Gospel text for 8 December 2019

Matthew 3:1-12      In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 

‘Prepare the way of the Lord, 

make his paths straight.’”

Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit worthy of repentance. Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

Reflection      John the Baptist seems especially interested in confronting us religious folk who, like the Pharisees and Sadducees in Matthew’s text, have a tendency to feel entitled and presume upon tradition or inheritance to claim our status as the People of God. After all, “We are good, well bred, educated, faithful churchgoers. We follow the rules, we have worked hard and earned our privilege. We give to charities, we volunteer and even pledge to support our church.” But the snarly prophet John cajoles, “Don’t kid yourselves you religious folk. God is not interested in your six-hundred and thirteen rules, the order in which you light your candles, if the priest washes her hands before celebrating communion or how many Sundays per month you show up for church. Anything that interferes with you being in right relationship with God and acting decisively to fulfill God’s desire for peace and good will for all people on earth needs to be exposed and washed away. So, repent! Turn around, change your behavior.” This is the work of Advent.

As a first step to assist us with turning around and changing our behavior John offers a baptism by water. You may wonder, where did John learn this practice of baptism? John stands like a bridge between Hebrew and Christian Testament times repurposing the Jewish tradition of baptizing Gentile converts to Judaism when they were circumcised. But, in today’s gospel text we meet John at the River Jordan doing what would have been unheard of, baptizing Jews. 

We understand this to be a spiritual baptism intended to change the behavior of the coldhearted Jews to turn back to God and extend God’s peace and good will to all people. Turning Jews back to God is a dramatic change from converting Gentiles into Jews. But John counsels, “My baptism of repentance is not the end of the the game. ‘One more powerful than I is coming after me. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.’” John’s baptism by water is completed with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Christ that is given for all, the Fire that refines and changes our behavior to restore us to right relationship with God and one another. 

Now we know who this “more powerful one” is. In the sentence immediately following Matthew’s gospel pericope Jesus arrives at the Jordan river and is baptized by John. What happens immediately following Jesus’ baptism? “…Jesus is led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted to misuse power for his personal gain. He fasts for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he is famished.” (Matt 4.1-2)  There the devil, the enemy of human consciousness, three times tempts Jesus to put his faith in his self rather than depend on his relationship with God. But Jesus keeps his mind turned toward God. The next thing we know Jesus leaves the wilderness and begins his ministry in Galilee. Jesus’ faith is fulfilled in action, his mind and his behavior are aligned in God’s desire for peace and good will for all people.

I believe it is reasonable to compare our Advent season to Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness. Advent is a season to step out of our comfort zone and into the wilderness. This is a time for us to acknowledge that the world of cities wrapped in tinsel and  steeped in Hallmark card sentiment does not have the last word.  

In Advent, the season of self examination, we confess the ways we turn away from God, we take responsibility for our merciless actions, we experience remorse, express regret and by the grace of God change our behavior by looking for opportunities to extend peace and good will to all people. As Jesus teaches us a bit later in Matthew’s gospel, “ ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father.” (Matt 7.21) Actions speak louder than words. 

During the wilderness time of Advent we are invited to examine our selves and confess the ways in which we have turned away from God by being less than honest, civil and merciful. And we do not to stop there. Admitting our offenses, we step out of the river and turn around, fasten the belt of righteousness around our waist and take the words from our Hallmark Christmas cards and make them real in the world by extending peace and good will to every person we meet every single day, no exceptions. You see, as soon as we express regret by grace we are able to change our ways and reveal God’s love every day.

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Gospel text for Sunday 21 January 2018

Mark 1:14-20        After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Reflection      Paul warns the new church in Corinth, “For the present form of this world is passing away.” (I Cor 7.31)  But no one warned Simon and Andrew, James and John when they put down their nets and followed Jesus of the apocalyptic change they would face. Paul is spot one, when we choose to follow the Way of Jesus, life as we have known it passes away. It is apocalyptic and no wonder that two thousand years later so few of us have been able to respond “immediately” as did the four famous fishermen who quit their jobs by the Sea of Galilee when Jesus called to them.

Most of us are more like Jonah. When the Word of the Lord came to Jonah, he tried to run away from “the presence of the Lord.” He found a ship, got on board and before long the ship was ravaged by a great storm. The seamen figured out that the storm was likely the result of Jonah trying to “flee the presence of the Lord,” so they decided to toss him overboard, which indeed quelled the storm for them but Jonah’s trial was not over. Jonah was swallowed by a large fish where he lived for three days and “as his life was ebbing away (he) remembered the Lord, and (his) prayer came to (God), into (God’s) holy temple.” (Paraphrase Jonah 1 & 2) 

It took a shipwreck and three more days for Jonah to figure out that by turning away from the presence of the Lord he set himself up for disaster. Finally he turned around, Jonah called out to the Lord in his distress, and he was saved. What does it take for us to turn around and set down the nets of life as we have known it to follow the Way of the Lord? How much must we suffer before we say, “Uncle” and admit our dependence on the presence of God with us? 

The lives that we cling to are like a fisherman’s net, full of holes and more than enough string to get ourselves all tangled up. What will it take for us to set our old lives down and believe “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near?” How much suffering must we endure before we decide to turn around, to change our minds and our lives?

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Gospel text for Sunday 4 May 2014

Luke 24:13-35        On the first day of the week, two of Jesus' followers were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.  m

Reflection         Have you ever been so distressed, disturbed or dismayed that you could not stop the tape from playing over and over and over in your mind? Have you ever heard yourself telling your story over and over again and leaving no room for anything new?   I certainly have. Surely this must have been Cleopas and the other disciple’s experience. Their minds must have been so filled with flashbacks and their emotions so stunned with the sights and sounds and smells of the past three days that there was no room for Jesus to arise in their consciousness. 

Indeed, all the words in the world, even ‘the stranger’s” full account of God’s story, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets…” and interpreting for the disciples, “the things about himself in all the scriptures,” all the words were not sufficient to break into Cleopas and the other disciples’ bristling state of consciousness. 

However, “When the stranger was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him (Jesus); and he vanished from their sight.” The veil between ordinary and an altered state of extraordinary consciousness was torn. The two disciples experienced a dimension of reality in which Jesus was present in spirit. That experience opened their hearts and their minds. They remembered, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" And their lives were forever changed.

Cleopas and the other disciple turned in their tracks. They returned to Jerusalem, found their friends and they told them, “what had happened on the road, and how (Jesus) had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” Ordinary bread; taken, blessed, broken and given away, a sacred symbol pointing beyond itself to an “inward and spiritual” dimension of reality. An ordinary loaf of bread given to gladden the disciples’ hunger for divine relationship.

We do this on the first day of every week; come together with our friends, listen to the words of Holy Scripture interpreted and then share an ordinary meal of bread and wine. This ordinary meal opens the eyes of our hearts and unclogs the furrows of our minds to experience the extraordinary presence of the One who instructs us to remember, “This is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”   Amen

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Gospel text for Sunday 13 October 2013

Luke 17:11-19        On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well." 

Reflection           Recognizing God’s merciful presence and turning toward God, turning and praising God. How many times each day do I receive a smile from a stranger? a kind word from a coworker? a heart-probing story of someone’s life? an insight that steers my direction? a glimpse of beauty in the sky? on the ground? in the leathered face of an old one? in a breath that animates my life? How many times each day does God reveal God’s self to me? How many times do I recognize Divine Presence, turn around and praise God?

I must confess I spend more time questioning God than turning around and praising God. “Why don’t You do something with the hearts and minds of this country’s stubborn leaders so they stop playing games of winner takes all? Why do You make some people so difficult to love? Why don’t You transform my heart so that I can love as You do? (And let’s not even get into the matter of people suffering.) Oh, yes, would You please inspire me with meaningful words to share with Your people?”

What if I turned around? What if I were to recognize God present in the Joy and Sorrow that swell my heart? in the Clarity that informs my mind? in the Drive that stirs my spirit? in the Courage that fortifies my will? in the Awe that stuns and bewilders my soul? What if I were to recognize God present in every one of the 23,040 breaths I am given to breathe this day? What if I turned around and praised God for every breath and all that I experience? 

All day, every day, God’s grace and mercy pour through creation; kissing our wounds, enlivening our bodies, igniting our desires, illumining our minds and strengthening our will. I believe St. Teresa of Avila (a sixteenth century Spanish mystic) knew this when she asked, “How long will grown men and women in this world keep drawing in their coloring books an image of God that makes them sad?” Surely St. Teresa took St. Paul’s instruction to the Thessalonians to heart, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thess 5:16-18) Recognize God present, turn around, praise God, for you have been made well in all circumstances.

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Gospel Text for Sunday, December 4, 2011

Mark 1:1-8 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,

"See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

who will prepare your way;

the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

`Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight,'"

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."