I’ve been away for awhile! I’m back now and you can expect at least two post per week from me! God bless you and take care.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Monday, July 6, 2009
"Who Does He Think He Is" Sermon Letter for the Fifth Sunday After Pentecost
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Ezekiel 2:1-5
II Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13
Sermon Title: “Who Does He Think He Is?
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our loving Creator, the great “I Am;” from Jesus the Christ, who enrobed himself in the garment of humanity and by his death and rising from the grave made us joint-heirs with him; from the promised Holy Spirit who dwells with and in us. This Holy Spirit daily brings to mind the calling of our baptisms and to live as Christ’s Ambassadors through whom God appeals to the world. Only in the name of the Triune God that we can even draw breath to speak. I come today praying God’s noblest intentions for your lives and speaking peace. Shalom.
It is July 4th weekend and most preachers skirt around the fact that it is Independence Day for the U.S. We seem skittish because from childhood all of us have heard the admonition not to discuss…what? Religion and politics. Exactly. A patriotic holiday shoves both subjects to the forefront. One response is to behave as though it has no bearing upon what we do in church—the ostrich in the sand approach. While effective in the short term, eventually the birdie has to come up for air. Another approach is set ourselves apart from the rest of Christendom in the world by the belief that God’s favor falls only on the United States. That doesn’t work either because it is a kind of spiritual arrogance which separates us from our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world. Here’s my third option: Independence Day is a celebration that we should embrace fully but all the while remembering that what we are is of God’s gracious making and we receive this blessing with the utmost humility. As such, we live to bless the entire world. This is a discussion for a Christian education forum at a later date should interest call for it.
Following Jesus through the early chapters of the Gospel of Mark finds him stilling storms, casting out demons, healing hemorrhages, raising little girls from the dead among many other things. Every one of those signs and wonders points to his identity as the Son of God. Additionally, the healings not only restore people to physical health but bring them back to the community that set them at the margins in the first place—this is the work of reconciliation. After all of that Jesus goes to his hometown. He goes to the synagogue and teaches with authority of God. Undoubtedly, his reputation preceded him and they declared, “What deeds of power are being done by his hands!” This is the pivotal point. Those gathered could have grabbed the opportunity and received the blessing in their midst. But, no! Someone pipes up, “Is that not the carpenter, the son of Mary…?” Mind you, they did not even dignify Jesus by calling his name. The 21st century equivalent put-down would be “Isn’t that the day laborer?” Hyacinth Buckett, pronounced Bouquet, of the PBS show “Keeping Up Appearances” would be the one to deliver this line with all the acridity it deserves. In other words, “Who does he think he is?”
How is it that people can be amazed and offended at the same time? Social relationships in Jesus’ day were quite different than present day relationships in the US. In the US our story is shaped by the belief in the American Dream. Rugged individualism, hard work and true grit are what you need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps to elevate your station in life. We love a good Horatio rags to riches story. Not so in Jesus’ time. If you were a carpenter that was all you could ever hope or expect to be. You were confined your station in life. No “boot-strapping” allowed back then.
Here comes Jesus doing God’s work in the world—not in princely robes but as a carpenter or day laborer. It was cognitive dissonance in the truest from. Perhaps, they were intrigued by the possibility and just as they were going to grasp it, a voice called them back to the present reality that said, “Stay where you are! You can’t do that!” Who does this carpenter, Mary’s boy think he is? Does he think he can flout the rules and bend his status? This shut those gathered down to the possibilities which caused Jesus to quip, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” Jesus marveled at their unbelief. This is not to be confused with faith that’s lacking. Unbelief differs. It is cynicism that refuses to believe despite supporting evidence. God can leaven a minute particle of faith (see Isaiah 43:2). In Mark 9:24 a father desperate for Jesus to heal his son cried out to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief.” And so, Jesus healed his son. Jesus, however, was able to heal only a few folks in his hometown.
Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of today’s in the Message gets at the heart of the matter:
He left there and returned to his hometown. His disciples came along. On the Sabbath, he gave a lecture in the meeting place. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea that he was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise all of a sudden, get such ability?”
But in the next breath, they were cutting him down: “He’s just a carpenter—Mary’s boy. We’ve known him since he was a kid. We know his brothers, James, Justus, Jude and Simon, and his sisters. Who does he think he is? They tripped over what little they knew about him and fell, sprawling. And they never got any further.
How many times have we tripped over what little we know about God and fell sprawling? Not only do lie there on the ground but we refuse the very thing we need to get back up—God’s grace. There are striking similarities between folks of Jesus’ day and us. Like us, they asked and answered their own question without listening to God’s gracious appeal to our hearts.
Q: “Who does he think he is?”
A: “Nobody, but a carpenter!”
Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism wrote a short little booklet for aspiring monks to follow simply called “The Rule.” The first word of it is the word “Listen.” As we continue to open our hearts to formed and reformed by God, we learn a few things as we grow in years and grace. We learn to listen deeply—to listen with the ear of the heart. Sometimes we have to quiet ourselves and still the swirling questions and listen for God’s question. God’s the Son’s question will come in the eighth chapter of Mark and it is simply, “But who do you say I am?” Who do you say, Jesus is? When we say, “Thou art the messiah,” as did Peter, the hand of grace picks us up and sets our feet on high places. And once again, we are saved from ourselves and retro-fitted to serve God in the world.
One with you in Christ,
Pastor Angela Shannon
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Ezekiel 2:1-5
II Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13
Sermon Title: “Who Does He Think He Is?
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our loving Creator, the great “I Am;” from Jesus the Christ, who enrobed himself in the garment of humanity and by his death and rising from the grave made us joint-heirs with him; from the promised Holy Spirit who dwells with and in us. This Holy Spirit daily brings to mind the calling of our baptisms and to live as Christ’s Ambassadors through whom God appeals to the world. Only in the name of the Triune God that we can even draw breath to speak. I come today praying God’s noblest intentions for your lives and speaking peace. Shalom.
It is July 4th weekend and most preachers skirt around the fact that it is Independence Day for the U.S. We seem skittish because from childhood all of us have heard the admonition not to discuss…what? Religion and politics. Exactly. A patriotic holiday shoves both subjects to the forefront. One response is to behave as though it has no bearing upon what we do in church—the ostrich in the sand approach. While effective in the short term, eventually the birdie has to come up for air. Another approach is set ourselves apart from the rest of Christendom in the world by the belief that God’s favor falls only on the United States. That doesn’t work either because it is a kind of spiritual arrogance which separates us from our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world. Here’s my third option: Independence Day is a celebration that we should embrace fully but all the while remembering that what we are is of God’s gracious making and we receive this blessing with the utmost humility. As such, we live to bless the entire world. This is a discussion for a Christian education forum at a later date should interest call for it.
Following Jesus through the early chapters of the Gospel of Mark finds him stilling storms, casting out demons, healing hemorrhages, raising little girls from the dead among many other things. Every one of those signs and wonders points to his identity as the Son of God. Additionally, the healings not only restore people to physical health but bring them back to the community that set them at the margins in the first place—this is the work of reconciliation. After all of that Jesus goes to his hometown. He goes to the synagogue and teaches with authority of God. Undoubtedly, his reputation preceded him and they declared, “What deeds of power are being done by his hands!” This is the pivotal point. Those gathered could have grabbed the opportunity and received the blessing in their midst. But, no! Someone pipes up, “Is that not the carpenter, the son of Mary…?” Mind you, they did not even dignify Jesus by calling his name. The 21st century equivalent put-down would be “Isn’t that the day laborer?” Hyacinth Buckett, pronounced Bouquet, of the PBS show “Keeping Up Appearances” would be the one to deliver this line with all the acridity it deserves. In other words, “Who does he think he is?”
How is it that people can be amazed and offended at the same time? Social relationships in Jesus’ day were quite different than present day relationships in the US. In the US our story is shaped by the belief in the American Dream. Rugged individualism, hard work and true grit are what you need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps to elevate your station in life. We love a good Horatio rags to riches story. Not so in Jesus’ time. If you were a carpenter that was all you could ever hope or expect to be. You were confined your station in life. No “boot-strapping” allowed back then.
Here comes Jesus doing God’s work in the world—not in princely robes but as a carpenter or day laborer. It was cognitive dissonance in the truest from. Perhaps, they were intrigued by the possibility and just as they were going to grasp it, a voice called them back to the present reality that said, “Stay where you are! You can’t do that!” Who does this carpenter, Mary’s boy think he is? Does he think he can flout the rules and bend his status? This shut those gathered down to the possibilities which caused Jesus to quip, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” Jesus marveled at their unbelief. This is not to be confused with faith that’s lacking. Unbelief differs. It is cynicism that refuses to believe despite supporting evidence. God can leaven a minute particle of faith (see Isaiah 43:2). In Mark 9:24 a father desperate for Jesus to heal his son cried out to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief.” And so, Jesus healed his son. Jesus, however, was able to heal only a few folks in his hometown.
Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of today’s in the Message gets at the heart of the matter:
He left there and returned to his hometown. His disciples came along. On the Sabbath, he gave a lecture in the meeting place. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. “We had no idea that he was this good!” they said. “How did he get so wise all of a sudden, get such ability?”
But in the next breath, they were cutting him down: “He’s just a carpenter—Mary’s boy. We’ve known him since he was a kid. We know his brothers, James, Justus, Jude and Simon, and his sisters. Who does he think he is? They tripped over what little they knew about him and fell, sprawling. And they never got any further.
How many times have we tripped over what little we know about God and fell sprawling? Not only do lie there on the ground but we refuse the very thing we need to get back up—God’s grace. There are striking similarities between folks of Jesus’ day and us. Like us, they asked and answered their own question without listening to God’s gracious appeal to our hearts.
Q: “Who does he think he is?”
A: “Nobody, but a carpenter!”
Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism wrote a short little booklet for aspiring monks to follow simply called “The Rule.” The first word of it is the word “Listen.” As we continue to open our hearts to formed and reformed by God, we learn a few things as we grow in years and grace. We learn to listen deeply—to listen with the ear of the heart. Sometimes we have to quiet ourselves and still the swirling questions and listen for God’s question. God’s the Son’s question will come in the eighth chapter of Mark and it is simply, “But who do you say I am?” Who do you say, Jesus is? When we say, “Thou art the messiah,” as did Peter, the hand of grace picks us up and sets our feet on high places. And once again, we are saved from ourselves and retro-fitted to serve God in the world.
One with you in Christ,
Pastor Angela Shannon
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Holy Trinity Sunday , "God IS"
June 7, 2009
Isaiah 6:1–8
Psalm 29
Romans 8:12–17
John 3:1–17
Grace and peace is yours from God our Father, our loving creator. From Jesus Christ our brother and savior, in him we are engrafted such that we are children of God. From the Holy Spirit who dwells in and with us—sustaining; offering divine assistance; keeping us until God’s kingdom fully comes ushering in a new reality. In this new reality there will be no need of sun or moonlight for God’s glory will illumine all of creation. In the name of the Blessed and Holy Trinity, I greet each of you, praying God’s noblest and highest intentions for your lives. Shalom.
I love Facebook. It helps me to keep up with friends around the world. With it, I have super-human powers. I can invite hundreds of folks to an event with a few keystrokes. I can take a quiz and find out which Biblical character I’m most like! I can opine on “hot button” issues through its many opinion polls. I can join fan pages. I can chat with others who happen to be logged into Facebook while I on FB. I even have Facebook on my cell phone. But my favorite part of Facebook is going to the home page and checking out my friends’ status summaries. The status summary is a few lines written to tell the world where they are in their heads, hearts and locations.
I’ll share a few with you:
Jaqui’s status reads: “Nothing says Saturday like an overcrowded IKEA!”
Sondra’s reads: “had an exhausting but wonderful day for Rachel's birthday party! She is wiped out and mommy may take a nap soon too.”
Candace’s reads: “enjoyed a night of games and a movie. We just watched "Kramer vs. Kramer" for the first time. I know - I'm late, but it was a great movie.”
Every once in a while folks draw a blank. Sometimes our minds run out of witty turns of phrases or pithy maxims. The fall-back status seems to be “So-in-so, is.” Just yesterday a friend of mine Pastor Andrea Walker wrote “Andrea is…” I have a hard time believing my colleague was at a lost for words. Pastor Andrea, like most clergy-types tend to be very deliberate in their use of words. Reach back into the inner-recesses of your mind to grade school grammar and you’ll remember that “is” is the third person singular present indicative of the verb “to be.” As we know, the verb “to be” has a quality of existence and life, as in Shakespeare’s “to be or not be.” “To be” then is to inhabit life and reality.
The title of this sermon is “God is.” Today is Trinity Sunday in the calendar of the church. Christ the King Sunday onward to Pentecost Sunday speaks of the life of Christ. The Sundays in Pentecost reflect the growth of the church in Christ. For me, Trinity Sunday has always been a curious insertion because it specifically focuses on a teaching of the church.
I have reflected on the myriad ways in which pastors and teachers have struggled to communicate the Trinity to us. “The great three in one” is a popular reference. You read that I refer to “the Blessed and Holy Trinity” every week. I have heard the Trinity compared to a Rubik’s cube, the various states of water—liquid (water), solid (ice) and gas (steam), among many others. If we say that the Trinity is like a Rubik cube, what we are really saying is that God has different faces—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Or if we say the God is like water--liquid, solid and gas, again we come up short. These illustrations seem to say that God is a shape shifter. The Christian church flatly rejects that teaching. These inaccuracies or some would say heresies are almost as old as the church itself dating back to the third century. Perhaps the most accurate depiction symbolizing the Trinity is the triangle. Even still, it cannot fully explain the breath of the Divine Mystery.
Lutherans believe and teach that we encounter God in three distinct persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is oft repeated by the great creeds of the church, the Apostle’s Creed, the Nicene Creed and the Athanasian Creed. The Apostle’s and Nicene Creeds are commonly used in the context of liturgy during Sunday worship. The Athanasian Creed tends to be on the lengthy side and it puts to rest any doubt about teaching of the church regarding the Trinity. But the Trinity, as with most things of God, remains a Holy Mystery. Even the greatest of theological minds have yet comprehended or fully explain it. Just because we speak of the Trinity terms of mystery does in no way lessen its truth or reality. Theology (theos—God, logy—study of) is such a human enterprise. Theology is what we humans say about God. In the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, the Spirit of the Lord rested on prophets and God would speak through them. This is what God says about his majesty and mystery in Isaiah (55:8-11).
8For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
9For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
God is above any thought or theological system we can devise in our human imaginings. This does not mean that we become anti-intellectuals or to become dismissive of theological education because God is the source of all knowledge and wisdom. The zenith of humanity’s brilliance pales in comparison to not only God intelligence, but also more importantly, God’s boundless love for us. Fortunately our ability or lack thereof to fully understand the Trinity does not short circuit God’s loving intentions for our lives. This is the part where you want to stop reading and just shout “Hallelujah and Thank you, Jesus!” Done? Good. Resume reading!
The Divine Mystery of the Trinity also points up that there are other ways of knowing. Nicodemus was a teacher of Israel, a rabbi himself but it was difficult for him to grasp heavenly teachings of Jesus. One of my favorite quotes comes from Justice Felix Frankfurter, “Wisdom to often never comes so one ought not reject it merely because it comes late.” I would hazard to suggest that wisdom indeed did come for Nicodemus also known as “Nick at Night” because he was the one who asked for Jesus’ body for a proper burial. In this act, he honored Jesus. Praise God when we are visited by Wisdom however early or late she comes (Proverbs 8).
While on this side of eternity, it is doubtful that we will ever explain the mystery of the Trinity but there are some things that we know by faith. We know the reality of a God, who creates, delivers, saves and keeps promises. We know that promise kept through Jesus’ incarnation. He came enrobed in flesh came to Jewish community and through this community blessed and saved all nations. Jesus also kept his promise and as such the Holy Spirit dwells among us and continues to instruct us in daily living and all things divine.
So, we are thrown back on John 3:16-17 and the reality that God ever-present and eternal status “God Is .”
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