Transfigured and Transformed! -- A Sermon

Matthew 17:1-9

For the past several weeks we’ve been with Jesus on a mountain being instructed in the ways of God’s realm. This morning we’re taking a brief detour to another mountain, where Jesus’ identity is more fully revealed to us. In this scene from Matthew’s gospel we watch as Jesus is transfigured and transformed, so that we might see more fully the presence of God in him. As we attend to this story, it becomes clear that understanding the gospels requires a bit of an imagination. Without imagination you might end up doing what Jefferson did and start cutting out the parts of the gospel that don’t seem to make sense to the rational mind. Now, I’m a rather analytical, rationalist type, and so this takes some doing on my part. Since I’m not much into poetry (though I do love music) and I don’t read a lot of novels (though I do like movies), I struggle with poet W.H. Auden’s suggestion that Christians need to be poets. Although I struggle with this word of wisdom, I believe he’s right – If we’re going to understand and appreciate the story of the Transfiguration, we must trust our imaginations.

1. THE REVEALING OF AN IDENTITY

The story of the Transfiguration takes us to one of those “thin places” where the membrane separating heaven and earth becomes transparent and we can see the things of God more fully and clearly. In this story, we see Jesus unveiled. His full identity shines through, even if for only a moment.

If we go back a chapter, we’ll find the Disciples trying to answer the question of Jesus’ identity. Jesus asks them “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers the question with the “Confession” that we make when we join with this assembly and are baptized into Christ: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Peter makes this “Good Confession,” but we quickly learn that he doesn’t quite understand the meaning of his words.

Now, six days later, Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on a mountain where the question of identity is again raised, and to understand the meaning of this event we’ll need to look at reality a bit differently so that we can comprehend the glory and majesty of God who is present to us in Jesus. Writer Madeleine L'Engle, offers this poetic vision of the Transfiguration:

Suddenly they saw him the way he was,

the way he really was all the time,

although they had never seen it before,

the glory which blinds the everyday eye

and so becomes invisible. This is how

he was, radiant, brilliant, carrying joy

like a flaming sun in his hands.

This is the way he was -- is -- from the beginning,

and we cannot bear it. So he manned himself,

came manifest to us; and there on the mountain

they saw him, really saw him, saw his light.

We all know that if we really see him we die.

But isn't that what is required of us?

Then Perhaps, we will see each other, too.

[Madeleine L'Engle, Glimpses of Grace, (San Francisco: Harper-Collins, 1996), 64.

2. A TRIP TO ANOTHER MOUNTAIN

As we try to imagine the scene on the Mount of Transfiguration, it might be helpful to view a parallel scene in the Exodus story. As I read this passage consider the similarities and the differences in these two encounters with God.

The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.” Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. (Ex. 24:12-18 NRSV).

Later on in the Exodus story we learn that after Moses returned from the mountain with the Tablets of the Law, his face was so radiant from being in God’s presence that the Israelites were afraid to look at him, and so he veiled himself so that he could enter the community (Ex. 34: 29-35).

As I read these two stories together, what seems apparent is that Moses’ radiance is a reflection of encountering God’s presence in the cloud, but Jesus’ radiance comes before the appearance of the heavenly Cloud of Presence. Therefore, it’s not so much a reflection as an unveiling. Therefore, in that moment the Disciples catch a glimpse of Jesus’ full identity. Only then, do Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus, and in their appearance we envision representatives of the Law and the Prophets, who bear witness to Jesus’ mission.

3. PETER'S RESPONSE

At first Peter doesn’t know what to make of all of this. He reacts like many of us do when we’re around famous people or people we admire. He sort of makes a fool of himself. In trying to make sense of Peter’s response, an occasion comes to mind. While waiting with a family at a surgical waiting room in Santa Barbara, we discovered that actor John Cleese – of Monty Python and James Bond fame – was also present in the waiting room. You see, his wife was in surgery, and while our group recognized him, we didn’t bother him, but as always happens, somebody broke the rules. One woman just couldn’t help herself, and so she asked him for an autograph, which he of course refused. Our group lent a nod of understanding and support to his action, but I can understand how easy it is to get caught up in the moment when you’re around someone famous.

Peter was a bit like that autograph seeker when he realized that Moses and Elijah were present, and he just couldn’t contain himself. Overwhelmed, he blurts out:

"Lord this is wonderful! If you want me to, I'll make three shrines, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. (Matt. 17:4 NLT).

Although it’s not really clear what Peter intended by this offer, because the Greek word can be translated as both tent and shrine, it seems as if Peter had a shrine in mind. Moses and Elijah surely were worthy of a shrine, but now it seemed as if Jesus might be worthy of one as well.

But there is another side to this story. Thomas Keating, a Cistercian monk and writer, suggests that maybe Peter wanted to prolong the experience, and so he offered to build tents for the three men, whom he now recognizes as being transcendent beings.

If we perceive the divine presence in some facsimile of this clarity, we are fascinated, absorbed, and delighted. Peter's response was to want to stay there forever. The more profound the experience of union, the more one cannot help but wish to prolong it. [Thomas Keating, Reawakenings, (NY: Crossroads, 1992), 117.]

Like anyone who has experienced something as profound as an encounter with God, Peter lost all interest in the world below, and wanted to stay put. This is, of course, often true of our mountain top experiences. It’s hard to come down from the mountain. Moses experienced it, so did Peter.

4. THE VOICE OF GOD

Although Peter got caught up in the transformation of Jesus’ appearance and then Jesus’ conversation with Moses and Elijah, what happened next transcended even these two earlier events. Even as Peter made his offer to Jesus, a cloud descends on the mountain, and a voice from the cloud speaks words that readers of the Gospel first heard at the baptism of Jesus:

This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him. Listen to him (vs. 5 NLT).

As this voice echoes from the skies, Peter and his companions discover that Moses and Elijah have disappeared, leaving Jesus alone with them. This voice demanded that they listen to Jesus, because he is the one who will speak for God in this new age. He is the new law giver and the new prophet. As we ponder this scene, Thomas Keating again offers a helpful interpretation:

Listen not just to his words to which they had been listening when they were on the plain, but "listen to him," the divine person who is speaking to you. Listen to the divine presence that is incarnate in this human being. Listen to the infinite Silence out of which the incarnate Word emerges and to which it returns. (p. 118)

Having heard the voice of God, they fall on their faces in fear, but Jesus gently touches them and invites them to get up and not be afraid.

Having encountered the divine presence the three disciples follow Jesus down the mountain. They’ve experienced something too profound for word; something that they really can’t understand until after the resurrection. With that in mind, Jesus tells them not to talk about their experiences until after the resurrection. As Keating puts it: “There would be no point of talking about it because no one on the plain would understand unless they had climbed a similar mountain." (p. 119).

In Matthew’s story of the transfiguration, we receive an invitation to climb the mountain so that we too might be transformed by our encounter with God. In a moment we will gather at the Table, and we as break bread together we will encounter this presence, even as the disciples experienced it on the road to Emmaus – as Luke’s Gospel tells the story of the post-Resurrection unveiling of Jesus (Lk 24:13ff).

As we hear this story, may we let loose our imaginations, those precious gifts that allow us to see beyond what is rational, so that we might join Peter, James, and John, in seeing the fullness of God’s splendor revealed in the person of Jesus. Then we too will be transformed, as Paul puts it, by the renewing of our minds, so that we might discern the will and purpose of God (Rom. 12:2).

 

Preached by:

Dr. Robert D. Cornwall

Pastor, Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Troy, MI

Transfiguration Sunday

March 6, 2011

Law and Order -- 3rd Sermon on the Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:21-37

As we continue our journey through the Sermon on the Mount, having heard the call to be salt and light, and having been told that our righteousness should exceed that of the Scribes and the Pharisees, we’re now confronted with the details. And, as they say, the “devil is in the details.”

I chose the title “law and order,” because we often link the two terms together. These are words that everyone seems to understand. In fact, these words are so prominent in our society that they have inspired a series of very popular cop and lawyer TV shows. For most of us law and order means keeping criminals off the street so we can live safe and secure lives. We understand the meaning of these words, but rarely do we apply them to our own lives.

As we consider this set of verses from Matthew’s Gospel, the idea of “law and order” seems to move beyond the concerns of the criminal justice system, and begin to speak to our own daily lives. The words we hear in this passage seem harsh and foreboding. They speak to issues that we face every day – anger, lust, keeping our word, and maybe even divorce – and they suggest that if we don’t get our act together we could be in for big trouble. After reading this passage we might begin to wonder if we shouldn’t just skip the sermon and move to a prayer of confession and word of absolution and forgiveness – sort of like what we do on Ash Wednesday. But, Jesus’ point is about more than making us feel guilty so we will say we’re sorry and promise not to do bad things again.

Jesus speaks to the way in which we behave, because he wants us to understand what it means to live fully under the reign of God, even if the realm of God isn’t fully revealed in our midst.

As we listen to these words, and the verses that follow dealing with retaliation and love of our enemies, we’re reminded that we live in a broken and fragmented world. This brokenness affects every one of us, probably on a daily basis, in our church, in our families, and every other aspect of our lives. This is the way things are, but Jesus offers us a better way to live our lives.

If we’re to experience this better way, then we must first understand what needs to be changed. The way in which Jesus expands the commandments, also suggests that he wants to free us from our tendency toward self-righteousness. Not only that, but he also reminds us that there are consequences of giving reign over lives to a broken world. We may not believe in a literal fiery hell, but as they say, sometimes there is hell on earth.

1. Signs of Brokenness

In the course of 27 verses, 17 of which we read this morning, Jesus speaks to the brokenness that mark our lives and our communities. He speaks of anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and then he calls on us to not just to love our friends, but love our enemies. Jesus says – “you’ve heard it said, . . . but I say . . .” He starts with the Law as it’s written, and then pushes deeper, helping us understand that the brokenness that afflicts our world starts inside us. In his critique of the Pharisees, Jesus warned against merely focusing on the tangible expressions of the sins that corrupt our hearts and minds. Even if we’ve not killed anybody or committed adultery or perjured ourselves, the thoughts and feelings that lead to such acts could be brewing within.

As one commentator put it, the very fact that we take oaths, “means that we live in a world of lies.” [Stanley Hauerwas, Matthew: Brazos Theological Commentary, (Brazos, 2006), p. 70]. And people kill people because they get angry, while adultery occurs because we covet something that we shouldn’t. As the saying goes, “something must be in the water.”

Laws by themselves can’t change hearts, but they can set boundaries and remind us as to what is permissible and what isn’t. As Paul tells the Christians in Rome, without the Law we wouldn’t ever have known about sin (Rom. 7:7ff), but even though the Law is holy, it doesn’t have the ability to keep us from sinning. Jesus hasn’t come to abolish the Law, but he does come to offer us the kingdom of God, where we can find the means of transformation. Our brokenness can give way to wholeness, if we’re willing to be reconciled with God and neighbor – even the neighbor who is our enemy.

2. Anger and Murder

Each of the four signs of brokenness that appear in today’s text deserves a closer look, but for the purposes of this sermon, I’d like to focus on Jesus’ statements about anger. I think I can safely say, that everyone in the room wrestles with anger. And even if you haven’t murdered someone, you probably have called someone a fool or an idiot. And Jesus says: that’s enough to get you in trouble. Calling someone a fool is the equivalent of putting a knife in someone’s heart, and as Jesus says – both get you the same punishment. That may not seem fair or just, but to Jesus the intent is as evil as the act.

I know that I get angry on occasion. I can even let it fester. In fact, at times I may take joy in feeding my anger, because it gives me power over someone else or it may feed my self-righteousness. Does that describe anyone else in the room?

But it’s not just anger that is an equivalent of murder. It’s also demeaning words and names that we say to others that get God’s attention and might we say, God’s righteous anger. As I hear Jesus say to us – if you call someone a fool you’re in danger of experiencing hell – I’m reminded that one of the biggest problems we face in our society is that of bullying. Bullying isn’t new. I know, because I experienced it growing up, and I recognize it when I see it. Unfortunately I’ve seen it pop up all too often in the church. And it’s not just children who are bullies. You can find bullies in every age group.

Bullying and anger, like murder, adultery, and lying are signs of the brokenness that afflicts the community. They are not signs of God’s reign, and therefore we must deal with them or we’ll suffer the consequences. Jesus says to us, before you come to the Table, let go of your anger and resentments, and be reconciled with God and with your neighbor, so that you might come to the table with a clean heart. But before we get to reconciliation, we need to deal with the matter of consequences.

3. Consequences

The stated consequences of sin that are found in this passage are rather harsh. Some of the suggested solutions to our problems even sound rather barbaric. They don’t sound like anything that we would expect Jesus to say, either. But, here he is telling people that if they don’t change their ways, they will experience eternal punishment. He even tells people that if you have a problem with lust, then maybe they should pluck out an eye and cut off one of their hands. After all, it’s better to enter the kingdom minus a few body parts than end up in hell with your body intact. I must say here that theologically I can’t reconcile a loving God with the doctrine of eternal punishment. It simply doesn’t make sense to me theologically. I also wouldn’t recommend that people maim themselves to keep from sinning. But, that doesn’t mean that our thoughts and our actions don’t have consequences.

Since this is Evolution Weekend, I thought it a good idea, to get something scientific into the service. While we’re not dealing with biology, there is a law of physics that applies to our situation – Newton’s Third Law of Motion:

To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction.

Now this law of physics may seem rather obvious, but sometimes it’s good to be reminded of this fact – actions do have consequences.

This idea is stated rather clearly in the Book of Deuteronomy, which says: “If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, . . . then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.” (Deut. 30:16). Obedience leads to blessing. But, if you don’t do what the Lord commands, then you won’t live very long in the land of promise. The choice is yours.

Although the Sermon on the Mount starts with words of blessing, through which God extends God’s favor to the poor and the meek, the one who grieves and the one who is merciful, this sermon takes a rather realistic view of human behavior, and Jesus suggests that our behavior has consequences for our own lives and the lives of those with whom we share our lives. Jesus seems to be saying to us – when we fail to walk in the ways that God has set before us, then brokenness and destruction will increase.

4. Living in the Realm of God

So, why does Jesus address these issues? I believe that he raises issues like these, which form a representative and not an exhaustive list, because they are the kinds of behaviors that undermine the realm of God. These kinds of behaviors don’t represent the ways of God. If we speak harshly or act hatefully toward another person; if we objectify or exploit others; if we abandon those who are close to us or fail to speak honestly, then we are not walking in the ways of God. We may struggle with our ability to live fully into the realm of God, but Jesus reminds us to look closely at what the realm of God looks like, so that we can move toward that fullness.

It is a difficult path, and it requires much from us. It means changing the way we think and talk and act. Indeed, it means living in a way that moves from brokenness to wholeness. The good news is that we don’t have to take the journey alone. We go in the Spirit of God, who reconciles to one another, so that we might live in the company of the faithful.

Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Pastor, Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Troy, Michigan
February 13, 2011
Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

Happy People? -- A Sermon on the Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12

This morning we begin a rather lengthy journey through one of the most powerful sections of Scripture. Although there will be a few breaks in this journey, we will focus our attention, between now and Palm Sunday, on the Sermon on the Mount. In the previous chapter of Matthew, Jesus calls to himself a group of disciples from among the many who came to hear him proclaim the message of the kingdom and bring healing to the body and spirit, giving them a new identity and purpose. Now, Jesus draws to himself this small group so he can teach them what it means to live in God’s realm. As he takes them with him to the mountain, he teaches them that God’s realm is very different in tone and purpose from human realms and empires. It doesn’t matter if these worldly governments are limited or big, democratic or autocratic, they are not the same as God’s realm, and if they are to follow Jesus, then they must give their complete allegiance to God’s reign. And, as Warren Carter points out, if you’re going to live under God’s reign, you ’ll need new instructions and laws, which is what Jesus provides in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. Carter writes

When God’s empire, God’s saving empire, comes among people, it claims their lives, disturbs the status quo, creates new priorities and identities, and gives new purpose, commissions people to new tasks, and creates a new alternative community that is going to need formational instruction as in the Sermon on the Mount. [Warren Carter, “Power and Identities: The Contexts of Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount,” Preaching the Sermon on the Mount: The World It Imagines. David Fleer and Dave Bland, eds., (Chalice Press, 2007). Kindle Edition. Narrative Contexts.]

Christians have wrestled with how to respond to Jesus’ call for us to give total allegiance to God, even as we seek to live in this world. More often than not we either ignore the message of this sermon, or pick and choose what we like, because this vision is far too radical for most of us to handle. Consider the call to refrain from taking oaths or loving our enemies, what do we make of Jesus’ call to discipleship? What does it require of us?

As we take this journey, we need to understand that Jesus speaks these words to a community with the understanding that it is impossible to live out this call to discipleship outside the community. This is, therefore, not an ethic for individuals to try to live out on their own. There is simply no way for us as individuals to live in the way Jesus describes. That may be why, in Matthew’s presentation, Jesus doesn’t give the sermon to the crowd, but to those who have chosen to follow him. It is to this community that has chosen to follow Jesus that he gives the call to be light and salt in the world.

We begin our journey by attending to what we call the beatitudes – nine statements of blessing. Jesus says to the disciples, blessed or happy are those who are poor, grieve, are humble, who hunger and thirst for justice, who show mercy, have pure hearts, seek to make peace, are harassed because of righteousness, and are harassed and insulted because of their allegiance to Jesus. Stanley Hauerwas calls these gifts to the church. These are the blessings, the kinds of people who inhabit the community. He writes: “to learn to be a disciple is to learn why we are dependent on those who mourn or who are meek, though we may not possess that gift ourselves” [Stanley Hauerwas, Matthew: Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible, (Brazos, 2006), p. 63.]

This description seems so contrary to the way we tend to define blessings and happiness. Our culture would want us to believe that God blesses some people with success, those who apparently help themselves. Therefore, God helps teams win Super Bowls and National Championships. Of course, one may wonder why God seems to like the Yankees more than the Cubs, and the Packers more than the Lions. Does God really love the winners more than those whom society often considers losers? This idea that God wins games and fills bank accounts is based on a theology of success, but that theology seems very different from the one that Jesus espouses in the Beatitudes?

1. BEING BLESSED

So what does it mean to be blessed or happy? Studies suggest that religious people are happier than nonreligious people. What is interesting is that this happiness doesn’t seem to be linked to one’s theology, but rather to the fact that religious people tend to be part of a caring community. Rachel Naomi Remen, a Jewish doctor and author of My Grandfather's Blessings, tells the story of a woman who confessed that she didn’t need to reach out to other people because she prayed every day. All she needed, she believed, was God. But, Dr. Remen responded: “prayer is about our relationship to God; a blessing is about our relationship to the spark of God in one another." [Rachel Naomi Remen, My Grandfather's Blessings, (NY: Riverhead Books, 2000), p. 5]. In other words, blessings are relational, and that is because when we are in relationship with one another, we tap into the God who is present in the other person.

If happiness and blessedness are relational then perhaps we need to rethink what we mean when talk about our inalienable right to pursue happiness. We often read Thomas Jefferson’s words, as they are enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, in a very individualistic way. It’s all about my freedom to get whatever I need to make myself happy. That may be what the Declaration promises, but is the kind of happiness that Jesus desires for us to experience the kind of happiness that could come at the expense of my neighbor?

As we listen to Jesus’ description of God’s blessings, it becomes clear that God isn’t in the business of blessing the arrogant and the proud, the selfish and the self-sufficient. Instead God blesses the poor, the meek, the one who grieves and the one who makes peace, the harassed and the pure in heart. Happiness, therefore, really has nothing to do with living in the lap of luxury.

Rachel Remen knows something about finding happiness in the midst of suffering. For almost half a century she has suffered from Crone’s disease. But in the midst of her wounds, she says, that she encountered “life for the first time.” Her wounds became the source of wisdom and knowledge that enabled her to look at herself and see a “life that is both true and unexpected” (p. 25).

Wounds can either fester into bitterness and anger or bring us insight into what it means to live life and offer hope for the future. A cancer survivor sees the beauty of life and begins to enjoy it more. Spouses see a marriage hit a wall, but wake up to rediscover the love that brought them together in the first place. A spouse dies and the surviving partner begins to die emotionally, only to find in the community new relationships that bring blessings to one’s life.

It’s important that we hear in this text one very important truth: As Jesus defines what it means to be blessed, he is not talking about earning this blessing. He’s not talking about voluntary poverty or seeking martyrdom, it is simply that the community is composed of people like the ones described, and we are blessed by their presence, for they are a gift of God. Even as God is present in their lives, they help bring sustenance and peace to the community.

2. BEING A BLESSING

The Beatitudes serve as the foundation of Jesus’ sermon. They help describe the community that will be salt and light to the world. To those whom God calls blessed belongs the kingdom of God – both in heaven and on earth. These are the marks, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, of “the community of the Crucified. With him they lost everything, and with him they found everything” [Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, DBW vol. 4, (Fortress, 2001), p. 109].

The community, as we will see in subsequent weeks, is a visible one. Those who hear this word of blessing are called to be salt and light to the world. Bonhoeffer points out that the ones whom the world deems “unworthy of living” are the “most indispensable commodity on earth. They are the salt of the earth” (pp.110-11).

Those who are blessed are in turn a blessing to the community and ultimately to the world. Although some of the beatitudes describe a state of being – poverty, humility, and grief, other beatitudes describe a life of action and service. You are blessed, Jesus says, so take these blessings and share them with others, be merciful, seek justice, and be a peacemaker. Again, we need to remember that Jesus gave these instructions not to the crowd or to individuals, but to the disciples. He did this to remind us that this active life of blessing is to be lived in community with an outward vision of ministry in the world.

It’s interesting that to each of the blessings is attached a reward. It’s not that we earn these blessings, but it is a reminder that even as we are called to minister from these blessings that are present in the community, blessings that enable us to love others, we must not lose sight of Jesus’ admonishment – that we love others as we love ourselves. There is therefore, a circular nature to the blessings that come to us.

Rachel Remen tells another story about a man who got a second chance in life. A successful stock broker who developed non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, he survived a horrible year of treatment that included chemo and a risky bone-marrow transplant, in large part because of the love he shared with his wife. But, having survived the cancer, he became convinced that he had to save the world. So, he quit his job and started working with the conservation movement. Before too long he was spending sixty hours a week on this new job, and he was gone so often that he no longer had time to spend with his wife and kids. When his neglected wife left him, Dr. Remen stepped in and told him that although he had been given a second chance in life, that life no longer was full of joy, but instead was just a burden. This reborn stock broker didn't think he had a choice, but his doctor reminded him that if he was going to serve others he had to take care of himself as well. Although he valued life, he failed to value his own life and that of those closest to him (Remen, pp. 20-21). Blessings go out and they return. You can work for justice and peace, you can pursue purity of heart, but unless you experience the blessings of community you will end up in despair - what they call burn out!

Micah says that God requires three things from us: justice, kindness and humility. The Law says, love God and love your neighbor and you will fulfill the entire law. That second commandment, though, has a second part to it: Love your neighbor, as you love yourself. There are blessings galore. There are enough to go around. Be blessed and be a blessing. Then as Jesus says: You will be a light to the world!

 

Preached by:

Dr. Robert D. Cornwall

Pastor, Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Troy, Michigan

4th Sunday after Epiphany

January 30, 2011

Called to Testify -- A Lectionary Meditation

Isaiah 49:1-7



1 Corinthians 1:1-9

John 1:29-42

Called to Testify

I’m aware that this weekend the nation I call home will honor the memory and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We will observe this moment with a cloud hanging over us, the cloud of an attack on a Congresswoman that left six dead, including a nine-year-old girl who was committed to creating a better world. This attack on one of our nation’s brightest leaders reminds us of the darkness that is present in the world. It was a darkness that Dr. King testified against with words and with deeds. In the end, he was assassinated, but his message lives on in the hearts of those who will hear this voice. Dr. King began his career as a civil rights leader, speaking out clearly against segregation and discrimination that was rife in our land. As time went on, he expanded his message to include giving voice to the concerns of those caught in poverty, and he lent his voice in support of the effort to end the war in Vietnam. Martin Luther King was a prophet deeply rooted in what is known as the Social Gospel. He understood that while sin was present in the heart of the individual, it was also present in the systems of society. One could not change the realities of life, without changing the systems of oppression. He was one who heard the call to bear witness to God’s love for the entirety of creation.

It is with the vigil for those wounded and killed in Tucson on our minds, along with the observance of Dr. King’s birthday, that we come to these three texts scheduled for the Second Sunday after Epiphany. These texts, each in their own way, remind us that this is a season where we focus on the ways in which God is manifest in the world in and through Jesus Christ. These passages of Scripture speak of our calling to bear witness to this presence in the world, to lift up the light that is God’s presence, and make this light known to the nations. As I read these three texts together, I hear in the first passage, from Isaiah, a statement concerning God’s providence in choosing – in the original context – Israel to bear witness of God’s goodness to the nations. From there we turn to Paul who reminds us that we have been gifted for this calling to bear witness, and finally we hear the witness of John the Baptist and Andrew to the mission and purpose of Jesus of Nazareth.

In Isaiah 49 we encounter once again the words of this prophet of the Babylonian exile, who speaks of God’s providential choice to call him (or is it Israel itself?) to this ministry of witness. Whether the intended recipient of this call is the prophet, Israel, Jesus, or even we who hear the call of God in our own time, the call is to be God’s servant, and the call has come even before birth. As is often the case, the prophet protests the call, though in this case it appears that the prophet feels as if the effort has proven to be in vain – “I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.” Although at first blush, the prophet feels as if all of this has been in vain, the prophet is reminded that God is with this cause. And the nature of the cause? Not just to bring back the survivors of Israel to their ancestral home – the opening lines remind us of the scattering of Israel – that would be too easy, too “light a thing.” No, God would gather the people to their homeland so that they might be a light to the nations, so that God’s “salvation shall reach the ends of the earth.” Then, the nations would bow before the Lord and bring glory to God. This is the intent of God, as understood by this prophet, who sees more for God’s people than simply existing as a small country in a big world.

If Isaiah speaks of God’s intention to prepare a people to bear witness to God’s presence, then Paul takes up the issue of means. That is, Paul opens his letter to the Corinthian church, whom he speaks of as having been “called to be God’s people” in Jesus Christ. Having received this call, they have been “made rich through him in everything.” That is, they are not missing any spiritual gifts necessary so that they might bear witness about Christ until the time of his revealing. And this calling, for which they have been properly gifted or equipped (and Paul talks in great detail later in this letter about the nature of this giftedness), they are “called to partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” This is an important word, this word about partnership. It’s a reminder that the life of faith isn’t a passive one. It’s not something that we simply let God do to us or through us, but which involves us in active participation. We’re not simply tubes through which God’s love passes through to our neighbors, without any input on our part (see Tom Oord, The Nature of Love, Chalice Press, p. 37). God has chosen to use us and to equip us, so that a light might be shared with the nations.

Finally we reach John’s gospel, which revisits Jesus’ baptism and calling by John and the calling of the first disciples. This passage from John’s Gospel pictures John the Baptist standing with two of his own disciples, and declaring to them: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World!” In making this testimony to Jesus, John submits his own ministry to that of Jesus. His baptism had been one of water, but it was a baptism that prepared the way for the one on whom the Spirit rested. Yes, this is God’s Son. Hearing this testimony, the two disciples leave John and go to Jesus. I’m not sure whether this was John’s intent, but the two disciples seemed to understand that if they were going to remain engaged in this work of God, then they would need to attach themselves to the one to whom John had borne witness. Having made a connection with Jesus, Andrew, one of these two former disciples of John, goes to his brother, Simon, and bears witness to what he has seen and discovered in Jesus. John points to Jesus and says – “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the World.” There he is, the one who will restore justice and mercy in the world, but the use of the imagery of the lamb takes to the end of the gospel, where Jesus becomes the Passover lamb. At this moment, the takeaway by Andrew is that “We have found the Messiah.” And when he makes this discovery he feels compelled to share it with his brother, and Simon, himself, feels compelled to come to Jesus. In response, Jesus puts his claim on Simon by giving him a new name – Cephas or Peter. I find it interesting that John makes the translation from Aramaic to Greek, but the imagery of this name change is left ambiguous. Unlike Matthew, we’re not given Simon’s confession (Matthew 16:16), but obviously in John’s mind, something happened in this exchange that placed the mantle on this new disciple.

So here is the question for us this day – to what have we been called to testify? What is this calling, and what are the gifts?

The Servant's Call -- A Sermon

Matthew 3:13-17, Isaiah 42:1-9

What is your calling in life? That is, who are you at your core? And how do you know this to be true? What were the signs that confirmed this sense of calling or vocation? Pushing this even further – Where does God fit into your sense of vocation?

There are those, mostly hyper-Calvinists, who believe that God plans every moment of our lives, while others believe that God doesn’t play any role at all – it’s all up to you. I imagine that most of us fall somewhere in between these two extremes. We believe that God is present in our lives, guiding our choices, but we also believe that we have freedom to choose. So, given this freedom, how do you discern God’s call on your life? How do you know when God takes delight in what you’re doing with your life?

1. Epiphany, Baptism, and the Call of Jesus

I raise these questions with you as we begin our observance of the season of Epiphany. This is a season that allows us to acknowledge the light of God, which has been manifested in our world through the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. The journey actually began Thursday, January 6, which marks the Day of Epiphany. In most Eastern Christian traditions, January 6 is actually Christmas Day. But for us, Western Christians, January 6 marks the end of Christmas, and the beginning of a new season of the Christian year. Epiphany begins with the story of the Magi, who bring gifts to the child Jesus, in acknowledgment that God has chosen him for a specific task – to be the light of God in the world.

Now, we’ve decided to leave up the Christmas Tree for one more service. I will admit that there’s a practical reason – we simply didn’t get around to taking it down. But this fact gave me an idea. By leaving the tree up and lit, we remind ourselves that the one whose life we honor in this season of Epiphany is the light-bearer of God. Jesus is the one whom God has chosen to make God’s self manifest in the world. Last week the text for the day was John 1, which declares that “the Word (of God) became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14). Now we get to see how this Word made flesh reveals God to us in the life of Jesus. So, the tree remains up, and the lights remain on, but at the end of the service, Pat will pull the plug on the tree, and the lights will go out. But do not fear, even though the tree grows dim, the light of God is not extinguished. We become the light bearers.

But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves, for we must hear the story of Jesus’ own call, which is set in the context of John’s ministry of baptism. In the verses that precede our text, we discover that God has called John to prepare the way for the Lord, who is to come baptizing not with water of repentance, as does John, but with Holy Spirit and Fire. That is, he’s called to prepare the way for the one who, to borrow from John Dominic Crossan, will introduce the “Great Divine Cleanup of the World,” or as it’s better known – the Kingdom of God.

To understand this morning’s text, we need to understand that John is waiting expectantly for the Promised One to be revealed, and so he’s taken aback when Jesus comes to him and asks to be baptized. You see, John immediately recognizes Jesus to be the one he’s been preparing the nation to receive. Although John initially refuses, he relents when Jesus tells him that this is what God desires, so that they would fulfill all righteousness. Then, as Jesus emerges from the waters of the Jordan, he hears God speak from the heavens: “This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I’m pleased.” In that moment, Jesus had his calling affirmed and sealed.

I don’t know how many of you have heard God’s voice speaking from the heavens during your baptism, but perhaps even without this your baptism serves as the sign and seal that God has called you, gifted you, and empowered you, to join with God in this “Great Divine Cleanup” that Jesus proclaimed and lived.

2. The One In Whom God Delights

As we consider Jesus’ calling, as well as our own, I’d like us to consider the words of Isaiah 42, a passage of scripture that comes from the time of the Babylonian exile. The prophet speaks of the Servant, in whom God takes delight, and whom God has chosen to receive the Spirit and bring justice to the nations (Is. 42:1). In many ways Isaiah 42 stands behind Matthew’s description of Jesus’ baptism. Remember that Matthew makes it clear that the Spirit of God fell on Jesus, the one whom God calls “my Son” and with whom God is “pleased.” He is the one, as Luke makes clear, whom God has called to bring justice and healing to the nations (Luke 4:18-19). That is, the one in whom God delights is the one who has received the Spirit and brings a light to the nations, opens the eyes of the blind, and brings the prisoners out of their dungeons of darkness. And what is true of the Servant called Jesus, would seem to be true of those who seek to be his followers.

3. The Way of the Servant

I began this sermon by asking the question – what is your calling in life and how do you know this to be true? If, as our texts suggest, we are called to be Servants of God, what does that mean for our lives?

Isaiah suggests that the way of the servant is the way of humility, of peace, and justice. The servant of God doesn’t bark angrily in the streets or even quench a dimly burning wick, but instead brings “full justice to all who have been wronged" (NLT). And Jesus offers us the model of what this calling looks like. As we look at his life and listen to his teachings, we see a man who didn’t force himself on others, didn’t seek political or military power, nor did he trod underfoot the powerless in this world.

If Jesus manifests God’s presence in the world, as the season of Epiphany suggests, then the picture of God that emerges from the life and ministry of Jesus is very different from the distant, unfeeling, self-absorbed God that many of us grew up with. This is not the God whose anger at humanity is expressed through thunder and lightening, earthquakes and floods. Instead of an imperial deity, like the one Constantine envisioned blessing his conquests, the God we meet in Jesus is the fellow sufferer who walks by our side, encouraging us, empowering us, and gifting us. I realize that many people aren’t comfortable with this kind of God, because such a God seems too weak and not worthy of our praise. But, this is the God whom Jesus envisions and reveals in his own life, and he invites us to join in this life of God

As we think of people who have tried to live out this kind of servanthood that Isaiah and Jesus envisioned, perhaps there’s no better example than Henri Nouwen. Nouwen would be the first to say that he wasn’t perfect and might not want to be pictured as an exemplar of the way of the servant. But, what can we say about a man who was a well-known and respected theologian, academic, writer, lecturer, but who in the prime of his career left an important academic post at Yale University to serve the mentally disabled. Yes, this is the way of the servant.

4. The Call to Servanthood

In our baptisms we, like Jesus, receive our calling to be servants of God, who are given the responsibility to “bring forth justice to the nations.” If we will take up this mantle, then we’ll receive the promised Spirit of God, who will not allow us to “grow faint or be crushed” until “justice is established in the earth” (Is. 42:4). If we take up this calling to be God’s servants then we’ll participate in God’s work of bringing light to the nations, open the eyes of the blind, and bring those who are caught in darkness out of their imprisonment.

Before I close this sermon with a call to remember our own callings, I need to remind us all of the tragic events of yesterday in Tucson, Arizona. As most of you know, a gunman shot and nearly killed Gabrielle Giffords, a Congresswoman from Arizona, at a meet the constituents event at a local Safeway, something she has done regularly. Although it appears that she’ll make it, several others in the crowd, including one of her aids, a Federal judge, and a nine-year old child were killed, and several more were wounded. This act of violence is a reminder that we have much work to do to restore a sense of civility to our rhetoric and end the threat violence in our land.

The way of the Servant, which leads to transforming the world, isn’t an easy calling, especially in times like this. Remember, however, that Jesus did say that the way of God is narrow and difficult. So the question of the day is this: Having been baptized into the Name of Jesus, are you ready and willing to affirm your calling to be a servant of God? Does this calling define your sense of who you are as a person? And to push this further, is this our calling as a church? That is, is this our mission – to be beacons of light in the world so that the justice and peace of the God who is love might reign?

 

Preached by:

Dr. Robert D. Cornwall

Pastor, Central Woodward Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Troy, Michigan

1st Sunday after Epiphany

January 9, 2010

The Light of God Arises -- A Meditation for Epiphany

Epiphany Times Three -- Kathrin Burleson

Isaiah 60

When the darkness covers the earth, and we feel hope ebbing away, we are tempted to give up and let fate have its way. Why bother with life? Why try to make things better? One’s enemies lie round about, undermining everything one wishes to do. It is a common feeling. It can permeate a family wrestling with financial crises or medical ones. It could be a church that has experienced continued decline and doesn’t see how it can be a redemptive and transformative presence in the world. It can be a community – large or small – whose best days seem long past, and now the nay-sayers have taken hold, keeping the community from moving forward. When the clouds hang round about us, when we’re unable to see the sun and the stars and the moon, and wonder about the future, we hear a word from the prophet:

Arise, shine; for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For darkness shall cover the earth,

and thick darkness the peoples;

but the Lord will arise upon you,

and his glory will appear over you. (Is. 60:1-2)

Today we come to celebrate the Day of Epiphany, the manifestation of the Light that is God, a light that shines our darkness, so that we no longer need to depend on the Sun or on the Moon, but we can trust in God.

This post-exilic prophet speaks to a people who had been scattered and now have received the invitation to return home, they’re lit by the light that is God. There is a bit of triumphalism in this passage, for the vision includes statements about foreigners building up the walls of the city and the nations bringing their wealth to Jerusalem as tribute. It is a common vision for a people who have been suppressed and oppressed, but perhaps we could extend the vision some and instead of seeing the conquerors becoming supplicants, we can see in it a vision of a partnership between peoples. As the Light of God rises in our midst, we can put aside our need either for revenge or for control, but instead engage each other as equals, building a new city, the city of God.

On this Day of Epiphany may we bask in the light that is God. May we allow this light to permeate all the dark corners of our lives, exposing those areas of our existence that keep us from experiencing and expressing the love that is God. And in the end, we will express our trust in the one who says:

I am the Lord;

in its time I will accomplish it quickly. (Isaiah 60:22b).

With Isaiah’s vision in our minds, we turn to remember the one, whom Christians hail as the one who manifests the light and glory of God on earth, Jesus the Christ. May his light shine in our darkness, revealing the love and the grace and the glory that is God. And if we’re willing to receive this light into our lives, may we join together in building a world that is full of light and not darkness, a place where good will and peace reigns over all, and that this peace and this good will shall come not from military might, but through persistent but loving action in pursuit of the justice of God.

The Spirit of Justice -- A Lectionary Meditation

Isaiah 42:1-9


Acts 10:34-43

Matthew 3:13-17

The Spirit of Justice

As we begin the season of Epiphany, which celebrates the coming of God’s light and revelation into the World, we are called upon to contemplate the ways in which God has enlightened us through the life and ministry of Jesus. The texts for the day of Epiphany include the story of the Magi who followed a star to the home of Jesus, whose own family had to flee from the oppressive forces of Herod, who sought to destroy a perceived threat – a sort of preemptive strike. As we turn to the texts for the first Sunday after Epiphany, the gospel brings us forward into time. The one whose family fled in the face of human violence had come to the Jordan to be baptized, and in the course of this event the Holy Spirit of God fell upon this man from Galilee. As a result, Jesus becomes the means through which and in which God brings light into the world and makes known God’s purpose and nature.

If light is a key theme for the season of Epiphany, one of the primary biblical themes is that of justice, and justice is part of this set of texts as well. The word justice appears regularly in Scripture, especially in the words of the Prophets. Its sort of odd that a TV personality would condemn churches for embracing the message of social justice since its so prevalent in the biblical text. But, perhaps the problem is that many in our society have forgotten the biblical mandates. It’s also possible that they misunderstand the nature of justice in its biblical context.

Most Americans think of justice in terms of law enforcement – of keeping criminals locked up. It’s telling that the Secretary of Justice is also the “Chief Law Enforcement” officer in the country. Although this department deals with issues that fall under the rubric social justice – things like equal opportunity – we usually think in terms of other kinds of justice – what some call retributive justice (punishment) rather than distributive justice, which deals with the way widows and orphans and the poor are treated. It is an implementation of God’s vision of equity, which means more than simply “getting what you deserve.” Surely, grace factors in here at some point.

As we contemplate God’s vision for the world, which is embodied in the one upon whom the Spirit of God fell during his baptism, anointing him the servant of God, we contemplate God’s justice and righteousness.

Our lectionary journey begins in Isaiah 42, a powerful text written during the period of the exile, by a prophet who announces the coming of the servant of God, the one in whom God has chosen to take delight. The servant isn’t identified by the prophet, which has led to much interpretive speculation. Suggestions as the identity of this prophet depend in part on one’s theology and faith tradition, whether you are Jewish or Christian, but they range from the prophet himself, to Israel, and from Jesus to Paul, Paul comes into play because the Servant is said to be a light to the Gentiles. There is still another possibility, which would involve “everyone who loves and trusts the Lord,” for thus “has assumed the task assigned to God’s servant in this passage” (Ronald Allen & Clark Williamson, Preaching the Old Testament, p. 16). As Ron Allen and Clark Williamson point out, any of these five identifications is appropriate, as long as we allow room for the others to be possible in their own way.

Upon this servant of God falls the Spirit who brings justice to the nations, and does so without faltering or discouragement. This text should be familiar to anyone who has read the Gospel of Luke, for in Luke, Jesus reads and interprets this passage as defining his own calling as God’s servant. God makes a covenant with this person (people), calling on them to be “a light for the gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind to free the captives from prison, and to release from the dungeons those who sit in darkness” (Is. 43:6-7 NIV 2010).

The justice spoken of here is not one that comes at the point of a sword or through coercion, but with humility and grace. This demeanor is defined in the opening lines of our passage, where we’re told that the Spirit-empowered servant doesn’t raise a voice or shout in the streets or even break a smoldering wick, but is instead one like a bruised reed. The justice that this servant brings is, as Allen and Williamson remind us, a “kindhearted justice.” They note further:

Some of the greatest injustices of history have been carried out by those in pursuit of a dream of absolute justice. Millions of people have died at the hands of those pursuing the classless society, a manifest destiny, or some idealistic political or economic vision of one kind or another. All our religious traditions have profaned the concept of God’s justice, Christians particularly in wars that they declared either just or holy, such as the Crusades or the wars of religion from 1618 to 1648. But God’s justice is justice on behalf of God’s children; it is like a mother whose love for her children leads her to seek justice for them. It is the justice of YHWH’s tender love (Allen & Williamson, pp. 16-17).

And so, we look forward to the fulfillment of God’s justice, which we have been called upon to embody as followers of the one who is baptized in fulfillment of God’s righteousness.

From Isaiah’s brilliant vision, we turn to Peter’s confession that “God does not show favoritism, but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (Acts 10:34-35 NIV

We can take this reference to the devil in a number of ways. It’s likely that Luke has in mind Jesus’ ministry of exorcism, but it might also have some less obvious, but clearly political implications. If we take seriously the Isaiah passage, then to fulfill his calling as the Servant of God, Jesus would be engaging in actions that are clearly political or social in nature. He would be acting out God’s vision of justice by releasing the people from bondage to the Powers and Principalities, which in shorthand could be the devil. But, as Peter reminds us, this ministry of justice led to Jesus’ death on the cross, but it also lead to resurrection, so that Christ might be seen by those whom God had chosen, so that he might judge the living and the dead. To those who believe on him (Jesus) is given forgiveness of sins. Peter is simply rehearsing the basics of the gospel message as he understood it and as it is presented in the New Testament. One might quibble with this or that part of the message, but the point is – Peter understood that the Spirit of God was present in the world, and God didn’t show favoritism, but instead embraced all who would come. Did Peter have a universalist understanding salvation? Probably not, but still present in this brief text is the recognition that God’s love and God’s justice is inclusive.

Finally we come to the text that defines the day – the baptism of Jesus by John in the Jordan. Jesus seems to believe that this act is an essential part of his journey, even if John resists, recognizing in him something that in his mind would preclude this step. But Jesus says, I need to do this to fulfill all righteousness. At that John consents to Jesus’ request. But what is it that Jesus must fulfill? As Allen and Williamson write, Matthew is concerned with a “higher righteousness,” one that stands in contrast with that of persons like Herod, who wish to dominate and destroy. Perhaps this is the answer to our question of why Jesus took this step: “Trusting in status and rank, being full of oneself in matters of faith, counts for nothing in Matthews eyes. What counts is morally responsible actions” (Allen and Williamson, Preaching the Gospels without Blaming the Jews, p. 13). In taking his action of receiving baptism, whether in John’s eyes or our eyes, he needs to do this, he represents for us the attitude of the Servant of God whose coming is announced by Isaiah and witnessed to by Peter. And now, in this powerful moment of experiencing baptism at the hands of John, God provides God’s witness, as the Holy Spirit falls on him in the form of a dove and God speaks from the heavens: “This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).

The Baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, the point at which he takes up the call of doing good and bringing healing to the people, which is part of Peter’s own testimony. As we remember the baptism of Jesus, let us remember that he took up the mantle described by Isaiah, and that he lived out God’s justice, having been filled with the Spirit of the God of Justice and Love. Yes, remember that the Justice of God is couched in the Love of God.

What the French are obsessing about: galette des rois and a book

Picture lines outside the boulangerie in Paris, apartments ovens cranked high and almond frangipane filling poured onto butter dough. Bright children's eyes gathered around the table after dinner. Right now in France most everyone's celebrating the tradition of l'Epiphanie. It's a family affair, too. L'Epiphanie celebrates the day on which the three kings Gaspard, Balthazar and Melchior came to pay their tribute to the world-famous baby born just a couple of weeks before. In French those wise men go by the name of Les Rois Mages - the Magi - and their first names are totally coming back in fashion these days, let me tell you. Except maybe for Melchior, that's a tough one.
Like many a Christian holiday, this one has lost its religious significance in most French families, gaining a sweeter, much more buttery one in the bargain: on the day of the Epiphany, families share one of these Galette des Rois, a flaked pastry pie filled with frangipane, a butter-rich, smooth mixture of crème d'amande - almond cream and crème pâtissière - pastry cream.

The actual date to have the galette has gotten fuzzier and fuzzier: some families celebrate on the 6th, some on the first Sunday in January, but it's mostly considered fine to celebrate it all through the month of January.

The thing about a Galette des Rois, apart from its deliciousness, is the family ritual that goes with it: the youngest child of the family hides under the table, an adult divides the galette in even slices, and the child calls out which slice goes to whom.


Why all the fuss you ask? Aah, it is just this small thing that everyone wants to win : la fève is hidden in the galette.

Historically a dry fava bean - hence the name - fève, was used. Now it's a little porcelain figure - often a clay santon. That figure used to have some kind of religious meaning but that, too, has gone the way of the dodo. Whoever gets the slice with the fève is named King or Queen for the day, gets to wear the golden paper crown that comes with the galette and glows with pride. Of course, in the south they like to be different and eat a Gâteau des Rois shaped like a ring-shaped brioche garnished with candied fruit.
While the happy King or Queen - usually one of the children - is munching another slice of galette their parent or grandparents are probably reading a little tan book that's taken French publishing by storm. With a simple tan cover, handwriting in the foreground, and only 13 pages of actual text written by a semi-obscure 93 year old man it contains no sex, no jokes, no fine writing and no startlingly original message. You think, publishing disaster? No, a publishing phenomenon.


Titled 'Indignez vous!' Cry out! (or Become Outraged, which I like) this slim pamphlet by a wartime French resistance hero, Stéphane Hessel, has and is smashing all publishing records in France. The book urges the French, and everyone else, to recapture the wartime spirit of resistance to the Nazis by rejecting the "insolent, selfish" power of money and markets and by defending the social "values of modern democracy".

'Indignez Vous' which costs €3, has sold 600,000 copies in three months and another 200,000 have just been printed. The original print run was 8,000. In the run-up to Christmas, Mr Hessel's call for a "peaceful insurrection" not only topped the French bestsellers list, it sold eight times more copies than the second most popular book, a Goncourt prize-winning novel by Michel Houellebecq - the famous naval gazing philospher author.

The extraordinary success of the book can be interpreted in several ways. Its low price and slender size – 29 pages including blurbs and notes but just 13 pages of text – has made it a popular stocking-filler among left-wing members of the French chattering classes. Bookshops report many instances of people buying a dozen copies for family and friends.

But Mr Hessel and his small left-wing publisher who normally have print runs in the hundreds say that he has evidently struck a national, and international nerve, at a time of market tyranny, bankers' bonuses and budget threats to the survival of the post-war welfare state. The publisher also thinks that the success of the book might be an important straw in the wind as France enters a political cycle leading to the presidential elections of May 2012.

In a New Year message Mr Hessel, who survived Nazi concentration camps to become a French diplomat, said he was "profoundly touched" by the success of his book. Just as he "cried out" against Nazism in the 1940s, he said, young people today should "cry out against the complicity between politicians and economic and financial powers" and "defend our democratic rights acquired over two centuries".

Not everyone likes the book. Hessel takes up the cause of the Roma, the unpopular gypsies and their substatus in France. He's stirred some controversy with a lengthy denunciation of Israeli government policies, especially in the Gaza Strip. Mr Hessel, whose father was a German Jew who emigrated to France, has been accused by French Jewish organisations of "anti-semitism". But when hasn't controversy pushed a book into a bestseller?

Mr Hessel was born in Berlin in 1917. When he was seven his family emigrated to France. He joined General Charles de Gaulle in London in 1941 and was sent back to France to help organise the Resistance. He was captured, tortured and sent to concentration camps in Germany. After the war, he helped to draft the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

His small Montpellier-based publishing house Indigène, which commissioned the book, said Mr Hessel had revealed a "deep sense of indignation in France".

"They dare to tell us that the State can no longer afford policies to support its citizens," Mr Hessel says. "But how can money be lacking ... when the production of wealth has enormously increased since the Liberation (of France), at a time when Europe was ruined? The only explanation is that the power of money ... has never been so great or so insolent or so selfish and that its servants are placed in the highest reaches of the State."

The book's originality is the suggestion that an organised "Resistance" is now called for, just like in 1940. "We, veterans of the resistance ... call on young people to revive and pass on the heritage and ideals of the Resistance," the book says.

Here's a sample of his messages of resistance

* "I would like everyone – everyone of us – to find his or her own reason to cry out. That is a precious gift. When something makes you want to cry out, as I cried out against Nazism, you become a militant, tough and committed. You become part of the great stream of history ... and this stream leads us towards more justice and more freedom but not the uncontrolled freedom of the fox in the hen-house."

* "It's true that reasons to cry out can seem less obvious today. The world appears too complex. But in this world, there are things we should not tolerate... I say to the young, look around you a little and you will find them. The worst of all attitudes is indifference..."

* "The productivist obsession of the West has plunged the world into a crisis which can only be resolved by a radical shift away from the 'ever more', in the world of finance but also in science and technology. It is high time that ethics, justice and a sustainable balance prevailed..."

I suggest we all act like the French right now; munch buttery almondy slices of galette de rois and get outraged.

Cara- Tuesday

Joy to the World –Spiritual Blessings for All -- Lectionary Meditation for 2nd Sunday after Christmas

Jeremiah 31:7-14


Ephesians 1:3-14

John 1:10-18

Joy to the World –

Spiritual Blessings for All

As we meander toward the end of the Christmas season, which according to the commercial calendar began more than a month ago, if not sooner. The carols have all been sung, the presents opened, unacceptable presents have been returned, the trees and decorations have started to come down, and we have begun to focus on the coming new year, when all things become new. The liturgical calendar, however, won’t let us move on quite yet. Yes, according to the liturgical calendar we’re still in the season of Christmas. The texts for this second Sunday of Christmas (unless you decided to skip this day and move to Epiphany a few days early) speak in one way or another of the spiritual blessings that God has chosen to bestow upon God’s people, and the Ephesian letter and the Gospel of John root these blessings quite directly in the person of Jesus Christ. Therefore, as the prophet Jeremiah says to us – sing for joy and make your praises heard.

The Gospel lesson for the first Sunday after Christmas for this year comes from Matthew 2:13-23, a passage that speaks of the slaughter of the innocents and the flight of the Holy Family into exile in Egypt, from which they later return, bypassing Bethlehem and heading to Nazareth in Galilee. This theme of returning from exile appears in the Jeremiah passage, where the prophet invites the remnant people of Israel to sing for joy and make their praises heard, as they call out to God, asking that God would save this remnant. In answer, the prophet says, the Lord will bring the people home from the land to the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Everyone, the blind, the lame, the expectant mothers and those who are in labor at this very moment, yes a great throng of people will return to the land. And the message is this – God will be with them – continuing the message that we heard from Isaiah 7 in a previous Sunday – and God will lead them along streams of water (so they don’t thirst) and God will make their path level so they don’t stumble. Again, don’t you hear in this word from the prophet the promises that were heard during the Advent season, as we heard the story of the one who would prepare the way of the Lord. Now, it is the Lord who will prepare the way for God’s people to return home, and then will serve as the shepherd for this people, protecting and delivering them from the hand of the ones who are stronger than they. And again, in response, the people will shout for joy from the highest points and rejoice in the bounty of God. Yes, they will embrace the blessings of grain, new wine, olive oil, and flocks and herds full of young animals. Their land will be one of blessing, a well-watered garden. In that moment there will be no sorrow and the young and the old will dance with gladness. In that day of blessing, God will “turn their mourning into gladness.” Comfort and joy will replace their sorrow and the people will be satisfied. The blessings spoken of here are more material than spiritual, but the question of the day, as we await the coming of the magi bringing gifts, do we not need the material/physical blessings as well as the “spiritual ones?”

As we stand here with the people of God, rejoicing in God’s outpouring of blessings, we turn to the Ephesian letter, and standing right at the heart of this passage is a strongly worded embrace of predestination – or so it seems. In him, we’re told, God has chosen those whom God has predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in accordance with God’s plan. This is an extremely dense theological passage that requires much reflection, in large part because it speaks so strongly about election and predestination. For this meditation, I’d like to leave that discussion to one side (see my Ephesian Bible study, pp. 14-15, for a fuller discussion of this issue), and focus more on the opening line of verse 3, which calls on the reader to praise God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, because God has “blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” The word about being destined – I prefer that form than the use of the word “predestined” – is rooted in this promise that God has chosen us for adoption to sonship in Christ. That is, we are heirs with Christ, of the full blessings of God, which comes to us as a result of God’s grace that includes forgiveness of sins. One of the key points in the Ephesian letter is that in Christ the mystery of God has been revealed, that God had chosen before the world began to bring Jew and Gentile into fellowship, with both peoples being made heirs of God in Christ, so that all might receive the blessings of God. It is, therefore, not a message of exclusion, as if God had chosen to bless some and not bless others, but that God had in mind an expansive sense of love and grace, and that sense is revealed in Christ, and it is sealed, so says the author of this letter, through the Holy Spirit, with which we have been sealed – a deposit guaranteeing that we will receive (redeem) our inheritance as God’s possession, to the praise and glory of God.

When we turn from the Ephesian letter to the prologue of John we move from one theologically dense work to another, though John 1 has a poetic sense to it. This lectionary passage places the first nine verses in parentheses and begins in earnest with verse ten, a passage that invites us to consider the one through whom the world came into existence. Interestingly, while the NIV uses the masculine pronoun in verse 10, the Common English Bible continues the train of thought from verse 9, and speaks of the world coming into existence “through the light.” But, as is often true in life, the world didn’t recognize the light when it came into the world. But, our theme that we’re following here has to do with blessings, spiritual blessings that come to us as a result of our engagement with the living God.

It would seem that the first and foremost blessing is the right to be born children of God, something that happens not because of blood or human desire, but from the decision of God. Consider the Ephesian letter which speaks of God’s election, God’s choice, in adopting us as God’s heirs/children. It would appear that the same theme is present in this text, though here the gift of God comes to us through the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us. Even though we may not have recognized the light at first, for those who are willing, they will see the glory of this one who became flesh, whose glory is that of the father’s only sun, one who is full of grace and truth. This grace comes into the world through the Word (Light) made flesh, and it is this one we remember here in this moment that reveals to us the true nature of God.

As we move from Christmas into Epiphany, a move that continues the theme that began with Christmas, the sense that God has made God’s self known in our world. It is appropriate that this liturgical movement comes at the same time as the secular calendar moves into a new year. As we contemplate this new year, we can do so knowing that the one who is our shepherd goes with us, bringing the light of God into our lives, so that we might experience every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. What better gift could one one receive at Christmas? And the proper response to this gift is to give thanks and praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!