Reconciling Sunday

This sermon manuscript is from Trinity las Americas United Methodist Church's Reconciling Sunday worship service.  The congregation worships bilingually, so the manuscript is bilingual with Spanish in bold and English in italics.  The sermon came from the queeries I did this week.

Mateo 5:21-37

²¹ »Ustedes han oído que a sus antepasados se les dijo: “No mates, pues el que mate será condenado.” ²² Pero yo les digo que cualquiera que se enoje con su hermano, será condenado. Al que insulte a su hermano, lo juzgará la Junta Suprema; y el que injurie gravemente a su hermano, se hará merecedor del fuego del infierno.

²³ »Así que, si al llevar tu ofrenda al altar te acuerdas de que tu hermano tiene algo contra ti, ²⁴ deja tu ofrenda allí mismo delante del altar y ve primero a ponerte en paz con tu hermano. Entonces podrás volver al altar y presentar tu ofrenda.

²⁵ »Si alguien te lleva a juicio, ponte de acuerdo con él mientras todavía estés a tiempo, para que no te entregue al juez; porque si no, el juez te entregará a los guardias y te meterán en la cárcel. ²⁶ Te aseguro que no saldrás de allí hasta que pagues el último centavo.

²⁷ »Ustedes han oído que se dijo: “No cometas adulterio.” ²⁸ Pero yo les digo que cualquiera que mira con deseo a una mujer, ya cometió adulterio con ella en su corazón.

²⁹ »Así pues, si tu ojo derecho te hace caer en pecado, sácatelo y échalo lejos de ti; es mejor que pierdas una sola parte de tu cuerpo, y no que todo tu cuerpo sea arrojado al infierno. ³⁰ Y si tu mano derecha te hace caer en pecado, córtatela y échala lejos de ti; es mejor que pierdas una sola parte de tu cuerpo, y no que todo tu cuerpo vaya a parar al infierno.

³¹ »También se dijo: “Cualquiera que se divorcia de su esposa, debe darle un certificado de divorcio.” ³² Pero yo les digo que si un hombre se divorcia de su esposa, a no ser en el caso de una unión ilegal, la pone en peligro de cometer adulterio. Y el que se casa con una divorciada, comete adulterio.

³³ »También han oído ustedes que se dijo a los antepasados: “No dejes de cumplir lo que hayas ofrecido al Señor bajo juramento.” ³⁴ Pero yo les digo: simplemente, no juren. No juren por el cielo, porque es el trono de Dios; ³⁵ ni por la tierra, porque es el estrado de sus pies; ni por Jerusalén, porque es la ciudad del gran Rey. ³⁶ Ni juren ustedes tampoco por su propia cabeza, porque no pueden hacer blanco o negro ni un solo cabello. ³⁷ Baste con decir claramente “sí” o “no”. Pues lo que se aparta de esto, es malo.

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Matthew 5:21-37
²¹“You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’ ²²But I say to you that if you are angry with a sibling, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hell of fire. ²³So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your sibling has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your sibling, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. ²⁶Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

²⁷“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell. ³¹“It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ ³²But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

³³“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Becoming One.’ ³⁴But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵or by the earth, for it is her footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great Queen. ³⁶And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

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La lectura de hoy es un poco difícil de oír.  Jesús tiene palabras fuertes para las personas con quien habla, pero no suena lo mismo por cada uno de nosotres.  Esta hablando en el sermón del monte a sus discípulos y a la multitud, pero la manera en que habla en esta parte significa que está hablando con personas con poder en su comunidad.  Está hablando sobre el poder—en la sociedad y,        sobre otras personas—y cómo restringirlo.

Today's reading is a little hard to hear. Jesus has strong words for the people he’s talking to, but they don’t resonate the same for each of us. He’s speaking in the sermon on the mount to his disciples among a growing crowd, but the way he speaks in this part means that he’s talking to people with power in his community. He is talking about power — in society and over other people — and how to restrict it.

As in many marginalized communities, the queer community knows a lot about power. In the sixties and seventies, when Marsha P. Johnson and Silvia Rivera led the resistance at Stonewall, they knew that the police and immoral laws against trans and queer people had the power in society. Today, while we hear of the laws appearing in Iowa and other states against trans youth in particular, we know where the power is.

Como en muchas comunidades marginalizadas, la comunidad queer conoce mucho sobre el poder.  En los años sesenta y setenta, cuando Marsha P. Johnson y Silvia Rivera dirigieron la resistencia de Stonewall, sabían que la policía y las leyes inmorales contra personas trans y queer tenían el poder en la sociedad.  Hoy en día, mientras que oímos de las leyes apareciendo en Iowa y otros estados contra jóvenes trans, sabemos dónde está el poder. 

Cada año cuando leemos los nombres y reconocemos las vidas tomadas de las personas trans, la mayoría de quienes son mujeres trans de minoría, sabemos dónde está el poder.  Este poder de matar y sacar derechos es poder individual y aun más es poder corporal.  Ese poder, en el sentido estructural, reside con personas que no son marginalizadas y se colocan en instituciones y organizaciones que ayudan a ciertas personas y oprimen a otras.

Every year when we read the names and recognize the lives taken of trans people, who are mostly trans women of color, we know where the power is. This power to kill and take away rights is individual power and moreso communal power.  That power, in the structural sense, resides not with people who are marginalized, but in institutions and organizations that help people with privilege and oppress others.

But power is not only a societal concern, but it also affects how we relate to each other.  In this part of the sermon on the mount, Jesus is speaking to people with more power on how to better relate to people with less power.

Pero el poder no solo es una cosa de la sociedad, sino también afecta como nos relacionamos unes a otres y en esta parte del sermón de la monte, Jesús está hablando a las personas con mas poder sobre cómo relacionarse mejor con personas con menos poder.

Cuando Jesús habla del homicidio y el enojo, está hablando a las personas quienes han ofendido a otra persona.  No es la responsabilidad de la víctima iniciar la resolución o reconciliación.  Es la responsabilidad de la persona que es perpetrador a pedir perdón y cambiar como actúa.  De esta manera, Jesús requiere algo de la persona con más poder en vez de añadir al peso que lleva la persona con menos poder.

When Jesus speaks of murder and anger, he is talking to people who have harmed another person. It is not the responsibility of the victim to initiate resolution or reconciliation. It’s the responsibility of the person who is the perpetrator to apologize and to change how he acts. In this way, Jesus requires something of the person with the most power rather than adding to the burden of the person with less power.

When Jesus speaks of divorce, he is telling men in a patriarchal society that they cannot divorce their wives for any old reason. Because the divorce will leave the woman without resources. When Jesus speaks of adultery, he is talking to men, who objectify gender minorities. Today Jesus would be talking about all the rules in schools about how young women can dress, about anyone who says she "was asking for it" or deserved the harm, abuse, or harassment she experienced because of how she dressed. Jesus is talking about each time someone tries to figure out the gender of a stranger or calls a trans woman a “man in a dress.”

Cuando Jesús habla del divorcio, está diciéndoles a los hombres en una sociedad patriarcal que no se puede divorciarse de su esposa por cualquier razón.  Cuando divorcia a una mujer, le deja sin recursos.  Cuando Jesús habla del adulterio, está hablando a los hombres, quienes objetivan a personas que son minores de género.  Hoy en día es que Jesús está hablando sobre todas las reglas en las escuelas sobre como pueden vestirse las jóvenes, sobre cada persona que dice que ella “estaba pidiendo” o mereció el daño que experimentó por como se vistió.  Está hablando sobre cada vez que se trata de averiguar cual género pertenece a una persona o le llama a una mujer trans que es un “hombre en vestido.”

En realidad, Jesús dice que el perpetrador tiene la culpa por un ataque.  La responsabilidad por no mirar con lujuria o meterse en sus asuntos cuando trata del género de otra persona es, en la sociedad heteronormativa, la del hombre, y si es difícil, Jesús dice “si tu ojo derecho te hace caer en pecado, sácatelo y échalo lejos de ti; es mejor que pierdas una sola parte de tu cuerpo, y no que todo tu cuerpo sea arrojado al infierno.” 

Instead, Jesus says that the perpetrator is to blame for an attack. The responsibility for not looking with lust or for minding your own business about another person´s gender is, in heteronormative society, that of the man, and if it’s difficult, Jesus says “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

In the queer community, we navigate a lot the ins and outs of consent and power, because not everyone has the same power or the same safety. While a cis white gay man can run for president, more and more trans people, especially trans women of color, are killed every year. More and more in this country people feel comfortable insulting and harassing queer people as well as all marginalized people. And every time, people in the community who are already the most vulnerable, receive the greatest harm from the abuse.

En la comunidad queer, navegamos mucho las entradas y las salidas del consentimiento y del poder, porque no todos tenemos el mismo poder o la misma seguridad.  Mientras que un hombre blanco y gay puede tratar de ser presidente, más y más personas trans, especialmente mujeres trans de minoría, están matadas cada año.  Más y más en este país personas sienten cómodas echar insultos y acosar a personas queer, como todas las personas marginalizadas.  Y cada ves, las personas en la comunidad que ya son las mas vulnerables, reciben el impacto más grande del abuso. 

Por eso, cuando Jesús está hablando a las personas con poder y sobre su poder, es importante para nosotres hoy.  Jesús está hablando a una comunidad sobre cómo funcionar en un sistema que refuerza la desigualdad y los abusos del poder.  Está hablando sobre cómo mitigar las diferencias de poder en las relaciones interpersonales. 

So, when Jesus is speaking to people with power and about their power, it’s important for us today. Jesus is talking to a community about how to function in a system that reinforces inequality and abuse of power. He is talking about how to mitigate power differences in interpersonal relationships.

In this conversation, Jesus isn’t talking about how to correct or change the unjust system, although we know that it is part of our work as followers of Christ. He’s talking about how to interact, how to survive in the midst of injustice. How to limit abuses of power. How to create space so that people with less power can use their power.

En esta conversación, Jesús no está hablando de cómo corregir o cambiar el sistema injusta, aunque sabemos que es parte de nuestro trabajo como seguidores de Cristo.  Está hablando de cómo interactuar, cómo sobrevivir en el medio de la injusticia.  Cómo restringir los abusos del poder.  Cómo crear espacio para que las personas con menos poder pueden usar su poder. 

Esto es parte de una cultura de consentimiento.  El consentimiento mitiga un poco la desigualdad dentro de una comunidad.  Cuando compartimos la paz, si preguntamos antes de abrazar o dar la mano, damos a cada persona la oportunidad de decir “no.”  Si alguien tiene dolor en la mano de artritis, si alguien tiene una experiencia de trauma que afecta a sus interacciones con otras personas, la oportunidad de decir no o decir sí, es muy importante.

This is part of a culture of consent. Consent works to mitigate inequality within a community. During the sharing of the peace, when we ask before hugging or shaking hands, we give each person the opportunity to say "no." If someone has hand pain from arthritis, if someone has a trauma experience that affects their interactions with other people, the opportunity to say no or say yes is very important.

When we teach kids that their bodies are theirs and they don't need to give a hug to a person if they don't want to, we teach them that if someone tries to do something bad that they don’t like, they don't need to accept it. We teach them that if another person says they don't want a hug, they need to respect that person’s desires. We support them in having autonomy over their own body and respecting the bodies of others.

Cuando enseñamos a niñes que sus cuerpos son suyos y no necesitan dar un abrazo a una persona si no quiere, les enseñamos que si alguien trata de hacer algo muy malo, no necesitan aceptarlo.  Les enseñamos que si otra persona dice que no quiere o sí quiere un abrazo, necesitan respetarle a la persona.  Les apoyamos en tener autonomía sobre su propio cuerpo y respetar a los cuerpos de otras personas. 

El mundo a que nos invita Jesús es un mundo donde las estructuras de desigualdad no existen.  Y, Jesús nos invita en este mundo en que todavía vivimos que todavía tiene las estructuras de desigualdad a portarnos diferentemente.  Nos invita a encontrar y construir maneras de interactuar que respeta a cada persona y que apoderar a personas más vulnerables.  Cuando preguntamos si podemos abrazarse, o darse la mano, practicamos un mundo diferente aun en el medio del mundo como es.

The world Jesus ultimately invites us to is a world where structural inequality doesn’t exist. And, Jesus invites us, in the midst of this world that still has structural inequality and oppression, to behave differently. Jesus invites us to find and build ways to interact that respect each person and empower the most vulnerable people. When we ask if we can hug, or shake hands, we practice a different world even in the middle of the world as it is.

God dreams: epiphany a

The holy gospel according to Matthew (2:1-12).

In the time of King Herod,

       after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,

              magi from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking,

                     “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?

                            For we observed his star at its rising,

                            and have come to pay him homage.”

³When King Herod heard this,

       he was frightened,

              and all Jerusalem with him;

⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people,

       he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

⁵They told him,

       “In Bethlehem of Judea;

              for so it has been written by the prophet:

                     ⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

                     are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

                            for from you shall come a ruler

                            who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod secretly called for the magi

       and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.

              ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,

                     “Go and search diligently for the child;

                     and when you have found him,

                            bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

⁹When they had heard the king,

       they set out;

              and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising,

                     until it stopped over the place where the child was.

                            ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped,

                                   they were overwhelmed with joy.

¹¹On entering the house,

       they saw the child with Mary his mother;

              and they knelt down and paid him homage.

                     Then, opening their treasure chests,

                            they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,

       they left for their own country by another road.

The gospel of the Lord.

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Matthew’s gospel is the gospel of dreams, or so it begins at least.  On the fourth Sunday of Advent, when we heard of Joseph’s dilemma between divorcing Mary publicly or privately, God comes to Joseph in a dream and points to a third, more imaginative option of remaining with Mary and raising the child that will be named Jesus.

Then when Jesus is born, the magi, stargazers whom we could call astrologers or wizards, see a star—a supernova explosion.  For months, maybe even more than a year, they follow the star, trusting the vision set forth in the night sky.  They journey from far away in search of and out of faith in “the child who has been born king of the Jews.”

They make it as far as Jerusalem before stopping for directions.  Their wonder at the star and its meaning is met with fear and then scheming.  King Herod and all of Jerusalem—or at least all of Jerusalem who is close enough to Herod to know—are afraid.  Then begins the planning to remove the threat to Herod’s reign, slyly sending the magi on under the guise of also wanting to pay homage to Jesus.  Herod’s real plan will be revealed in next week’s gospel, but first the magi have more to do.

Having learned that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and having unknowingly tipped Herod off, the magi continue their journey.  The star stops and so do they.  They enter a home—Mary and Joseph will probably have found a more permanent place to stay after all of this time instead of the stable we heard about on Christmas Eve. “overwhelmed with joy,” the magi enter the house, see Mary and Jesus and “they [kneel] down and [pay] him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they [offer] him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”

It is at this point that we usually stop the Christmas story.  The magi arrive, the gifts are given, and our finger is on the fast forward button—but not this year. 

Because the story continues.

The magi, who were so focused on the stars up in heaven and the baby in Bethlehem, have missed the powerful danger King Herod poses.  If left to their own devices, they would return to Jerusalem, handing Jesus, Mary, and Joseph over to King Herod and to death for the threat this baby poses.

But once again God comes in dreams, warning the magi not to return to Jerusalem, but instead to take the “scenic route” home, avoiding Jerusalem and, in particular, King Herod.  The magi, defy King Herod’s orders, engaging in civil disobedience to give this baby, “born king of the Jews,” a chance at life.

Next week will bring another dream – to Joseph again.  It is fitting that these dreams are coming as the calendar shifts from 2016 to 2017.

Today we are beginning a new calendar year.  As we look ahead, we also dream dreams of our own.  For some those dreams stay in our heads or hearts.  For others they are written down under titles like “Resolutions.”  Many of these dreams are dreams for ourselves or maybe our family—dreams of better health: eating more fruits and veggies or being more active.  Maybe it’s a dream of reading more, cooking more, having more family dinners each month, praying together as a family.

What about our dreams for others around the world?  Or for our community?  In many Native American cultures, there is a concept called Seven Generations.  Native theologian Vine Deloria, Jr. understood the Seven Generations—the generations kept in mind in decision-making for many native communities—in a way I hadn’t heard before.  Vine Deloria, Jr. explained the Seven Generations as the generations closest to you.  

 So, when making decisions or dreaming dreams, the decisions and dreams would involve our great grandparents, grandparents, parents, our own generation, our children, our grandchildren, and our great grand children.  Not just the ones directly related to us, but their whole generation.  It is a more connected approach.  Instead of just thinking of ourselves or our own family, or thinking of the Seven Generations as our great, great, great, great, great grandparents or ahead to our potential great, great, great, great, great grandchildren, we think more broadly as well.

We dream dreams with our great grandparents in mind and others in their generation.  Will they live the end of their life in poverty or suffering?  How did they live in the world, reusing and repurposing far more than we who are so quick to recycle or buy new rather than repair?  What lessons have they taught us in our family?

When we dream dreams, we also keep in mind our peers who struggle to make a life or feed their families, who flee from wars as refugees only to face hostility in new countries, or who struggle against illnesses that fight to claim their quality of life, if not their whole life. 

And we think of the great grandchildren—ours or those of friends and family, all who come after us.  What will earth be like for them?  Will the extreme weather of climate change make the places we call home uninhabitable, the lands we farm unfarmable?  Will nuclear warfare have decimated the planet?  Will science, literature, and the arts have discovered cures, bridged differences, and freed us from hatred and fear?

Dreaming our own dreams is important, but it is not just wondering about our own dreams for the future and the present.  What are God’s dreams?  What is God’s dream for our great grandparents’ generations?  For our generations?  For the generations coming into being as we speak?

How do we consider our lives, our politics, our environment, our economy, and our planet with God’s dreams for the seven generations?  What would happen if we took some time today to dream not only for ourselves, but for our community and the whole planet.  

 What if we wrote down our dreams and our wonders about God’s dreams for a community and a planet where all who are hungry receive the food they need?  Where all have shelter from the elements?  Where all can live without fear?  What if we put those dreams up on our mirror, by our nightstand, or in our Bible so that we see them throughout the year and are reminded of God’s dreams for everyone and our dreams for this year? 

How might we live differently then?  How might we live differently if we remembered God’s dreams for us and for the whole world? For the people we do not know?

Every time someone is ordained that I know, my favorite gift to give is the book God’s Dream by Desmond Tutu.  I think I read it last January for a children’s sermon.  And the thing that I put in the front cover is my prayer for them and my prayer for us this year:

May your dreams be God’s dreams and may God’s dreams be yours.

Amen.

God claims you and Jesus as beloved children: Baptism of Our Lord

The first reading was from Isaiah 43:1-7.

The holy gospel according to Luke (3:15-17, 21-22).

¹⁵As the people were filled with expectation,

      and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John,

            whether he might be the Messiah,

                  ¹⁶John answered all of them by saying,

                        “I baptize you with water;

                              but one who is more powerful than I is coming;

                                    I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals.

                        He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

                              ¹⁷His winnowing fork is in his hand,

                                    to clear his threshing floor

                                    and to gather the wheat into his granary;

                                          but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

²¹Now when all the people were baptized,

      and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying,

            the heaven was opened,

                  ²²and the Holy Spirit descended upon him

                        in bodily form like a dove.

                  And a voice came from heaven,

                        “You are my Son,

                              the Beloved;

                                    with you I am well pleased.”

The gospel of the Lord.

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Today we celebrate not only Jesus’ baptism, but ours as well because in your baptism, God joined you to Christ.  As you were submerged in water or it was poured over you, God joined you to Jesus in his death and as you came back up or were dried off, you began a life-long journey joined also to Christ in the resurrection. 

After a person is baptized, pastors of many denominations proclaim them sealed by the Holy Spirit and mark them with a cross on the forehead.  As they do this, God’s own words echo in theirs, saying “You are my child, the beloved; with you I am well-pleased.”

That is what God is up to—always.  In our baptisms, God claims us as God’s own and names us all “Beloved Child.”  The gift of grace is that God loves us before we ever have any hope of earning it.  God chooses us and loves us and there is nothing we can do about it!

Since we cannot earn it and we cannot lose it, all we can do is respond to God’s love.  That is where our vocation comes from.  It comes as a response to God’s love and the gifts and abilities God gives us.  Where the gladness of God in our hearts meets the needs of the world around us.

Some of us live out our vocation at work, doing a job we get paid for and doing it as well and lovingly as we can.  Some of us work our day jobs so that we can live out our vocations in other ways.  Some live out our vocation in our volunteer work—here with the church, filling backpacks with food and snacks, at school or at the library.  There are countless ways that we can live out our vocation through our volunteer work.  Still others live out their vocation in caring for children and future generations.  Nurturing children in life and faith.

And chances are we don’t just have one thing that we do that we can mark as “vocation” and be done—mission accomplished.  Many of us work at jobs we get paid for, raise children, and maybe even find time to volunteer.  Or maybe volunteering as a family is living out our baptismal calling, our vocation, with respect to family and service in the community. 

No matter what your vocation, it is a life-long thing.  God continuously gives us new opportunities to live into our baptism, to respond to God’s love for all of us and all of creation.  Vocations come and go in our lives, they change just as we change in our understanding of God’s love for us and in our ways of responding to God’s love.

And baptism is just the beginning.  As God promises in Isaiah, God will be with you—is with you now!  Through the waters and the flames, God will be with you.  As that hanging on the wall points out, and as you all know so well, God’s baptismal promise is not that life will be easy, God’s promise is to be with you through it all.

As God claims us in baptism and calls us beloved.  God is well-pleased with us just as we are and God knows us deeply.  As John says, Jesus is ready “to clear his threshing floor,” but first God is going about digging away the chaff and finding the kernels within the stock of wheat—the kernels of our truest selves, made together in God’s image. 

Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit and fire, giving life to the kernels of wheat that make us who we are and burning the chaff that has protected those kernels and yet is no longer needed.  The chaff that is meant for protection, but can turn into walls that we put up protecting ourselves from others, keeping our heart and our most vulnerable thoughts and feelings safe.  Then Jesus comes in, separating away the chaff and burning it, sending it back into the world, and caring for those kernels of wheat, pouring the Holy Spirit out on us in baptism.

We are baptized once, yet each day we have the opportunity to renew our baptismal covenant with God—through the water that washes our hands and face each morning, or our dishes or vegetables at night.  The snow outside or frost on our windows can be our reminder of God’s baptismal promises.  And as we daily die and rise, renewing our baptism, God continues to separate the chaff, which surrounds and protects, from the kernel of our truest selves.

That kernel of abundant love—God’s whole being—is poured into us.  In our baptism we receive God’s grace and our response to that comes in how we live.  Our baptismal calling is to live into those kernels of God’s abundant love in all we do.

It looks different for each of us, but our vocations connect us with the world, they connect us to something bigger than ourselves, serving a greater purpose.  They bring out our kernels and foster love in this world.  So as we continue our Epiphany practice of "glimpsing God," this week we'll be praying where we live out our vocation.  It can be where we work or volunteer or spend much of our day. 

Take five minutes to stand or walk slowly and look around your work, your home, or the place you volunteer, praying "God, show me how you are at work." and "God, show me how you are calling me." and "God, show me how you are calling us."  Feel free to do this in more than one place as many of us live out our vocation in more than one place or way.  Then take a minute to jot down any notes you might have and share them (via email, phone call, or note) with me this week or with everyone next Sunday on the posters that are set up.

God showers you with love and grace at your baptism.  The gift of vocation is that it is your way to respond to God’s love.

Thanks be to God.

god manifests the glory of christ in those outside the church: epiphany sunday

The first reading is Isaiah 60:1-6.

The second reading is Ephesians 3:1-12.

The holy gospel according to Matthew (2:1-12)

In the time of King Herod,

       after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,

              wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ²asking,

                     “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?

                            For we observed his star at its rising,

                                   and have come to pay him homage.”

       ³When King Herod heard this,

              he was frightened,

              and all Jerusalem with him;

              ⁴and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people,

                     he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

                     ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea;

                            for so it has been written by the prophet:

                                   ⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

                                          are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

                                                 for from you shall come a ruler

                                                       who is to shepherd my people Israel.’”

       ⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men

              and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.

                     ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying,

                            “Go and search diligently for the child;

                                   and when you have found him,

                                          bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”

⁹When they had heard the king,

       they set out;

              and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising,

                     until it stopped over the place where the child was.

                            ¹⁰When they saw that the star had stopped,

                                   they were overwhelmed with joy.

                            ¹¹On entering the house,

                                   they saw the child with Mary his mother;

                                          and they knelt down and paid him homage.

                                   Then, opening their treasure chests,

                                          they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

                            ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,

                                   they left for their own country by another road.

The gospel of the lord.

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Epiphany is the season when we celebrate God’s glory being made manifest.  Rev. William EdwardFlippin, Jr. points out that the Greek epiphaneia translates as “manifest, show forth, or make clear.”  As we hear in today’s reading from Ephesians, Paul’s work and his call as an apostle is to make God in Christ known to the Gentiles—who were, at the time, the ones outside the faith.  They were not Jews like Paul and most of Jesus’ followers and yet they are among the first to recognize Jesus for who he is: the King of the Jews.

The wise ones from the East see the star at Jesus’ birth, gather their things, and set off on a journey that will take them up to 2 years to complete, not to mention the risk to their lives inherent in travel at that time.  All this for “the child who has been born king of the Jews.”  It is not their religion, but even so,            they know God is doing something big            in Bethlehem.  And in this way God is already coming to these Gentiles, even before Paul takes up the cause—maybe even before he’s born!

These wise ones are not only recipients and witnesses to God’s glory, made manifest in Christ Jesus, but they also become the epiphany.  God works through them to manifest the glory of Christ.  They witness to Herod about this “child who has been born king of the Jews.”  And, as God frequently does to those in positions of oppressive power, this child king frightens Herod. 

Just as in Harry Potter when Voldemort—the epitome of evil—is threatened by the prophecy of a baby, who turns out to be Harry Potter, Herod is afraid of this child king.  Voldemort chooses to hunt down Harry and with him his whole family, while he is still a baby and, after the wise ones leave “by another road,” Herod orders the slaughter of all male children 2 and under. 

Those who hold oppressive power seem ready to do anything, even what we consider unthinkable, in order to hold onto that power.  Last Monday was the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a day in the church year commemorating the innocent children killed in Herod’s frightened and frightening attempt to keep power.  It is the story that follows today’s in the gospel of Matthew.

That’s the thing about children and babies.  Even as they are quite powerless, dependant on others for life, the powerful will often target them when they are afraid. The Feast of the Holy Innocents not only commemorates those killed millennia ago, but also the children killed still today around the world and in our own country. Just as Hitler went after children and adults during World War II, just as Voldemort targets the young Harry Potter, and Herod goes after any child in the area close to Jesus’ age, children are many times the easiest targets. 

Children are killed as victims of war, of poverty, of racism, and of xenophobia, or fear of others.  They are killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.  There are many reasons given for why children are killed, and yet is any reason ever good enough to take the life of a child?  Jesus was targeted his whole life because of who he was.  No child deserves to die.

And yet despite the attempts of King Herod to destroy and oppress, God’s glory is made manifest.  As the wise ones’ presence and gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh demonstrate, God’s glory can stir up opportunity and trouble.  Gold and frankincense are kingly gifts, signs of hope and opportunity, but myrrh is used at burial and foreshadows Jesus’ death and the trouble he will face. 

But as with Voldemort’s attempt to kill Harry, Herod causes horrifying trouble, and yet, that is not the final word.  Harry lives and so does Jesus.  The wise ones stir up hope and affirmation for the Holy Family and for those who have been awaiting news of a Messiah—a king to lift them up out of their oppression.

These outsiders, these wise ones, begin the mission of the church—reaching out and glimpsing God in those outside the church, because God is, indeed, already at work out there.  The gifts of bread and wine that we receive today, like the gift of a visit from the wise ones, sends us into the world, to seek out those who are not like us, to learn from them, to find God with them, and to be transformed by them.

During this season of Epiphany, that’s what we as a faith community, will be up to.   Each week we will have a different, though similar task.  This week: head out to a street corner in Rushford, and one in the town in or near where you live (if you live in Rushford, pick two different street corners).  Take five minutes to, as Isaiah says, “Lift up your eyes and look around.”  Pray. Pray, "God, show me how you are at work." Pray, "God, show me how you are calling me." and "God, show me how you are calling us." 

You don’t need to have high expectations or low ones.  Like the wise ones, we may not know what to expect in this search and THAT IS OK.  The goal is to open ourselves up, take some intentional time to ask God to make manifest the glory of Christ in our community.  So pray,            and then jot down a few notes. 

What stands out?  Did anything happen?  (it’s ok if the answer is no) What do you notice?  Is there anything new you haven’t noticed before?  Did you catch any glimpses of where God is and where God’s leading you or us?  Do this during the week—it can be right after worship today or on your way between a here and a there, or whenever it fits into your schedule two times this week for about five minutes each. 

If you want to email or call me and let me know what, if anything, happened, please do!  Otherwise, bring your notes next Sunday and we’ll take some time to wonder at God’s glory in the community.

Just as the wise ones prepared for their long journey and came from afar, following a star to the child king, may this bread we receive today, the body of Christ, nourish us for the journey this week, and may we too glimpse God’s glory made manifest.

Amen.