"Immediately"

First Lutheran Church + January 7, 2018

As many of you know, (perhaps you learned it in Confirmation!) when it comes to our Sunday morning readings, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America follows the Revised Common Lectionary.  The Revised Common Lectionary is a three year cycle of biblical readings that follow the liturgical calendar.  The church year of course begins each year with the season of Advent.  Thus this past December we be began a new church year, “Year B,” which features readings from the Gospel of Mark.  Year “A” took us through Matthew, and next year in “C” we will be reading from Luke.  Readings from the Gospel of John are sprinkled in here and there in all three years.

Since we will be spending this year in Mark, this morning I wanted to take some time to make a couple of observations about the Gospel of Mark, a couple of things that make it unique, a couple of things that may be significant for our faith community here at First Lutheran.

The first observation is that the Gospel of Mark is in a hurry.  A case in point, the word “immediately.”  The Greek word for immediately is “eutheós” (εὐθέως).  It means “as soon as possible,” “at once,” “right now!”  And this word, and the root of this word, can be found three times in the first twelve verses of Mark, today’s appointed gospel reading, setting the tone of the gospel.  

Most obviously it is found in verse twelve where we read, “And the Spirit immediately drove him (Jesus) out into the wilderness.”  In verse ten the NRSV translation reads, “And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart …” However this can, and often is, also translated as, “immediately he saw the heavens opened …”  In the King James Version it is translated, “And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened …”  Which leads us into our last instance, which we find in verse three where the gospel writer quotes the prophet Isaiah, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”  The Greek word for straight is “euthus” - which is related to the Greek word for “immediately,” “eutheós.” So “straight” in this context, in the Greek, means straight in the sense of no zig zagging, not detours, no unnecessary delays; essentially it means - build a road that will get you there as soon as possible, immediately!  All these words found in the first chapter of Mark convey a sense of urgency and set the tone for the Gospel of Mark. 

The word "immediately" appears in the NRSV, (the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible,) by my calculations - 72 times.  And of those 72 occurrences 28 of them occur in the Gospel of Mark. That’s about 40% of all the occurrences of the word in the entire scriptures!  In my bible, Mark, the shortest of the four gospels, is only 22 pages long, and the rest of my bible contains over 1100 pages.  The writer of Mark seemingly uses the word “immediately” on just about every page!  It’s definitely one of his most favorite words.  Everyone is in a hurry in Mark, especially Jesus.  Mark is an action movie, quickly and dramatically moving from scene to scene.  Mark’s gospel is filled with a sense of urgency, each event requiring swift action and re-action.  In contrast to the Gospel of John, where the word “immediately” only occurs two times, Jesus is more poetic, he’s calm, he’s reflective, he’s esoteric; but not in Mark Jesus is on a mission, he’s on the go, he’s literally “driven” by the Spirt!

So it is the Gospel of Mark begins with the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Prepare the way of the Lord make his paths straight;” the call to clearly articulate and demonstrate without delay or detour the ways of God, the reign of God, the kingdom of God.  In the very next scene at Jesus’ baptism, the heavens are torn apart, straightaway - suddenly - and immediately revealing the kingdom of God. And even in that incredible moment of epiphany, there’s no time to take it all in, no time to rest in the glory, no time to sit around as the Spirit “immediately” drives Jesus out into the wilderness for forty day to be tested, and prepared for his public ministry.  In the Gospel of Mark there’s no Christmas story, no background story, there’s no philosophical or theological pretext; Mark just hits the ground running.  The Kingdom of God is suddenly upon us!

The second observation I want to share with you this morning has to do with the ending of Mark.  It doesn’t really have one!  Maybe in his rush the writer forgot to do it.  According to biblical scholars the original manuscripts end Easter morning with an angel announcing the resurrection to the woman who have found the empty tomb, instructing them to go tell Peter and the disciples that the risen Christ will meet them in Galilee.  The last verse in the original manuscripts concludes the gospel with these words, “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”  That’s how it ends, with people trapped in fear.  In Mark we don’t know what happen next? Did they bring Peter the message, or did they really say “nothing to anyone?”  What kind of ending is that?  Terror, amazement, fear, and no proclamation?

Over time two different endings have been tacked on to complete the gospel adding verses 9 through 19.  Your bibles most likely will mark them as footnotes, “The Shorter Ending of Mark” and “The Longer Ending of Mark.”  No one really knows what happened to the ending of Mark's gospel.  Perhaps that’s how he intended it to end, perhaps the last page got lost,  perhaps a scribe left it out, perhaps it was eaten by his dog?  

Whatever the reason I like the incomplete ending because it invites us into the story.  Suddenly, or should I say “immediately,” we find ourselves placed in the story.  We have to imagine what happens next.  The tomb is empty, Jesus is no longer among the dead, the resurrection is a witness to the truth about Jesus, his life, his words, and his actions.  The unexpected ending demands a reaction, a response.  Suddenly the urgency of Mark becomes our urgency.  The tomb is empty?  Death and empire do not have the last word?  What will we do next?  How will we complete the story?  So it is an ancient story becomes our story, making a claim on our life today.

So what about today?  What about your life?  What feels “urgent” to you?  What do you feel like you need to act on immediately?  We all have our “to do” lists but if you’re like me, sometimes the really urgent things don’t make that list! I like to put the easy things on my “to do” list, things that I know I can get done, things that I can easily scratch off the list. Sometimes the big things don’t make the list because I prefer to ignore them and hope they will go away.

And then there are the things I like to think are urgent.  Things like that new guitar I really need!  I’m all about “immediately” taking care of that one!  I can’t wait to scratch that off my list of things that really need to happen as soon as possible!

Sometimes my sense of urgency is displaced, a little bit off, not really grounded in the Kingdom of God!  Today God invites us “not” into the urgency of this world but rather into the urgency of the Kingdom, the Reign of God, the Commonwealth of God.

Today we begin the season of Epiphany, a season marked by insight, revelation, and “aha moments.”  I encourage us all to be in prayer, to be open, to spend some time in reflection, to engage the intensity of the Gospel of Mark, and ask, “Where does the urgency of God’s Kingdom intersect with my life, and how that might that shape my own sense of urgency, how might that shape my “to do” list!  And as a community we must be about the same question, “What is God calling First Lutheran to be “urgent” about, what must we do immediately to engage our mission here in this place?

The Gospel of Mark ends in the midst of the resurrection, understandably with “terror and amazement.” We too should be terrified and amazed, the life of faith is no easy thing.  How will the story end in your life?  How will it end in our life together?  May God grant us the grace and courage to leave fear behind and chase after amazement, to believe that God is all about doing a new thing, in me, in you, in each of us, in all of us, and in our life together!

One of my favorite stories around the tradition of making the sign of the cross, the actions in which we remember our baptism, goes something like this.  There was an ancient superstition that angels whispered the promises of God into your right ear, and the devil whispered the promises of doubt and fear into your left ear.  So it is when we make the sign of the cross, in our actions, we affirm the voice of the gospel and cast out the voice of fear.

Today God invites us to make the sign of the cross, to reject fear and affirm the good news of the Gospel, the amazing grace, peace, and love that is our in Christ.  And to act “immediately,” “urgently” living out the Gospel for the sake of neighbor, for the sake of the world,  taking part in the Kingdom that comes even now.  Amen.

The Embodiment of Christmas

Christmas Eve Sermon 

First Lutheran Church  + December 24, 2017

In the beginning, once upon a time, once and for all time: God created the heavens and the earth, and everything that lives upon the earth, and “it was very good.”  On the sixth day of that work God created humanity, and that creative act began with a conversation.  The Holy Trinity, (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) gathered in a circle and proposed to each other, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.”  And they agreed, “So God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God they were created.” 

Yet even though humanity was indeed “very good,” the story goes on to explain that humanity became disconnected from God, separated from their identity in God’s love, they were distracted from God’s dream for creation, and they became lost.  So it was that once again, in the fullness of time, The Holy Trinity proposed another creative act, one that would bridge the gap, reintroduce love, and once again capture the hearts and minds of humanity with God’s great dream for all of creation.

William P. Young, the author of “The Shack,” imagines what that conversation might have been like, the conversation that led to Advent, to God’s great adventure among us, to the coming of Christ on that first Christmas.

William Young - “The circle of three, The Father - Son - and the - Holy Spirit, are working out the details of coming to find us in our lostness.  And they break the circle, and invite a 14 year old little girl into it, and they submit to her.  They say, “Here’s what we would like to do, what do you think?”  And she says, “Alright, I’m in!”  And they say, “Good, then we’re going in too.” 

I love the way he imagines the beginnings of Christmas, the season of Advent.  I love the image of God breaking open the circle and inviting someone you’d least expect into the conversation, into the process, into Christmas.  God invites a young, unknown, seemingly insignificant girl named Mary - to conceive, carry, and give birth to the Christ Child.  And in this child, (Jesus,) God surrenders the heavenly estate and takes on a “mean estate,” the flesh and blood of humanity.  God knows there’s only one way to find us in our lostness, there’s only one way to reconnect with us, there’s only one way to capture our hearts and minds with the imagination of the Kingdom of God, and that is to become one of us, to literally “embody love.” And not just one of us, but in many ways one of the least of us, through a humble peasant named Mary.  Love comes to us not from the top trickling down but rather significantly from the bottom transforming up.  As is is written in the second chapter of Philippians, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross.” God is willing to risk it all when it comes to humanity, when it comes to me and you, when it comes to all of us, God is truly “all in!”

Christmas can be a strange time, it’s certainly a time of great joy and excitement, a time filled with parties, feasts, concerts, and the giving and receiving of gifts. It truly is, “The most wonderful time of the year!”  Yet it is also the most stressful time of the year, because all the parties, feasts, concerts, and gifts demand - lots of time, energy, and cash!  And sometimes it causes us to wonder about the true meaning of Christmas, sometimes the disconnect between the Gospel story and the commercial Christmas experience is so great we might even become despondent.  Sometimes we find ourselves in the midst of that Charlie Brown moment, fighting that loosing battle against the commercialization of Christmas, wanting to choose the live tree that needs a little love instead of the aluminum tree that everyone else wants, and then second guessing the whole thing, muttering “I guess I really don’t know what Christmas is all about.” And then in frustration shouting, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”   Of course his friend Linus knows, he takes center stage, and he tells them all the Christmas story as found in the Gospel of Luke.

So it is that tonight we tell that same story, because in that simple story, God once again breaks open the circle, creating an opening for humanity between heaven and earth, revealing the very heart of God, the very desire of God, the very kingdom of God.  All these “things of God” will be “embodied” - in, with, and through - the child who is born unto us this day,  Jesus, Emmanuel (God with us), the Christ Child.

So what does the Christ Child and the Christmas Gospel embody?  In one word, “Love!”  

The child born in a stable, because there was no room in the inn for his pregnant mother, reveals God’s love for those who are poor, without shelter, and found in dire conditions.  God intentionally places the baby Jesus into their life.  This child born in a stable will later teach us that God will always be embodied in the “least of these.”  In the Christmas story we are reminded that God is love, love for you and for me, love for the stranger, and love for any and all in need.

And this love will be modeled for us in the life and teaching of Jesus.  The child born in the stable will never forget his birth place; he will heal the sick, he will feed the hungry, and he will embrace the marginalized.  He will demand justice for the oppressed, and tear down the walls that divide; all in the name of love, by the power of love, the love that is God.

And in the face of fear and hate, the child born in the stable will practice forgiveness and mercy, kindness and understanding, patience and humility.

And just as God came into the world risking it all for the sake of love, God will again risk it all in death on a cross, trusting that even in death love will have the last word, a word of resurrection unto life eternal and abundant.

This is what Christmas is all about, the embodiment of God in the life and teachings - and the death and resurrection of Jesus; revealing unto all the world the heart of God, the desire of God, the will of God, the salvation of God, the love of God. This is the true meaning of Christmas, the true gift of Christmas.

So how does one receive this gift, the true gift of Christmas, How does one engage the true meaning of Christmas?  Look no further than Mary. Mary receives the news, the gift, with these words, “Let it be to me according to your word.”  And she literally embodies the Word of God, the Word made flesh, the Christ Child.  And so it is that we are challenged at Christmas to let the story of Christ into our hearts and our minds, and then in turn, following the example of Mary, - embody it for all the world to see.  We are invited to lean into the story and boldly live it out, to love as we have been loved, to be hope for the hopeless, to be peace for those who suffering, to be joy for those in sorrow, to be light in the darkness.  The gift is received in our courage to be that gift to others!  The gift of God’s love.

The good news of Christmas is that “God is all in for us.”  God literally risked everything for the sake of love, that we might know we are loved, that we might experience that love, that we might become that love, that we too might be “all in” when it comes to love.  

May God bless us this evening with eyes that see and ears that hear, the star in the heavens and the angel’s voices, the proclamation of the good news, that Christ is born.  And may our hearts receive the gift, and in good faith, with courage respond, “Let it be to me according to your word.”  

O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray.

Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels, the great glad tidings dwell;

Oh come to us, abide with us, our Lord Immanuel.

Amen.

"Advent Begins in the Dark"

First Lutheran Church

December 17, 2017 + Advent 3B

Luke 1:46-55 (The Magnificat); John 1:6-8, 19-28

When I think of Advent, one of the first things that comes to my mind is the lighting of Advent candles.  In particular I remember our family tradition growing up.  Mom and Dad would call us to dinner, we’d all take our places seated at the table, and then Mom would turn out the lights.  And in that moment we would sit in the dark - anxiously waiting.  Mom took her place at the table a few words were spoken, and then she would strike a match, and a small spark would create a flame, and as she lit the first candle, as the\at candle came to life, the shadows around us pushed back, and everyone’s face would take on that glow that only candle light can produce.  

On the first Sunday in advent we lit the candle of hope, and though it was only one candle, hope burned bright in our hearts. The candle revealed the excitement in our eyes, the excitement that was welling up deep within us, as we began to anticipate the coming of Christmas. With each passing week another candle was lit, the candle of peace, the candle of joy, and finally the candle of love.  Each week the flames grew brighter and brighter and brighter.  As I think back, these times were perhaps the holiest times we shared as a family, Advent time, waiting and preparing for the coming of the Christ Child.

Light is one of the primary images of Advent, however this morning I want to talk  with you about that moment just before the first candle is lit, that moment spent in “darkness.”  Because Advent does not really begin with the lighting of the first candle, Advent begins in the dark.  As the prophet Isaiah noted, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined.” 

This past week I had the opportunity to spend some time in “darkness.”  As I mentioned earlier in the announcements I underwent Lasik surgery on Wednesday morning.  And my doctor, who is an admitted perfectionist (which is not a bad characteristic in an eye surgeon, especially your eye surgeon) he insisted that I spend the first 24 hours after the surgery with my eyes closed.  (In the dark) He told me, most doctors just suggest you go home and try to sleep in hopes that you will keep your eyes closed, but I want you to intentionally keep them closed because your eyes will heal better in the darkness.

So some observations regarding living in darkness …  It’s uncomfortable, it’s uncomfortable not knowing exactly where you are, where others around you are, who might be watching you, what might be just beyond your reach, and what might be waiting to “trip you up.”  Moving around is not easy, especially in places with which you are not familiar.  

And all this forces you to trust in someone else, which is not an easy thing to do.  As you might guess, I was very hesitant walking from the surgery area back to the waiting area.  Not really able to trust someone I had just met with the important ask of guiding me.  

In the waiting area I was handed over to my wonderful wife of 35 years.  So you think things would get better, but no, while I wanted to trust her, and while I do trust her, in my darkness - alas I did not trust her.  I was anxious and timid as we navigated curbs, sidewalks, and the parking lot on the way to our car.

Eventually we arrived at our car, she ushered me into the passengers seat, and shut the door, and I experienced a moment of calmness.  But then she started driving!  I don’t really like driving with her when my eyes are open, but with my eyes shut, it was even worse.  I wanted to trust her, and I do, but I don’t, especially when I can’t see!

Finally we got home, I crawled into bed, and breathed a sigh of relief.  And for the next few hours I was good to go, - but then I got bored.  But not bored enough to venture around the house, so I took some more pills and went back to sleep.  Life without sight, life in the dark, life without a vision, was a life without ambition.  

I slept all day until evening arrived, - and then I was wide awake.  Wide awake and wrestling with all the big questions in my life.  Sitting alone in the dark invites all those existential questions, for better or worse, to run wild and free in your head creating the perfect opportunity for the Holy Spirit to get your attention.  

Advent begins in the dark because that’s where we often find ourselves in this life.  In the darkness - stumbling around; In the darkness - wondering which direction to go; In the darkness - afraid to venture out; In the darkness startled by strange sounds and suspicious whispers; In the darkness - not sure who to trust; In the darkness - confronted by our own broken-ness; In the darkness - longing for light.   

Yet in a strange, ironic and powerful way, this darkness that surrounds us is also critical to “preparing” us for the coming of Christ.  Just as spending the first 24 hours after my surgery was the most beneficial way for my eyes to start healing so it is that darkness is a part of our salvation, preparing us for the coming light of Christ

Theologian John Navone writes, “Darkness provides us with a therapeutic limit-experience, illuminating the meagerness of human resources for experiencing, understanding, and communicating the divine. … When darkness induces modesty, humility, faith, and trust, it leads to a communion with God …”  

In other words, darkness, the experience of darkness, makes things real, (very real,) revealing our need for God, our need to be able to trust in something more than ourself, our need for a vision to sustain us, our need to be in a relationship with the divine.  Only darkness can truly prepare us to receive the true light that comes from heaven to save us.

My 24 hours of darkness ended in the doctor’s office.  He removed the protective goggles I had been wearing and invited me to slowly open my eyes.  And as I did, as light came back into my world, I was amazed.  He then handed me a piece of paper, an eye chart, one that he had shown me just a few days earlier.  He pointed to the third line down and asked me to read the note I had written for myself on that line.  I had written, “This is very blurry and hard to read,” followed by my signature.  I laughed as it was now very clear and very easy to read.  Then he invited me to read the smallest print at the bottom of the chart, print I could not begin to ready just a few days ago, and as I easily read those letters aloud, he smiled and said, “Merry Christmas.”

Our first reading this morning was “The Magnificat,” the song that Mary’s sings upon visiting with her relative Elizabeth, a song that comes out of their recognition that God has indeed chosen Mary to bring the Christ child into the world.  We perhaps best know these words of Mary from the popular “Holden Evening Prayer Service.” That part of the liturgy, just like the biblical narrative, begins with the angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she will conceive and bear the holy child of God, which is followed immediately by The Magnificat, “My soul proclaims your greatness O Lord and my spirit rejoices in you …”  

However what’s important to recognize, and is something we often overlook, is that these two events, The Annunciation and The Magnificat do not immediately follow each other in Mary’s real life!  Time passes between these two events, and in that time Mary is indeed found to be pregnant, and left to explain “the miracle” of her pregnancy to Joseph, and her parents, and to all who are beginning to notice that she is suddenly an unwed mother.  And during this time there are no angels, no messengers of light to comfort poor Mary.  Suddenly Mary is living in the dark, not sure what to do, where to go, who to trust, and what will become of her life.  

Mary begins her advent, her adventure in faith, with these words, “How can this be?” quickly followed by, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word!”  She boldly declares, “Let it be,” and then enters into the darkness and prepares for the birth of the Christ Child.  I imagine that it was in this darkness that Mary was prepared to give birth in a stable because there was no room in the inn; It was in this darkness that she was prepared for her son’s radical proclamation that the kingdom of God belongs to the poor, the hungry, the forgotten, the marginalize, the oppressed, and not to those in high and might yplaces; It was in the darkness that she was prepared to watch him suffer unto death on a cross; It was in this darkness that she was prepared to see in death, resurrection and the door to abundant life.

Poets and hymn-writers often refer to Mary as “meek and mild.”  I am not so sure those words belong to the real Mary. The more I think about and engage her story the more convinced I am that she was anything but meek and mild, but rather bold and courageous, not afraid of the dark, she truly believed that “nothing is impossible with God.”  

There are times in our life when we feel like the darkness around us, like a black hole, has swallowed up all the light.  We’ve all been confused and lost in the dark,  afraid of the shadows, and frustrated by the inability to see and understand what’s going on.  The promise of Advent, the promise that begins while we are yet in the dark, is that light is on the way.  And that as this light begins to come our way, the Spirit is at work in us, preparing us to receive it all in all of it fullness.  

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined.” 

May the darkness we experience - connect us to the incredible story and faith of Mary; May the darkness we experience - make us humble and open to the healing and transforming presence of God;  May the darkness we experience - reveal our broken-ness and awaken us to peace and justice; May the darkness we experience - shape our hope for the kingdom;  And finally may the darkness we experience - give way to the light of Christ.  

May your Advent journey continue to prepare your heart for the one that comes to us at Christmas, the light that shines in the darkness, the light the darkness will never overcome!  Amen.