The Rev. Dr. Jo Ann Barker
Lent 3 Year C
Luke 13: 1-9
March 7, 2010
We are all familiar with the book of Job in the Old Testament. Job was a righteous man who obeyed all the Jewish laws, was kind and good to his family, friends, and business associates. Yet Job suffered the loss of wealth and health, the death of his wife and children, and abandonment of his friends and neighbors. Job remains faithful to God and his friends think he’s crazy for it. No one, certainly none of us, can understand why God would allow such awful things to happen to Job or why Job stays loyal to God.
Luke’s gospel begins this morning with a brief sentence about an incident that has just occurred in Jerusalem. It seems that a group of Galileans has gone to the Temple with their animals to offer sacrifice. For no apparent reason, Pilate’s soldiers murdered them. The people questioning Jesus want to know, in the same way that Job’s friends wanted to know, what those who died had done to deserve it. The assumption is that when something bad happens it is punishment for sin. They want an explanation. They want to assure themselves that if they lead a good God-fearing life that nothing bad will happen to them.
Jesus was really good at confronting the Jews with their belief system and challenging them to look deeper. He was able as no other to give them a more penetrating look into the mind of God. Yet Jesus no more answered their question than God did when Job wanted to know why such awful things happened to him. The Jews wanted to know if the people who were killed were worse sinners than those who were not killed. Jesus answered simply NO.
That’s good news! Jesus said they were no better, no worse than anyone else. But he added Unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. There is nothing you can do to prevent some of the catastrophes of this world but you can align yourself with Almighty God and prepare your soul for eternity.
Many years ago when I was working as a hospital chaplain, I would go from room to room, introduce myself, offering a smile and friendly conversation, a prayer and a listening ear if wanted. I was asked by the staff to visit a man admitted from a not-so-reputable nursing home with dehydration and bedsores. It was rumored that he was abused by the staff at that nursing home and had been abandoned by his family.
I walked into the room, said good morning and asked how he was doing. The man looked at me with terror in his eyes and said nothing. As I approached his bed he began to tighten up his already fetal position. I continued talking and soon realized that the nurse didn’t tell me he couldn’t talk. I had never been in the situation before where the patient could not give verbal feedback. I decided I would say a prayer with him and be on my way.
I thumbed through my prayer book and read him a couple of psalms that were favorites that seem to comfort sick people. His piercing eyes let me know that he was soaking in every word. He very deliberately and obviously painfully gave me his hand which I held as I continued praying and offering comfort and assurance of God’s mercy and love. Big tears streamed down his face as he clutched my hand tight. He never could speak to me but I felt the suffering he had to endure and felt the question he was asking Why me? I never saw him again as he was gone the next day but I’ve never forgotten him.
Many of us have faced tragic situations in our own lives. We live with self-inflicted guilt and try to figure out what we have done to cause such awful things to happen. Why do I have cancer when I exercise and eat right? Why did my brother die of AIDS? Why is my child an alcoholic? Why did my husband leave me? Why did I lose my job? Why do we fight in my family? Why did my children leave the church when I was so faithful to teach them? Why is my love greeted with hate and cruelty? Am I a worse sinner than others? Jesus says no.
Jesus also tells the parable of the fig tree. The owner goes to the gardener to tell him to cut down the tree that does not bear fruit, although it’s healthy enough otherwise. The gardener begs the owner, Just give it one more season. I will cultivate it, put manure and mulch around it and give it more attention. Then if it doesn’t bear fruit, I’ll cut it down. So the tree is given another chance.
Jesus is the gardener. We are the tree. Bad things do happen to good people. The mysteries of God and the universe are not ours to understand. What Jesus admonishes us to focus on instead are the things that we can control. Repentance: turning our heart and soul and mind toward God. In that way when evil confronts us our lives and our wills are united to God. It is a daily process and there are no short cuts. Jesus will be there giving us the grace to endure and to continue, nurturing our spiritual lives and helping us to accept God’s love and forgiveness.
Reinhold Niebuhr, twentieth century American theologian, wrote a prayer that you are familiar with used by twelve-step recovery groups. This is the prayer in its entirety:
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as the way to peace. Taking as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will; that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with him forever in the next. AMEN.
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The Rev. Dr. Jo Ann Barker
Lent 1 Year C
Luke 4: 1-13
February 21, 2010
The Lenten season begins with the retelling of the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Immediately after his baptism by John, Jesus began a retreat. He went to the desert to fast and pray for forty days. He had been empowered to begin his public ministry and knew that he needed to connect intensely to his Father and the Holy Spirit. As his prayer deepened and he became hungry from the fast, the Devil saw this weak moment as his opportunity. Three times the devil tempts Jesus. Because he was hungry, Jesus is tempted to turn stones into bread – not only for himself but to feed all the hungry in the world. Then he was shown the world and told he could be in charge if he worshiped the Devil, to which Jesus reminded him that it was not his to give, that God alone is in charge. Lastly he was taken to the roof of the Temple to be thrown down. The Devil wanted to be shown proof that Jesus was the Son of God knowing that angels would protect him if he were. Jesus was not drawn into that one either.
A word about the Devil. We have the mistaken notion that the Devil and God are equals going at each other equally. The Devil is NOT the opposite of God! God has no opposite. God created Angels and a struggle erupted in heaven between the faction that stood with God, led by Michael the Archangel, and the faction that Lucifer led who were thrown out of heaven into hell for believing they were equal to God. Dualism, that is, believing that there are two equally powerful forces (good and evil) that are locked in mortal combat is a heresy. Yes evil is powerful but God has triumphed over evil through the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is an unequal struggle that God has already won for us.
C. S. Lewis said that when it came to the devil, Christians make two mistakes: over-emphasis and under-emphasis. In the former situation, anyone who disagrees with you on a matter of righteousness is influenced by the devil. The devil lurks under every rock and around every corner, just waiting to zap the unaware and unsuspecting. On the other hand, Lewis illustrates under-emphasis. In his fictional Screwtape Letters an entry-level devil named Wormwood goes to his superior Screwtape and asks how to deal with his assigned human. Screwtape gives the following advice: “Our policy, at least for the present phase of the struggle, is to conceal ourselves. I do not think that you will have much difficulty keeping the patient in the dark. The fact that ‘devils’ are predominantly comic figures in modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that, he therefore cannot believe in devils at all.”
There’s no question about it that we know Christian denominations that scare their people to death with ominous stories about the Devil’s power in their lives. There is also no question about it that we Episcopalians under-emphasize the Devil. That’s why Lewis’ Screwtape is such a clever character to whom we must pay attention.
In looking at Jesus’ temptations as we enter Lent we probably scratch our heads and dismiss their value as we are quite removed from the inner battle that Jesus was experiencing. Turning stones into bread? None of us is rich enough to be tempted to feed the whole world but maybe that could be a temptation for Bill Gates. Power over the entire world? Not my temptation but maybe Donald Trump or President Obama. Jumping off a building so that angels would catch me? Nope. And I don’t know another soul in that league!
Does this mean that the temptation story is irrelevant to us? No but it does mean that our temptations will not be the same as the One called to be Messiah to this world who was both God and Man. Our temptations are different. . .
Thinking about Screwtape’s approach to those of us who under-estimate the Devil, we can see that he has to be very clever and subtle and that is exactly the case. It seems to me that there are three temptations that we are prone to respond to where we sin before we know it and half the time rationalize that we didn’t do anything wrong.
FIRST of all, the culture has taught us very well that we have to have every comfort, get the best grades, and make the most money. So our first and primary temptation is to cheat. The Devil is so cunning that we are able to convince ourselves that we aren’t cheating! Our eyes just happened to wander to the test answers of the kids sitting next to us. We need a break! If we had had more time to study we would have known the answer anyhow. Besides, she’s the teacher’s pet and has all the advantages. It’s not cheating really. . . And so what if I had to tell a few white lies to make a sale. This guy will get a good deal anyhow so I might as well make a few more dollars in the mix. It’s not cheating really. . . That guy treats his wife so badly and she needs my love. It’s not cheating really. . .
We do a great job of rationalizing that cheating and lying are not wrong.
The SECOND temptation we moderns are apt to blunder into is the blame game. We do all sorts of things that are wrong but refuse to take responsibility for our own actions. When we are cruel to other people or cold and non-responsive we blame our parents for our upbringing. We don’t do our homework and find a hundred reasons why we ran out of time. We let our credit cards fill to the max and blame the US economy and Uncle Sam for taking too many taxes. We don’t attend church or don’t take time for prayer and have many excuses most of which blame a spouse who doesn’t understand or children who don’t want to get out of bed. It’s not my fault! It never is. . . .
A THIRD temptation the Devil keeps in the forefront is judgment of others – prejudice. In this time of the world growing smaller and we can see, on television at least, that there is such a wide diversity of differences in human beings. We unconsciously and even consciously determine that who we are is better than anyone else. White is better than black, Episcopalian is better than Baptist, Southern is better than Yankee, Christian is better than Muslim, two feet are better than one, pedigree is better than mutt, and so on. I think the Devil has a field day with this one as there are millions of ways to compare ourselves and that many times we can assure ourselves that we’re so much better. Not so to God, but we are experienced at convincing ourselves.
These three temptations to sin: to cheat, to blame, and to judge are modern day versions of serious barriers to a deeper relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The Devil is not as powerful as God. They are not dueling for power. God is in charge and can help us withstand the temptation to sin whenever we ask! This Lent would be a good time to acknowledge that the Devil is at work in our lives, disguised as good, convincing us that the sin we commit is not bad when it really is and furthermore that the sin is separating us from the love of God. When we push aside grace and do the easy thing, the sinful thing, we let our ego join forces with Satan to worship ourselves instead of God.
When we acknowledge the Devil’s subtle charms we must do what Jesus did, fast and pray for the grace and the strength to do what is right and avoid evil. Lent is the time for this reflection and determination to let God turn our lives around. It is not the easy way. The Devil has that down pat. To live with our eyes on Resurrection glory means we must see the pain and suffering of the cross. To live in this world as a follower of Christ we must look the Devil in the eye and say NO. He’ll go away momentarily but says, in the words of Gov. Schwarzenegger, “I’ll be back!” And so will God’s grace if we invite it in. You can count on it!
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The Rev. Dr. Jo Ann Barker
John 2: 1-11
January 17, 2010
Expect a Miracle!
Good morning! Today I’m going to walk with you to the wedding where Jesus turned water into wine. We’re going to attend the celebration with hundreds of other people from Cana of Galilee and try to get some sense of the importance of this miracle.
Now remember that Jesus had not done one miraculous thing up until then! He was already thirty, old especially in those days for getting going in his career. After all, everyone thought he was just a carpenter. Just recently he’d been baptized to begin his ministry as Messiah. He’d selected his close friends that he would mold into leaders. They were just getting organized – just getting to know one another.
This probably was an important family wedding. They were probably related to Jesus and his disciples too. You know how it is in small towns! Big wedding, reception lasts for days. Lots of eating. Lots of wine. Best wine served on day one. Anyone who stayed realized that the wine would not be as full of flavor and delicious as it was on that first toast. But this was a fun party and no one wanted to leave. The wine ran out too soon.
Now Jesus and the disciples just got there! Don’t know why they were late but Jesus’ mother was waiting for him. All she said was, “They have no wine.” Jesus’ answer sounded how some of us reply to our mothers: “Why are you telling me? It’s not my concern.” But Mary simply told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Mary didn’t know what was going to happen exactly but she KNEW in her heart that Jesus was going to take care of it.
It was time. Jesus didn’t know it was time but it was time. This was the moment for the first miracle and Mary prompted it. It’s so comforting I think to know that Jesus didn’t come to earth fully formed as God the Messiah. He lived into his vocation and there were moments for him like this that even he didn’t realize that he was supposed to act.
Now there are those who would say that there are no such things as miracles. These gospels were written a hundred years after Jesus was long gone. Luke was perhaps exaggerating an otherwise explainable solution. Maybe Jesus really sent his disciples out to the market and they filled the water jars with wine. No. Jesus turned the water into wine at the request of his mother. Simple as that but so profound!
A terrible tragedy occurred this week in the poorest country in the western hemisphere, perhaps in the world. To a people already living in squalor with little food, little water, little health care, an earthquake of major proportions destroyed what little they had. Hundreds of thousands of Haitians died on Tuesday and those left cry out to God, “Help us, Lord. We have nowhere else to turn. We need a miracle!” If you have been watching the news the situation truly seems hopeless. The infrastructure in Haiti is about as pitiful as their buildings. What little they had seems to have crumbled to the ground. As the little Jewish lady said at the end of Fiddler on the Roof when they were leaving their village, not knowing where they were going, “Wouldn’t this be a good time for the Messiah to come?” I would imagine most people in Haiti are asking the same question today.
Our Gospel story so vividly reminds us that Jesus does respond when asked and sometimes in miraculous proportions. For whatever reason – it doesn’t matter the reason – Jesus was prompted to reveal his glory on that day and so began many more miracles that would also reveal his glory.
Many of us may not be connecting to Haiti right now as you are steeped in your own personal pain and hopelessness. None of our lives are as charmed as we sometimes would like the rest of the world to believe. We are living in loveless marriages and screaming for an answer. We are battling addictions whose chains we cannot break. Our financial world has crashed this year and we can’t seem to get out of the quicksand that is pulling us under. My parents don’t understand me so we are becoming strangers in the same house. You could say that I’d attend to the problems of Haiti if only the pain in my heart could be soothed.
Let me suggest to you a path. Tell Jesus what you need. Mary said, “They have no wine.” You can say, “Jesus, I have no will power to quit smoking.” “Jesus, I can’t figure out my math homework.” “Jesus, I need a job!” Use Mary’s approach to Jesus: Don’t tell him what to do but tell him what you need. He knows what to do. He’ll do it.
Now I’m not saying to forget your part in it all. Haiti can only heal and get back on its feet is millions of people like you and me from all over the world will have to do their part. Haiti needs doctors and nurses, bulldozers and builders. They need medicine and food and more than anything else: money. A miracle is already happening in the generosity of people like us who don’t know anybody in Haiti but know that it’s the right thing to do to help people in such need. Through our assistance this impoverished country can find dignity and hope.
God will make it happen if we but cooperate! And in our own lives miracles do happen too. Place your care at the Savior’s feet and get ready for transformation!
Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it will be opened.” Believe it because Jesus will not let you down. Not now, not ever!
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Matthew 2: 13-23
January 3, 2009
Just when our minds and hearts are tingling with the glow of the Christmas story, we are confronted once again with harsh reality that another terrorist tried to blow up a plane on Christmas Day. With all the regulations imposed at airports we had hoped that this would never happen again. We were wrong. Evil still lurks in this world.
Sadly, even Jesus the Son of God encountered evil almost immediately. No sooner had Jesus been born, heralded by choirs of angels, adored by shepherds, visited by three wise men, that he is faced with his own execution.
The wise men from the East follow a star that takes them to the country governed by Herod. As any visiting dignitary would do, they went to the ruler of the land; not only as a diplomatic courtesy but, in this case, to get information about where to find the newborn baby foretold to be the Savior of the world.
Now certain rulers would have been as thrilled and as mystified as these three. However we know that Herod was a pompous arrogant self-centered monarch. The inquiry into Jesus’ whereabouts made him paranoid. He felt that his own position was being threatened. Herod the Great, ruler of Israel, is scared of the baby Jesus. The more he thought about it, the angrier and more anxious he became. “I am the ruler! These Jews have always been trouble. The only way to rid myself of insurrection is to kill him. When those three jokers return I will find out where this king-to-be lives and send my henchmen to get rid of the menace.” For all his enormous power, he knew there was someone in diapers more powerful.
Of course we know that the wise men are warned in a dream not to return to Herod but to take another route to go back home. Herod is furious but vows to carry out the plan. Because he didn’t know exactly which baby was Jesus, this brutal dictator kills all the babies less than two years of age. That way for sure Jesus would be dead. But he wasn’t. Joseph was warned in a dream to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt where they were refugees until Herod was dead and it was safe to return.
This Gospel passage gives us a rich insight into the importance of Jesus as the Messiah for the Jewish people that this child was the fulfillment of the prophets. No two events were more significant for the Jews than the Exodus and the Exile. The exodus from slavery to the Pharaoh in Egypt led by Moses in approximately 1300 BC and their exile into Babylon in the 6th century BC.
Like the Jews who were sent out of Israel into a foreign land, this period of escape for Jesus from Herod was an exile from their Jewish homeland. Return was as sweet for the Holy Family as it was for the Jewish remnant returning in 538 BCE. Their journey back from Egypt connected them with their Jewish ancestors who long ago made the same trek to the Promised Land.
Matthew is calling the first century Christians in that critical moment in history to a genuine and deep appreciation of their Jewish heritage yet at the same time incorporating the Gentiles into worshipping the God of the Jews. Herod not only represents the tyranny and selfishness of all human tyrants; he also illustrates the historical background of Jesus’ life: namely the cruelty and pettiness of the Jewish government under Roman domination. Palestine at that time was not the idyllic land that some would have us believe. The whole population was torn by political insurrection. Riots and blood retaliations were daily occurrences. During his childhood Jesus probably witnessed a large number of crucifixions. Herod’s slaughter of the children in Bethlehem must be understood as a typical illustration of this reign of terror.
King Herod pretended to share the common hope for “peace on earth” and honesty and decency. But as soon as the REAL representative of the Light appeared, he felt compelled to destroy him. Mass murder is the unavoidable reaction of many Herods we have known throughout history, whenever the Light is trying to win a foothold in a dark country. It is as if Matthew wants us to learn something about the strategy of the Light in its unending warfare against the darkness.
We too are agents of the Light, or can be. We are living in a world where darkness constantly threatens to put out the light. The terrorists on 9/11 tried very hard to put out the light in America. The Christmas terrorist was hoping to put the light out. We have dark powers biting at our heels that must be conquered. Sometimes those powers are not foreign invaders but forces drawing us individually away from Christ. Our Herods, powerful evil forces determined to kill sacred babies, manifest themselves differently but are present, make no mistake about it!
The evils we face pull us into an egocentric maze every bit as destructive as Herod’s jealousy. We face forces that gnaw at us from without that threaten to destroy us within. All around us our culture screams to buy the right clothes, computers, televisions, stereos, cell phones. You cannot be too thin or too rich. Satisfying your desires is the most important thing you can do! If you feel pain, take medicine or salve it with a drugs or alcohol. You must be popular so peer pressure forces teens to have sex before they’re ready. Many spoken and unspoken messages are out there waiting to trap us.
Herods are also telling us to become workaholics. Forty hours is not enough. Herod says that your worth is in the amount of work that you do and what you produce. Then rush to ball games or dance lessons. How unlike Jesus’ admonition to spend time in prayer developing a relationship with the Father! The Herods will always keep us busy and numb to the Light.
It’s hard to recognize the Herods. Herods become manifest in their destructiveness and excess, in which we are all drowning. Fill your bodies, fill your time, fill your mind, and in the end there is no room for God.
A baby was born into the darkness bringing Light. He was the Light! Herod was helpless in destroying the little child who so frightened him. And this failure, though it was paid for with the lives of innocent children, is the inevitable cost of our spiritual growth. The Light cannot be destroyed but it can be forced to withdraw. It can be shut out.
The three wise men, as well as Joseph, are servants of the Light and therefore able to receive and understand its commands. Herod is cheated and the child is brought to Egypt. The Light is living inside each one of us. The forces of darkness take over periodically and regularly. When they tire or run out of steam for even a moment, the Light returns.
Jesus made two promises to his disciples. One was that in this world we will face constant difficulty. The other was that God will always be with us. As long as we live in this world with Jesus at the center of our lives, we will have Herods after us. A Herod is threatened by anything that gets in the way of self-centeredness where self-interest controls our spiritual growth.
The good news is that what God did for the Holy Family God is doing for us. The more we trust in God’s providential care, the more we will realize it’s there and embrace it.
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The Rev. Dr. Jo Ann Barker
John 1: 1-18
December 27, 2009
Christmas is over. All the anticipation: the shopping, the baking and cooking, the parties, the visits with friends and family, over for another year. Presents have been opened, some well received and others will be taken back for exchange. The decorations, which were put out earlier this year, are coming down, giving us little reminder of Christmas 2009. To quote Peggy Lee, “Is that all there is?” Is that all there is?
I have a cartoon of B. C. in which one of the cave men is at a flat rock bookstore where another was selling books labeled Gospels. The customer asked what a gospel was. He replied that it meant “The Good News” but admitted that he didn’t know what the good news was. Of course the irony of the cartoon and its point is that they are living centuries before Christ was born so neither of them could have heard the good news of Jesus Christ.
It however raises for us the question Peggy Lee sang. Christmas is over. Now what? IS THAT ALL THERE IS? What is the good news? We know the answer! God sent His only begotten Son into the world to redeem our sins. God gave His Son as a human baby. Jesus could have come as a full-grown man. He could have been put in the desert, and then appear to John at His baptism. Redemption would still have taken place! Or he could have shown up in the Temple as a twelve year old and be first noticed preaching to the elders. He could have “just appeared” in many different places and in many different ways. But God sent Jesus into the world as an infant, born of Mary, in the same way you and I were born.
Jesus tells us “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” The Father chose to make him known as a baby. The good news of the infant birth is that God who has never been seen before is now totally human. While remaining fully Divine, Jesus became a totally helpless baby boy, completely dependent on Mary and Joseph for all his needs. He experienced thirty years of self-discovery before he felt called to embark on his ministry as Messiah: to gather a band of disciples, to preach, and heal and proclaim the good news.
Paul wrote to the people in Galatia, “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.” Our redemption in Jesus Christ is not only taking away our sin but also adopting us as God’s very own children!
We live in a complicated troubled world. The pressures of everyday living are sometimes more than we can bear. The expectations put on children are higher than ever. We parents get on the merry-go-round taking them to soccer, dance, piano lessons, boy scouts, where sometimes they miss the simple joys of childhood just trying to keep up!
We miss our spouses, our parents, our children who have died, particularly at this family-oriented season. The fantasy of the perfect family that never existed is shown on television commercials. It leaves us feeling shame and guilt for not meeting the unmeetable standard. We are alone and lonely, frustrated and unhappy. We want to share but cannot. We feel that we alone are depressed or unloved at this joyous loving season.
The birth of the infant Christchild says to us, “Stop! Rest! Look at me! I love you totally and unconditionally! Come to me and discover what’s really important!” Carl Jung would invite us to get in touch with our inner child. All of us have been hurt, shamed, neglected, or abused in some way. The newborn Savior gives us understanding. He understands how we feel because he at one time had those feelings too. Jesus had a human father and mother who picked him up and gave him a hug but also scolded him when necessary. They taught him as any parent teaches their children. He got hurt playing ball and got his feelings hurt when he was chosen last in a game. He grew in understanding. To every person who was open to him Jesus showed compassion and shared their joy or pain.
There’s a Peanuts cartoon in which Lucy says “Christmas is a time for kindness and goodwill; a time when we accept one another, welcoming others into our homes and into our lives.” Charlie Brown says to her, “Why just Christmas? Why can’t we be kind and accepting and hospitable all through the year?” Lucy furls her brow and replies, “What are you, some kind of religious fanatic?”
It would be great if we could be all those things all the time. We know we should. We feel guilty for not being perfect. So we make our New Year’s resolutions to try to correct all the flaws in ourselves, all the while knowing that we will not be able to come up to any of our own standards of perfection.
The good news is that it’s okay! Paul tells us that though Christ we are no longer slaves but sons and daughters, and if sons and daughters, heirs. We will inherit all that God has to give! We don’t need to be perfect to be loved by God! God genuinely loves us with all our flaws. We don’t need to work for God’s love or try to be something we are not or cannot be. Yes we can be better than we are but we can give up our addiction to the god of perfection. God just loves us. We will inherit the kingdom. In the greatest gift of redemption, God freed us from our chains and asks us to accept the Christchild into our hearts as the most wonderful of all mysteries – fully divine and fully human.
The one born in the Bethlehem stable was not merely one of the prophets, not merely an angelic messenger. He was the Son of God. This is the glory and the wonder of Christmas and the heart of the Gospel. God came to us. The God who so loved the world gave His Son to us. “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” We can never fully know the depths of this mighty act. But we can know that Jesus is God and is also our friend, our Savior, and our Lord. He loves us so much that no matter how often we fail, He is always waiting for us with open arms.
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The Rev. Dr. Jo Ann Barker
Luke 2: 1-20
December 24, 2009
Welcome to this glorious celebration of the birth of the Messiah! Tonight heaven and earth are one. We come to church believing that Christmas is more than presents and parties, as we here gather with family and friends. It’s about the Son of God becoming human to save the world from evil so that we might spend eternity with God. We believe without proof that ‘love that surpasses human understanding’ has come down this night, love that includes you and me.
And we so desperately want the peace that Christmas promises to bring: peace on earth of every kind. Peace among nations, peace in our own country, peace in our families, and a personal peace of mind.
A popular French Canadian legend holds that at midnight on Christmas a mysterious spirit of peace prevails throughout the world - a spirit so strong that even the cattle in stables and the deer in the forest fall to their knees in adoration.
Shakespeare referred to this mysterious peace of Christmas in the opening scene of Hamlet. Marcellus speaks to his companions about the birth of Jesus as he stands on the terrible battlements of Elsinore:
Some say that whenever that season comes
Wherein our Savior's birth is celebrated
The bird of dawn sings all night long;
They say then no spirit can walk abroad,
No planet strikes, No fairy takes
No witch has power to charm
So hallowed and gracious is this time.
This day is an island of calm in our stormy year. The pursuits and squabbles yield to the good cheer of this day. Even nations at war manage to call a halt to their deadly dealings this day. At Christmastime during WWI the Americans and the Russians were in their muddy trenches at the front, as close as you and I are together. Someone started singing a Christmas Carol and one by one soldiers on both sides joined in. Soon heads appeared and slowly men came out. For one day during that ugly horrific war enemies played soccer with one another and shared food from their meager rations. The war began again on the 26th but for one miraculous day there was peace.
Silent night, holy night. We know that God is present in this world and in our lives at all times and in all places. But there are some times - some holy moments - in which "ordinary time" yields to "sacred time." Moments when the Divine is more focused than at other times. Through such a time we can catch a glimpse of eternity. This night stands unique in sacred time as the most sacred of all!
Can you think of a time when we needed a Savior more? We continue at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Relationships between the nations and even in our congress are fragile. The rich are getting richer and the bottom billion have no hope. Consumerism drives our lives. In a country of plenty people still go to bed hungry. People still turn to drugs and alcohol to escape the pain in their hearts. Divorce has become normal. Child abuse is rampant and remains a family secret. Superficiality reigns. Church attendance is not important as people search for meaning elsewhere. Don't we need a Savior right now?
In Christ the chasm between good and evil has been crossed. The new era, which is not subject to sin and death, has come in Christ Jesus. The unending, unmerited loved of God is manifest in this person Jesus, God made man. Where sin and alienation ran rampant, now grace abounds. Jesus is God's ultimate vulnerability, the ultimate outreach to a sick creation. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life - our bridge over the deep chasm. Christ is our way to know God as a friend, not an enemy, as close and true and forever faithful. Christ is the way to heal our alienation with God, with ourselves, and with one another.
Have you ever wished: 'If only I was there with the shepherds that night. If only I could have been there when Jesus took his first steps. If only I could have heard him preach as a youth in the Temple. If only I could have been part of the crowd when Jesus was healing the sick. Surely then I would believe. I would be the most devoted follower!'
The miracle of Christmas is that through the physical presence of Jesus those two thousand years ago the world has changed. We CAN experience the presence of Christ in our lives every single day, every moment of our lives because he lived and died so many years ago. Because that was not the end of the story. God was transformed when Jesus rose from the dead then sent the Holy Spirit to be with us forever. The person of Jesus Christ is with us today as we receive Him in Holy Communion and as we meet Him in each person we encounter.
The miracle of Christmas can occur in our own lives if we believe and open ourselves to the wonders of the world around us. Even though evil still grips us, the coming of this little baby in Bethlehem has broken the power it once had to destroy completely. We can choose to be part of this New Creation. It's all around us. God's grace is calling us to abandon our self-centeredness and recognize that trying to run our own lives by ourselves leads only to pain and sin. The babe in the manger reminds us that only when we stop to see the little one can we recognize the unconditional love of God.
Does it all sound too good to be true? Does it come across as a theological 'fairy tale'? It will if we are locked into our own social stupor of habit, routine, or boring spirituality. When we invite the Holy Spirit, the Presence of God, into our lives, we are given an 'inner knowing' of Jesus as the Incarnation, as the meeting place between God and humanity. We can know the New Creation.
Christmas derives its power less from a theological concept or proposition, than from a personal and communal experience. [In a Christmas sermon from the 13th century Meister Eckhart preached that] Christmas is something within us. The story of the Virgin Birth is the story of Christ being born in us through the union of the Spirit of God and our own flesh. The story about Jesus' birth is not just about the past but also about the birth in us in the present. Christmas, in other words, happens all year 'round, whenever we let God in. When we allow such intimacy to occur, the Christmas story that is ever familiar will also remain ever new.
Let our response be joy to the world in living out the abundant life that Jesus came to bring.
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The Rev. Dr. Jo Ann Barker
Luke 3: 7-18
December 13, 2009
Power is not a topic that we would think relevant in Advent because our attention is on the birth of a little baby boy in Bethlehem. Yet with only eleven days until Christmas, the Scriptures today say that the theme of power is THE crucial focal point of our Advent preparations. John the Baptist comes wielding power over the crowd, enough to turn on them and shout, “Brood of vipers!” He takes them to task for their superiority complex in thinking that as descendents of Abraham their lineage alone assured them God’s favor. Power. He scolds them severely that they dared to believe somehow they could behave badly toward others as a birthright.
The Jews knew a Savior was coming. Zephaniah knew but he didn’t know when. John knew when – now – but did not know who. He’d find out shortly but today’s words are preached in the faith of God’s promises as John lives into his own vocation as the forerunner, the one who prepares the way.
John may have lived a life that we would call eccentric. He dressed funny, ate strange things, and paid little attention to personal hygiene. His only focus was on his mission – to prepare the world for the coming of the Savior. Last week we heard about his good advice on being compassionate and caring to individuals suffering whose basic needs are not met. We were urged to look around and help people in need. The message is repeated today as he tells us that if we have an extra coat, give it away to one who has none.
John is not soft and cuddly. His message to share with others is about justice. Giving away your second coat is only the beginning. John’s vision extends far beyond a coat. He tells the crowds that there is systemic evil involved and that it is the responsibility of those faithfully waiting for the Savior to address that too. But it’s not enough to give them handouts. Those who have power, those who are rich, those whose positions control the lives of others, have the obligation to work in the larger scheme of things so that the poor have dignity. Business owners are charged with the obligation to care compassionately for their employees.
In the early part of the twentieth century the great American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr was a pastor in Detroit. This was when Henry Ford was revolutionizing the working class by creating jobs to manufacture the model T. People flocked north, eager to get in on the dream of wealth and steady employment. Wages were abysmal but hopes soared. People lived in shanties but the brass ring was oh so close. Without any warning Ford closed the plant for two years as it was retooled for the Model A. Families starved to death, many moved back to where they came from. Neibuhr pastored these people through devastating times. But he decided to do something more than that. He became an activist who not only helped form the unions in Detroit but was a frequent lobbyist in Washington for worker’s rights.
Justice is an obligation of every Christian, you and me. Beth Shulman [The Betrayal of Work (The New Press, New York, 2003)] tells the story of the living conditions of people as the gap widens between the haves and the have-nots. Of Cynthia who works as a certified nursing assistant at a nursing home helping people use bedpans and turning them to avoid bedsores. On her shift she’s responsible for forty-five residents including cleaning the rooms. She’s paid $350 every two weeks. She’s separated from her husband who gives no financial support for her two children. She walks to work as there is no public transportation and she cannot afford a car.
Shulman says, “Cynthia is not unique. While the details vary, the story is repeated again and again. It is a story about workers who are the embodiment of the work ethic. It is about workers who perform tasks essential to Americans’ lives, yet seem hidden from view. It is about workers who pay their taxes and do their jobs with great dedication and care, yet get little in return. They are workers on the margin. They are America’s invisible working poor.”(p.5) Poultry processing workers at Tyson, shelf-stockers at Wal-Mart, motel maids, office building janitors, child-care workers. The prosperity of the United States comes at a price for those at the lowest levels of employment. Not only are these problems not getting better, they’re getting worse.
As we await the celebration of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ who came to offer eternal life to everyone, there are many among us who are awaiting a savior from the bonds that keep the American dream a fantasy. Who are not looking for wealth and prosperity but merely a decent wage to be able to provide for their families the basic necessities?
We promise in our baptismal covenant that we will strive for justice and peace among all persons and respect the dignity of every human being. Hollow words if we turn our back on systemic employment problems of the lowest working class. John the Baptist was not afraid to confront those who came to him wanting an easy gentle scolding in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. No, John admonished them with hard words and told them to go back and turn the world around. First, take care of the critical needs you see. Give away that extra coat, feed the poor, have compassion on the suffering. But that’s not enough! Be part of the solution to solve the wider problems that breeds a social class of persons unable to meet their basic needs of food, rent, clothing, and dental or medical care.
I began by pointing out that power is really the theme of Advent. God who is all-powerful sends the Son as a powerless, helpless infant, totally dependent upon others as he grows into manhood. God allows Jesus to live as one in the working class, vulnerable to those more powerful than he or his family. Jesus always and without exception sided with the powerless and raked over the coals those who were callous to the needs of the poor. THAT is the gospel message John began as he prepared the world for Jesus who continued the same message. We are the eyes and ears, hands and feet, and voice for John and Jesus today. We must never forget to use the power we have for good in making life better for everyone. Respecting the dignity of every person, not merely with a band-aid but with major surgery of a system that denies it is sick.
Prepare ye the way of the Lord! Make his paths straight! Do justice. Be proactive in whatever way you are led to lighten the needs of the powerless. Not only at Christmas time but every day of the year. It never ends. God continues to call us to do good and will not leave us alone.
“Even the clearest response never relieves anyone of the responsibility of asking again and struggling for an answer. . . Only hearts that have been deeply affected by the gospel are always open to what God expects as the next concrete requirement after the present one.” Schweitzer
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The Rev. Dr. Jo Ann Barker
Luke 3: 1-6
December 6, 2009
I have never been to an actual desert. From cowboy movies set in America’s southwest to National Geographic documentaries, what I see is that deserts are something to avoid. When we were in West Africa visiting my son in Benin it was the time of the harmaton. The hot wind came in from the Sahara Desert covering everything hundreds of miles away with sand. Although it wasn’t the desert, we could feel the desert.
When I was living in Houston I went with some friends to Nuevo Laredo. It was May and the bluebonnets were in bloom. The temperature was a moderate 80 degrees. As we headed to South Texas the flowers thinned out and the heat increased. About two hundred miles from Laredo we saw a sign that read, “Service station ahead. Next gas 140 miles.” Sure enough those next 140 miles were barren terrain. It wasn’t exactly desert but certainly would be considered wilderness. I remember feeling vulnerable to the ominous starkness and couldn’t wait until we would reach the oasis that was Laredo.
I don’t know about you but for me it is curious that John the Baptist would choose to leave civilization and live in the wilderness. The gospel begins today by listing the leaders of importance then says, “The word of the Lord came to John.” It was time – time for the Son of God to reveal himself and begin his public ministry as Messiah. It was time and John was the prophet chosen to announce his coming.
John’s mission was a bold one because, coupled with his charge to announce that the Savior was in their midst, was his proclamation of a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John was the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah who predicted his coming as, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight!
So you may be thinking as this story of John the Baptist rolls out today, “Here we go again.” It’s that time again. Do we have to hear about the eccentric cousin of Jesus out in the desert? Can’t we just admit that John was strange? What’s this got to do with Christmas anyway?
God knows that with all the shopping to be done, all the parties to plan, why on earth do we need to hear from this desert madman again? Why do we have to take up our busy important time with this guy who fled from everything we embrace in our culture? Why do we have to think about this figure who made a point to mimic the attire of Elijah and quote Isaiah all the while existing on a diet of grasshoppers and wild honey?
Give us Mall-madness! Macy’s, Wal-Mart, Barnes and Noble, Target! Anything but this fire-breathing, world-hating, ascetic who says that unless we change our ways, God is apt to vaporize the whole planet! But maybe there is an appeal to John and his message that supercedes our uneasy need to repress him. There is something in John’s message that we need to face, and not just because the lectionary cycle forces us to. There is a deep desire within each of us to be cleansed. There is a deep longing in us to be washed in the Light of God’s love, to be restored to a right relationship with God and with people all around us. Through repentance and amendment of life, we can rid ourselves of those empty calories: cheap sex, alcohol, drugs, faithless religion, spending money to excess, or whatever else plagues us. As we empty ourselves of these vices we can then put on a new garment of commitment and care, in other words, we put on Christ.
In her wisdom author Madeleine L’Engle reminds us of the ever present danger of turning grace into law, of turning the good news into “being good.” She says, “For the opposite of sin is faith, and never virtue, and we live in a world which believes that self-control can make us virtuous. But that’s not how it works. How many men and women have encountered – of great personal and moral rectitude – conceived of their own righteousness, who have been totally insensitive to the needs of others, and sometimes downright cruel.”
So John the Baptist is calling us as he has called millions of people for thousands of years to repentance through forgiveness. He is calling us into the wilderness. That is where he found the essential secret and that is what he wants to share with us. He lived in the solitude of the desert for many years, alone but not lonely. He had the companionship of Almighty God.
In the desert there are open spaces where he watched the stars in the sky at night. There where he was apart from the clamor of the world he spent his time in meditation and prayer. There was no chattering of people, just the voice of God. When John spoke out, his words roared with heavenly thunder. He never said, “If you would kindly listen to me.” He spoke with a force and an urgency of a man of blazing lightning. His voice had the shadowless intensity of the desert at noonday. It was plain that here was a man whose whole soul was on fire with a flame that came from a source other than this earth.
Like John we too are called this Advent into the wilderness. You may be like me when I drove through the wilderness of south Texas: glad for a speedy air-conditioned car that could swiftly get me through it and out of it. But John’s nagging message calls us to go into the wilderness and stay awhile. Put aside the whirlwind of our busy lives and listen to God’s voice. It’s a terrifying process to strip ourselves of our outer shells and be naked in front of God. In the wilderness we will see who we really are, both our sin and our goodness. No excuses, no denials.
The season of Advent calls us to join John in the desert. To know who we are, we need to know who we are not. To know who God is, we discover who God is not. Isaiah, Mary, and Paul all remind us that God is not our puppet. God does not respond. God moves. God acts. And above all, God shocks. God does not live up to our human preconceptions and misconceptions.
In the wilderness we pray, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” We place ourselves before God in prayer even when we have no prayer in us. In the desert we realize that we are not in control. We search ourselves and we find God. We learn how to wait. We learn to say what John has said, “I am not the Christ.”
Go into the wilderness this Advent and hear the voice of one who cries. You will find repentance and forgiveness that will open the way for the coming of the ONE for which we hope. You will meet the One who comes bringing the fire of Divine love, a love wild and passionate. A love that will so transform our existence that we truly will become the holy people of a Holy God.
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The Rev. Dr. Jo Ann Barker
Luke 21: 25-31
November 29, 2009
Thanksgiving is over. The turkey and leftovers are almost gone. The weather has turned colder so we know that winter has finally begun to manifest itself. Many of us scurried to the wild and crazy sales on Black Friday and Saturday, gearing up for Santa’s arrival on the 25th. Our homes are being decorated, travel plans are confirmed, invitations to parties accepted, menus being planned. This month will indeed be a busy one for all of us preparing for Christmas. We live in anticipation of great food, great gifts, great fun, and great celebration,
In the Church we prepare for Christmas too but in a different way. During these four weeks before Christmas we live in anticipation as well but an anticipation of a different sort. We live in anticipation of the celebration of the coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ, two thousand years ago and in anticipation of his second coming, at a time unknown to us.
I wonder how Mary was feeling the month before Jesus was born. She is carrying the Christ child in her womb. Every moment of every day leaves her aware that her pregnancy, told to her in the words of the angel Gabriel at her conception, meant that she was to be the Mother of God. She is puzzled. She is thrilled. She is astonished at the gravity of God’s choice of her to be the Christ bearer. And her pregnancy is normal like that of any other woman. She probably had morning sickness in her first trimester. Her back may have given her problems as she came to term. She may have even had hemorrhoids and swollen ankles! Physically pregnancy changes your whole body and Mary experienced those changes too.
We, like Mary, are Christ-bearers. We carry Christ within ourselves in a way not unlike pregnancy. If we let it happen Christ can change not only our spirits but also our bodies and our minds. Advent can be a time for us to let that happen, to let the Christ within us grow and mature until He is ready to be born and we let the Christ within us radiate from us.
The Scripture reminds us that we are also waiting for Jesus to come again. The whole world is a large womb in which every tree, every flower, every person, the sun and the sky are incubating together until the Messiah comes again. It’s not easy to wait and we groan and we moan in pain. We hurt each other. We have trouble asking for forgiveness and we have trouble being reconcilers. The labor pains are intense. . . everything changes around us, it cannot be stopped. We ask why this happens and get no answer. Yet in it all we know that in the womb that is the earth Jesus is in our midst waiting to be born again.
David Buttrick tells the story about a black woman deep in the bayous of Louisiana who had raised over a dozen children, both adopted and foster children. When a newspaper reporter asked her why she had done this, she replied, “I saw a new world a’comin.” She felt that it was important for her to make that new world a better one. At this beginning of the church year, a time of birth in Bethlehem, we don’t know if things are ending or beginning but something is dying as well as something new being born.
There was a man who lived with his family next door to the Episcopal church. His yard was a mess, children dirty and out of control. Rumors were he got drunk on Sunday, beat his wife, cursed his children. The church decided to help him. The priest visited him, the youth group got involved, the ECW took them food. The family came to church a few times then stopped coming.
The priest met him on the street a few months later. The man looked different. He had completely changed his physical appearance and looked great. His yard was neat. He told the priest that a few weeks ago another church group came by and prayed with him. It was a Bible believing washed-in-the-blood-of-the-Lamb Baptist church. The folks told him straight up that if he didn’t stop drinking and beating his wife he was going to die and go to hell. God was coming to get him and God was mad. That got his attention. He listened, got saved and turned his life around.
The priest apologized and said he was sorry his church couldn’t meet his needs. “Preacher,” the man said, “Don’t feel bad. Your church gave me an aspirin. I needed massive chemotherapy.”
During this season of Advent as we wait for Christ to be born in our hearts, consider what it is that keeps you from having a close relationship with God. What changes need to take place in your life for you to fully welcome the Messiah at Christmastime? Advent gives us that breathing space to stop, look, and listen to our inner selves and allow God to effect the change that will sweep over us and bring us into communion with the Holy. Maybe all you need is an aspirin but maybe you need massive chemotherapy!
As C. S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity (Book III, Chap. 12) about “realized eschatology”: “Imagine yourself as a living house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what God is doing. . . getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing, and you are not surprised. But presently, God starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building a quite different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
Let yourself be the vessel that invites Jesus Christ to inhabit. Get to know the Holy life within you as you wait with anticipation for the new birth.
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