The Second Sunday in Lent: March 8

John 3:1-17

1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." 3 Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." 4 Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" 5 Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, "You must be born from above.' 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." 9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" 10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? 11 "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 17 "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

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I love the Gospel according to John because John presents the Good News of Jesus Christ to us in a way that makes us step outside of our familiar, worldly understanding of both what we know as well as what we think is possible. Jesus’ charge to Nicodemus in this passage is our charge – to be part of the Reign of God having been born of human flesh as well as by water and the Spirit of God.

Nicodemus, a respected Pharisee and leader of the Jews during the day (representing reality, clarity, defined truth) comes to Jesus by night (normally feared as a place of ignorance, vulnerability and unbelief.) But Nicodemus goes to Jesus in the darkness of night with a perceived insight that he recognizes Jesus as a teacher sent by God. Jesus affirms this awareness as coming through a new birth, being born of water and the Spirit of God. We hear in this an echo of Genesis 1, with God creating human as male and female, in God’s own image. Nicodemus, representing most of us at some time(s) in our lives, has trouble with this. How do we enter our mother’s wombs again once we have grown into adults? Jesus is inviting us in John’s Gospel to understand this new birth as coming from the womb of God, where water and Spirit exist and create anew.

Questions for Reflection:

1.     How may we use Lent to refocus ourselves from the daytime predictability and control of our understanding of the Reign of God?

2.     How may we hear John 3:16 (God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life) with ears of one who has been born anew of water and Spirit? What does this mean?

3.     How can we move to verse 3:17 (Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him) and hear God’s motivation for loving the world so much? What does this tell us about who God is and our relationship with God?

4.     What does it look like for us to accept Jesus’ invitation and allow ourselves to be born again of God, to begin life everlasting now, living into the fulness of who we were created to be? 

The Last Sunday after the Epiphany: February 23, 2020

Matthew 17:1-9

1 Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. 3 Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 Then Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." 5 While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!" 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." 8 And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone. 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead." 

Days after Jesus shares with His disciples His imminent suffering, death and resurrection, He takes with Him some of His earliest disciples with whom He has a very close relationship, and ascends a nearby mountain. The ascent of a mountain reminds us of times in Scripture when God has been encountered on a mountain – Abraham taking Isaac as a faithful sacrifice to God as recorded in Genesis 22, Moses on Mt. Sinai encountering God and receiving God’s Covenant with His people (Exodus 24), Elijah encountering God in sheer silence in 1Kings 19, and of course Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. Mountains represent holy places where God may be encountered.

When Jesus takes Peter, James, and John with Him up a mountain, we may anticipate that God will be encountered in a profound way. Jesus is transformed right in front of the disciples with radiant light making His face to shine like the sun and His clothes to become a brilliant white.

Then two of the greatest prophets, Moses and Elijah, appear with Him. Moses was a significant prophet and liberator of God’s chosen people with the tradition that he died and was buried by God’s own hands.  Elijah shared the spirit of prophecy with his son, Elisha, and then was carried into heaven in a chariot of fire.  When these two great people appear with Jesus we expect that there is a new divine age dawning.  

The disciples experienced the moment of transition to see with their own eyes their Lord standing with the great ones of their tradition. So Peter offered the most hospitality he could imagine – to build tents for them to reside in. These tents also then would serve as places where the other disciples and people of God could come to encounter the holy! While Peter was still presenting his offer to Jesus, the voice of God breaks in from heaven with the same words used at Jesus’ baptism, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” And then the voice adds, “Listen to Him!” It is really no surprise to us to hear that the disciples were terrified and fell facedown to the ground.

But Jesus, alone and not glowing radiantly, touches the disciples. A very ordinary and gentle gesture of comfort, assurance, and connection. Jesus is real, non-threatening, and cares deeply about His beloved disciples. He tells them not to cower but to get up. He tells them not to be afraid.

It’s time to go back down the mountain. But how can Peter, James, and John go back to the regular life happening below? How can they explain what they’ve encountered?  And then Jesus tells them not to tell anyone about what they’ve seen until after Jesus has been raised from the dead.

• Do we ever go to places where it is likely that we may encounter God?  

• Have we ever encountered Jesus’ radiance? If so, how has it changed us?

•  What is the new divine age that dawned with Jesus Christ? Where do we fit into that today?

• What are the tents that we propose making for God today? Why do we want to make them?

•  How can we share with others the change we have encountered in our lives knowing the Risen Lord in Holy Communion?

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is the day in the year when Christians remember our mortality, hearing, “You are from dust and to dust you shall return” with the marking of ashes on our foreheads in the sign of the Cross.  As a sign of our mortality, we often focus on the aspect of death. When our bodies die, they sooner or later turn to ashes, the dust of the earth. But it is important to remember, also, that is from the dust of the earth that God made Adam. God is our Creator, both at the beginning of time and at the beginning of our own lives.

God’s creative power is also a healing power. God heals the brokenness in our lives and in the world when we offer that brokenness to God. This action of giving over that which keeps us fragmented, needy and fearful is what repentance is all about. During the 40 days of Lent, beginning with Ash Wednesday, we strive to identify and turn over to God our brokenness, often referred to as our ‘sinfulness’.

We will begin to observe a holy Lent on Ash Wednesday with two services, one at 7:00 am and the other at 7:00 pm in the church. It will be essentially the same service, a quiet, spoken service offered twice to make coming to worship as accessible as possible. To increase this accessibility, we will be offering “Ashes to Go” at the driveway of the church property on Strawtown Road. Anyone may pause, receive ashes imposed on their foreheads with a blessing, and continue on their way. “Ashes to Go” is not designed to replace worship in the church, but is available to those who simply cannot make it to a worship service on Ash Wednesday, and possibly also for those who have a difficult relationship with the church that makes it difficult for them to go inside but who desire connection with God. The ashes remind us of our relationship with God.

One of the gifts the Church can give to the world is an outward and visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace of God. This grace is God’s favor toward us, unearned and undeserved. What we offer on Strawtown roadside in Ashes to Go is for those who can’t or don’t feel comfortable going to church on Ash Wednesday, so the church is willing and able to go to the people with God’s invitation to relationship, repentance and healing.

The Episcopal Church’s liturgy for the day, with the blessing and imposition of ashes in the sign of the Cross, serves as an invitation to repentance and our response to an encounter with the Word of God.

Please let me know if you are available to be part of the Ashes to Go, whether administering ashes yourself or available to hand out written material.

Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return,
and remember that you are precious in God’s sight.

The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany: February 9

Matthew 5:13-20

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. 

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

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This portion of Matthew’s Gospel is embedded in the larger Sermon on the Mount in which we learn about our inherent nature and goals. Jesus begins by telling us that we are the salt of the earth! It’s part of our composition, who we are, rather than something that we are striving to become. Some relevant characteristics of salt are that it isn’t useful to itself – it’s ability to enhance is only experienced when applied to something. It’s impure when taken directly from the earth; and if this earth salt loses its sodium chloride, all that is left is limestone – best used to create a stone path on the ground! 

Being the salt of the earth is a metaphor about our purpose in life, that we haven’t been designed to exist for ourselves alone but rather to engage in God’s Creation with and for others. It’s not about our personal salvation; we are taken as God’s own forever through baptism. Our purpose engages our entire being, our beautiful and salty essence as we bring our full selves into relationship with God and others. The only way we can fail is to lose our saltiness, which means losing our earthy essence that enhances the world.

We are the light of the world! Jesus’ light shines in and through us. Light inherently dispels darkness, and when put on a lampstand it becomes the focus of attention for all around it. Then this beacon of light enables us to explore our surroundings, engaging in the wonder of God’s Creation. To put our light on a lampstand, however, requires us to put aside all fear of judgement by others. Our mission as God’s light is a public one, like boldly building a city up on top of a hill. This city and our light are not designed to be hidden - they are designed to be beacons for all to see. We endeavor to never let the light shining in us be hidden, because there is nowhere that God can’t or doesn’t want to reach and we extend God’s light to the world.

When we’re comfortable putting our light on a lampstand, we need to be mindful of not going to the opposite extreme and thinking that people turning toward us because of the brilliance of the light shining through us is about us. We’re cautioned by Jesus to remember that like salt not being designed for its own benefit, so too our light is not about us. We can’t make the light or keep it fueled; it’s God’s light and it is designed to illuminate God’s Mission of healing and reconciliation to the world.

Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets’ words, and we are called to live with faithfulness into who we’re created to be. The scribes and the Pharisees spent significant energy following the details of the Law and the Prophets’ words, but to the point that they lost the essence of what they were trying to accomplish. Our righteousness comes with humility through our faith in Jesus Christ. We always remember that it is by God’s grace that we can strive to serve God and follow the commandments we’ve been given, living into who we have been created to be and shining our light for all the world to see!

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• When have you experienced being salt for someone else, enhancing their lives?

• When have you experienced God’s light? When have you been able to see this light being a beacon to others?

• What are the ways we inhibit our saltiness?

• What are the bushels that can we use to hide our light?

• How do we encourage in ourselves being salt of the earth and letting God’s brilliant light shine in and through us?

The Feast of the Presentation: February 2

LUKE 2:22-40

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." 

And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed-- and a sword will pierce your own soul too."

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Jesus’ parents, Mary and Joseph, lived as faithful Jews according to the law of Moses. This meant that they needed to present their firstborn son in the temple, designating him as holy to the Lord. This is a reminder of the Hebrew Scripture story about Abraham presenting Isaac to the Lord, offering to the Lord the child for whom they had long waited.  The trip that Mary and Joseph made so many years later was ordinary, yet filled with the memory of tradition for God’s faithful people.

At the time of Jesus’ presentation, Simeon was prompted by the Spirit to go to the temple where he encountered the Christ child being carried in His parents’ arms. Simeon praised God that he had seen the Messiah before he died, and announced to all that Jesus was the Light of the world and the revelation of God to the nations! He blessed Mary and Joseph, and prophesied that Jesus’ ministry would cause the fall of those in Israel who opposed Him as He upset the established order of society.  Simeon also prophesied that this baby, the Messiah, also would serve as the sign of God to many. All of this, Simeon prophesied, was so that the thoughts of many hearts would be revealed, leading to a healing and righteousness for those who would believe. All so that hearts of those who will believe are healed and made righteous.

In this same temple presentation that Simeon was part of Anna (who was a widow living and worshipping in the temple) was moved by the Holy Spirit to come into the temple when Jesus was being presented to God by His parents.  She praised God as Simeon had, and prophesied that this child was the One who would redeem Israel. Both Simeon and Anna not only followed their hearts to come into the place where the Messiah was being presented in the humble form of the baby Jesus, but also thanked God and then told the people – us still today – that this little child born of Mary would change the world. Healing and making righteous the hearts of believers.

Today and every day God invites us into a partnership to effect God’s Mission, to reconcile all people to God’s very Self.  Jesus made us worthy through his Death and Resurrection. We are righteous because of the gift He gave to us. Our honor and call is to share with others who Jesus Christ is to us in our own lives as well as to the world. When we tell our story of our own relationship with God, we open the door for others to believe themselves. And in that belief they are healed. The Spirit of God is moving among and with us all the time; calling us to follow wherever the Spirit leads us to encounter God, and to see in the ordinary circumstances of life the very Presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

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+ Do you know anyone who has felt prompted to go somewhere or do something for no understandable reason, later finding out that something important happened to them or occurred because they were there?     Has this ever happened to you?

+ What would our life look like if we stopped what we were doing and went somewhere if we sensed the Spirit of God was prompting us to do this?

+ What would it look like if we revealed our thoughts and hearts to God, accepting God’s healing and being made righteous? What would life be like if everyone we knew accepted God’s healing and righteousness?

The Third Sunday after the Epiphany: January 26

Matthew 4:12-23; Isaiah 9:1-4;Ps 27:1, 5-13; 1Cor 1:10-18;  Epiphany 3

Jesus’ call to His first disciples, those names now famous (Peter, Andrew, James, John) was a call to ordinary people going about their ordinary lives. Fishermen who lived near the water in families spanning generations, they left their families, their tools and provisions, and their practical livelihoods. They walked away to follow Jesus. What Presence they must have been able to discern in our Lord, and what faith they must have had to follow so completely when God called them!

Following Jesus changed the lives of Peter, Andrew, James, John, and all of those men and women who followed Him almost two thousand years ago. They found themselves doing tasks they never dreamed of doing (sitting at the feet of someone instead of fishing or mending nets or doing something to earn their living!?), encountering people they never would have chosen to meet (lepers, Gentiles, and more!?), receiving power beyond their expectations (a fisherman healing someone!?), and probably most amazingly having their simple YES to God being something that God would use to change the world. Isaiah predicted the Light that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would bring into the world would shine on those who lived in darkness, and as it multiplied throughout the world it would bring joy. Joy! Following Jesus gives us work to do for God’s Mission but also brings us a joy beyond anything the world can give.

Jesus is calling each of us. Every single person is called by God. H Richard Niebuhr describes four kinds of call: a call to Christian discipleship, an external call (such as by the Church), a secret and internal call that is usually experienced as a mysterious revelation from God directly to the believer about a particular ministry, and a providential call that augments a secret call with skills and talents to accomplish God’s call. These different ways of being called by God all draw us into closer relationship with God and into active engagement with God’s Mission.

Our YES! response to God’s call will change us and the world forever.

Questions for Reflection

§  How do we prepare ourselves to hear God’s call?

§  How do we trust that we can do whatever it is that God might ask us to do?

§  How do we nurture a call once we believe that we have discerned it?

§  How do we know when a call has changed or ended?

The Second Sunday after the Epiphany: January 19

Epiphany 2A Gospel Reflection and Questions

John 1:29-42

John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” 

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

Commentary:

We are in the church season of Epiphany, the time following Christmas, when we focus our attention on the moments when God reveals God’s life, God’s very Self, in and among us. The passage from the first chapter of John this morning is a story of John the Baptist’s and the disciples’ face-to-face encounter with Jesus.

John the Baptist points to Jesus and says “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” We hear that two of John’s disciples heard him say this and in response to this proclamation follow Jesus. Jesus asks these new followers what they seek. The question that we hear they ask Jesus sounds like an odd one to us, asking Him where He is staying.  It helps to know that the original Greek word for “staying” (meno) may be a double entendre here, having the superficial meaning of where you are staying (as in what house are you going to spend the night in), as well as the deeper question about where Jesus’ heart or spirit lies, abides.  Understanding the disciples’ question as a probing one to Jesus about His intentions, allows Jesus’ simple response of “come and see” to be understood as an invitation into Jesus’ heart and Mission.

With Jesus’ invitation to come and see  who He is, where He’s going, and what His purpose is, Andrew invites Peter, Peter invites others, and those who discover God abiding among us grows exponentially. And it’s all through the simple pointing of one of us toward Messiah, and God’s constant, eternal, and gentle invitation to come and see!

Questions for Reflection:

·        In what ways do people point to God?

·        Have you ever heard God inviting you to share what you want?

·        Sometimes it’s difficult to be honest with God, even though we know God knows what’s in our hearts. How can we be more vulnerable with God?

·        How has God called you or someone you know in the past to “come and see” to experience a new thing? How did you/they respond?