“The Slavery of Death” @ beyondtheboxpodcast.com
• Part 1: The Sting of Death Is Sin
• Part 2: The Denial of Death
• Part 3: Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
Thursday, October 30, 2014
The Slavery of Death by Richard Beck (Part 2)
“The Slavery of Death” @ beyondtheboxpodcast.com
• Part 1: The Sting of Death Is Sin
• Part 2: The Denial of Death
• Part 3: Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
The Slavery of Death by Richard Beck (Part 1)
As a committed Christian, writer, and evolutionary psychologist, in The Slavery of Death, Beck blends Eastern Orthodox theology, modern psychology, the theologies of William Stringfellow and Walter Wink, and the interpretation of biblical texts to explore Hebrews 2:14-15.
"Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, [Jesus our Great High Priest] himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death."Beck argues that our society as a whole operates out of a basic and a neurotic fear of death. And this neurotic fear of death gets manifested by individuals, groups, companies, and churches. We are unable to love fully because we are held captive to the fear of death. Because we live in this fear of death, we generally focus our time and energies on survival and self-preservation. This focus inhibits us from looking to the interests of others, let alone to loving them in self-sacrificial ways. What we see then is that fear is the opposite of love, yet according to 1 John 4:18, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. So in The Slavery of Death, Beck offers an integrated biblical, theological, and psychological perspective as to how the Gospel addresses this systemic problem and how we as individuals and as churches can begin to address this fear and begin to love.
Prelude: “The Sting of Death"
Part I: “The Last Enemy”
Chapter 1: Ancestral SinChapter 2: Christus Victor
Part II: “Held in Slavery by Their Fear of Death”
Chapter 3: The Denial of DeathChapter 4: The Principalities and Powers
Part III: “There is No Fear in Love”
Chapter 5: An Eccentric IdentityChapter 6: The Sign of the Cross
Interlude: Timor Mortis
Chapter 7: Practicing Resurrection
Chapter 8: The Freedom of God
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Name That Commandment
What's the best way to love God with all that we are,
all that we have, and all that we ever hope to be?
all that we have, and all that we ever hope to be?
Sunday, October 26, A.D. 2014
RCL, Year A, Proper 25, Track 1
Name That Tune
Two weeks ago, I began my sermon on Moses and the Golden
Calf by talking about the game show, To
Tell the Truth. This past week, I went back to the same well. And so, I
shall begin today’s sermon by talking about another game show I remember
watching as a kid, called The $100,000
Name That Tune. Does anybody remember
it?
Name That
Tune was a syndicated game show that aired during the latter half of the
1970s. Each week, two contestants from the studio audience would be chosen to
compete against one another in a series of challenges, where they had to name
the title of songs. The challenge I remember most was called Bid-a-Note. During
this segment of the show, the host, Tom Kennedy, would read a clue about a
song, and the two contestants would take turns bidding against one another for
the chance to identify the title of the song.
One contestant might begin, “I can name that tune in 6 notes.”
And the other might say, “I can name that tune in 5 notes.”
“I can name that tune in 3 notes.”
“Okay then. It’s yours. Name that tune.”
At that point, the first three notes of the song would be
played on a piano, and the winning bidder would try to Name That Tune.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Sunday, September 21, 2014
A Generous Justice — Giving People What They Need, Not What They Deserve
RCL, Year A, Proper 20, Track 1
Injustice at The Tournament of Roses
When I was a kid, my Mom absolutely loved watching the New
Year’s Day Tournament of Roses parade on television. We watched it every year.
I wasn’t as excited about it as Mom was. I got a bit more excited about it when
we finally got a color TV. After all, as a kid, it isn’t particularly
interesting to watch a bunch of floats go by on television decorated with
flowers of various shades of gray. I became much more excited about the Rose
Bowl parade when Rebekah and I moved to Pasadena, California where I pursued my
masters a Fuller Theological Seminary. We lived on campus, and our apartment
happened to be just two blocks away from the parade route.
It was either our first or second year in
Pasadena, either 1997 or 1998, when we walked down to watch the parade. Now
there is something you need to understand about the Rose Bowl parade. Something
like a million people line up along the 6-mile parade route to watch the
parade. And thousands, if not tens of thousands, camp out on the streets and
sidewalks on New Year’s Eve so as to get a good spot. We arrived about an hour
early, and the sidewalks were already crowded. We were on a sidewalk down one
of the crossing streets, and so we were about a 100 to 150 feet away from one
of the intersections of the parade. As the time neared for the first floats to
pass our intersection, more and more people joined us on the sidewalk and in
the gutters of the street. The police would come down the street every few
minutes, and tell the people to move back and clear the streets. Some moved,
but most didn’t. Instead of moving back, they would simply cram into the crowd
on the sidewalk.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
The Crumbs of Faith — Coming Before the Lord with all Boldness and Humility
Sunday, August 17, a.d. 2014
RCL, Year A, Proper 15, Track 1
Nanaw and Sniffles
Good morning. When I was a kid, I remember listening to stories
about my great grandma Nanaw, whom I never met. Nanaw was my mother’s paternal
grandmother, and I never heard a nice story about her. In fact, this past week,
I contacted a family member about Nanaw. And this person, who shall remain
anonymous, wrote in an email:
“It’s not nice to speak of the dead in a negative way, but Nanaw was one mean old woman. Straight as a stick in her corset and blue hair, she drove like she was the only person on the road.”
Sunday, July 27, 2014
God is Good and Loving and... Out to Do Us Good
What are you suppose to do when you believe with all of your heart
that God is good and loving and... out to get you.
Sunday, July 27th, a.d. 2014
that God is good and loving and... out to get you.
Sunday, July 27th, a.d. 2014
RCL, Year A, Proper 12, Track 2
Genesis 25:19–34
Psalm 119:105–112
Romans 8:1–11
Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23
God is Good, and Loving, and Out to Get Me!
Good Morning. I am really glad to be here, worshipping
with all of you today. This past week, as I was making preparations to be here.
I was in contact with Mtr. Laurie. And she mentioned that she has been preaching
on the theme, “Be Fabulous for the Kingdom.” As I thought about the theme, I
was really drawn to today’s reading from Romans, and I thought: It’s really hard to be fabulous for the
kingdom when you think that God is out to get you.
Be Careful What You Pray For
When I was about 12 or 13 years old, I got one of those
nasty colds that settles in your eyes. You know what I’m talking about. The
kind of cold where your vision is blurred, and you keep blinking your eyes,
hoping they’ll clear up but to no avail. I was miserable, and I remember
praying, “Dear God, can you please take away this eye cold. You can give me a
regular cold instead, but please, O please, just clear up my eyes.” Well, you
can probably guess what happened. Within in a few days time, I was sneezing and
coughing AND blinking. I now had a cold in my chest AND in my eyes.
This all happened right before Christmas. I know
this because I remember going to church for midnight mass. I was an acolyte,
and I was vesting in the sacristy, and I told my priest about my prayer and
what had become of it. Fr. John just laughed and said, “Yeah, you’ve got to be careful about what you pray for.” That
confirmed my suspicions. I was convinced. God was good and loving… and out to
get me.
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Set Free — Set Free from Judgment, Set Free for Life
What would a life without judgment be like?
“There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Genesis
25:19–34 • Psalm 119:105–112 • Romans 8:1–11 • Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23
Come,
Holy Spirit,
and kindle the fire that is in us.
Take our lips and speak through them.
and kindle the fire that is in us.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take
our hearts and see through them.
Take
our souls and set them on fire. Amen.
“SO WOULD I!”
Earlier this week I was talking to Rebekah, and she asked
me, “What are you going to be preaching on this Sunday?” I said, “Well, I think
I am going to focus on Romans 8 and what it means to ‘live according to the
Spirit.’” And she said, “Oh, I would love to know how to do that.” And I said,
“So would I… So would I.”
So what does it mean to live according to the
Spirit, to walk according to the Spirit, to set our minds on the things of the
Spirit?
The Exercise Bike
Let me begin with a story that I hope relates. On Monday,
we sold my exercise bike on Craig’s list. We were asking $25, but we received
$26, because the man who bought the bike paid us with 13 two-dollar bills. Well,
that’s not really relevant to the story, it’s just a bit interesting. Anyway,
on Monday, we sold my exercise bike which ended a brief, uneventful chapter in my
life.
Sunday, June 29, 2014
God Provides: The Faith of Abraham and the Faithfulness of God
You Did What?
Genesis 22:1–14 • Psalm 13 • Romans 6:12–23 • Matthew 10:40–42
Come, Holy Spirit, and kindle the fire that is in us.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take our hearts and see through them.
Take our souls and set them on fire. Amen.
The Sermon
You did what?
You have got to be kidding?
I can’t believe you would do such a thing.
Are you insane? Have you completely lost your mind?
Why would you even think of doing such a thing?
Because God told you to?
Are you kidding me?
You are insane!
This is how I imagine Sarah to have responded when Abraham
and Isaac returned home from their little camping trip, and Isaac just happened
to let slip that Dad nearly sacrificed him as a whole burnt offering. Because
you know that Sarah had absolutely no idea, not even the faintest hint of an
idea, as to what her husband and God were up to. Had she known, there would
have been no camping trip, no father-and-son weekend on Mt. Moriah, or anywhere
else for that matter. And Abraham would have spent a night or two on the couch
for even contemplating such a stupid idea. As it is, I think Abraham probably
spent many a night on the couch after the Moriah incident. He may have even
spent the rest of their married lives on the couch. That would explain why they
never had any other children.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Jesus Is Lord!: Pledging All of Our Allegiance to Jesus
Jesus said, “All authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore...”
RCL • Year A • Trinity Sunday • June 15th, a.d. 2004
Genesis 1:1–2:4a • Psalm 8 • 2 Corinthians 13:11–13 • Matthew 28:16–20
Come, Holy Spirit, and kindle the fire that is in us.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take our hearts and see through them.
Take our souls and set them on fire. Amen.
Worshipping Jesus — Extraordinary
It happened on Easter morning. In the wee dawn hours, Mary
Magdalene and another Mary make their way to the tomb where the body of their
crucified Lord had been placed two days before. But when they arrive, they find
the tomb empty. An angel tells them that Jesus has been raised from the dead,
and as they are heading back to share this extraordinary news with the other
disciples, Jesus suddenly appears and greets them. Immediately, the two Marys
fall down and worship him. Jesus then tells them, “Don’t be afraid; go and tell
my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Today’s gospel reading
presents the rest of the story.
The scene opens on a mountain in Galilee where the
remaining eleven disciples have assembled in anticipation of seeing Jesus
again. When Jesus joins them on the mountain, some doubt that it is really him.
Others, however, worship him just as the two Marys had done earlier. This is
extraordinary. You might expect such behavior from the ancient Greeks and
Romans, with all of their gods and goddesses, with all their divine heroes and
Caesars, but not monotheistic Jews. Jews don’t worship human beings, even
extraordinary human beings, because worship is reserved for God alone.
Nevertheless, they worship Jesus with no sense that they have abandoned their
monotheistic faith. Clearly, they have come to understand that Jesus, though
clearly a human being, belongs to the unique identity of the one true God. He
is not just the Messiah, the anointed son of David; he is, in fact, the Son of
living God.
All Authority — Extraordinary
Equally extraordinary are the words that Jesus speaks. Listen to all of the alls. “All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.” (28:18).
All authority, all nations, all
commandments.
What a massive, sweeping, all-encompassing claim.
Jesus doesn’t just possess some authority; he possesses all authority, without remainder. Moreover, this authority is not
just heavenly authority, it is earthly authority as well. In other words,
Jesus’ authority encompasses all spheres of human life, not only the spiritual,
but the political, the economic, and the social spheres as well.
Yet, we live in a world that has learned to
separate the church from the state, the religious from the secular, faith from
knowledge. Consequently, Jesus is only granted influence over a part of life,
not the whole of it. He is relegated to the realm of personal opinion and
private devotion, and barred from the public square.
For example, notice that when Jesus appears in Time magazine, he appears in the
religion section, not the section on world affairs. That’s where Jesus
supposedly belongs in our increasingly global and pluralistic world. Jesus
belongs in the religion textbooks, next to the other great leaders of the
world’s religions, alongside the likes of Moses and Mohammad, Buddha and
Confucius. Our world is comfortable with that sort of Jesus; that sort of Jesus
is safe. Unfortunately, more and more Christians have also become increasingly
comfortable with that sort of Jesus.
But that is not the Jesus we meet in today’s
gospel, the Jesus that claims all authority in heaven and on earth. Nor is it
the Jesus early Christians proclaimed. When the first Christians traveled
throughout the Roman Empire enduring much hardship, they were not proclaiming a
new religion or a new private spiritual experience. Had this been all that they
were up to, they might have been belittled, but they would never have been
persecuted. After all the Greco-Roman world was a consumer of religions and
spiritualities, and they had room for more. Instead, the early Christians were
proclaiming that Jesus is Lord of all. And you know what that means. If Jesus
is Lord, then Zeus isn’t. If Jesus is Lord, then Isis isn’t. And if Jesus is
Lord, then Caesar isn’t. In short, if Jesus is Lord, then all other lords—be
they religious, ideological, or political—are not. If Jesus is Lord, then we
owe our whole allegiance to him.
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Meeting God in This Place
Homily delivered at the celebration of
the 120th ANNIVERSARY
OF St. John's episcopal Church
in Woodward, Oklahoma
a. d. 2014, Saturday, May 31, 5:00 p.m. • Evensong
Psalm 46 • 1 Kings 8:54–62 • Hebrews 10:19–25
Come, Holy Spirit, and kindle the fire that is in us.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take our hearts and see through them.
Take our souls and set them on fire. Amen.
Stories and Memories of God in this Place
Good evening. It is so great to be here with all of you to
worship together and to celebrate this special occasion. It’s been nearly 45
years since I was baptized in this
wonderful place by this wonderful
man, Fr. Jones. Little did I know then, that I would one day preach from this
pulpit. Granted, I was five weeks old at the time, so I didn’t know much of anything,
but you get the point.
It’s been nearly 33 years since I was confirmed in
this place. I don’t have any memories of the service itself, but I still use the
Book of Common Prayer that I received that day. I also have a picture from that
day. It was taken out on the front steps. It shows a very skinny
eleven-year-old boy, with a big grin on his face, despite the fact that he is
sandwiched, or should I say squashed, between two giant men, Bishop Gerald
McAllister and Fr. John Coil.
If memory serves, I was six years old, when I received
my first communion at this very railing. This took place after a grueling
interview with Fr. Jones. Okay, it wasn’t particularly grueling. We sat here in
these pews, and Fr. Jones asked me questions about God. I don’t recall the exact
questions, but I do remember telling him that my sister Elise would tuck me in
at night and tell me Bible stories.
When I was ten, I announced to my mother that,
when I grew up, I was going to become an Episcopal priest. Apparently, I am
nearly grown up because next week, God willing and the people consenting, I
will be ordained as a priest in Topeka.
I have lots of memories of St. John’s. It was, in
fact, one of my favorite places to be growing up. I remember playing bingo in
fellowship hall, and the white elephant gifts that were used as prizes. I
remember the Saturday work days, where the whole parish came together, and we kids
worked side by side with the adults. And I remember how it made me feel, that I
was not just a kid, but a full member of the parish.
I remember the midnight Masses, struggling to stay
awake, struggling not to fall over on my face as I sat up here on these shallow
benches. I remember the Easter Vigils, hearing the great story of Scripture being
told by candlelight. And I especially remember the magical moment when the lights
came on and strings were pulled and these glorious banners descended from the
ceiling.
Well, I could go on and on with my memories of
this place. And I know that, given the chance, each of you could go on and on as
well. After all, St. John’s has been here for one hundred and twenty years. So
there are hundreds and thousands, even hundreds of thousands of such stories
and memories tied to this place. Stories of how God has drawn close to us in
this place; memories of how we have drawn close to God through the people of this
place.
The Dedication of the Temple
That, I think, is Solomon’s vision for the Temple in
Jerusalem. In our reading from First Kings, all of Israel has gathered together
to celebrate and dedicate the newly-constructed Temple. King Solomon stands
before the altar, and he lifts up his voice to thank, to bless, and to plead
with God. He prays that this House, which he has built, might be the place
where God meets his people in peace, the place where sacrifices can be offered,
sins forgiven, and prayers heard. And surprisingly, Solomon makes these
requests, not only on behalf of the people of Israel, but on behalf of all
peoples everywhere. For Solomon, envisions this House of God being a house of
prayer for all nations.
In his wisdom, Solomon recognizes that this
earthly dwelling could never contain the one true and living God, for not even
heaven nor even the highest heaven can contain God. And yet, God could still be
encountered there. As it was with the Temple in Jerusalem, so it has been and
so it is with St. John’s Episcopal Church in Woodward. St. John’s cannot
contain God, no single church or church tradition can. Nevertheless, God can still be met here,… in the water,… in the
bread and the wine,… in the prayers,… and in the people drawn together for
worship.
And most of all, God meets us here in Jesus—the
eternal and living Word of God, the Risen Christ—who continues to make himself
known to us in all of these things.
Thanks be to God.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Another Advocate: Getting Ready for the Holy Spirit
How do we participate with the Holy Spirit in our transformation?
Come, Holy Spirit, and kindle the fire that is in us.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take our hearts and see through them.
Take our souls and set them on fire. Amen.
It’s the Sixth Sunday of Easter, and I have finally gotten our Christ is Risen
response in the bulletin. So if you will turn to the beginning of the
announcements, let us proclaim together the good news of Easter.
Χριστός Ανέστη! Αληθώς
Ανέστη! (3 times)
Christos
aneste! Alethos aneste!
What was Jesus Doing for Those Forty Days?
Jesus was arrested on a Thursday night, executed on Friday
afternoon, and resurrected early on Sunday morning. And then, for the next
forty days, he appeared to his followers. And that’s where we are today. We are
still in that forty-day period between Easter morning and the Ascension, when the
resurrected Jesus is taken up into heaven and his resurrection appearances
cease. Today is day thirty-six of Easter, which means that this coming Thursday
is day forty, and we will celebrate Jesus ascending into heaven and being
seated at the right hand of God.
So what exactly was Jesus doing during those forty
days between his Resurrection and his Ascension. According to Acts, Jesus was
“presenting himself alive to [his disciples] by many convincing proofs” (1:3). In other words, Jesus
was offering evidence to counter the rumors that his body had been stolen from
the tomb. His resurrection appearances were also proof that he was not a ghost,
not a disembodied spirit, but that he had, in fact, been raised from the dead,
flesh and blood, body and all.
Jesus also spent those forty days talking about
the kingdom of God and preparing his disciples for his final departure. And
that’s what he is doing in today’s gospel as well. Today’s reading from the
Gospel of John is a continuation of last week’s gospel lesson. It takes place
during Jesus’ final meal with his disciples. Last week, Jesus told his
disciples that he was going away, that he was returning to his Father’s house
in order to prepare a place for them. One day he would come back and get them
so that they might be with him and his Father forever. But in the meantime,
they needed to carry on. Instead of being overcome by loneliness, despair, and
fear, they were to put their trust in God and also in Jesus. They were to
continue the work that Jesus had begun. And, if they did this, if they stepped
out in faith, they would find themselves performing the same works that Jesus
did. They would proclaim the gospel; they would welcome sinners; they would
cast out demons and heal the sick. In fact, Jesus says, “Very truly, I tell
you, the one who believes in me… will do greater works than these, because I am
going to the Father” (John 14:12).
But how is that possible? How could Jesus’
followers do greater works than the Son of God—than he who walked on water and
turned water into wine, he who fed thousands with just a few loaves and fish,
he who laid down his life for the sins of the whole world. And more to the
point, what does Jesus mean when he says that his disciples would do greater
works than he did precisely because
he is going away?
That doesn’t make any sense.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Resurrection 101: The Resurrection of Jesus in its First-Century Context
What do we mean when we proclaim, “Christ is risen!”
The Sermon
Christ is
risen! The Lord is risen indeed!
Let’s try
that again.
I will
say, “Christ is risen!”
and
you will say, “The Lord is risen indeed!”
Christ is
risen! The Lord is risen indeed!
Christ
is risen! The Lord is risen indeed!
Now, if
you were here on Easter Sunday, you probably know what’s coming next.
I will
say, “Christos aneste!” and
you will say, “Alethos aneste!”
And in
good liturgical fashion, we will do this three times in a row.
Christos
aneste! Alethos aneste!
Christos aneste! Alethos aneste!
Christos
aneste! Alethos aneste!
Amen!
Okay, you
can be seated now. You earned it.
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS
Now I don’t know if you happen to notice, but our first
reading this morning did not come from the Old Testament, but from the Acts of
the Apostles. And so it will be for the entire Easter Season. Today’s reading
from Acts takes place on the fiftieth day following the Resurrection. Peter
stands up and addresses a large crowd of Jews who have traveled to Jerusalem,
from all around the Roman Empire, to celebrate the Jewish Feast of Weeks, also
known as, Pentecost. And in his speech, Peter proclaims the central truth of the Christian faith: God raised Jesus from the
dead. God raised Jesus from the dead.
It is no
exaggeration to say that, had Jesus not risen from the dead, there would
be no Christianity. In fact, without the Resurrection, I doubt that we would
even known the name of Jesus. For without the Resurrection, Jesus would have
been just one among the thousands of Jews who were put down by Rome and whose
names have been lost to history. Without the Resurrection, there would be no
gospels, because gospels aren’t written for false prophets, failed
revolutionaries, and messianic pretenders. Moreover, without the Resurrection,
there would be no forgiveness of sins, no defeat of death, no hope for the
future. For as Paul argues in 1 Corinthians,
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Cor 15:17–19).[1]
So again, Jesus’ resurrection is the central conviction of the Christian
faith, it is the foundation of the Christian claim to truth. It is worth asking,
then: What do we mean by resurrection? What do we mean when we say that God
raised Jesus from the dead? What are we saying when we proclaim, “Christ is
Risen! The Lord is risen indeed!”?
Friday, April 18, 2014
The Cross of God: God-Forsaken and God-Grieved
We often talk
about what the Cross of Christ means for us.
But what did the Cross mean for God? What did it do
to God?
Isaiah
52:13–53:12 • Psalm 22 • Hebrews 4:14–16, 5:7–9 • John 18:1–19:42
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My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why
are you so far from helping me,
from
the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and
by night, but find no rest.
—
Psalm 22:1–2
COULD JESUS HAVE COME DOWN FROM THE CROSS?
When I was in seminary in Pasadena, California, I took
most of my core theology courses from Ray Anderson, who not only taught as a
fulltime, graduate-school professor, but who also served as the pastor of a
church. Dr. Anderson was something of a maverick theologian. He would often
begin class with a provocative question. Then, after a bit of discussion, he
would offer his own response, which tended to be even more provocative than the
question itself.
I remember one question in particular. We entered
the class and got ourselves settled, and after leading us in prayer, he posed
this question, “Could Jesus have come down from the cross?” The class became
instantly animated as various people offered their passionate responses, most
of which amounted to, “Yes, Jesus could have come down from the cross, but he
chose not to.”
To my way of thinking, that seemed right. After
all, on the night of Jesus’ arrest, when Peter attempted to rescue him, by
cutting off the ear of the high priest’s servant, Jesus said to Peter
Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:52–53)
So, yes, Jesus
could have come down, but he chose not to.
WE CANNON SEPARATE POWER FROM CHARACTER
After the class discussion died down, Dr. Anderson offered
his own response. He said, “No. Jesus could not have come down from the cross.”
And here was his explanation as best as I can remember it. Jesus could not have
come down because it was his love and that of his Father’s that held him to the
cross. It wasn’t the nails, but God’s love for the world that held him there.
If Jesus had come down from the cross, then there would not have been God’s
love for the world.
Wednesday, April 09, 2014
Sand on the Streets: Cultivating the Desert in the City
where there are individuals capable of waiting and hoping instead of hurrying and worrying.
— Alessandro Pronzato
Psalm 46 • Luke 10:38–42
Scroll Down for the Texts of the Scriptures
The Sermon
Come, Holy Spirit, and kindle the fire that is in us.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take our hearts and see through them.
Take our souls and set them on fire. Amen.
By Way of the
Desert
Good afternoon. It’s good to see you all, and it’s good to
be here today, on loan, as I am, from Pleasant Valley Middle School. I must say
that it is quite a treat to be speaking to a group of adults, most of whom want
to hear what you have to say, which I must say, is rather different from my daily
experience as a middle school teacher.
Well, today is the last of our Lenten Luncheons,
and the question we have been asking these past several Wednesdays is, “How do
we engage people in God’s mission of reconciling the world?” Each of the speakers
have answered this question in their own way, and today, I want to focus on the
how of that question. In this sense.
I don’t want to focus on what we do,
but on how we do, that is, on the manner with which we go about participating in God’s mission of reconciling
all people to himself and to one another. I want to reflect on this by taking
you on a brief trip to the Egyptian desert.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Blinded by the Light: Jesus as The Light of the World
How do we adjust our eyes to the brightness of Jesus and the Gospel ?
Year A • The Fourth Sunday of Lent
1
Samuel 16:1–13 • Psalm 23 • Ephesians 5:8–14 • John 9:1–41
Scroll Down for the Texts of the Scriptures
Sermon available on YouTube by clicking here,
as an Audio File by clicking here, Coming S.
and as a PDF by clicking here.
The Sermon
Come, Holy Spirit, and kindle the fire that is in us.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take our lips and speak through them.
Take our hearts and see through them.
Take our souls and set them on fire. Amen.
Blinded by the
Light
I grew up on a family farm in Woodward, Oklahoma, which is
a small town located in the northwest corner of the state. As you might expect,
we had to get up really early to get our chores done, especially on school days,
because the bus picked us up around 7:00 o’clock. For me, there were chickens and
rabbits to be fed and watered, and breakfast to be eaten. In the winters, chores
took longer because warm water from the house had to be hauled out to the
animals, since we couldn’t use the outside faucets for fear of them freezing. I
remember many a morning loading up a wagon with six or seven jugs of warm water,
and dragging the wagon through the snow to the chicken coup.
Needless to say, none of this was particularly fun
or easy. But my Dad was really great. He did what he could to make all of this
as painless as possible. For example, when he got me up in the morning, he
would come in quietly with a candle, sit down on my bed, and softly say, “Hey
Son, it’s time to get up.” And I would wake up slowly.. It was wonderful.
Or rather, it would have been wonderful had it
actually happened that way. But it didn’t; not even close. Instead, Dad would
throw open my bedroom door at 5:30, flip on the overhead lights, and say in a
rather loud voice, “Get up you lazy bum.”
I think this was Dad’s idea of a joke. You know,
anybody who could still be in bed as late as 5:30 must be sleeping in. The
problem is, I never quite found the humor in this little morning routine. This
had to be one of the worse ways to wake up, this being blinded by the light.
Light is Not
Always Welcome
I tell this story to make a point. Light is not always
welcome. Light is not always perceived as a blessing. In today’s gospel
reading, Jesus proclaims himself to be The Light of the world, and he demonstrates
his claim by healing a blind man. Pretty amazing stuff. Pretty wonderful, isn’t
it? Well, not for everybody. For the blind man, certainly, and for some others.
But not for everyone. Not for the Pharisees and many of the other Jewish
leaders.
Jesus of Nazareth is The Light of the world, and he
was sent by God to bring the light of life to a world groping about in the
darkness of death—the darkness of sin and violence, the darkness of hatred and
injustice. But not everyone was eager for the Light. Having grown accustomed to
the darkness, some had a hard time adjusting their eyes to brightness of the
gospel. This is what we see dramatically played out in today’s reading.
But from the very beginning of his gospel, John
has prepared his readers for those who would resist the coming of the Light. In
the prologue, John writes:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.… [I]n him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.... He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God (John 1:1, 4–5, 11–12).
The Light came into the world that had been created
through him. He came to those who owed their very existence to him. Yet they
did not recognize him; they did not acknowledge or welcome him (1:11). There is a bit of a
mystery there.
Later, Jesus talks with Nicodemus about the
polarizing effect that his coming will have. He speaks first of God’s love for
the world, of God’s desire to rescue and restore all humanity, but then he
offers this candid assessment of the world’s response to the light.
This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God (John 3:19–21).
So again, Light is not always welcomed. Though the Light came
to bring life to the world God loves, not everyone perceived it as a blessing. The
Light pierces the night of our brokenness and our estrangement from God. And
while some are drawn to the Light like a moth to the flame, others flee in fear,
hiding themselves in the shadows.
The Light is not going to win everyone over, at
least not initially. In this way, John prepares us for the mixed response that
Jesus’ words and actions will evoke. So, readers of John are not particularly
surprised by the Pharisees’ negative response to Jesus’ healing of the blind
man.
Rejecting the
Light
Of course, Jesus doesn’t seem to be particularly interested
in winning any popularity contests. He certainly hasn’t gone out of his way to
endear himself to the Jewish leadership. Prior to today’s healing, he has
criticized their running of the temple, he has healed on the Sabbath, and he
has said things like, “You are not from God” (8:47b), “You are from your father the devil, and you
choose to do your father’s desires” (8:47b). So, it is little wonder that, by the time we arrive at today’s
episode, many leaders are ready to do away with Jesus, this false prophet from
backwater Galilee, who is deceiving the people with his signs and wonders.
And nothing Jesus does today changes their opinion
of him. In fact, his healing of the blind man only serves to reinforce their view
that he is a sinner and a false prophet. But why? After all, Jesus heals a
blind man, and not just any blind man, but a man who has been blind from birth,
a man who has never seen anything. Jesus does not simply restore this man’s sight, he gives
him sight. He truly is The Light of the World. As the man himself so eloquently
testifies,
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing (John 9:31–33).
The Pharisees and the Sabbath
And yet, the Pharisees maintain that Jesus is a sinner. Why?
Because he healed the man on the Sabbath. But why should that matter? Well, I
wish we had time to explore this in greater detail because, as I have said on
numerous occasions, if we do not understand why Jesus’ opponents were so violently
opposed to him, if we simply dismiss them as petty or legalistic, then we miss
something of who Jesus is and what it means to follow him. Moreover, in
dismissing the Pharisees, we are in danger of overlooking how we might be like
them.
So let me say this. For the Pharisees, as well was
for most first-century Jews, the keeping of Sabbath was a very serious matter.
Not only had it been commanded by God—it is after all one of the Ten
Commandments—but it was also a key marker of Jewish identity, which was
especially important for a people who had been living under foreign occupation
for the better part of five hundred years. In fact, along with circumcision,
kosher food laws, and the reading of Torah, Sabbath keeping was one of the practices
that had sustained the Jews during their exile in Babylon. Moreover, in 167 b.c., these pillars of Jewish identity
were all outlawed by their pagan overlord, Antiochus Epiphanes. And rather than forsake those things that God
had commanded them, the Jews fought back,
and many died.
So, when Jesus comes along healing on the Sabbath,
it causes great offense. In part, because he seems to be showing contempt for
Jewish identity; he seems to be dishonoring the memory of those who had given
up their lives rather than break the Sabbath. And so, I would argue, that the
offense Jesus generated by healing on the Sabbath is comparable to the offense
that is triggered when somebody today burns the American flag.
Moreover, healing on the Sabbath seems to count against Jesus being from God. Because as
everybody knows, God himself rested on the Sabbath after the six days of
creation. How can Jesus claim to be performing the work of God, when God
himself doesn’t work on the Sabbath? Listen to the response a Jewish leader
makes in Luke’s gospel when Jesus heals a woman on the Sabbath. “The leader of
the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to
the crowd, ‘There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those
days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day’” (Luke 13:14).
That’s such a great line: “There are six days on
which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the
sabbath day.” It offers such insight into the mindset of the Pharisees. It
helps us gain an appreciation for how someone could look at a miraculous
healing of a blind man—regardless of the day on which it occurred—and conclude
that it was anything other than the work of God, that it was anything other
than a sign that this Jesus was in fact The Light of the World, sent by God, to
reflect the very glory and grace of God.
Adjusting Our
Eyes to the Light of Christ
I belabor this point because
I don’t think that the Pharisees are unique or exceptional in their blindness.
I see evidence of their blindness in myself, in our American society, and even
in the Church. And this raises some questions.
Are there things that we value—not just as
individuals, but as communities, as a nation and a society—are there things
that we value that blind us to who Jesus is? Are there things, dark things,
that we have grown accustomed to, things that we have come to rely upon in
order to maintain our identity and our way of life, things that define us which
are contrary to God’s vision for the world, things that make us shield our eyes
when the Light of the Gospel reveals them for what they are?
In short, where are our blind spots? It’s a
critical question, and one worthy of serious reflection, especially during this
time of Lent, this season where we are called to “self-examination and repentance;
by [means of] prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on
God’s holy Word” (BCP 264–265).
And when our blindness is revealed, what can we do
about it? After all, blind people cannot heal themselves. That’s one of the
reasons why we flee from the Light in the first place. When the Light shines
into the dark recesses of our lives, we feel naked and exposed. We feel the
guilt of our brokenness and the shame of our past failures, we feel the shame
and guilt of our inability to change and our unwillingness to be changed. We
know that we are blind, and we would just as soon forget it. For if we could
make ourselves see, then we wouldn’t be blind in the first place. So what’s to
be done?
Very simply, we need to come into the Light. Or at
a minimum, we need to resist the temptation to hide when the Light reveals
something in us that is contrary to the Gospel. We need to come into the Light,
and remain there until we grow accustomed to the Light. Sometimes, the Light
blinds us and that can be very painful, but if we remain in the Light, our eyes
will adjust, and we will be able to see.
But how is this done? It begins and ends with acknowledging
that Jesus is indeed the Light of the World. It begins and ends with putting
our trust in Jesus as the one who reveals most fully the grace, truth, and love
of God. Jesus grants us the power to become children of God (John 1:12),
he empowers us to live as children of the Light (Eph 5:8). So it all begins
and ends with him.
Recall that Jesus did not simply give the blind man
physical sight, he returned later and granted him spiritual sight, which began
with trust.
Jesus said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him (John 9:35–38).
Now, I should add, that putting our trust in Jesus
is not a one-time affair. It is an ongoing process, a daily process of
acknowledging who Jesus is, of believing in him and worshipping him. It is a relationship of increasing dependence
& reliance upon him.
Moreover, this trust will grow and mature as we develop
the habit of bringing things into the Light, as we develop a habit of
acknowledging our blindness and our resistance to change and offering these
things up to Jesus.
We do this in prayer, we do this in worship, and
above all we do this in community. So I invite you to come into the loving,
life-filled Light of Christ, again and again and again. At times, you may find
yourselves blinded by the Light, but resist the temptation to throw the covers
over your head. Just remain in the Light, and listen to the voice of your
heavenly Father who says very gently, “Wake up Daughter; Wake up Son; it’s time
to get up.”
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Delivered on Sunday, March 30th, a.d. 2014
at St. John's Episcopal Church (Wichita, Kansas)
The Scriptures
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