon.

Jeconiah the father of Salatheil, Who?? Salatheil the father of Zerubabbel,  Hooray! Started rebuilding God’s temple.   Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, Who?? Abiud the father of Eliakim, Who?? Eliakim the father of Azor, Who??   Azor the father of Zadok, Hooray! A priest in the temple. Zadok the father of Achim, Who?   Achim the father of Eliud, Who? Eliud the father of Eleazar,  Hooray, another temple priest  Eleazar the father of Matthan, who?? Matthan the father of Jacob, Who??     Jacob the father of Joseph, Hooray!  the husband of Mary of whom Jesus was born who is called the Messiah.

Whew! We got through it! Now a number of the who’s, who are not spoken of a great deal in the bible, are namesakes for other old testament figures. Many of the last section are names of priests from of old, that seems to be the theme from Babylon to Jesus. Also the names of the people are fascinating. Gives glory to God, lifts up the poor, God lends, etc. there’s a study in that as well. But this morning my focus in on the good, the bad, the ugly, and the unknown.

My point is this, throughout the bible the question has always been, how will God work through the good, the not so good, and the really bad people to bring about God’s plan for healing and salvation. Matthew’s geneology makes it very clear that God works through all of us, good or bad. For those who think that means we can all be bad, no that’s not the point. There’s a difference between working with God and not working with God. But the bottom line is, no matter who the ancestors of Jesus were, God’s plan could not be stopped.

In this new year, we are tempted to rejoice in the hope of a new year, and then lament that we have the same old people, and even worse on the way. But faith, the faith of Matthew is, God can’t be stopped, God’s Messiah has come, and the world is going to be saved! And that is the Good News of Jesus Christ.