Winthrop Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
No matter who you are. No matter where you are on life's journey. You are welcome here.
Ezekiel 2:1-5 He said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you. And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them. In the Bible, stories about the rise of prophets are often really stories about nations in turmoil. That is certainly true about Ezekiel. In her commentary on this text, the scholar Marjorie Suchoki outlines some of the turmoil in Judah that made the calling of a prophet necessary. This story takes place in an era long after the glory days of King David. Under David, the northern nation of Israel and the southern nation of Judah were united. Suchoki notes that unification had fallen apart under the rule of the kings who succeeded him. Then, the power nation of Assyria conquered Israel. Babylon would eventually threaten Judah with a similar fate, eventually forcing Judah to become a vassal state.
Judah would rebel against Babylonian imperialism but would be also defeated. Our choir sings a lovely arrangement of Psalm 137, a Psalm written about the aftermath of that defeat. The first part of the Psalm goes: By the rivers of Babylon- there we sat down and there we wept when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ The Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, opted to punish the Judeans by hauling the upper-class people and artisans away to exile in Babylon, leaving the poorest people in Judah. Ezekiel, who would become a prophet for his people, is among those exiled. The people who were taken have been away from their homes for five years. The temple has been destroyed, but God is still speaking to Ezekiel, even in exile. Ezekiel the book is written in first person, as though the prophet is speaking directly to the listeners. In chapter 1, Ezekiel the prophet describes how he, when he was thirty years old and living by the river Chebar, began to see visions of God. Casey Thornburgh Sigmon, in her commentary on the text, notes that the Hebrew word “kebar” means “joining.” She also invites us to consider what it could mean for Ezekiel to receive these visions and this calling to become a prophet, a calling that often sets you apart from your community, next to a river that reminds them of the power of coming together. What would it mean to be reminded of “joining” if you are people who have been violently separated from your nation? Though prophets are set apart, perhaps the name of this river is pointing to one of Ezekiel’s, and God’s, great hopes: that those who have been taken can one day be reunified with their people and their land. The rest of chapter one is the first of many fantastical visions Ezekiel receives. There is wild weather, wild, shining, winged beings with multiple faces (both human animals) and wings and legs like cows. There were these wheels... you can see them in the cover art on today’s bulletin... turning and turning. There was a sparkling dome and divine thunder and a rainbow and “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God.” It is among the wildest visions of any prophet in the whole Bible. I encourage you to go back and read it all for yourself. All of that vision has such an emotional impact on Ezekiel that he falls on his face. Which, frankly, is fair. We meet Ezekiel on his face in fear and trembling. God tells him to get up. Marjorie Suchoki, in her commentary, argues that this is an important moment for reasons beyond the obvious- God isn’t just talking to Ezekiel. God is offering a measure of care for one who has been subjugated. Suchoki points out that God doesn’t ask Ezekiel to show respect by cowering. Ezekiel is functionally a prisoner of Babylon. Powerful people often expect abjection and deference from those whom they have captured. Notice that God is not repeating the expectations of the ones who have taken people against their will. In inviting Ezekiel to rise of his own accord, God is reminding him of his own power. Suchoki says, “If Ezekiel can rise and stand before God, cannot he rise and stand before his captors?” And, Ezekiel does rise, with the help of Spirit. Spirit, “ruach” in Hebrew, also means “wind” or “breath” as Sigmon reminds us in her commentary. She argues that Spirit is somewhat of a character in Ezekiel, empowering, inspiring, and connecting the prophet to his God. In this sense, Spirit is breathing new life into Ezekiel, and energizing him for the work ahead. As you look at the world around you, where could you use some of this Spirit that carried Ezekiel into his great prophetic work? Where do you witness a nation disconnected, disjointed, and straying from God’s call to love and justice? How might the Spirit in this moment to be leading us to a time of restoration? What might Spirit help us stand up to do? I appreciate that God tells Ezekiel that the people might not listen. When doing something as confounding as trying to get a group of people to change their ways, it is good to have the appropriate expectations. Some people simply won’t listen. Entire governments may opt to ignore the truth, even when it is clearly and correctly lined out in front of them. It is not easy to change the course of a nation, or even part of a nation. But, it’s not impossible. If it were, God would not send prophets. Ezekiel shares with us an important reminder: you may not convince the nation to change, but you still are called to push them towards justice and righteousness. Whether or not they change, they should know that there has been a prophet among them. Ultimately, Ezekiel accepts God’s call to speak to his people. And he will tackle some significant questions throughout his time as prophet. Stephen Cook outlines some of the questions in his introduction to Ezekiel in the New Oxford Annotated Bible: Has God abandoned Jerusalem and the Temple? Does the suffering of the people of Judah have a purpose? How should the people understand their tragic history? Cook argues that the most important question is “how can God now move on with God’s people, in a transformed and renewed state?” Because the violence of the exile forever changed the people. Trauma will do that. The power of Ezekiel’s work with the people reminds us that to be changed does not mean to be separated from God. But, it might mean reorienting yourself towards what Sigmon calls in her commentary “God’s vision of flourishing and justice.” Challenging times demand changes in our posture, clarity of mission, and a willingness to embrace divine visions that seem impossible under the current circumstances. Ezekiel shows us that there is value in doing what we are called, even when we’re not sure of the reception. May the Spirit be with us as it was with him. And, may divine wheels carry us into God’s future of loving righteousness. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, “Proper 9 [14]” Preaching God’s Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year B Featuring 22 New Holy Days for Justice, Ronald J. Allen, Dale P. Andrews, and Dawn Ottoni- Wilhelm, eds. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011) Casey Thornburgh Sigmon: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-14-2/commentary-on-ezekiel-21-5-6 Stephen L. Cook’s notes on Ezekiel in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001
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2Corinthians 8:7-15 Now as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you—so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking. I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others. For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something— now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have. I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance. As it is written, ‘The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little.’ It is a curious time to be talking about money publicly in a Christian church in the United States. For one thing, our country currently has an active and powerful Christian Nationalist movement that is insisting that our government be shaped and guided by fundamentalist Christian theology. They particularly want to give more power to fundamentalist Christians to use the government to limit access to reproductive healthcare, ignore on-going systems of racism, and exclude LGBTQ people from basic civil rights.
Secondly, just this week, the US Supreme Court issued one ruling that dissenting justices argue paves the way for government officials to take bribes and a second ruling in which six justices argue that it is not cruel and unusual punishment for the government to imprison and fine people who do not have homes and sleep outside when there are no shelter beds. “Should we be allowed to use our money to pay government officials to do what we want” and “is it ethical to criminalize homeless” are actually significant moral questions about how we use money and how we treat people who have and don’t have it. Those of us who are Christians should look to our faith to guide how we think about and act with money. While Jesus never told his followers to create a nation where only Christians have rights, he did tell his followers to share money and food with those who don’t have enough, and he told that one rich guy to give away all his money. It is the responsibility of each generation of Christian to figure out how to put those instructions into practice. Today’s reading from one of Paul’s letters to Corinthians is part of Paul’s attempt further develop a Christian financial ethic. Notice that has nothing to do with punishing those who don’t have money and everything to do with those who do have money sharing it. You might remember that in my sermon from a couple weeks ago, I mentioned that the book we call Second Corinthians is probably excerpts from multiple letters Paul sent to the church in Corinth. Sze-Kar Wan, in his notes on 2nd Corinthians, argues that chapter 8 may be one letter asking for the church in Corinth to take up a collection for the church in Jerusalem and chapter 9 is a separate letter, possibly to a different church that the Corinthians got a copy of, that is also asking for a collection for the church in Jerusalem. Wan notes that the collection has multiple purposes: one, it is to help people in the church who don’t have enough money, and two, to show unity between the poorer Jerusalem congregation and the wealthier Gentile congregations in other parts of Rome. It’s like Paul is saying: Remember, Christians are supposed to share money with those who need it. And, in sharing money, we can build trust and relationships that span our differences in wealth, ethnicity, and regional identity. In order to better instruct the church in Corinth, Paul brings up the generosity of the churches in Macedonia, specifically the Philippian and Thessalonian churches. That happens in the first part of chapter 8. Something hard has been happening in the churches. We’re not told exactly what it is, just that it is “a severe ordeal of affliction.” And, yet, in spite of great difficulty affecting their congregations, Paul still describes them as abundantly joyful and overflowing in a wealth of generosity, despite being quite poor themselves. He says “For, as I can testify, they voluntarily gave according to their means and even beyond their means, begging us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this ministry to the saints...” They understood that in giving themselves to God, that also meant that they were to give of their means to others, specifically the also impoverished church in Jerusalem. With their example in mind, we begin our reading today, which is Paul’s specific instructions to the church in Corinth. Paul is an interesting and skilled author. It is wise, particularly for those of us familiar with his work, to remember that. He is making specific choices in his writing in hopes of inspiring action in those who hear the letters read at church. And, he realizes that if you brag on someone a little bit, they can be more likely to do what you want them to do: “Now, as you excel in everything- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you- so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.” The “we” here is Paul and Titus, his co-worker who likely delivered this letter. And, the “generous undertaking” is the collection for the Jerusalem church. He grounds his request in his understanding of Jesus: Jesus was one of great power, who became poor in order to live and serve among humanity. Jesus’ followers are empowered by his generosity and sacrifice. What we are called to do with this power, what he calls being “rich,” is to be generous and make a sacrifice in return. Now, one of the grossest injustices a church can do, to this day, is manipulate very poor people into giving away the little bit of money they have to support the lavish lifestyle of a pastor and staff of a congregation. That is not what Paul is doing here, even as he praises the struggling Macedonian churches for their generosity. Carla Works notes that this collection for Jerusalem was a huge undertaking and the Corinthian church. It’s taken them a year to do it. Paul says “it’s time to finish what you started last year and “complete it according to your means.” If a believer wants to share what they have as a sign of their faith and their commitment to care for the whole Body of Christ, even if they can only share a little, the small offering is still welcome and a sign of deep faith. “[T]he gift is acceptable according to what one has- not according to what one does not have.” Paul calls for a fair balance in giving, which will result in a fair balance within a church. No one will have too little on which to survive, and, no one will be burdened by the distraction of protecting the money they’ve hoarded. This isn’t a one-sided relationship. The Jerusalem church has a responsibility to care for Corinth, too. Jerusalem will support Corinth when they are in need as well. That’s what it means to be church: to tend to one another and to be honest about our needs with one another. Now, I know this reading is mostly about crafting a financial ethic to guide relationships among Christians. The news stories I brought up early in my sermon weren’t only about relationships among Christians. There are Christians, and have been for a long time, who mostly want to define the public face of Christianity as only being about constraining human sexuality, coercing people into Christian practice, and denying racism. At the same time, Christian Nationalism is largely ignoring calls for financial justice and mutual care, and, most of the time, rejecting any national policies that look like the generosity described in this reading from 2nd Corinthians. Paul doesn’t mention generosity to those who aren’t specifically in the church in this passage, but Jesus talked about generosity to the broader community all the time. Just one example is Matthew 25: 31-46, where he said that a nation will be called righteous if it feeds the hungry, tends to the hurting, is gracious to the imprisoned, clothes the naked, and welcomes the stranger. I believe that Paul’s interpretations of Jesus’ teachings around generosity that he was using to help churches be connected to one another can also help us to be good neighbors to people who may never step in our doors. What kind of Christians would we be if the generosity we practice within our community doesn’t extend beyond the doors of the church? Actions that we perform over and over again in one setting will shape our behavior in others. May the generosity we share with our siblings in Christ teach us how to be generous with all the people of this earth. And, may Christ’s abundant love show us how to take care of each other’s greatest needs. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: About the Supreme Court Cases:
Sze-Kar Wan's introduction to 2nd Corinthians in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) Mark 4.26-34 The Parable of the Growing Seed He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’ The Parable of the Mustard Seed He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’ The Use of Parables With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. Is “the greatest of all shrubs” really that big of a complement? I mean, shrubs are fine. We have some around our house! We've even spent money to replace ones that died or add new ones in a different part of the yard. They add a nice touch to the landscaping and do, as the scripture says, provide home and hearth to all matter of small creature. Still, though, the greatest of all shrubs? Is that really all that great?
Today’s reading comes from early in the book of Mark, right as we’re getting to know Jesus as a teacher. He’s already been baptized and tempted in the wilderness. He’s got the first twelve disciples, too. And, he’s begun healing and teaching and arguing with Pharisees. The specific verses we’re learning from today are from this scene that begins with Jesus standing in a boat, teaching a crowded shore-full of people. This is the part of Mark where the author introduces us to the idea of parable. Richard Horsley, in his notes on this chapter of Mark, defines a parable as “extended metaphors or analogies.” These are stories about one thing that are used to explain something else. Jesus would usually share the parable with the whole group he was teaching, in this case a large crowd on the seashore. Then, in private, the Twelve, who had inevitably not understood the parable, would ask him to explain it. The two parables in today’s reading are part of Jesus’ specific teaching to the Twelve to help them understand both the content of the parables and why he is using them. Just a few verses before today’s reading, Jesus says, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables...” Then, he quoted Isaiah: They may indeed look but not perceive And may indeed listen, but not understand; So that they may not turn again and be forgiven. Here is the tricky thing about parables. People who know the mystery of God are supposed to understand them, straight away. Jesus found them useful as a teaching tool because they can be challenging to understand. I’ve had teachers like this. Have you? The ones that want you to learn but are also gonna make you work for it. It is also interesting to me that Jesus expected his disciples to understand the parables upon their first hearing, but still taught them when they didn’t. To be sure, he chided them for their lack of understanding, saying “Do you not understand the parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? (Mark 4:13)” But, he still works to help them understand what they don’t yet comprehend. The words that Jesus says appear strict: if you know the mystery of God, you’ll understand this. If you don’t, you won’t. But, then, his actions are more gracious. He will sit down to help make sure the Twelve understand what he’s teaching. Perhaps a lesson we take from this is that understanding the mystery of the divine rarely happens all at one time, and, a reminder that those who would become teachers in their own right must be taught in ways that they understand. Even Jesus was willing to switch up his pedagogy if his closest co-workers were struggling. In Mark 4, Jesus used a lot of stories about planting and growing, including the two in today’s reading, to talk about faith and the nature of God. In a commentary on this text, Dr. Wil Gafney points out that gardens and agriculture are what she calls “an enduring metaphor” throughout the Bible. The region in which these texts came to life, first as stories shared from human to human, and then as the written word, were places where it was challenging to grow food. It could be challenging to find arable land and enough water for crops. Gafney argues that is such a place, “paradise looks like a garden full of fruit producing-trees riven with healing waters.” God as Creator, as Sower, and the Force which causes Growth are vital images of God throughout the Bible. It makes sense that Jesus would tell parables rooted in this tradition in order to help his disciples and strangers alike learn something more about his ideas about faith. What does it mean to “sow” the Kin-dom of God? The answers to this question are not exactly straightforward. Through parables, Jesus invites us to approach the question at an angle. Carolynne Hitter Brown describes the first parable in today’s reading as “God and people working together to bring about God’s design for creation.” That’s her view based on her angle of insight. I think this is a sound reading, particularly since we know that Jesus is speaking to the disciples, those who are not yet teachers on their own right but soon will be. He’s trying to help them understand their role as teachers and healers. He’s reminding them that their job is to sow, that is, to teach and heal. The growing... that’s God’s job. The sower doesn’t have to understand how the plant grows. Sure, there are things we have long known that make the plant more likely to grow - weeding, adding nutrients to the soil, keeping up with watering, protecting the plants from the critters who want to eat them first. Ultimately though, for most of us, sowing is an act of faith bolstered by our actions to support growth. We do what we can to support it or suppress it. But, the seeds grow when they grow. Our job is to make sure that they are planted. And, the shrub... let’s go back to the shrub. I was maybe a little hard on it in the beginning of the sermon. Thank goodness God sees potential in that little seed that I don’t. Because the first parable of today’s reading is about the disciples’ actions as sowers. The second parable is about the growing. And, God finds delight in growing small things into something great. Dr. Brown describes the mustard plant in more glowing terms than I do, which is probably more in line with Jesus’ intent in telling the parable. She said that the smallest seed becomes “a lush bower” in which the birds can live and raise their young. How would we live our faith differently if we thought of the kindom of God as a lush bower to house the small and vulnerable? Not a castle on high. Not a fortress with strong gates. But, instead, a verdant thicket, full of life in all manner of creeping, crawling, and flying forms. Our back garden is currently a jungle of untrimmed, wild shrubs. And, whenever I watch it through the kitchen window for just a moment, the small creatures that have found safety within the branches make themselves known. The smallest seed planted can grow into sanctuary for those who need it. That is the mystery of the Divine. That is what the disciples need to know is true. They are called to sow. And, God can grow something great from the tiniest seed they plant. And, what they are planting will ultimately be for the good of those who need shelter. Like Paul’s writing last week, we have another example of the holiness of the small and vulnerable... a vision of faith in contrast with a world that often understands wealth, largeness of size, and aggression as power. May we take heart in this vision of a kin-dom made for the ones who need the most care. And, may we do our part and sow so that it can grow in the first place. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Richard A. Horsley's introduction to Mark in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) Wil Gafney, "Proper 4 (Closest to June 1st)," A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year B (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2023) Carolynne Hitter Brown, "Proper 6[11], " Preaching God's Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year B Featuring 22 New Holy Days for Justice, Ronald J. Allen, Dale P. Andrews, and Dawn Ottoni- Wilhelm, eds. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011) 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—‘I believed, and so I spoke’—we also believe, and so we speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. Living by Faith So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. What is going on in Corinth? Lots of things, apparently. The first letter between Paul and the church of Corinth, which he founded, has been lost. According to Bart Ehrman, the letter that we call 1st Corinthians, likely the second letter to the church, addresses several big issues, including interpersonal conflicts among members, the misuse of worship time by some members as a time to try to establish spiritual superiority over others, hoarding of food and drink, and sexual impropriety. 2nd Corinthians, which might be a collection of parts of third and fourth letters, addresses additional issues that came up after the second letter was written.
Sze-Kar Wan describes the background for the letter in this introduction to 2nd Corinthians. Paul, who had been traveling around, sent Timothy to Corinth as “his personal emissary.” Timothy came back with distressing news: a group of Christian missionaries with very different ideas about what it meant to be Christian had turned up in Corinth and were undermining Paul’s teaching. In order to counter their influence, Paul went back to Corinth for what he would come to call a “painful visit” in chapter 2, verse 1 of 2nd Corinthians. Someone insulted him so terribly that he left humiliated. It was bad enough a visit with leftover hard feelings that he wrote something he called “a letter of tears” to try and work through their conflict. While he mentions that letter in what we call 2nd Corinthians, the actual text of that letter is lost. That being said, the lost letter appears to have worked to convince the church in Corinth to continue to follow Paul’s teachings around following Jesus, and, also, led them to rebuke the person who had insulted him. Paul wrote additional letters to the church, including the letter that contains today’s reading, one that Wan refers to as being more “conciliatory” in tone. In the conciliatory letter is a section of teaching, specifically about how to make sense of hardship in terms of one’s faith in Jesus. In a recent visit with the physician who helps me manage my chronic pain, he mentioned that he finds some of Paul’s writings about bodies useful in conversations with Christian patients. Of course, he isn’t trying to convert non-Christian patients. But, if he finds out that someone is a Christian and struggling in caring for a body that is in pain, he has looked to Christian scripture for ways to inspire them. He specifically cited 1st Corinthians 6:19 as a verse that he has talked about with his patients: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God?” In that verse he finds an affirmation of the goodness of bodies, of the body as a gift, and as a container for the Holy Spirit. He knows that many of his patients struggle with seeing their bodies as good and struggle with caring for them. He hopes that by reminding them that their faith teaches them that their body is a temple, it can help reorient them into tending to their bodies with more love and reverence. I actually think that Paul has a more contentious relationship with human bodies, or at least his body, than my doctor is inclined to point out to other patients. In 2nd Corinthians 12, Paul talks about the pain he has had to deal with and offers up his theological explanation for why he has this pain: “Therefore, to keep me from being too elated (can also be translated “arrogant”), a thorn has given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated (arrogant). Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” You may have heard this phrase before, a thorn in the flesh. It is often spiritualized by interpreters... by that I mean that people read “thorn in the flesh” or “thorn in the side” as a metaphor for an issue that was weighing on Paul’s heart. I actually think it is more useful to read these verses as a description of a physical pain that Paul was contending with rather than an intellectual or spiritual quandary. It would then make sense to me that Paul would do what many of us do when facing a sick and painful body: try to figure out why the pain happened and what to do about it. Paul came to understand the pain as a limitation placed upon him by God, making him weak, so that, as Ehrman notes, he will never be able to boast that the good he has done has come from his own strength, but instead, has been done through him by God. Truth be told, I have concerns about people thinking that God has inflicted pain and illness on them. Generally, I don’t think God works that way. Most of us are in chronic pain or are sick because of some combination of bad luck and/or genetics and/ or choices we make about how to care for our bodies. While Paul’s theological explanation for his pain seems like it brought him a measure of peace, I’ve seen plenty of people, often inspired by Paul, who feel like God is hurting them on purpose. They will develop shame around that or feel like they have to endure more pain with less support because they are “supposed to be in pain.” If the Gospels tell us anything clearly about Jesus it’s that he was interested in healing people’s pain, not causing more. That being said, Paul finds great meaning in remembering that Jesus suffered pain. Jesus, though powerful, did not opt out of the basic human experience of having a body that hurt sometimes and could be harmed by powerful people. Jennifer Vija Pietz points out in her commentary on this text that when Paul speaks of his own suffering, particularly the ways he has been targeted for harm because of his ministry, it is helpful to remember that Jesus suffered, too. It allows Paul to make the case that appearing to be powerful, which what some of the Corinthian church members did to try to assert that they were spiritually superior to other members, did not mean that they were actually following Jesus’ example. Given that Jesus suffered crucifixion, those who suffered on his account were much more like him than those who grew in acclaim and power. Pietz argues that Paul believes that suffering isn’t a sign of failure or a sign that one is disconnected from God. Instead, the Holy Spirit is present and active in the midst of suffering. While I may not be totally on board with the parts of Paul’s writing where he seems to dismiss the value of these bodies of ours, hurt though they may, I do think it is good for people to hear that suffering doesn’t mean you have failed God somehow or that those who suffer are somehow farther from God than those who are comfortable and well. A certain amount of struggle and pain are unavoidable in life. I don’t think Paul is telling us to ignore the pain in our bodies or dismiss the pain others are experiencing, even though Christians have a long history of doing both justified by his work. I do think that Paul is asserting that the world's standards for success and comfort are often very far from the standards of love and justice that Jesus invites Christians to follow. What is eternal? That’s part of what Paul hopes to communicate in this portion of his letter. Ultimately, he believed that renewal is possible, even in the midst of suffering and discord. And, he believed that suffering is temporary. The Spirit that connects us to each other and to Christ is what he calls eternal. Our bodies will change. We will not always succeed in following Christ or loving each other. But, ultimately, new life is being born from that which is eternal in the midst of struggle and strife. For Paul, pain in this moment does not preclude hope in the future. May we feel the promise of renewal, even as we feel the reality of the struggle, and know that Jesus is here with us in both. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Bart Ehrman, in The New Testament: A Historical Introduction of The Early Christian Writings, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000). Sze-Kar Wan's introduction to 2nd Corinthians in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) Jennifer Vija Pietz: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-10-2/commentary-on-2-corinthians-413-51 1Samuel 3:1-20 Samuel’s Calling and Prophetic Activity Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ and he said, ‘Here I am!’ and ran to Eli, and said, ‘Here I am, for you called me.’ But he said, ‘I did not call; lie down again.’ So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, ‘Samuel!’ Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, ‘Here I am, for you called me.’ But he said, ‘I did not call, my son; lie down again.’ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, ‘Here I am, for you called me.’ Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, ‘Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” ’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ And Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’ Then the Lord said to Samuel, ‘See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. On that day I will fulfil against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I am about to punish his house for ever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be expiated by sacrifice or offering for ever.’ Samuel lay there until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. But Eli called Samuel and said, ‘Samuel, my son.’ He said, ‘Here I am.’ Eli said, ‘What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also, if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.’ So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. Then he said, ‘It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to him.’ As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet of the Lord. Who is Samuel? Our scripture for the day tells us that he is a prophet. But, before he was a prophet, he was a kid working for a priest named Eli. And, before that, he was the beloved first son of Hannah and her husband Elkanah. In order to understand how a child came to be working with a priest instead of living with his parents, it is probably good to be reminded of his parents’ stories, and to learn some about Eli’s family, too.
Does anyone remember a Bible story where someone very much wants to be a parent but hasn’t been able to? Abram (Abraham) and Sarai (Sarah) are two people. Elizabeth and Zechariah are two more. Hannah is another. Her husband Elkanah has an additional wife, Peninnah, with whom he had children. But, he and Hannah shared no children together. Hannah wanted very much to have children, too. In the first few chapters of 1st Samuel, we learn about how sad she is and how she prayed to God that she would be able to have children. Eli, the priest at the temple at a holy place called Shiloh, heard her prayers and assured her that she would be able to be a mother. When she eventually had her child, she named him Samuel, which means, “I have asked him of the Lord.” In his notes on 1st Samuel, Steven McKenzie reminds us that, in the Bible, when someone has been wanting to be a parent and it was very hard, but they finally have a child, that child is often given a special purpose. Hannah felt that this long-awaited child who had been a gift to her should be set aside for a special job with God. She raises him when he is very little in their home. But, when he was old enough to eat on his own, Hannah took back to the temple at Shiloh, along with a special offering, and left him in Eli’s care. She said, “For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made. Therefore, I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” Even though Hannah was sure that her child could be of service to God, I would imagine leaving him behind might have been hard, for both her and Samuel. After she left, she lifted up a song of praise to God. Let’s sing one verse of it together (ask Rosalea to play verse one). Does the song remind you of any other songs mothers sing in the Bible? It reminds me of the song Mary sings when she agrees to be Jesus’ mom. Hannah would visit Samuel once a year and bring him a special priestly robe that she would make for him. What do we know about Eli, Samuel’s guardian? Eli has children of his own, adult sons who are also priests at Shiloh. But they aren’t great guys! McKenzie gave a good summary of some of the hateful things they did. Priests are supposed to be trustworthy, honoring God and treating worshipers fairly. Eli’s sons don’t do either. They took parts of the food sacrifices that were supposed to be left for God. And, if a worshiper told them to stop taking the part meant for God, the priests who threaten them with violence. They also had improper relationships with women who work at the temple. While these men ignored the work they were supposed to do and harmed the people they were supposed to be helping, Samuel was growing up. As he grew into an older kid and a teenager, he became known to be a trustworthy person by God and by the worshipers at Shiloh alike. All of that information is backstory to today's reading that is useful in helping us understand what all is happening. If we know that the children of mothers who had a hard time becoming pregnant were often given special jobs by God, we might guess that God would give Samuel a job on top of the work his mother asked him to do at the temple. But, also, as Diana Chen points out in a commentary on this text, the beginning of our reading says that the people hadn’t heard much from God lately, and that “visions were not widespread.” So, Samuel, even though he worked in the temple, doesn’t assume that God is talking to him when he first hears the call. He thinks it’s Eli. He’s a good kid, so he ran to Eli when he thought Eli called, even though it was early enough in the morning that the lamp of God that stayed lit in the dark was still being burned. Eli groggily woke up and said he hadn’t called and told him to go back to bed. This happens three times where God calls and Samuel, thinking it’s Eli, goes to the elderly priest’s room. The third time, Eli realized what was happening and gave Samuel good advice: Lie back down and if God calls again, say “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.” Samuel followed Eli’s recommendation. Samuel probably isn’t the only one who’s ever been thankful that God called one more time. I’m am delighted by this image of God standing around, like an annoyed parent who’s called for their kid too many times already, but will call once more because they really need him to pay attention. Did you catch that line when Sharon read it: “Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” This time, Samuel knew what to do. “Speak, for your servant is listening!” And, God spoke, giving Samuel a life-changing calling. Samuel became a prophet. Well, technically he became a prophet the next morning when he did the thing prophets are supposed to do: share the words of God with the people God needs to hear them. Did you notice that, at first, he was scared to share what God said to him? I think that’s pretty fair. It is not easy to tell someone bad news, especially if that person has been your guardian and you are still a kid. Not every adult responds well to kids when they tell them a truth that they don’t want to hear. It’s not fair, but it still happens. Eli noticed that Samuel was afraid, but he pushed him to share what God had said. Eli believed that Samuel could hear a word from God, and wanted to hear what it was, even if it was bad news. Eli, to his credit, didn’t punish Samuel when Samuel told him of God’s coming judgement. Eli accepted the consequences for not restraining his sons as they abused their power. Scripture tells us that Samuel continues to mature and all the words from God that he shared came to pass. All of Israel would come to know that he was a trustworthy prophet. Which is important, because some big things will happen in his future. The scholar Walter Brueggemann calls Samuel a “kingmaker” in his introduction to this book. He would be a leader in Israel in his own right, and would have a part to play God’s appointment of two kings you might have heard of, Saul and David. As we remember Samuel this week, may we give thanks for the ones who are answers to another’s prayers. May we give thanks for guardians to tend imperfectly to children who are not their own. May we give thanks for the bravery of teenagers and the truths they tell. And, may we give thanks for that fourth call from God. Let it be the one we can understand. May we listen, and may none of the words God has shared with us fall to the ground. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Steven L. McKenzie's introduction to 1st Samuel in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) Diane G. Chen, "Proper 4 [9]," Preaching God's Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year B Featuring 22 New Holy Days for Justice, Ronald J. Allen, Dale P. Andrews, and Dawn Ottoni- Wilhelm, eds. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011) Walter Brueggemann, An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003) Isaiah 6:1-8 A Vision of God in the Temple In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’ Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’ Isaiah was living in a time of crisis. We don’t actually know very much about Isaiah other than that he was a prophet and that he was living in a time of crisis. He is called the “Song of Amoz.” In his introduction to Isaiah, Walter Brueggemann notes that scholars generally believe that he lived in Jerusalem from 742 BCE to 689 BCE. In some parts of the collected prophecies we now call the book of Isaiah, it appears that Isaiah knew members of the royal court well enough to have conversations with them and even to get an informal meeting with the king. But, this is most of what we know of the prophet’s life outside of prophecies preserved in this text.
The prophecies themselves aren’t a product of one person sitting down to write up all of the messages they have received from God. Instead, it’s a product of generations of faithful curation that includes the prophecies of Isaiah as well as insights offered by later disciples of Isaiah. In his introduction to the book we call Isaiah, Joseph Bleckinsopp invites us to think of this work as an on-going communal interpretation from different times and occasions that are passed down and used to help make sense of the events of another, more recent era. When we read Isaiah, we’re reading the work of a people looking at lessons from the past to help them address the issues of the present. As I said, Isaiah was living in a time of crisis, specifically jockeying for power among several smaller kingdoms, including Israel and Judah, and the threat of war from the large Kingdom of Assyria. As we know, in war, the suffering is not limited to the people who lead their countries into battle. According to Bleckinsopp, the whole of Isaiah is addressing the consequences of multiple wars: the Syro-Ephraimite War, Assyria’s invasion of Israel and takeover of territory in Judah, the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and capture of leaders who they took into exile, and finally, the return of those who were taken. Isaiah the prophet was alive and active during two of those events, the Syro-Ephraimite War and the Assyrian invasion. When you hear his call story, know that he felt this call to a prophetic mission in response to these significant tensions. Isaiah’s vision is extraordinary, isn’t it? The prophet sees God sitting on a high throne in a robe so enormous and overflowing that its hem fills the temple. That is an incredible amount of fabric. Angelic being called seraphs are floating above God’s head. Remember, these aren’t cute little angel babies. According to Bleckinsopp, the word “seraph” literally means “burning one.” They might have been serpentine in form (they are in other parts of Isaiah, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). They have six wings. They cover parts of their body with some of the wings and fly with one set of them. These flying snakes are singing to each other as they fly around God: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of God’s glory.” We also sang that today. I’m sorry that I couldn’t provide flying snakes for our service. Dr. Wil Gafney, in a commentary on this text, calls it “a visit into the presence of the living God.” And, this visit is completely harrowing and overwhelming. Kee Boem So, in his commentary on this text, talks about this moment as “tremendum mysterium”... a tremendous mystery. He notes that Isaiah, like many people who encounter a holy mystery, is overcome with feelings of shame. For what it’s worth, I don’t believe shame is the natural response to this kind of awe. But, I do understand how people can feel small in the face of grandeur, and in that smallness, feel unworthy. This definitely appears to be Isaiah’s impulse. And yet, even as he feels unclean and unworthy, he is certain that he had seen God. It is good to be reminded that feelings of shame don’t keep you from also recognizing the divine. A seraph flew to Isaiah with a hot coal, touching his mouth with it, and declaring him purified. Kee Boem So speaks of the next few verses as a movement encounter with the Divine to personal spiritual transformation which, then, empowers Isaiah to call for a second transformation, that is social transformation. It is rare in the Hebrew Bible to speak repentance and restoration in solely individual terms. The prophets aren’t roaming around yelling at individual people to try to get them to change their ways. Well, maybe they yell at kings sometimes, but that is usually because the king is leading the whole nation astray and the prophet is offering wisdom, exhortation, and correction from God to the whole nation. Prophets serve God by speaking to the people and offer a whole people message from their God. Julián Andrés González Holguín, in his commentary on this text, points out that this particular reading emphasized the connection between an individual’s transformation to hope for a community’s transformation by placing Isaiah’s vision of God within the context of a political change of power. Uzziah has died. He served for many years. The crowning of a new king would be an important and tumultuous time in the life of the people. It is perhaps appropriate to have a new messenger from God appointed and empowered, ready to go to speak truth to whomever would be king. In the same way that God’s cloak will fill up every corner of the temple, Holguín argues that God’s sovereignty will “permeate” the nation. Isaiah will become one more conduit for the Spirit to move in this whole nation that was on the cusp of a dangerous and destructive time. Isaiah sees God clearly and also sees the mission ahead clearly. He is unafraid. God asks a question, seemingly to the ether, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah seems to shout, “Here I am; send me!” He has been moved by the Divine. He has been empowered by the Divine. And, he is hopeful that the Spirit can help him show his nation that they can change. May we all remember Isaiah’s story when we are in awe and overwhelmed by our encounters with the Divine. All of our transformations are tied up with one another. Salvation is never just for one but for all. Kee Boem So says of this passage that our encounters with God can lead us to our responsibility in the world. May you hear clearly the voice of God inviting you into this work of love and justice. And, may all of us, like Isaiah, be willing to shout, “Send me!” when the time is right. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Julián Andrés González Holguín: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/the-holy-trinity-2/commentary-on-isaiah-61-8-8 Walter Brueggemann, An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003) Joseph Blenkinsopp's introduction to Isaiah in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) Wil Gafney, "Epiphany V, " A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year B (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2023) Kee Boem So, "First Sunday after Pentecost (Trinity Sunday)," Preaching God's Transforming Justice: A Lectionary Commentary, Year B Featuring 22 New Holy Days for Justice , Ronald J. Allen, Dale P. Andrews, and Dawn Ottoni- Wilhelm, eds. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011) Acts 2:1-21 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes , Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The disciples have been waiting for something. I’m not sure they were expecting all the chaos they got. When I say disciples here, I mean more that the restored twelve apostles. In her commentary on the text, Dr. Wil Gafney makes the case for reading the “they” in our opening verses as being, at the very least, Mary, Jesus’ mom, a group of other unnamed women who are mentioned in chapter one, and the twelve apostles. It might also include the whole 120 people that Peter has been teaching. This room, with every seat taken, can seat about 120 people. Imagine it full to the brim with people and all of them talking at the same time and all of them speaking a different language.
Michal Beth Dinkler reminds us in her commentary that the people are gathered for a celebration known as Pentecost. We have adopted that name for our church year holiday, but it was first the name of end of the Jewish Festival of Weeks, a harvest festival. Dr. Gafney notes that by the era in which this story would have been written, Pentecost had also become a celebration of Moses receiving the Torah, a story we know from the book of Exodus. It is perhaps fitting that the Holy Spirit knocks their socks off during a celebration of hard work that bloomed into sustaining food alongside the religious revelation that helped define them as a people. What a reminder that the Spirit can move and can help you grow into something more than you could have imagined. In his commentary on the text, Dr. Jeremy Williams notes that at this harvest holiday “what was reaped was not produce, but people.” If you want to reach people, you have to speak a language they understand. Dr. Williams reminds us that the Torah that would have been celebrated on that day wasn’t just the religious laws that had been written down but also the interpretations of those laws passed down from teacher to student. These disciples, be they 20 or 120, received God’s Spirit and became teachers... teachers who spoke in languages they hadn’t previously known. It is glorious, isn’t it, that we know the Spirit is working when people from different regions, speaking different languages, have their difference acknowledged and addressed. Their distinct regional differences aren’t wiped away... they don’t all suddenly speak the same. Instead, God is seen most clearly at work in their particularity. The Spirit knows what words and sounds will make sense to them and will give those words and sounds to the disciples. Dr. Williams points out that Judaism had found homes across the Mediterranean. Even though the central place for certain religious festivals would be Jerusalem, Jewish life happened in all manner of languages and cultures. The earliest Christians would follow a similar path. The next part of Christianity’s journey begins here, with new teachers empowered by the Spirit to speak in ways to people who had not expected to hear their own languages spoken. Some consider Pentecost to be the “birthday” of the Christian church. That’s not the language Acts uses. Instead, Acts understands the revelation of the day to be a fulfillment of prophecy. The prophet Joel once said that God, who would not be limited by humanity’s understandings of power and hierarchy, could and would empower “all flesh.” Dr. Williams notes in his commentary that people of relatively less social power are the ones specifically noted to be receiving the Spirit. It’s not that all people can’t or won’t receive it. Dr. Williams argues, and I’m inclined to agree, that by lifting up those who continue to be ignored and pushed to the side of communities, Joel was calling upon them to use “new tongues” to reach those who already felt safe because of their higher status in society. On this Pentecost when we are also celebrating the confirmation of two teenagers from our church, may we remember the gift of every new people who chooses to become a part of this church. May we be prepared to learn from the new teachers God sends us. May we be prepared to listen to the Spirit who invites us to speak of our faith in a new way. And, when we’re confused, may we remember that God can bring us clarity. We in this all together now. May the Spirit help us remember that. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Michal Beth Dinkler: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/day-of-pentecost-2/commentary-on-acts-21-21-17 Jeremy L. Williams: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/day-of-pentecost/commentary-on-acts-21-21-16 Wil Gafney, “Pentecost Vigil (or Early Service),” A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year B (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 2023) Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred and twenty people) and said, ‘Friends, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus— for he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.’ So one of the men who have accompanied us throughout the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.’ So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said, ‘Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.’ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles. Tasha and I really like this British show called The Repair Shop. It is a show about expert builders and restorers who work on returning precious but worn things back to their original luster. Sometimes it is an heirloom jewelry box. Sometimes a beloved old teddy bears. Dolls’ houses, pocket watches, broken chairs, and bagpipes are all lovingly, painstakingly restored by the experts on the show. Sometimes the end-product of a restoration is as near to identical to how the item looked on the day it was purchased as humanly possible. Sometimes, though, the same-as-it-once-was isn’t possible or even preferable.
While working on this sermon, I rewatched part of an episode where two of the restorationist, Will, who is carpenter, and Suzie, who is a leatherworker, work on a rocking horse. It had been worked on by a couple, Julie and Paul, who’d intended to work on it again for their grandchildren. Unfortunately, Paul died before they could complete it. The two experts took great care to make the color of the horse look as close as possible to the original, and fixed so much broken plaster and a mane and tail that had once faced bored children with scissors. In this way, the horse looked very much like it did when Julie’s parents bought it for her when she was a child. The experts also changed some of the design. Paul, who had died, had signed the horse up under where the saddle would lay when working on it for his own children. During the restoration, Suzie made a whole new saddle that could be removed, so that Julie could show her children and grandchildren Paul’s signature. Julie was astounded when she saw the finished piece, and deeply moved by the change that allowed everyone to see Paul’s signature. In this case, the most useful restoration for this family wasn’t just making the horse look like it did 55 years ago. It was going to be a restoration that took their grief and their love seriously, making a space for them to remember one they had lost, while also offering a gift to the next generation of their family. A good restoration meant a change from the original design that actually helped them better fulfill their ultimate goal, which was passing along a toy to help the grandchildren feel connected to their grandfather. Today’s reading is an act of restoration. Restoration attempts to bring something that has been damaged in some way back to the state in which it was created. The damage in the reading comes from Judas’ betrayal of Jesus back in Luke. Remember, Acts is the sequel to Luke. The author of Acts uses the first chapter of the book to remind us of important things that happened at the end of Luke and set the stage for the next steps of the disciples’ ministry after Jesus is no longer physically present with them. Their ultimate goal was to go out into the world, empowered by the Spirit, to teach and heal as Jesus did. They knew that it would be necessary to have coworkers for this calling. It also seemed important for them to have twelve specific apostles, as Jesus’ first 12 disciples were called. With the death of Judas, they only had eleven. It seemed clear that they would need to restore themselves to twelve. Scott Spencer notes in his commentary on today’s reading that finding a new 12th apostle is the first thing that Jesus’ first followers do in this book. Why is twelve important? At least part of the reason, according to Christopher Matthew’s notes on the chapter, seems to be that it may have been important to them to have 12 apostles in order to mirror the 12 tribes of Israel. Like last week when we talked about the ways that Jesus’ 40 days with the disciples after the resurrection was to mirror his 40 days in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry, Moses’ forty days of fasting before receiving the Torah, and the Israelites 40 years in the wilderness, the repetition of a number from one vital part of their scriptural history into a newer story is used to remind us that all of these stories are connected. Jesus was concerned about the restoration of his people, according to Amy Lindeman Allen, and calling the first twelve apostles, who become his closest confidants, was meant to evoke that history and also the future he wanted to work for. Judas’ actions and subsequent death had disrupted that particular image of restoration by creating a rupture in The Twelve. While, as Spencer notes, Peter, who also betrayed Christ by denying him, was given a second chance and ultimately redeems himself, Judas will only be replaced. It is Peter who is most clear about the need for a new twelfth Apostle. And, it is people who offers up theological explanations for Judas’ actions, pointing to Hebrew scripture that he believed foretold of Judas’ actions. And, he roots his argument for a return to Twelve Apostles in his biblical interpretation. Notice how easily the 120 people gathered come to an agreement. This is the eleven remaining apostles plus other loyal disciples who had gathered. It was about as many people as can fit in this room if we sit in every seat. They lifted up two names, Joseph and Matthias, as potential new apostles and did something called “casting lots” to decide which of the two would be chosen. It seems like a game of chance, but they trusted that the Spirit would make the right decision for them through what would look like a game to us. The Spirit brought them Matthias, completing the Twelve and setting them up for the next steps in their mission. The Twelve would not look the same going forward. How could they after such trauma? These changes aren’t a failure though. That’s what Peter argued. The change was necessary. They did not have to leave a gap to remember what had been lost. They could bring in something... someone new to help them fulfill their mission more completely. Matthias is so well integrated into the Twelve and the Twelve are so connected to one another that we never really hear about most of them separately again. As Spencer points out, only Peter and John will be named again individually in the book of Acts, though their roles will be significant. Generally speaking, The Twelve have a purpose, but it is not to exist for their own sake. It is to remind people of their connection to Jesus and, I think, to show that others can be adopted into this new movement. And, others will. As Spence points out, the Twelve and the 120 will grow like branches on a vine, even if we don’t hear most of their names again. Newer disciples like Barnabas, Stephen, Philip will come to prominence as key “servant-leaders.” Eventually Saul will be transformed by a vision of Christ and adopt the name Paul. He’ll come to call himself an apostle, but not one of the Twelve. There will be women- Tabitha, Lydia, Priscilla, and Philip’s four daughters- who will become leaders, teachers, and prophets in their congregations. Jesus’ movement for love and justice will grow beyond those whom he appointed in life into those who feel the call of his Spirit. The change that brought in Matthias became the foundation for the development of every follower of Christ who came later. May we follow their example and be open to our restoration and evolution. And, may our shared service bloom, yet again, into God’s love and justice. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: A definition of Restoration: https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/restoration You can watch the episode of The Repair Shop with the Rocking horse story here: https://youtu.be/LBJVIud8mLA?si=tIFuIK0NJoriphmd Scott Spencer: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/seventh-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-acts-115-17-21-26-6 Amy Lindemen Allen: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/seventh-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-acts-115-17-21-26-4 Christopher R. Matthew’s notes on Acts in The New Oxford Annotated Bible: The New Revised Standard Version with Apocryphya, ed. Michael Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) Acts 1:1-11In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over the course of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. ‘This’, he said, ‘is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’ Alright, we’re going to have a Bible quiz! Anyone can answer.
Well done. Well done. You all get A’s in Sunday School. Today’s reading is from the book of Acts. It’s the very beginning of the book. Did anyone catch the name of the person the book was written to? Theophilus. Yes, very good. Does anyone know what the name Theolophilus means? “Dear to God.” Now, think back to all of what Maryelise read. Can anyone give me a two or three sentence summary of what the reading was about? Good. I like to think of it as a summary of the last part of the Gospel of Luke. Sometimes when you start a sequel to a story that has already been told, you have to remind people of what happened the last time. In the Star Wars movies, you might get text scrolling up the screen so you can read along to understand what’s happening. This time, it has nothing to do with Ewoks though. Instead, it’s “remember that time Jesus came back after Rome killed him and then made sure his followers could continue his work without him?” Specifically, the author mentions Jesus’ ascension into heaven. F. Scott Spencer points out in his commentary on this scripture, Luke is the only Gospel to talk about the Ascension. He describes it as a “hinge” between Jesus’ ministry with his disciples and the disciples’ ministry inspired by Jesus’ spirit. Everything that follows in this book is because the disciples will follow Jesus, even when he no longer walks alongside them. Has anyone here ever been a part of a relay race? What do you do in a relay race? Yeah. There are multiple people who are on one team. One team member starts the race and runs a portion of it, then, often by passing something called a baton to the next runner. That person running takes the baton and carries it to the next runner. Then, they pass it to the next runner. Carolyn Brown, who worked in children’s ministries, has written before that she thinks that the book of Acts is kind of like a relay race where Jesus is passing the baton, that is his spirit, on to the disciples so they can run the next leg of the race. There’s a song with a line that says “Guide my feet while I run this race. Guide my feet while I run this race. Guide my feet while I run this race, for I don’t want to run this race in vain.” Maybe that could be our theme song for the book of Acts. This part of Acts talks about Jesus staying with the disciples for 40 days to continue to teach them and prepare them for the rest of the race. Does anyone else remember any Bible stories that have 40 of something in them? The Israelites were in the desert for forty years. A scholar named Scott Spencer listed a couple more in a commentary he wrote about today’s reading. He talked about, in addition to the 40 years in the wilderness, there are other stories about 40 of something in the wilderness. Moses had two time periods of forty days where he fasted on Mount Sinai when he received the Torah from God (Deut. 9:9-10:10). Also, when Jesus himself was preparing himself for ministry after his baptism, he was in the wilderness for forty days where he was tested, affirmed God’s law, and tended to by God. In that time, he affirmed that he would use what Spencer called his “Spirit-power” to help other people, not give himself more wealth or earthly authority (Luke 4:1‒13). I think maybe we should think about this forty days as Jesus encouraging his disciples to do the same thing. They will be empowered to do some important things. Any of them who use their power to hurt other people or to build up their own reputations would not be following his example or be doing what God hoped for them. Jesus says that when you have power, you use it to help people. Always. One of the trickiest parts of a relay race is when one runner is passing the baton off to another. It’s so easy to miss each other’s hands, drop the baton, or mess up the timing. Runners practice passing the baton so that they can be prepared to pass it along and to receive it. You really have to be ready and paying attention to receive the baton correctly in order to run your portion of the race. Over the next couple Sundays, we’ll be talking some more about what the disciples do to get ready to receive the baton. Jesus says they need to wait in Jerusalem because that is where they received the power to run the next leg. They can’t rush the hand off. If they do, they risk dropping it. I imagine you have had a time in your life when something important is clearly over and you are transitioning into the next part of your journey. That is also what is going on in this story. The Ascension is Jesus’ final steps up to the next runners and their time in Jerusalem will be that full moment of hand off. In a time that may have seemed like a breath and also like days, they waited to receive what was coming, and begin what was coming next. We know that they’ll run their race, mostly because we are running ours, having been passed the baton by those who came before use. May you receive the power to do whatever you are called to next. And, may you be inspired by the preparation of the ones who have come before. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Scott Spencer: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ascension-of-our-lord/commentary-on-acts-11-11-9 Carolyn Brown: https://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2016/04/year-c-ascension-of-lord-thursday-may-5.html John 15:1-8 Jesus the True Vine ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. Several years ago, a colleague invited me to preach at her installation. She was the associate pastor to two congregations. The senior pastor of the two congregations had been there for a couple decades at that point. She really wanted to have a message of welcoming something new to a body that had already been together for a long time. I immediately began to think of my neighbor’s apple tree. It produces five varieties of apples. That can only happen because of one technology: grafting.
I am certain that I have told you about this tree before. I'm going to talk about grafting again because I think it’s a useful metaphor for church. For that sermon years ago, I read up on grafting trees in particular. Grafting has myriad uses. One use is cloning. Because of the particular ways that apple and pears reproduce, if you have a delicious fruit and want to grow more trees that produce that fruit same fruit, it is better to clone that fruit’s tree than try to grow another from seed. A second reason that I learned that people add grafts to trees is to help heal injured parts of a tree. A third reason that I learned that people graft trees is probably the one I find most interesting. Grafting can be used to make a healthy tree stronger and create more variety in its fruit. New, healthier parts of the tree can be grafted in to keep it from cracking with wind and age. Also, you can help the tree pollinate more easily and successfully by introducing new grafts. Sometimes you can even make plants with several different kinds of fruit on them. This is how my neighbor ended up with an apple tree with multiple varieties. Last week, when I preached on part of John 10, I noted that Jesus said, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” Dr. Gennifer Benjamin Brooks said this part of the reading on the Good Shepherd reminds us that a single faith community as it stands at any given moment does not complete the body of Christ. This has been true from the time of Christ and continues to this day. Jesus calls sheep from all corners to join the fold. And, as the sheep are gathered, they become one flock... one body. Foundational to our Christian faith is an understanding of God that allows people who are pretty different from one another, and often people forced to live at the margins of society, to come together across difference and become one body. In John 10, Jesus used the flock as a metaphor for this coming together. In John 15, Jesus uses the image of the vine and branches. How do you introduce a new branch into a plant? How do you support the health of an existing plant? How might you help a plant grow? Perhaps by grafting. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches and new branches can be grafted in at any time. Just as each new branch that is grafted to a root stock adds to the strength and viability of a Vine of Christ, so, too, does it change how vine grows. If the grafting is done well, by a skilled farmer, a vine will respond to the new graft’s presence by knitting together old and new, creating a stronger plant. In time, this new plant will bear new fruit. Growing this fruit is only possible because the root stock and graft grow together. Doesn’t this sound like the part of the reading where Jesus described himself as a vine who relies on the vine grower? But, it also helps us see the way the vine grower tends to new vines to make the old vine stronger. The central metaphor of today’s reading, the vine and branches, I think, can show us something about how Jesus’ followers, with all our wonderful variety and necessary differences, grow with Christ into one whole body. Jesus said that he was the vine and God was the vine grower. The ones who hear the Gospel and are moved by it, becomes branches of that same vine. The branches cannot grow without the vine and the vine cannot grow without the vine grower. Though, we should note, the vine grower receives sustenance from the fruitful vine. The scholar Karoline Smith says we need to pay attention to the fact that the relationship between growers and plants is mutual. Each party is necessary for abundant growth and life. No one part grows by itself. Intimacy among God and Jesus and Jesus followers is necessary for the vine and branches to thrive. According to this chapter of John, we build intimacy with the Divine from following Jesus’ teaching. In John, this is called abiding in Jesus. According to Karoline Lewis, this is one of the most important ways Jesus understands his ministry in this Gospel. He says that the ones who abide in him and in whom he abides will bear much fruit. To return to the work of Dr. Brooks, in her commentary on today’s reading, she says that “The guiding principle by which all would be transformed into the image of Christ is boundless love of God and neighbor.” A thriving vine of Christ will be fed by this love of God and love of neighbor. When you love God, you love your neighbor. When you love your neighbor, you tend to your neighbors’ well-being and make sure that any body of Christ you are helping to cultivate is capable of incorporating new branches. A vine that doesn’t grow can’t produce the fruits of justice and love. And what are we doing here if not growing towards the Gospel that Christ has shared with us? This is where the part of how to make one vine out of many branches comes in. We are still in the season of Easter, where we spend time considering how Jesus would prepare his followers to carry on the Gospel without him being physically present. He did not preach the Gospel alone. He called disciples to help. The disciples, too, will need co-workers, and will invite others to be grafted into the Vine. The Gospel is always the work of community, at work through relationships. The branches will be called and empowered to grow and carry on Christ's work in the world, long after Jesus himself returns to God. These branches must grow, pruning that which does not produce love and justice, and reach out into all of creation, bearing fruit of God's love on this earth. One way we will grow is by making sure that the branch that we steward is prepared for new branches. Perhaps instead of cloning beloved varietals, we can understand that people will come to our church with great gifts for ministry cultivated in other communities, be they churches or neighborhoods, and decides to use those gifts to serve a new congregation in a new way. They may be able to replicate the attentiveness, prayerfulness, and dedication with which they went about developing these gifts in another situation to fit the needs and joys of a new congregation. One of the great joys of being grafted into a new community is being trusted to bring all of the experiences you have had up until that point and being allowed to use these experiences to serve in a new way. It is a joy to see these gifts bloom in a new place. I mentioned that grafts aid in healing. Healing is certainly foundational to the Gospel. Congregations, if we’re following Christ, spend a lot of time healing, too: Healing old hurts and arguments, offering comfort for the pains of everyday life, working to heal systemic injustice that wounds whole communities. In recognizing the ways that we need healing and that the world needs healing, we are abiding in Christ and Christ is abiding in us. If we love our neighbors, we will seek healing. We will be confident that God is at work in our healing, too. Grafting on new branches can bring such joy and creativity, too. Like the tree with many kinds of apples, we may be surprised by who we grow next to. This body of Christ, the vine and branches, is not complete. There is always the possibility for new and different growth meeting the needs of new and different times. Whatever we will become is already growing in us, like the graft growing with the root stock. And, we’ll likely get some new grafts, too, helping us reach out with Christ in directions we can’t even imagine right now. Storms will come. So will droughts, freezes, and caterpillars. Do not fear, though. We have a vine grower with water to refresh, patient hands to pick away the bugs, and tools to prune and shape us as we grow. May we rejoice in this unfinished, ever growing, pruned, and grafted Body of Christ. May we never lose sight of the growing that we have yet to do. Resources consulted while writing this sermon: Gennifer Benjamin Brooks: https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fourth-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-john-1011-18-5 -https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/fifth-sunday-of-easter-2/commentary-on-john-151-8-5 Helpful information on grafting: http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/fruit/grafting-and-budding-fruit-trees/ Karoline Lewis, John: Fortress Biblical Preaching Commentaries (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014). |
AuthorPastor Chrissy is a native of East Tennessee. She and her wife moved to Maine from Illinois. She is a graduate of the Divinity School at Wake Forest University and Chicago Theological Seminary. Archives
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