The Fifth Sunday in Lent
Listen to the Sermon for March 13, 2016
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The writer of the Gospel of John seems to have been more interested in Jesus’ friendships than the writers of the other gospels, and this may be because the author of John was perhaps Jesus’ closest friend – the “beloved disciple.” We usually identify this beloved disciple as John, although the gospel does not give him a name.
Of all the gospels only John remembers that at the Last Supper, Jesus declared his disciples to be not servants but friends. He tells them, “No longer do I call you servants … but I have called you friends” (John 15:15). John also tells us of the close friendship Jesus seems to have enjoyed with Mary and Martha of Bethany and their brother Lazarus, whom he raised from death (John 11:1-44). And, John passes on to us the somewhat disturbing story of Mary’s impulsive gesture of pouring expensive perfumed ointment on Jesus’ feet and then wiping them with her hair (John 12:1-8).
Friendship occupies a middle ground between familial love and romantic love. The common interests that help create friendship can make friendship an easier one than some of our familial relationships. Friendship is different from kinship in that we choose our friends on the basis of common interests or experiences. In The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis says that while lovers long to look into each other’s eyes, friends stand side-by-side looking at the shared interests that drew them together and made them friends in the first place.
So, what are we to make of Mary’s shocking gesture of pouring expensive ointment on Jesus’ feet and then wiping them with her hair? Whatever this act meant, it was profoundly troubling both then and now. John attributes Judas’ discomfort to his greed. In the parallel story in Luke, Simon the Pharisee is embarrassed because of the reputation of the woman who anoints Jesus’ feet. We may have similar reactions. Like Judas we may be bothered by the seeming waste of expensive perfume, or like Simon we may think the gesture is inappropriate. But Jesus seems to view the actions of Mary as an unusual gesture of friendship. Jesus was so comfortable with himself and with Mary’s friendship that he was able to accept such an extravagantly intimate gesture.
In the fourth century, St. Gregory of Nyssa said, “We regard falling from God’s friendship as the only thing dreadful, and we consider becoming God's friend the only thing truly worthwhile” (Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses). Jesus, God Incarnate, has called us friends. He has invited us into a relationship. If we accept this invitation, our friendship with God in Christ will deepen and become intimate. We will be able to do things for God that we would not otherwise do. And as our intimacy with God grows, it will become a fragrant offering, filling not just our house but the entire world with the perfume of Love Divine.
I’ll see you in Church!
The covenant narrative found in Genesis 15:1-18 gives us a rare glimpse into some of the liturgical practices of the ancient patriarchs and an insight into how they understood their relationship to God. The story describing a covenant and the ceremony that sealed it was passed down through oral tradition for several generations before it was written in the form we read today.
The story begins with a visit from God to Abram. The patriarch's name has not yet been changed to Abraham. The encounter is set in the context of a vision and later a deep sleep. God tells Abram that he is favored and will receive a great reward. Abram is concerned because he does not have a natural heir. Nevertheless, God promises Abram that he will not remain childless and that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars.
Abram trusted God's promises (“believed the LORD”) and because of that he was considered to be in a right relationship with God (“righteous”). St. Paul later uses Abram as an example in his explanation of "justification by faith" in Romans 4:3. In fact, for Paul, Abraham is the paradigm of justification.
The verses that follow deal, not with sacrifice, but with an obscure covenant ceremony called the “cutting of the covenant.” Animals were killed and their carcasses were split in half. The person or persons involved in the ritual would walk between them and curses were called down if the covenant was not honored. The images of a flaming torch and a smoking fire pot are symbols of the divine presence, reinforcing the belief that God was confirming the covenant.
God always initiates the covenant and our role is one of response. A covenant differs from a contract in that both parties to a covenant are bound to uphold their promises even if the other party does not. The story of the People of God is the story of God's faithfulness in the face of our unfaithfulness. Instead of cursing us, God comes to us and calls us back into a right and just relationship.
Ultimately, God's most profound act was to make covenant with the world through Jesus, though St. Paul makes it clear in Romans 9-11 that the new covenant does not take the place of the old one – it expands it. The Abrahamic Covenant was initiated for the benefit of Abraham and his descendants, who would be used by God to bring blessings to others. It is still valid. “For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). The Christ Covenant was initiated for the world and for all people, including you and me.
We don't carve up animals and pass through the carcasses with smoking fire pot and flaming torch. Instead, the covenant ceremony for us is Holy Baptism, in which we are joined to Christ in his death and resurrection, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and “marked as Christ's own for ever.”
I hope this reflection will help us prepare for the renewal of the Baptismal Covenant at the Great Vigil of Easter.
I’ll see you in Church!
The forty days of Lent are set aside for Christian people to prepare for the feast of the Lord’s resurrection. In the early Church, candidates for Baptism were instructed in the Christian faith during this season and prepared for their Baptism early on Easter morning. The already Baptized use this time to remember their own Baptism and prepare for a renewal of their vows.
A good way to begin our preparation is to take a careful look at the faith we profess. In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul lays the foundation for the view of salvation based on this faith.
The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, "No one who believes in him will be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." – Romans 10:8b-13
St. Paul begins by saying that Jesus has put an end to legalism. And who would know better than Paul what a legalistic kind of faith was all about? He believed that radical obedience to God’s Law was the requirement for salvation and for a right relationship with the all-holy God. He looked upon God as a celestial creditor, God’s chosen people as debtors, and everybody else as sub-human and outside of God’s concern.
Then, his encounter with Love Divine on the Damascus Road changed all of that. His faith was transformed from trust in his own goodness to trust in the goodness of God. The new faith Paul describes is born not of works but of faith. Our salvation is in being loved by God. Jesus came to tell us that, show us that, and put an end to legalism.
So, St. Paul says that the essence of this faith is the claim that Jesus is the Sovereign of our lives. That means that we can approach the cares and concerns of daily life out of the strength of his love. Even when all else fails, he will never let us go. That is the promise of our Baptism! We are “marked as Christ’s own for ever.”
Jesus is not a good man who once upon a time was martyred for his convictions. He triumphed over the two forces that cause us the greatest anxiety – sin and death. He is a living sovereign who is near to us in our journey through this world and into the next.
Finally, Paul stresses that Jesus is not our private possession. He is everybody’s Sovereign. This is a testimony to the inclusiveness and universality of God’s salvation. This way of faith is not exclusively for one race, or group, or political movement. It is for everyone. If you and I believe that, we can be saved from arrogance, pride, prejudice, judgmentalism, and self-righteousness. To know that the One who rules my life and loves me also loves others transforms the way I see and treat others.
There is an old story about a vagabond who fell ill in Lombardy centuries ago. He sought the aid of doctors. After they diagnosed his malady, one of them said in Latin, “Let us try an experiment with this worthless creature.” Then, to their amazement, from the sick man lying in rags came this question, also in Latin: “Will you call him a worthless creature for whom Christ died?”
Jesus Christ is everybody’s Sovereign!
So, as we begin our Lenten journey, let us examine the faith we confess. Let us reclaim the belief that Jesus came to replace a legalistic relationship with God with one based upon Love Divine freely and generously lavished upon us and all sorts and conditions of people. Let us search for new ways to confess this faith with our lips and in our lives.
I'll see you in Church!
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
With these words and with the sign of a cross of ashes imposed on our foreheads, we begin our annual Lenten journey. Those ashes, made from the palm branches we waved as we sang hosannas in celebration of Christ's Triumphal Entry last Palm Sunday, are a sign of the tentativeness of our praises and the shortness of our lives in the grand scheme of things. They mark the beginning of a season of reflection upon the impact we will leave in a universe that can and will go on without us.
Anglican priest and physicist John Polkinghorne expanded my own thinking about those ashes and our place in this universe in his book Quarks, Chaos, and Christianity. He writes, "Every atom of carbon inside our bodies was once a star. We are all made from the ashes of dead stars." Then, he goes on to explain how special our universe is. "Only a cosmos at least as big as ours could endure for the fifteen billion years necessary for evolving carbon-based life. You need ten billion years for the first-generation stars to make the carbon, then about five billion years for evolution to yield beings of our sort of complexity."
Woven into the complexity of our life is the "invincible divine purpose for good" and "the faithfulness of God who will not allow anything good to be lost." The death and resurrection of Christ bear witness to that truth and constitute the "seed event" of the new creation. From that "seed" springs forth fruit in the lives of those who follow him.
So, when you receive those ashes, marked on your forehead in the sign of the cross of Christ, receive with them the invitation to examine your life, seek what is good, and discard whatever interferes with the fruitfulness and goodness you may contribute during your brief sojourn.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. (BCP)
I'll see you in Church!
The Feast of the Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Jesus as the Messiah to the gentile world. In the season following the feast, we are reminded of various ways he manifested his messianic role – miracles, healing, preaching, teaching, and calling people to follow him.
He spent time with those who responded to his call, forming them into a community and equipping them to continue his messianic work in the world. Each follower of Jesus was given gifts for this work. Some were placed in positions of leadership to provide the formative experiences for others in the generations that followed. In this way, the community of followers of Jesus, the Church, was strategically ordered to advance his mission from generation to generation.
Writing to the followers of Jesus in the city of Ephesus in the first few years after Jesus ascended into heaven, St. Paul wrote of this way of ensuring the future of Christian mission:
But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:7, 11-13).
Notice that the “work of ministry” is entrusted to “the saints.” Who are the saints? The saints are the members of Christ’s Church, the followers of Jesus. Our Episcopal catechism expresses it this way, “The Church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its members” (BCP, p. 855).
Larger congregations, like ours, have several members of the clergy and a number of staff members. It is easy to see the clergy and staff as the ones who carry out the Church’s mission. Sometimes even the clergy and staff begin to see it that way. However, when that happens, the saints are deprived of their missional opportunities. It is not the job of the clergy and staff to do the work of ministry for the saints. Our vocation and our ministry is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” Under the leadership of our Bishop, clergy and staff strategically order the life of the community of faith, recruit, teach, train, equip, empower, and nurture the members in their ministries. It is our responsibility to help each member discover his or her gifts and discern ways in which Christ wants those gifts to be used his ongoing mission.
Some of the members are called to serve primarily within the life of the Church. Others are called to ministries out in the world at our doorstep. Many are called to do both! Christ calls each of us to be engaged in his mission. Every member has a ministry! Vibrant, fruitful churches are filled with people who believe that and exercise their ministries to the glory of God, thereby building up the Church in pursuit of Christ’s mission.
So, during this season when we recall those whom Christ called to follow him during his earthly ministry, we reclaim and reaffirm our own vocations. Where are you called to serve Christ in his Church? If you know, your clergy and staff are here to assist you and support you. And, if you are not sure, we are here to help you find a ministry that is right for you.
There is a long list of possibilities in a brochure we have placed in various locations around the campus. It is also HERE on our website. I invite you, in the name of Jesus Christ, to take some time to review the opportunities and respond to the call to serve in one or more ways. There are places of service every week and places of service that may last for months. Some service requires little preparation and some requires more. A number of roles are for leading others and many are for following. All are important to our life together and to Christ’s mission in the world.
By responding to your vocation, you give us the privilege of fulfilling ours! Please let us hear from you.
I’ll see you in Church!