Message Archive

Isaiah 61:10-62:3 Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7 John 1:1-18 Psalm 147 or 147:13-21

Despite the overnight transformation from Christmas décor to Valentine candy and gifts on the local store shelves, our Anglo-Catholic tradition tells us we have twelve full days of Christmas.  Let’s at the least take these twelve days to spend some time trying to understand what we have been anticipating and celebrating before we move on to another year with its resolutions and tax return preparation.

We waited in the dark empty room for the four weeks of the season of Advent in preparation for Christmas.  Each year, reliving and celebrating the coming of the first Christmas in Bethlehem, we relive and celebrate the coming of the light for which the world had been waiting.  As we relive that preparation and transition from Advent to Christmas each year, we recognize that it is a very bright light that has come after we have been in the darkness for a long time.  And so, we need the twelve days of Christmas to give time for our eyes and minds to adjust to the mystery that came with the first Christmas and that we continue to celebrate each Christmas – the Incarnation – the Word made flesh.  Reading from John’s Gospel: The Eternal Word that was in the beginning with God – the Eternal Word that is God.  This quite difficult and unimaginable concept is the foundation of our Christian faith.  “The Incarnation – the Word made flesh; the Eternal Word that was in the beginning with God – the Eternal Word that is God.”

Confirming the words of the prologue of John’s Gospel:  On that first Christmas, Jesus Christ – the Word – became flesh; the Word, which had been in the beginning with God; the Word, which is God – came into the world, being born of the Holy Spirit and the God-bearer [the Theotokos] the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Jesus Christ is the Word – the Word of God – the Word being interpreted in a much broader sense than we interpret “word” as simply “speech.”  John affirms for us that though we celebrate this earthly event of the birth of Christ, there has never been and never will be a time that Christ did not/does not exist; Christ, the Word, was with God in the beginning and will be forever.

We find a helpful text in the words from verse 3 of the hymn (#102) that begins Once in royal David’s city.  We hear these words, “We, like Mary, rest confounded that a stable should display heaven’s Word, the world’s creator, cradled there on Christmas Day, yet this child, our Lord and brother, brought us love for one another.”[1]

While remaining completely and perfectly divine, God, described in our hymn as “heaven’s Word, the world’s creator,” came to earth as a human by virtue of his human birth through the Virgin Mary.  Heaven’s Word – Jesus Christ – came for the purpose of redeeming us – showing us how we are to love one another.  This is the story of God’s redemption of all humankind.

This is the garment of salvation – the robe of righteousness about which Isaiah speaks.  And, certainly, this entire concept is beyond the limitations of our human-ness.    We do not have the capacity of mind or of language to formulate and put forth an explanation or even to make sense of such an event as the Incarnation.

In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he writes that Christ Jesus revealed true faith.  Was Jesus simply a great prophet – a seer and revealer of God’s intentions for all creation?

We know Jesus of Nazareth as a great teacher who redefined God’s law for us humans, living his life on earth so that we might take up his example in living in relationship with another.  Does that role model end with his earthly death?

We recognize Jesus Christ as our redeemer.  Did God’s intentions for our redemption become possible only due to the birth of Jesus?  Did this plan for redemption begin on December 25 in year 0000?  Did God say, “Ah, this newborn babe in the feeding trough has real potential; now perhaps I can make a plan to redeem creation.”?

Do we define Christmas simply as the birthday of Jesus of Nazareth who just happened to grow up to be a great man?  So, we celebrate with fruitcake and eggnog, and then we move on to the next celebration….

No, the Apostle Paul and the writer of John’s Gospel do not allow us to carry on in this state of ignorance and superficial understanding.

Jesus’ earthly birth occurred, says the Apostle Paul, “when the fullness of time had come.”  Paul assures us that the birth of Jesus Christ was, from the beginning, all part of God’s plan, in God’s time, on God’s terms.

Jesus’ earthly birth was not a happenstance; and, Jesus did not, simply by coincidence, become a great man.  Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh – God Incarnate.  His earthly birth was an intentional event in God’s divine plan – God’s one story of redemption of all creation.

John’s inspired words of Good News are clear: “In the beginning was the Word [big W], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….  And the Word became flesh and lived among us.”  God came to earth on that first Christmas – the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-present God fulfilled his plan in the birth of Jesus Christ – that’s not an event to be frivolously celebrated with fruitcake and eggnog before hastily moving on to candy hearts.  Fully man, yet fully God, our Lord came to earth from heaven on the day we celebrate as Christmas – the day on which the Word was made flesh, God Incarnate.

We are none worthy, but we come worthily to share in his Body and Blood, to celebrate our redemption – all according to God’s eternal plan – the Word made flesh, living among us.  And, as we will profess in the prayer of thanksgiving that will follow, we are living members of this Word made flesh.

Our collect for today expresses this same call to mission:

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word:  Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Isaiah 9:2-7 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-14(15-20) Psalm 96

So, here we are, which leads me to assume you are “ready for Christmas.”  I never quite know how to answer that question:  Are you ready for Christmas?  Does it mean I’ve completed all the gift shopping, and wrapped all the presents, and gotten the tree up and decorated, and hung the stockings, and planned and purchased everything necessary for Christmas dinner, and placed fresh greenery on the mantel, and made the new bow for the wreath on the door, and cleared away all the clutter that all that creates, and communicated all the expectations for the traditional family gathering?  Yeah.

Actually, this year I was pretty proud of myself.  I’ve learned that if it’s going to get done, it has to be completed before the last week before Christmas, at which time the real marathon begins, ending at midnight tonight.  Then, it’s Christmas and what’s done is done and it’s time to crash and relax.  Except, that’s exactly what the drain from the upstairs bathroom decided to do.  The sound of steadily dripping water in the pantry wall didn’t blend well with the Christmas piano music.  So, we’re down one bathroom with company on the way, and God is laughing at my self-aggrandizement over my successful readiness for “Christmas.”

Our earthly creation of Christmas is quite a phenomenon.  How hard it is to stop the chatter in our heads – making our list and checking it twice over and over.  We become a real hazard to ourselves and others.

Yet, we know that we cannot “make” Christmas.  There is nothing in our human effort that creates Christmas.  Except that, with great intention, we have to turn off the chatter transmitters and turn on our receivers instead.  Christmas is not our human effort.  We can only receive Christmas; we are to receive Christmas as the gift that it is.  It is very seldom that we turn away a gift; certainly, never such a sacred gift.

And, how amazing is it that this gift comes from a tiny child?  -A newborn baby, with no town crier to announce his royal birth, with no room in the inn or even a comfortable bed for him or his young mother; only a cattle trough in a stable with cows and sheep and hay to provide warmth.  -His mother Mary who so faithfully and willingly made herself available and ready to be God’s vessel for creating and working God’s will for Good.  -The babe’s earthly father protecting and making whatever provisions that were possible in these rudimentary surroundings.  Even so, this is our gift, God’s miracle – all because God wants what it best for us – his children in need of redemption and salvation from sin – redemption and salvation, freely offered, the gift of God’s grace.

We read from Luke’s Gospel that while Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, “the time came for her to deliver her child.”  God’s time came for the child to be delivered.  God’s time came for the child to be delivered that God might dwell among us in the human person of Jesus Christ, that God might dwell within us.  All in God’s time.

This is God’s gift – no shopping, no wrapping, no cooking required.

With the coming of Jesus Christ on that first Christmas – the Incarnation, the Word made flesh, God came to dwell in us.  When God’s time is the right time, when we set aside our misdirected earthly struggles to “make” Christmas by our own efforts and standards, only then are we ready to receive the true gift of Christmas.

Receive the gift of God dwelling in you.  As for any other treasured gift, we are eager to show it off, to share it.  When God’s time is right, and we have received the gift into our souls, it will flow out from us into the world.  As it was for the shepherds, the glory of the Lord will shine around us; we will go forth from the stable into the world glorifying and praising God.

Then, we will know the answer to that perennial question:  Are you ready for Christmas?

Isaiah 7:10-16 Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-25 Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.”  These few verses from Matthew’s Gospel provide all that we are to learn of Jesus’ birth from this Gospel account.  Chapter 2 of Matthew fast forwards to the visit of the Magi, which we will read and celebrate on the 12^th day of Christmas – January 6, the Epiphany.

As we read this morning, we note that this account that establishes the background for Jesus’ birth is from Joseph’s perspective – Joseph’s guidance by the angel.   The account is far less intimate and far less detailed than the account as recorded by Luke.  Only the Gospels of Matthew and Luke include any scripture that describes Jesus’ birth and early years.  And, it is important to note that Luke’s depiction of the adult Jesus is much more of the burden bearer who lifts up the weak and the downtrodden, particularly the women of first century society.  Thus, Luke’s birth narrative, more familiar to us, and which we will hear again on Christmas, recounts the nativity through the experiences of Mary, the Blessed Virgin.  Scholars believe the writer of Luke to be a Gentile writing to the Gentiles – the non-believers – the outcasts.

Matthew, on the other hand, is more traditionally Jewish, more patriarchal, no less sacred, but intended to connect to Jewish tradition and prophecy.  We will note again and again through this coming year, in which Matthew is our base Gospel, Matthew’s goal of affirming Jesus as the Messiah.

Our lesson today begins, “Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way.” The word Messiah translates from the original Greek, the anointed one; the Messiah had been foretold by the prophets – the voices who spoke God’s words to the people of Israel for the centuries preceding the birth of Jesus Christ, words that all faithful Jews had heard again and again and could recite from memory, words that Christians have included in what we term the Old Testament.  We have read a sampling of these words from the prophet Isaiah, and we hear Isaiah’s prophecy repeated by the angel in our lesson from Matthew.  The virgin will bear a son and he shall be named Emmanuel.

In the verses prior to our lesson for today, The Gospel of Matthew begins with this description: An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  From there, verses 2 through 16 list the generations – Jesus’ genealogy from the first patriarch Abraham, through the great King David, those exiled in Babylon, and finally, Joseph and Mary of whom Jesus was born.

If we were to attempt to read Matthew’s Gospel beginning to end, which I encourage you to do as we begin this year of study of Matthew, you might initially find this boring and meaningless.  But, closer inspection alerts us to the fact that this seemingly endless list of unpronounceable names, expresses the essence of our salvation purely by the grace of God.

Matthew begins his genealogy with Abraham, the epitome of faith, the first patriarch of the Hebrews.  Abraham, we read, was the father of Isaac; no mention of Abraham’s first born – Ishmael, who was born to the maidservant Haggar.  Ishmael and Haggar were banished; Ishmael would be become the first Arab; scripture tells us he would live in enmity with his brother.  Muslims recognize Ishmael as the true heir of the Abrahamic faith.  Yet, Matthew lists Isaac, the child born by Sarah in her old age [no mention of Sarah either].

Continuing, Isaac is the father of Jacob.  Jacob deceived his father Isaac and connived to steal the birthright, rightfully due his elder twin brother, Esau.  Yet, the scoundrel, Jacob, went on to become the father of all Israel; in covenant with God in the years to come, Jacob’s name was changed to Israel.

Jacob fathered twelve sons from whom, with some reconfiguration, come the twelve tribes of Israel, all as the result, it seems, of a stolen birthright.

Of the twelve sons, Jacob’s eldest was named Judah; does that sound familiar?  The tribe of Judah would later inherit the Southern Kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital – quite a legacy.  But, from scripture, we know that it was the eleventh son, Joseph, the son most favored by his father, who would seem to be the most extraordinary.  Unfortunately, and fortunately, Judah conspired with his other brothers to sell Joseph into slavery.  [The “rest of the story” reveals that to be a beneficial move].  Judah later fathered twin sons by his widowed daughter-in-law Tamar, a Canaanite who had disguised herself as a prostitute and seduced her father-in-law.  Even so, Tamar is listed here and the genealogy is carried on through the son born of this incestuous union.

We know nothing of those names that follow until we arrive at the name Boaz whose father is listed as Salmon and mother as Rahab.  We know Rahab to be another Canaanite, like Tamar, and a true prostitute.  Rahab lived in Jericho and provided safety for the Israelite spies as they gathered information necessary to conquer Jericho on the journey into the Promised Land.  Rahab was granted safe haven for her hospitality and is held in high esteem as one of the heroes of faith.  A Canaanite prostitute, she became the mother of Boaz who would marry Ruth, another outsider – a Moabite; a sweet story that we read in the book of Ruth.  Ruth gives birth to Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of King David.

King David, hailed as the greatest earthly king of God’s chosen people, the youngest of the sons of Jesse, the shepherd who pinned the beautiful poetry of so many of our Psalms, was the father of Solomon by “the wife of Uriah.”  The lovely irresistible Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah at the time of David’s seduction of her, which resulted in the extramarital pregnancy.  In turn, the inopportune pregnancy prompted a coverup that led David to orchestrate the death in battle of his greatest and most loyal officer – Bathsheba’s husband – Uriah.  Bathsheba, the mother of King Solomon, is listed anonymously as “the wife of Uriah.”

The next set of names recounting the genealogy of the next fourteen generations is mostly unfamiliar, until we arrive at our destination: “Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.”  Obviously, we do not read that Joseph is the father of Jesus, only that Jesus was born of Mary.

You see, this genealogy recounted by Matthew is not a listing of Who’s Who among the righteous, not a handing down of status of the politically and religiously elite.  This genealogy of Jesus is filled with rascally betrayers, societal outcasts, foreign aliens, the obscure and completely unknown.  Just as for us, this Messianic ancestry encompasses both sinner and saint within the individual person.  We can relate, and we rejoice that God sees our gifts within our flaws and uses those to accomplish his purpose of redemption.

God used each of these flawed individuals to bring about the redemption of all creation by pure grace through the incarnation – the Word made flesh.

Emmanuel, God is with us.  From his coming to earth and at the time of his departure, Jesus assures us of God’s constant presence with us – each of us both sinner and saint.  Even in our flawed state, God sees our gifts and calls us for his purpose.  Matthew’s Gospel begins and ends with this affirmation, closing with Jesus’ words, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [Mt. 28:20]

Emmanuel, God is with us.

Isaiah 11:1-10 Romans 15:4-13 Matthew 3:1-12 Psalm 72:1-7, 18-19

Every year on the second and third Sundays of Advent, our focus is John the Baptist.  Why is that?  Why is it necessary every year that this humanly frightening wilderness man, speaking harsh words, interrupts our merry thoughts of the coming joys of Christmas.  How do we make a place for this creature whom we picture as more beast than man, horrendously groomed and unkept, dressed in camel’s hair and eating bugs, spewing fanatical language?  Ugh, “Alexa, let’s have another round of quiet Christmas piano music.”

John the Baptist, so we learn from scripture, was a cousin of Jesus of Nazareth, John being the elder cousin by six months.  From his mother’s womb, Cousin John was the first of any earthly creature to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, leaping in his mother’s womb as the expectant Mary, the mother of our Lord, entered the presence of her cousin Elizabeth, mother of John.  As we prepare to celebrate the first Advent – the coming of God to earth in the human person of Jesus Christ, the Incarnation, the Word made flesh – we focus with renewed attentiveness, preparing ourselves to recognize and respond to the presence among us of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.  The unborn John leapt with exhilaration in his mother’s womb at this expectation.  Oh, that we, too, might leap with the same awareness and exhilaration in response to God’s presence here and now.

We know little to nothing of the intervening years between the births of John and Jesus and the adult years of their ministries.  John remained in the distance, appearing only infrequently in our scripture references – infrequently, yet with quite significant impact that sparked bitter controversy with political and religious leaders.

As our Gospel lesson emphasizes, John’s preaching and baptizing brought skepticism and consternation rather than awareness and exhilaration to the Pharisees and Sadducees (the recognized religious leaders) of his day.  Who was this deranged man from the fringes of society acting so boldly as to demand repentance and baptize those who confessed their sins?  In religious tradition, matters of redemption of the people and the act of baptism were reserved for and controlled by the high priests, specifically the high priests in the temple in Jerusalem.  This marginalized preacher/prophet, unconnected to the inner core of the priestly caste system, represented a menace to their authority – a threat that required immediate inspection and elimination.

And so, with furled brows and dubious intent, the Pharisees and Sadducees journeyed to the wilderness feigning a desire to be baptized along with those who had gathered around John.  John, like his cousin Jesus, recognizing their disingenuous mission, had his strongest words of condemnation for these religious leaders, publicly condemning them for exploiting their positions of religious power for their own self-serving desires, forsaking their sacred positions as representatives of God, maliciously strong-arming the very children of God whose spiritual lives had been entrusted to them.  What could be a more condemning description than “Brood of vipers?”  Sit with that for a moment.

Perhaps in our journey through the season of Advent, we too, need this time in the wilderness.  We, too, need to hear and heed John’s harsh words of condemnation of our wicked ways.  We, the Church, need to reflect more seriously on the sincerity of our mission.  Yes, at this particular time of expectation and preparation, it is essential that we go to the wilderness of Judea to hear the exhortations to repentance spoken by John the Baptist and to be cleansed by a renewed sense of our baptism by water and the Holy Spirit.

From early history, wilderness for the people of God has represented revelation.  God revealed himself and his holy law to the people of Israel as they journeyed through the wilderness of Sinai.  Those lacking in faith who hardened their hearts to God’s grace and mercy perished there.  But, those remaining faithful throughout their long brutal captivity in Egypt, their bold Exodus through the Red Sea, and their grueling 40-year sojourn in the desert, were renewed as the result of this extended wilderness journey, under God’s guidance, into the Promised Land.

And so, we see that this wilderness brute John the Baptist is an essential character of our Advent preparation for the coming of our Lord – our Lord who came first in a feeding trough of a cattle stall in Bethlehem where no one was willing to give up lodging for his expectant mother.  And, our preparation for the second Advent when our Lord returns at a time ordained by our creator God.  We spend time in the wilderness with John; we find there, redemption and renewal, essential preparation for the way of the Lord, making paths straight for our awareness and exhilaration.  Hold on to that deep sense of awareness and exhilaration in the presence of the Messiah, that awareness and exhilaration first experienced and expressed by John the Baptist as he leapt in his mother’s womb.

Moving into this state of awareness and exhilaration in the ever-presence of God; awareness and exhilaration in the affirmation of the Incarnation, which we will celebrate in just 16 days; awareness and exhilaration in our preparation for the second Advent promised by our Lord; moving toward this state of awareness and exhilaration requires that we, too, spend time in the wilderness hearing John’s words of exhortation.

So, as you complete your seasonal decorations, amongst the images of cheerful carolers, and chubby cherubs, and sweet-faced shepherds, add the figure of the beastly-bearded, fiery-speaking John the Baptist and hold his words fresh in your memory.  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near… Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”  And, leap with exhilaration.

Isaiah 2:1-5 Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:36-44 Psalm 122

“But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.  Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” [Matthew 24:44]

Blessed Advent to you on this first Sunday of Advent, the first Sunday of our Church year.  The word “Advent” translates to “arrival.”  We get it, that this is the season in which we await the celebration of the arrival of the Christ Child – the Messiah – the babe born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn.  Most of us cannot remember life without this yearly enchanting treasured account of Jesus’ birth that we will hear again in the weeks to come.  Each year, at this time, we are pulled into the thin space in which the division between the spiritual realm of God’s heavenly kingdom that is to come and God’s earthly kingdom that now is indistinguishable.

Yet, as we begin this new Church year on this first Sunday of Advent, our Gospel lesson alerts us to a very different arrival – an anticipated arrival that leaves us with quite a bit more apprehension and uncertainty.  We know this anticipated arrival as the Second Coming of Christ.  For 2,000 years, humankind has been held in this state of suspense between this first Advent – the Incarnation, and this Second Advent – the second coming of Christ as he has promised.  As we hear in our epistle lesson, Paul writes to the Romans that the day is near.  We are to “lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.”  For 2,000 years, humankind has been challenged to keep alert for this day when Christ will come again – this day that is “near.”

Thus, as we hang the tinsel and raise a cup of cheer amongst all the traditional fanfare of the coming of the first Advent – the Incarnation, we are not to dismiss the reality of the second Advent – the second arrival.  Both arrivals require our preparation; both require that we remain alert, not growing complacent.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the twentieth century martyr who spent the last weeks of his life in a German prison, places us in a jail cell as we wait.  Bonhoeffer writes that from a jail cell, we are dependent upon someone to free us.  And, at the same time, we are to be active waiters.  We wait there in a dark world that lacks the light of Christ, and we remain alert for the sound of the key turning the lock.

It is important that we spend time, especially in the season of Advent, intentionally seeking God’s guidance, reflecting on and addressing the darkness of the world that preceded the coming of Jesus Christ who is the light of the world.  In the same way, we reflect upon and address the darkness of our hearts, listening for the key turning the lock that has kept our hearts imprisoned and complacent to our call to ministry in the world.

Because, in reality, there is a third sense of Advent, a third sense of “arrival” that is present in our everyday lives.  That reality is the presence of Christ, the light of the world, that is everlasting, ever present in the here and now.  We, the privileged, know of the light that has come, we are called to bring others into the light that has come.

Week by week, through this season of Advent, we will light our Advent candle and celebrate the increasing light until, finally, we light the Christ candle in celebration of the coming of Christ at the first Advent – the Nativity, the Incarnation, the Word made flesh.  We prepare for that event, week by week, hopefully, with greater sense of spiritual preparation than with the ever-encroaching and distracting secular preparations for Christmas.  In preparation, we come to gather for worship and praise; we study and inwardly digest the scriptures; we spend time in intentional prayer; we listen and follow God’s call to our individual and corporate ministries.

Each week, as our celebration of Christmas draws nearer, our expectation and anticipation increase.  And, all the while a little voice is growing more perceptible – a little voice that reminds us that Jesus Christ has already come into the world.  And, physically, he promises to come again.  But, for here and now, Jesus Christ is present.  Can you see his humility in the stoop of a stranger on the street?  Can you see his eyes in the eyes of your neighbor?  Can you see his mission in the hands and heart of the person next to you?   Can you feel his presence as you go humbly about your ministry?

Within the light of the candle, focus on that part of the light that you bring into the darkness – that part of the light that is Christ reflected in you – that part of the light that is your ministry, too frequently unacknowledged and uncelebrated as we reflect on our blessings at the end of each seemingly routine day.  Take note of the light of Christ you have shared in a smile or a simple gesture of kindness.

Alfred Delp was a Jesuit priest falsely implicated, imprisoned, and executed for his supposed role in the attempted overthrow of Hitler in the final weeks of World War II.  From his place in a German prison in the winter of 1945 he wrote:

Light your candle quietly, such candles as you possess, wherever you are.

We all possess candles.  As we quietly go about our ministries, the light increases; Jesus becomes known to us, and we in turn make Jesus known to the world about us.

Light your candle quietly, such candles as you possess, wherever you are.

Blessed Advent!  Blessed arrival of the light of Christ that shines in the darkness – the light that radiates quietly from the candle you possess.

Jeremiah 23:1-6 Canticle 16 Colossians 1:11-20 Luke 23:33-43

“For in him, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of the cross.”  [Colossians 1:19-20]

Once again, we have come to the end of our yearly journey with Jesus throughout his earthly ministry.  We have been guided through this previous year by the inspired words of the writer of Luke’s Gospel.  This last Sunday of the Church year is designated Christ the King Sunday.  We are more fortunate than most church goers throughout the world.  For, whenever we come together for worship, and particularly today, we have as our focus point – Christ the King, depicted in our magnificent Christus Rex, a gift to our parish from generations past.

And so, we kneel before this symbol of our salvation – Christ, who has redeemed us sinners once and for all by his one perfect sacrifice; Christ, who is victorious over death and the grave; Christ, the king who draws us into his kingdom, into the grace of these open arms with nail-scarred hands – pleased to receive us into the arms of his mercy as affirmed in the words of our epistle lesson.

Yet, to fully rejoice in our looking up to our victorious king, we first take time on this Sunday of Christ the King to look down through the words of our Gospel account of details of the Crucifixion.  With deep contemplation, we close our eyes and force our focus on the humiliation; the torture; the broken, beaten, bleeding body of Jesus, lashed by the whips of Roman soldiers; his lips torn by the gravel and his bloody wounds encrusted with the filth of the rocky path on which he has fallen under the weight of the cross he carried.  Then, lifted upon that cross, we hear the soldiers continue to mock him, “Save yourself, King of the Jews!”

Now, still focused on this abhorrent image, hear again and inwardly digest these words from the epistle to the people of Colossae: “In him, (Jesus Christ) all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of the cross.”  [Colossians 1:19-20].  The fullness of God dwelt in Jesus Christ – God was pleased to dwell in Jesus Christ.  And, through Jesus Christ, God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things – God was pleased to suffer, even to suffer the horrendous death on the cross.  God was pleased to suffer so that each of us, regardless of our sinfulness and perceived lack of self-worth, would be assured of God’s love and of our redemption, even the thief hanging beside Christ on the cross.   God was pleased to suffer so that each of us is redeemed and “transferred into the kingdom of his beloved Son,” our savior Jesus Christ.  [Colossians 1:13b] There, in his kingdom our souls find true peace.

Most of us have sat by the bedside of a critically ill or terminally ill loved one – child, or spouse, or parent, or sibling, or friend.  All we can offer is our presence, maybe a cool cloth to wipe a feverish brow, or an extra blanket, or a foot rub.  We want so much to bring whatever small amount of comfort we can offer.  Even to the point of physical and emotional exhaustion, out of pure love, we are pleased, even honored, to make this simple sacrifice.  Through Jesus Christ, God, in his perfect love, was pleased to suffer so that we might be reconciled to him.  God was pleased and is pleased to suffer for you – a child of his creation.

Thus, today we celebrate.  God has triumphed over the physical pain and humiliation – even the earthly death, that we all fear.  Christ Victorious – Christ the King smiles down upon us; even as we, ourselves, have participated in his crucifixion, in his mockery; even as we continue to divert our eyes from the path to which he calls us to follow him – the path that brings the peace beyond our human understanding.

The great irony of the cross – peace through the blood of his cross; Christ victorious over all our fears – victorious over death.  God is pleased to suffer for our redemption; through his one perfect sacrifice, we are gathered into his kingdom – transferred from the power of darkness.

There, in these loving arms with nail-scarred hands, we are at peace; and, we are the vessel of God’s peace, we are the presence of the peace of Christ in the world.

God is pleased to dwell in us.  In praise and thanksgiving, with our time, talent, and tithe, we are pleased and honored to return to God a portion of his blessings as we, too, are gathered into his kingdom.

Isaiah 65:17-25 Canticle 9 (Isaiah 12:2-6) 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Luke 21:5-19

Surely, it is God who saves me; I will trust in him and not be afraid. Isaiah 12:2

In this morning’s Gospel lesson, the people gathered around Jesus in the Temple are admiring the Temple’s magnificent adornments. Jesus is speaking to them prophetically about the chaos and tragedy of the coming destruction of the Temple. This glorious earthly Temple, the crux of Jewish religion and society, would be destroyed for the final time by the Romans just a few decades after Jesus’ time there, never, until this day, to be restored. Even today, the ruins remain.
Jesus’ words are rich in meaning and symbolism. It is more accurate to say that he is speaking metaphorically about the chaos and tragedy of the days surrounding the Crucifixion that is to come.

Even more significantly, he is speaking of the “birth pangs” of the end of time, which tends to strike fear in all of us. From our Gospel lesson, we learn that characteristic of these fear-filled times are false leaders exalted by others and claiming to be the “one” who will save the world. These times bring violence and turbulence – wars and insurrections; there will be arrests and persecutions. Being prepared to confront these times is to know Jesus Christ, so that keeping our eyes focused on our faith, we are led through the chaos, whether it be the simple chaos of our daily lives or the ultimate chaos of the end of time.

Those who are prepared will be able to endure the violence and persecutions. To be prepared requires the understanding that the true temple of our faith is not a magnificently adorned earthly building; God does not reside solely in a building; the true temple of our faith is Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “By your endurance you will gain your souls.” “Not a hair on your head will perish.”

The writer of the second letter to the Thessalonians implores us to be prepared by fulfilling our fair share of responsibility to one another. In these years not so long after Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension, the Thessalonians took to heart the expectation that Jesus would return again soon. In fact, they were so self-assured of Jesus’ soon-to-be return that they had become complacent in their ministry to one another; they began to see no need to do the work of the Church; they simply had chosen to live upon the generosity of others with the expectation that that would carry them through until Jesus’ return.

These words in the letter to the Thessalonians remind us that we are called to continue being faithful and recognizing our responsibility as members of the body of Christ, regardless of our life situation. It is our responsibility to explore the expectations of our faith – to be prepared to endure the “birth pangs” – to be prepared, not as consumers of church, but as members of the Body of Christ – the Church. From today’s words of the prophet Isaiah, we find that great sense of hope and assurance in the New Jerusalem with the Lord as our stronghold.

It is in our preparation – our understanding of ourselves as the Church that we are able to endure the birth pangs of the end of time.
Stewardship is a huge piece of the theological practices expected of us as members of the Body of Christ – the Church. Yearly, as we begin to prepare for the support of the coming year’s mission and ministry, I alert you to the many misconceptions about stewardship, specifically money and the Church. It is a well-known fact that mainline church preachers don’t like to preach about money and the Church, and you in the congregation don’t want to hear it. Even so, sit tight; here it comes again.

One misconception is that preachers shouldn’t preach about money. Jesus did. Jesus talked about money more than he talked about heaven and hell. Most of his parables relate to the use or misuse of wealth in one way or another.

In Matthew 6:19, Jesus says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Jesus is reminding us that our checkbooks and our calendars reveal the truth of our hearts. Jesus is reminding us that we are not to invest our resources in earthly temples that crumble.

Another misconception about money and the church is that we should designate our contributions specifically for mission and outreach preferring that none of our contribution be applied to administration costs. In other words, somehow the light bill and the sexton’s salary and plumbing repairs and the toilet tissue purchases are separate from the mission and ministry of the church.

I can assure you that the five AA groups who meet here are grateful for a warm and safe meeting area and a clean restroom. And, in turn, countless lives are changed by this ministry. Our food pantry must meet necessary requirements for safety and accessibility; it is dependent upon the many freezers that we maintain throughout the building. You might not be aware that we are considered as any other business by the electric company; our rate is much higher than for your private residence; our annual budget for electricity is $15, 500. In warm summer months the monthly bill approaches $2000.

Our worship together would be a good bit less welcoming if we didn’t have the paper and ink to print the bulletin that helps guide you through the service, particularly if you are visiting. Yet, how do you apply these expenses to the lives that are changed/souls rescued through these ministries. Everything that goes on here, every dollar that is spent is, or should be, part of the mission and ministry of this church, and we are called to be good stewards of every dollar.

Thirdly, we might feel that the Church is not doing the same great things that other charitable organizations are doing, or that somehow the Church should be able to go on meeting our high expectations for great ministry with limited funds. In tomorrow’s mail, as in every day’s mail, millions of glossy eye-catching mass solicitations will go out across the country from organizations and institutions that have no shame or hesitation about begging for your money. My phone and yours rings throughout the day. To be a robocaller is seen as a more lowly occupation than the proverbial tax collectors of Jesus’ time. These groups invest enormous amounts of your contributions in professional staff and the necessary resources to implement these well-crafted initiatives to solicit your continued financial support. They do that because it works.

Certainly, many of these are wonderful organizations that oversee great charitable and educational causes throughout the world. They build homes and feed the hungry and educate our children. But, remember, they don’t baptize our children; few are committed to assuring desperate souls in our community of their rightful place in the Body of Christ. They don’t visit us and pray with us and bring us Communion when we are in the hospital; they won’t be there to commit our bodies to the ground – earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. These organizations, as wonderful as they are, won’t be there to continue to pray that our souls may rest in peace; they won’t be there to console our grieving loved ones. Who will be there for these most sacred life changing events? By God’s grace and your ongoing commitment, the Church will be there.

The final misconception I will mention is the misconception that we don’t have enough to make a stewardship pledge to the church. However large or small, our pledge is a covenant with the Body of Christ – a symbol of our steadfast faith in the Body of Christ. If you wear a wedding band, whether a tiny band of gold or encrusted with enormous diamonds, it represents the same covenant. We make commitments every day; why not make the most important commitment? So, please don’t toss me in with the robocallers.

Being prepared for the end times about which Jesus is speaking is to know Jesus Christ, to experience Jesus Christ in one another. Listen carefully, being prepared for the end times is accepting our responsibility to see that others around us know Jesus Christ.
Knowing Jesus Christ and making him known is the essence of our faith – the essence of our stewardship of God’s creation. As was Jesus, the Apostle Paul was firm in his exhortations regarding our responsibilities as the body of Christ: “Brothers and Sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.” [2 Thessalonians 3:13]

Haggai 1:15b-2:9 Psalm 98 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 Luke 20:27-38

For he is God, not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.  Luke 20:38

In our Gospel lesson for this morning from the twentieth chapter of Luke, Jesus has made his way into Jerusalem.  The familiar accounts of the triumphant entry are in chapter 19.  Luke’s Gospel tells us of only one visit to Jerusalem in Jesus’ adulthood.  Throughout this study of Luke’s Gospel, which began at the beginning of our Church year last December, we have been moving toward this point.  We have been walking with Jesus toward Jerusalem, and we know what is ahead for Jesus in Jerusalem.

The setting for today’s Gospel lesson is the Temple in Jerusalem where Jesus is teaching.  By this time, nearly 400 years after the Greek conquest of this Eastern Mediterranean area, debating had become a common practice among local philosophers gathered to share and exchange ideas.  But, this scene described by Luke is not just spirited debate among religious and philosophical leaders.  The tension that has mounted against Jesus beginning in his homeland of Galilee is coming to a cataclysmic head in Jerusalem.  Here in Jerusalem particularly, the religious leaders reject Jesus’ emphasis on the poor and humble who are the main focus of the Jesus that we come to know through Luke’s Gospel; and, these religious leaders are threatened by Jesus’ intention to include the gentile non-believers, any outside Jewish ethnicity and tradition, as children of God.

The most skeptical of the listeners gathered in the Temple are the Sadducees, described by historians as the “elite upper crust.”   Sadducees, the Bible tells us, do not believe in resurrection; they do not believe in everlasting life.  In other words, when your earthly body dies, you die – dead and gone into nothingness – the end, lost and forgotten.  For the Sadducees, there is no hereafter with God, thus, neither do they believe that there are angels to guide us on earth and greet us in heaven.

The Sadducees depicted in our lesson are seeking to humiliate Jesus.  Their intention is to force him to admit the absurdity of the resurrection or, at least, to falter in his explanation of it.  Additionally, they are putting pressure on him in hopes that he will make statements that violate the Torah – the Law of Moses; violating the Torah would give them clear evidence to condemn Jesus and discredit his mission.

Thus, the Sadducees pose this ridiculously hypothetical question of marriage in the afterlife.  In contrast, Jesus responds with great sincerity and wisdom, drawing his answer directly from the words of Moses.  Responding with the revered, indisputable words of the Torah, Jesus defeats the Sadducees at their own game.  He steps into their court, plays by their rules, and successfully defeats the goals of their disingenuous engagement.

Jesus is well aware that his time on earth is coming to an end.  In fact, the crucifixion will occur before this week in Jerusalem is out.  The resurrection message – the affirmation of the promise of everlasting life is most urgent and essential.

Jesus explains that after our earthly death, we are like angels; there will be no need for marriage and procreation.  We are children of God, children of the resurrection, children forever alive with God.  Moses himself affirmed the fact of our everlasting life in his encounter with the Lord in the burning bush so many centuries prior to this day in the Temple. From the bush God speaks as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob – the patriarchs of God’s chosen people who died hundreds of years before Moses lived.  These patriarchs are the foundation of religious heritage. Moses affirms that they remain alive with God.

The perpetuity of Abraham and the words of Moses are not to be disputed by even the Sadducees gathered with Jesus here in the Temple.  For God, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob live on just as does every child having been born into God’s kingdom.  Death is an earthly thing; it is not a continuation of life as we know it here; it serves only to transport us into everlasting life with God.

Surely, the dynamics of our bodily resurrection are a great mystery – a mystery we cannot fathom in this life except to be assured that God will not abandon his creation.  Jesus does not give us many details, though before this week in Jerusalem with the Sadducees is out, he will find out for himself what it is to be resurrected in the body.

I dare say all of us have had the joyful experience of sweet reminders or even striking messages from those we love who have gone before us.  Often, I would head outside after a frustrating conversation with my mother in the last months of her life as her mind was growing weaker.  No sooner had my foot hit the bottom step of the back porch before the church bells at the Baptist Church would begin chiming the hour.  The installation of the church bells and their continued chiming of the hour throughout town were mostly the result of my mother’s passionate persistent effort and monetary donations in my father’s memory.  If the bells didn’t ring, the church secretary was going to get a call from Cora Leigh.  Afternoon drives almost always included a stop along the street beside the church so that she could glory in the beauty of the marking of the hour.  Time after time, just at the right moment the bells would ring and I sensed my father’s presence and his kind entreat, “Take care of your mama.” My impatience was checked by the reminder of this legacy as I turned around to return to my caregiving with a greater since of gratitude and blessing rather than annoyance and inconvenience.

Because we live on with God, those who have lived and died before us continue to speak to us today.  How that happens is a big question that we continue to ask.

But, if I were going to be wrong about something, I’d prefer to take being wrong about the consequences of my death rather than wrong about my expectation of life.  I don’t want to be wrong about eternal life – eternal life with God, with the angels, with all the saints, with all of you – children of the resurrection giving praise and glory to God – the God of the living.