Epiphany 2C

Intro

Tony Campolo, "The kingdom of God is a party." Not like a party, not some semblance of a celebration, but the reign of heaven on earth is the real thing.

This is MLK weekend. The USA and many other countries have been impacted with frightening political, social, and economic uncertainties. Unprecedented wildfires have leveled Los Angeles area neighborhoods. Wars and other armed conflicts simmer and explode across the globe.

John 2:1-11

¹ On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ² Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." ⁴ And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." ⁵ His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

⁶ Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus said to them, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ He said to them, "Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward." So they took it.

⁹ When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the best wine until now."

¹¹ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Background

So far in this year of grace and season of revelation we've waited for God in our midst, we've been awed at the nativity of the infant Savior, we've met visitors from the East bearing gifts, we've joined a crowd alongside the Jordan.

After his riverside baptism by his cousin John the Baptist that all four gospels include, each gospel brings us a different version of Jesus' first act of public ministry. How can that be? Most likely they all happened around the same time, but each writer chose a particular one because it fit their perspective better.

The community surrounding John the beloved disciple writes about Jesus' signs rather than miracles. A miracle implies suspension of natural laws (which sometimes is the case, and sometimes there is a logical explanation), but a sign points beyond itself to a place, event, person, or idea—in this case, to Jesus. The Greek here is like our word semiotic that relates to signs, symbols, meanings. This gospel includes seven signs and seven "I Am" statements from Jesus. In Hebrew numerology, seven is the number of perfection or completion.


New Creation

In Matthew and Luke, after incarcerated John the Baptist wonders about Jesus being "the one who is to come," Jesus replies "go tell John what you see and hear: blind see; lame walk; diseased become clean; dead are raised! poor receive good news."

• Luke 7:20-22

• Matthew 11:2-5

These events fulfill John's signs.

John's gospel brings us the most explicit new creation.

• In the beginning … God –Genesis 1:1
• In the beginning … was the word –John 1:1

logos, word connotes both origin (where this came from) and immanence (what this might become). Does that sound theological?

On the seventh day God finished the work. –Genesis 2:2
"It is finished!" –John 19:30

• And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden… –Genesis 2:8

The garden of Jesus' burial and resurrection becomes the new garden of Eden

• Now there was a garden in the place where Jesus was crucified, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one ever had been laid. And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. _John 9:41-42

The first day of the week is the eighth day of creation, the first day of the new creation.

• Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. –John 20:1
• Supposing him [Jesus] to be the gardener… –John 20:15b

Of the four canonical gospels, John brings us the most fully realized eschatology (protology is the word about first things, about origins; eschatology is the word about last things, about conclusions)—the clearest right here and right now of the reign of heaven on earth. A wedding party perfectly fits that worldview!


Today's Good News

This reading begins, "On the third day." In that place and time, the third day – Tuesday – was considered the best day for a wedding. But as Easter people, we also recognize the third day as the day of resurrection that initiates the new creation. And back then and there, an extravagant wedding party where everyone gets more than the dayenu or "it would have been enough" of the Passover song would be a primary indicator of the messianic age.

Cana in Galilee was disreputable gentile territory known for thieves and petty criminals. This wedding was not at an elite venue or an aspirational destination. Jesus performed this sign among regular, ordinary, working class people. Most of the guests and reception attendants probably lived nearby; some may have worked in the vineyard.

A wedding is an occasion to party; a wedding brings families together and gathers a community in one place for a single purpose. Whatever is happening elsewhere in the world, a wedding hopes for and promises a future. The couple getting married trusts that a future will arrive.

This isn't the old band Canned Heat Going Up the Country singing about "where the water tastes like wine." This is water that has become wine, and "you have kept the best wine until now!" –John 2:10


Where We Live

At the start of his public ministry Jesus attends a party and makes the party even better, in a preview of the rest of his time on earth. But two thousand years after Jesus' death and resurrection, we still experience death, disease, destruction, deadly fires, nations at war, a threat of government that is not by the people, of the people, or for the people.

Evidently a recent article in The Atlantic informed readers we need to party more. It was behind a paywall and no one provided a summary, but I agree.

After the 911 attack on the World Trade Center, although we didn't exactly rejoice with a block party, two days later on Thursday evening several churches in our neighborhood gathered to celebrate Eucharist, a meal with the risen Christ. Here's one of my reflections about it:

• 911 :: 22 years later

Literally in spite of everything we glanced into all creation healed and whole. We briefly lived in that future moment God dreams of and calls us to help create. Did you know the chasuble the person presiding at Eucharist vests in is the wedding garment of the messianic feast?

To paraphrase Cornel West, "We are people of hope. Why do we party on Friday night? Why do we go to church on Sunday?"

Because the Kingdom of God, the Reign of Heaven is a party!

Baptism of Jesus C

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name; you are mine."
Isaiah 43:1-7

• Overview of Luke's Gospel

Luke 3:15-17; 21-22

¹⁵ As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, ¹⁶ John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

Season of Epiphany

After the Great Fifty Days of Easter, we experienced a half-year of green and growing Ordinary Time that lasted until Reign of Christ-Christ the King concluded that year of grace. Ordinary time is more organized and structured than it is commonplace and conventional.

Sundays between the Day of Epiphany and Transfiguration that protestant churches celebrate three days before Ash Wednesday form a shorter segment of ordinary time. With the date of Ash Wednesday being variable because the date of Easter Sunday varies, the length of the Epiphany season is shorter or longer, maxing out at nine Sundays when the day of resurrection is late.

Note: Roman and Eastern rite catholics as well as Anglicans celebrate Transfiguration on August 6th.

The baptism of Jesus and the Transfiguration create trinitarian bookends to the season of Epiphany. The word trinity isn't in the bible but the concept is, and because we know a lot of the rest of the story, we often interpret scripture backwards. In 325 the Council of Nicaea formally defined the Trinity.


Intro

Very few events in Jesus' life are in all four gospels; all the gospels don't even have a birth story or a resurrection narrative. But we find John baptizing Jesus in all four—sit up and take notice!

• Mark 1:9-11
• Matthew 3:13-17
• Luke 3:21-22
• John 1:29-34


Jesus' Baptism

Jesus's baptism by John was not the same as our trinitarian baptism into Jesus' death and resurrection. John's baptism signaled a new political, religious, and economic beginning. Jesus' baptism also continued the Jewish practice of the bath, washing, or mikvah that may have begun at Mount Sinai during the Exodus, before Moses went up the mountain to receive the Ten Words or Commandments. Contemporary Jews continue the tradition of the cleansing mikvah.

• Exodus 19:10-14

Immediately after Jesus' baptism and God's identifying Jesus as beloved son, Luke brings us Jesus' genealogy that ends with son of Adam, son of God. Although scripture implies Jesus Christ as fully human and completely divine, the Council of Chalcedon in 451 first formally described the two natures of Jesus Christ.


Water and Identity Formation

For God's people Israel, the Jordan River was border and boundary between their old existence as slaves in imperial Egypt, followed by decades of wilderness wandering, and their new lives of grace, obedience, and freedom in covenanted community in the land of promise.

For Jesus, the Jordan River was border and boundary between his earlier, more private life and a public life of grace, obedience, and keeping righteous covenant. Notice how Jesus praying and an icon (dove) of the Holy Spirit appear in this account. Prayer and the Holy Spirit are prominent throughout Luke's gospel.

For us, living waters form a border and boundary between our more private lives (think first and second spaces-places) and our public lives of grace, obedience, keeping covenant with creation, and advocating for justice in third spaces-places as well as our presence and testimonies in the fourth space of the internet.

Every baptized person is a public theologian!

Notice that only in Luke does John announce Jesus will baptize with Spirit and with fire (3:1). What does that mean to you?

My header art from the first reading, Isaiah 43:1-7, describes God's people as created, formed, redeemed, called, named, and claimed. Particularly related to your own baptism, how does that comfort, challenge, and inspire you?

"You are my son the beloved
With you I am well pleased."
Luke 3:22

Epiphany 2025

Matthew 2:1-12

¹ In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, ² asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising [in the east], and have come to pay him homage."

³ When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴ and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.

⁵ They told Herod, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

⁶ "And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a governor who is to shepherd my people Israel.' "

⁷ Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. ⁸ Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."

⁹ When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising [in the east], until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹ On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Days after Christmas

Days after Christmas offer several possibilities. When January 6th doesn't fall on a Sunday, many churches celebrate Epiphany on the nearest Sunday. During 2020 I wrote about Jesus' Presentation in the Temple; the Circumcision and Name of Jesus on January 1st would be good for the first Sunday of any new year. January 6th was Christ's birthday until the 4th century, when Emperor Constantine moved it to a few days after the solstice to correlate with the Feast of the Unvanquished Sun, a celebration people already knew about. And then January 6th became the baptism of Jesus, as it still is in Eastern expressions of Christianity. Some Western churches that follow the lectionary are observing Jesus' baptism today.


Epiphany Day and Season

Epiphany means revelation, revealing, uncovering. We sometimes tell people we've "had an epiphany." The "epi" prefix means upon; "phan" is revelation.

Despite the song about the Twelve Days of Christmas, January 6th, the day of Epiphany is the thirteenth day of Christmas. Although we're in Luke's lectionary year, the gospel reading today is from Matthew because only Matthew includes this story.

On the day of Epiphany and during the Season of Epiphany we celebrate Jesus as light of the world; we affirm the God of the bible as God with and for all religions, ethnicities, abilities, social statuses, etc. We rejoice in the God who breaks barriers, the God who shatters boundaries and expectations. Epiphany is a season of evangelism, of reaching out to and inviting in people of all cultures, nationalities, orientations, professions, etc. And we celebrate the light of Christ reflected in us! In the global North, Epiphany arrives shortly after the winter solstice, making its symbolism of light especially full of meaning. Stars are the epiphany symbol.

The day of Epiphany initiates the variable length (because the date of Easter varies) season of Epiphany that extends until Ash Wednesday. Or Shrove Tuesday. Western protestant churches celebrate Transfiguration on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, making the theophanies of Jesus' baptism and his transfiguration bookends.

We'll number Sundays after Epiphany until Lent. Next week we'll revisit Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River by his cousin John the Baptist and we're experience a trinitarian theophany, or revealing of God as Father, Son, and Spirit.


Today's Gospel

These visitors from a country east of Judea (along with their retinues) most likely were religious leaders, probably Zoroastrian priests who were astrologers. Zoroastrianism was a middle-eastern way of life that preceded Islam. Astrologers studied and interpreted stars in the sky for signs and meanings; they may have been astronomers in our sense of people with expertise about the heavenly bodies. In any case, they were of a different culture, religion, and ethnicity then the Jews (Israelites, Hebrews) the bible identifies as the distinctive people of God. These wise persons based their decision to set out for Bethlehem on

(1) studying signs in the skies, on
(2) reading their own scriptures or holy book, on
(3) heeding messages they received in a dream.

Our text doesn't say how many there were, and it doesn't say they were kings or royals, but they brought three gifts, so tradition sings about and talks about three kings. In the Ancient Near East (ANE) a star in the sky often signaled the birth or death of a great individual. Numbers 24:17 names stars as a Messianic sign. Did the visitors recognize Jesus as royal or as divine?

Matthew writes about the star at "the rising" of the sun in the east, at daybreak, at dawning. Stars are scattered all over the Matthew passage with east, east, star, star (and magi in the house where the star stopped, not back in the stable). "From the east" is anatolia—the rising of the sun. (Not Bruce Springsteen's The Rising!) Latin words oriens and orient mean the same as the Greek anatolia—the other side of the world from ours?

Because this story of persons from The East, from The Rising – the direction where the sun rises to start a new day – opens up questions of inclusion, of boundaries, of people who are like us and different from us, the season of Epiphany emphasizes evangelism beyond how we've "always done it." Revealing Jesus with a star, a scripture passage, and a dream, enlighten our imaginations and our outreach.


Traditions :: Star Words + Chalk House Blessings

There's very little information in scripture or anywhere regarding Jesus' early life, but many traditions have grown up around Christmas and Epiphany. Traditions such as naming three kings Melchior, Kaspar, and Balthazar, traditions like decorated evergreen trees, carols and songs, and giving gifts rooted in creation are ways we make Jesus' life real to ourselves and our neighbors. Traditions are ways of incarnating, enfleshing, embodying the Nativity or birth account. You've likely noticed our Christmas Story combines narratives from Luke's gospel and from Matthew's.

Stars are the epiphany symbol! As an alternate or in addition to New Year's resolutions, there's a recent practice of choosing a star word early in the new year as a guide for the upcoming year. You can ask someone else to suggest one, or in the Spirit claim a word to light your path the way a star led the magi.

Blessing your dwelling (house, apartment, office, workshop, studio, retail space, etc.) with chalk is an historical practice for New Year's Day, Epiphany, or any time. An internet search will provide resources to make the blessing short and simple or long and elaborate. The inscription for this year is 20+C+M+B+25—the calendar year with CMB sandwiched in the middle.

CMB can stand for traditional magi names Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar, or it can be initials for Christus Mansionem Benedicat / May Christ Bless this House. Although Latin "house" is similar to English mansion for a huge dwelling (or manse for the pastor's house that's not usually very big), it doesn't imply large. It's a home, a way station, a stayover place. You can bless the entraway and/or separate rooms.

The First Sunday of Christmas

Here's a talk I gave on the first Sunday of Christmas 2021. I promised myself no edits or additions except for obvious errors, but I've added new illustrations. Because I used notes and not a script, this is approximately what I said. What would i say about Christmas music and food today, three years later? What would you say?

Intro

The pastor asked three of us to share our testimony of Christmas for the proclamation on the Sunday after Christmas: where do we find Jesus, the Christ child?

During this time of the year the northern hemisphere experiences more night than it does day, we first observe the advent season of waiting for, hoping for, and expecting the birth of Jesus, light of the world. We don't know the actual month or day of Jesus' birth, but the early church wisely calendared it at the winter solstice that also coincided with the Mithric Feast of the Unvanquished Sun. Jesus, Son of Righteousness spelled with an "o" also is the Sun of Righteousness spelled with a "u" who is Light of our Lives. After Advent and Nativity, the day and then the season of Epiphany continue with Jesus as light to all.

Martin Luther particularly loved the New Testament book of Titus. The anonymous author tells us, "The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all." [Titus 2:11a] Jesus is that light-filled grace, our grace-filled light.

Nativity Prayer

Root of Jesse, Son of Heaven, Mary's Child.
Cradle of Joy, Word in the Manger, Astonishing Gift.
Lord of Creation, Abundant Promise, Dayspring of Peace.
Be with us here in this place;
make us shepherds of your grace.
May our lives season the world with salt;
Nurture our neighbors with leaven;
Light a path to show your way.
In your name we pray—
Amen!

Valley Winter Song – excerpt

You know the summer's coming soon
Though the interstate chokes under salt and dirty sand
And it seems the sun is hiding from the moon
And late December can drag a person down

[While] the snow is falling down
In our New England town
What else is new?
What could I do?

I wrote a Valley Winter Song
To play for you.

by Chris Collingwood and Adam Schlesinger

Christmas in this Valley 1

So sang Fountains of Wayne in a song LL Bean gave lots of airplay to in a commercial during 2008. In these days of endless pandemic in a different valley on the other coast, besides Jesus light of the world and the created lights of sun, moon, and stars, what brightens our days better than music?

Music in church and on the street is a huge part of December's identity and festivities. Even people with no experience of clinical depression typically have a lower mood during the winter months. Have you ever heard a song or a symphony that instantly gave you hope? Today I'll mention two major pieces of music and a recurring event that always bring the grace and hope of Jesus into my world.

Along with a few million others across the centuries, Handel's oratorio The Messiah is a December perennial for me. Especially the opening solo for tenor from Isaiah 40 with its announcement, "Comfort Ye, My People – Every Valley Shall be Exalted." Our God. God's people. My second concert-type composition that takes a trained university or professional choir is the Christmas Cantata by Daniel Pinkham, a Boston area composer and church musician who lived during the mid-twentieth century.

My recurring event is [Scripture] Lessons and Carols that can take many forms. We had a participatory Lessons and Carols here on Christmas Eve; this morning on the first Sunday of Christmas it's Lessons, Testimony, and Carols. When I lived on the east coast, as an undergrad at Boston University I sprung for the free tickets people needed to enjoy Lessons and Carols at Harvard's Memorial Church. I believe they presented it three times each year back then, but it was so popular you still needed a ticket.

Later on when I was a seminarian across the river from Boston University, at Lessons and Carols I often ran into classmates or friends I hadn't seen in a long time due to our schedules and because days and months pass so fast. That became a time we'd resolve to get together first of the new year, which always happened.

Christmas in this Valley 2

Besides music, as we celebrate the nativity with God born in Bethlehem as a baby formed out of created stuff from the earth, what is Christmas without all that special yummy food? What you enjoy depends somewhat on your current place on the planet along with traditional winter holiday foods of your home country or home region, or maybe what your grandparents and great grands considered necessary for Christmas feasts with friends and families.

Food also has got to be the best ever Christmas present because in itself it's a gift of creation. From my perspective, giftable foods ideally are things like home baked cookies or quick breads or homemade jam, preserves, or pickles. Maybe home brew, if there's a brewer in your household. These days supermarkets, specialty shops, and farmer's markets offer a whole lot of tasty food. They're a live option if you won't or don't bake or can or brew.

Outro

What else can we do but sing and play valley winter songs to brighten lives and remind us of Jesus in our midst? We can create and enjoy culinary gifts of creation. Grace has come to the entire world in Jesus; many of us know grace and glory and joy through music and because of edible gifts from the earth.

• What's your favorite Christmas music?

• What Christmas food is an absolute necessity?

Advent 4C

My spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
Luke 1:47
• Synopsis of Luke's Gospel

Luke 1:39-55

³⁹ In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, ⁴⁰ where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit ⁴² and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
⁴³ And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? ⁴⁴ For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord."

⁴⁶ And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, ⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ⁴⁸ for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; ⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. ⁵⁰ His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

⁵¹ "He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. ⁵² He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; ⁵³ he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. ⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, ⁵⁵ according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

Visitation Stained Glass, 1960-1969 by Brother Eric,
Church of Reconciliation, Taizé,
courtesy of Vanderbilt University Divinity Library
Canticles

Luke includes three canticles—essentially psalms or songs:

• Mary's Magnificat: "My soul magnifies the Lord; he has put down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly…" –Luke 1:46-55

• Zechariah's Benedictus: "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; he has visited his people." –Luke 1:67-79

• Simeon's Nunc Dimittis: "Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace; mine eyes have seen they salvation, which thou hast prepared…" –Luke 2:29-32

Both responsive psalm and gospel reading for the Fourth Sunday of Advent include the Magnificat. The office of Vespers or Evening Prayer (that's ideally prayed at sunset) in the liturgy of the canonical hours always includes a spoken or sung Magnificat.

Today's gospel opens with pregnant Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist, and then Mary responds to Elizabeth's exuberant greeting with a song.


Magnificat

Luke especially celebrates women, prayer, the Holy Spirit, and history. Today's passage is about two women, the Holy Spirit, attitudes of prayer and prophecy, allusions to Israel's history, and the reliability of God's promises. We receive hints of the great reversal, the reign of life that subverts the unjust status quo, those possibilities that will be fulfilled when we follow Mary's son Jesus.

Today for the psalmody and the gospel reading, we hear Mary's Magnificat—making God larger or greater. Magnifying! We've mentioned how well people knew and memorized scripture two millennia ago. Although we have words Luke wrote, it's very likely Mary sang a similar song because this passage is closely based upon Hannah's song in 1 Samuel 2:1-10. Mary would have been so familiar with large portions of scripture she'd have been able to recite and paraphrase them, making those texts her own.

Mary's words anticipate Jesus's first act of public ministry recorded in Luke 4:16-20 with its announcement of good news to the poor (it won't always be the way it has been), release of every kind of prisoner, freedom, the Jubilee Year of Leviticus 25.

How about us? Do you have any scripture in your heart and head you instinctively remember, recite, and maybe elaborate on?


Musical Settings

YouTube videos don't always have a long shelf life, so I no longer link to them, but here are three of my favorite musical settings of the Magnificat that capture its promise:

• J.S. Bach, Magnificat in D Major, BWV 243 for 5-part (2 sopranos, alto, tenor, and bass) chorus and orchestra that includes trumpets and timpani.

• Dale Wood, "My Soul Proclaims the Greatness of the Lord" from Evening Prayer in the Lutheran Book of Worship. I'll never be able to comprehend why this powerful setting didn't get into the denomination's most recent hymnal, Evangelical Lutheran Worship.

• Rory Cooney, "Canticle of the Turning," set to a traditional Irish tune – Star of the County Down – is in almost all recent English language hymnals. You need to dane to this song!

Magnificat icon by Scott Ward Art

Advent 3C

Bear fruits worthy of repentance.
Luke 3:8
• In 2021 for Advent 3 I wrote about the Zephaniah reading

• Overview of Luke's Gospel

Luke 3:7-18

⁷ John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. ⁹ Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

¹⁰ And the crowds asked him, "What then should we do?"
¹¹ In reply he said to them, "Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise."

¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, "Teacher, what should we do?"
¹³ He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you."

¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, "And we, what should we do?" He said to them, "Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages."

¹⁵ As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah,

¹⁶ John answered all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

¹⁸So, with many other exhortations, John proclaimed the good news to the people.

John the Baptist

Two weeks ago on the First Sunday of Advent, the church started a new year of grace with a season particularly focused on hope. Despite John the Baptist's words, this Third Sunday takes somewhat of a break from penitence and receives the designation Gaudete or "Rejoice," from the first words of the introit or entrance prayer that's derived from the second reading from Philippians, "rejoice in the Lord always." If you've sung in choirs, you probably know Henry Purcell's anthem, "Rejoice in the Lord alway."

Today we hear from and about John the Baptist as he instructs people (a brood of vipers who need to repent) how to get ready for the arrival of God in their midst in the person of his cousin Jesus.

Do you remember John and Jesus were very close in age? John's official church birthday is June 25, right after the summer solstice. Although Jesus' birth likely was during the season of spring, we celebrate his birthday right after the winter solstice, on December 25. Birthdays of increasing and decreasing light symbolize nicely John's observation recorded in John 3:30, "Jesus must increase, I must decrease."

To get a full picture of John the Baptist, we can lay out what each of the four gospels says about him. That would be a great project for a Sunday School class leader or participant at this time of year.


Getting Ready

Take a look at this scene as Luke wrote it. Luke has just cited John's invitation to a baptism for the forgiveness of sins (remember, sin and debt were close to synonymous in that economy), and then quoted Isaiah, "Prepare the way of the Lord … all flesh shall see the salvation of God" when the camera switches to John's followers down by the Jordan Riverside.

Would God among us not be an alleluia moment, a time to sing praises?! In this narrative we read and hear during Advent, John the Baptist has people preparing for God's arrival in their midst by starting to live as he knew Jesus would teach us to be and to act. When that happens, everyone will shout alleluias! An alleluia moment? Alleluias lived out every single day!

People often imagine God calls them to activities, careers, and other endeavors the world considers amazing—teaching elementary school in the inner city, serving as a mostly pro-bono attorney for marginalized populations, serving a non-English speaking mission in a semi-exotic place, parenting kids who go on to get a PhD or MD and help save their corner of the world. God does call and prepare people to those and other redemptive ministries—both highly visible and less conspicuous ones. Ministries that require immense skill and endless preparation along with options almost anyone can pick up. But?


And Then?

But Jesus' cousin John tells us to get ready for The Coming One by sharing essentials like clothing and food where we already are. He doesn't even advise tax collectors and soldiers who are in the employ of the occupying Roman government to quit their jobs (that potentially oppress and even might bankrupt people).

John encourages them to act right here where they are, to give of themselves and any material excess. We always need to bloom where we're planted! After all, most people don't have the option to relocate or travel elsewhere, and even when or if they do, people in need still surround us wherever we are.

As we follow the biblical witness and trace history over the following millennia, we find actions of Jesus' followers become a major aspect of Jesus' presence increasing and growing on earth. We've been seeing and we've been part of initiatives and results from ordinary, everyday people who have been baptized with water and with fire.


Later

Today's gospel reading anticipates the same Luke's volume II Acts of the Apostles where everyone has everything in common, where members of the emergent church provide for the common good.

Just as Matthew never lets up on justice and righteousness, Luke never lets up on living for the other, for the neighbor, correcting the imbalance of some having more than they need, the sorrow of others trying to get by with less. Early on in Acts we hear:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Acts 2:42-45

Advent 2C

All flesh shall see the salvation of God. Luke 3:6

Philippians 1:3-11

³ I thank my God for every remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every one of my prayers for all of you, praying with joy ⁵ for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

⁷ It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I hold you in my heart, for all of you are my partners in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸ For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the tender affection of Christ Jesus.

⁹ And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight ¹⁰ to help you to determine what really matters, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, ¹¹ having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

The Second Sunday of Advent 2024

The scriptures for today bring a wealth of history, encouragement, and hope.


Baruch

Baruch comes from the second canon or deuterocanonical books ("apocrypha") that for a while were not usually included in protestant bibles. Roman Catholic and most Orthodox churches accept them as part of the biblical canon; Episcopal churches sometimes read passages from the apocrypha in place of the other appointed texts from the sixty-six books of the protestant bible. Martin Luther believed they were useful devotional reading, though not on the same level as the rest of scripture. But Luther wanted to remove seven books from the New Testament!

• Baruch 5:1-9


Malachi

In its placement Malachi is the last book in the Christian Old Testament, but probably not the latest written. Is this messenger of the covenant John the Baptist? The refiner's fire purifies—it doesn't punish, though it may be painful for a while. Next week in Luke 3:16, John the Baptist will announce Jesus will baptize us with water and with fire.

This reading always reminds me of the year I worked for a valve factory. Bodies of the 26" main steam isolation valves had to undergo heat treatment to remove impurities that would interfere with their usefulness and longevity. In the same way, heat treatments refine us and remove our impurities. In Handel's Messiah, this passage from Malachi is a recitative and aria for the bass soloist.

• Malachi 3:1-4


Luke :: Gospel Reading

Luke places everything in history, so during the reign of five named Roman political appointees and when Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, John the Baptist proclaimed a "baptism of repentance" that was not an unusual feature of Israelite national life.

• Luke 3:1-6

The end of this reading also made it into the Messiah. The tenor "Comfort Ye" recitative segues into "Every Valley Shall be Exalted."

• Isaiah 40:3-5

As Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann observed, "Second Isaiah [chapters 40 – 55] funded Handel's Messiah." But other books contributed, including Malachi we're hearing from today.


Luke :: Psalm

• Luke 1:68-79, the Benedictus – "Blessed" – sung by John the Baptist's father is one of the canticles or psalms in Luke. Zechariah refers to history, prophecy, covenant, and to the future of God's people foretold by his soon to be born son. All of us in the church are part of that future!


Philippians

I've linked to the other four scriptures, but I posted the second reading from Philippians. Despite all of those passages approaching perfection for Advent anticipation, I wanted to say a little about the apostle Paul's beautiful tribute and prayer for his beloved congregation at Philippi. We heard about the founding-gathering of First Church Philippi in the book of Acts. The lectionary programs it for Easter 6C so it's coming up in a few months, I wrote about it on Pentecost 17 a little over a year ago:

• Acts 16:9-15 for Pentecost 17A September 2023

Paul wrote his "epistle of joy" Philippians when he was under house arrest or in a dungeon in Ephesus or in Rome. We call it a captivity letter because of his incarceration, yet it mostly reveals Paul captured by and captive to Jesus Christ.


Where We Live

A little over a week ago the USA and Australia celebrated Thanksgiving (a few other countries have similar observances; our best friend and close neighbor Canada's is in October, because harvest time is earlier that far north). It's been a heavy year. It's been a heavy decade. It's been a heavy century. It feels as if 9102001 was the last ever (sort of) normal day.

But there's always so much to be thankful for! A harvest of righteousness. from verse 11 is the header for this scripture on the Vanderbilt Divinity School lectionary page. The apostle Paul is far away from Philippi, yet he brings those beloveds into his here and now. He remembers partnering with them in the past, prays for their present, and anticipates their gospeled futures.

What have you been thankful for recently? On Thanksgiving day did you talk about your blessings? Every evening I pray a list of what I was thankful from that day. It usually starts slowly, but the list gets longer and longer. Do you have a thanksgiving prayer or journaling practice?

Advent 1C

redemption – salvation – repentance – rejoicing – nativity
Stand up and lift your heads! Luke 21:28
• Overview of Luke's gospel

Luke 21:25-31

²⁵ "There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. ²⁶ People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

²⁹ Then he told them a parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees; ³⁰ as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. ³¹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

Advent

On the first Sunday of Advent the church begins a new year of grace. Happy New Year!

The Latin Ad + Venire summons us towards the coming of Jesus. Advent always opens with a splash of apocalyptic, signaling the end of the world as we know it, the beginning of a new way of living and being—the world is about to turn. Many churches sing Canticle of the Turning that's based on Mary's Magnificat during Advent.

Blue, the color of hope has become the liturgical color for Advent. Although it includes a call to repentance, Advent is especially about hope. In Spanish esperar/espero means wait, hope, and expect. We hope for and anticipate not a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays as the rest of the world sincerely wishes us; we hope for the incarnation of mercy, grace, and love. Instead of an irenic peace that's little more than a temporary cease fire, we hope for, wait for, and expect the fullness of shalom the Prince of Peace brings us.

During Advent, the darkest time of the year in the global North, we light candles to challenge the darkness. One more candle for each Sunday, and then on Christmas we light the large Christ candle as we celebrate the Christ child's nativity.

Come, Lord Jesus!


Today's Gospel

We're now in lectionary year C, Luke's year.

The gospel reading for this first Sunday of Advent doesn't come from the start of Luke's gospel—that would be his dedication to lover-of-God Theophilus and the birth of John the Baptist. Instead we hear from Jesus toward the end of his public ministry, as he tells us about signs and symbols coming alive in nature/creation. We'll soon celebrate the birth of Jesus who is not a god in nature, but God and Lord of nature.

Advent light shines amidst all kinds of darkness, including a seemingly endless pandemic that's now become endemic; injustices that don't or won't quit; wars and rumors of war; political upheavals; global economic calamities; individual and familial misfortunes, an earth so desecrated it grieves its own losses. You can add to that short list.

This Advent we hope for that dawn of the new creation the death and resurrection of the Prince of Peace will initiate.

Come, Lord Jesus!

Luke Overview

Original festive table photograph
by Dmitry Shironosov

The Gospel According to Saint Luke

With the first Sunday of Advent, the Revised Common Lectionary segues into Year C, Luke's year. Luke is a synoptic gospel that views Jesus' life and ministry in a similar manner to Matthew and Mark. Luke is the only Gentile, non-Jewish writer in the entire New Testament. Luke was a highly educated physician, but think "bronze age" in terms of sophistication. Luke wrote a two-volume account consisting of this gospel and the Acts of the Apostles; we sometimes refer to "Luke-Acts" because in many ways they are an inseparable unit.

Most likely Luke substantially compiled both Luke and Acts, though he drew upon sources other than memories of his own experiences and his own imagination. Both Matthew and Luke copied a lot from Mark, the earliest gospel. Matthew contains around 90%, Luke contains about 50% of the verses in Mark. In addition, Matthew and Mark both contain parallel, sometimes identical, passages not found in Mark. Luke also may – or may not – have had a separate "L" source.

Luke's distinctives include:

• world history and Jewish history. Luke opens his gospel with a political, geographical, social, historical introduction, and with [biblical number] seven witnesses—in plain language, this really happened!

• Jesus' genealogy that ends with "Adam, son of God." Luke's human Jesus and divine Christ both minister to each one's body and spirit.

• the Holy Spirit has been prominent throughout scripture's witness, but Luke-Acts brings a fulfillment of God's reign in the Spirit

• prayer

• women

• marginalized people of every class and description—the underclass; great reversals, a.k.a. "The Upside Down Kingdom!"

• table fellowship

• neighborology: the word about the neighbor! During Year C the lectionary includes several readings from Jeremiah and Deuteronomy that also emphasize the neighbor, the other, living together faithfully in covenantal community despite differences.

• Starting with John the Baptist down by the riverside counseling people to share what they have with others in order to prepare for the arrival of God in their midst, we find a lot of "social gospel" in Luke. However, this isn't about how many good works we humans can accomplish on our own; it's always about the indwelling and outgoing power of the Holy Spirit.


Canticles

Luke includes three psalm-like songs or canticles:

• Mary's Magnificat, "My soul magnifies the Lord; he has put down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly…" –Luke 1:46-55

• Zechariah's Benedictus, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; he has visited his people." This is John the Baptist's father Zechariah—not Zechariah from the OT Book of the Twelve or Minor Prophets. –Luke 1:67-79

• Simeon's Nunc Dimittis: "Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace; mine eyes have seen they salvation, which thou hast prepared…" –Luke 2:29-32


Uniquely in Luke

• Joseph and Mary journey to Bethlehem for the census –Luke 2:1-7

• Shepherds abiding in the fields—and angels! –Luke 2:8-20

• Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6:17-49, which emphasizes re-distributive justice and material well-being. Matthew's parallel Sermon on the Mount is more about spiritual well-being.

• Good Samaritan –Luke 10:25-37

• Prodigal Son –Luke 15: 11-32

• Stones cry out Luke –Luke 19:37-40

• Emmaus Road in Luke's post-resurrection account takes us back to the Maundy Thursday Upper Room and to Luke's many accounts of Jesus' table fellowship with all comers, but now as a meal with the risen Christ, it is the first Eucharist! –Luke 24:13-35

Emmaus Road and Emmaus Supper by He Qi

Reign of Christ 2024

We give thanks, O Lord God Almighty
who art, and wast, and art to come
because thou hast taken thy great power
and begun to reign.
Revelation 11:17

John 18:33-38

³³ Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" ³⁴ Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?"

³⁵ Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" ³⁶ Jesus answered, "My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here."

³⁷ Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

³⁸ Pilate asked him, "What is truth?"

Year In Review

We've journeyed through another twelve month long year of grace. We began with Advent expectation and hope. Since then we've

• welcomed the newborn Jesus
• followed him to baptism by the river whose waters connect all waterways and all peoples
• experienced and learned from his ministries and his teachings
• journeyed to Jerusalem
• been in the upper room on Maundy Thursday
• grieved at his trial, death, and burial
• met the risen Christ at the dawn of resurrection day and later in the day on Emmaus Road
• trusted his promise to be with us forever
• followed him into our futures…

• Today? We acknowledge the ruler, the sovereign, the king, whose throne is a cross.


Gospel Reading

Today's reading is unique to John's gospel. Earlier on, after feeding the crowd of 5,000++ Jesus rejected the people's move to make him into a king (John 6:15), but here he says his kingdom is not from this world. "World" is the same word – cosmos – we find in John 3:16 with its declaration God so loved the world. We've seen how Jesus' subversive ways of love, justice, mercy, inclusion, are the opposite of hate, injustice, violence, exclusion. His ways doesn't belong to the world, yet Jesus lived fully engaged in the world.

This ruler and his reign have no checks and balances.

In response to Jesus' claim he testifies to the truth, Pilate asks, "What is truth?" Jesus' truth isn't necessarily verifiable data or observable events measurable in time and space; Jesus' truth embodies God's truth with integrity and wholeness. It will redeem (buy back) and restore all creation.


Like Everyone Else

God's people insisted they wanted "a king to govern us, like other nations." You can read 1 Samuel 8 and heed its warnings of how existence would unfold under a dictator or autocrat.

More often than not, people have been anxious about their overall political, economic, and social situations. It's easy to capitulate to trends and it's even easier to try to return to what felt like security and certainty. Remember the yearnings of the exodus desert wanderers?

• "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt!" they said. "There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this wilderness to starve this whole assembly to death!" Exodus 16:3

• Then the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you…" Exodus 16:4

• And then in response to that manna from heaven:

• The rabble that was among them had a strong craving, and the Israelites also wept again and said, "If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic, but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at." Numbers 11:4-6


Where We Live

God gifted the people with the Ten Words or Commandments after they'd left Egypt, before they reached the land of promise. So they wouldn't become like the people and their leaders in the place they just left. So they wouldn't become like the other residents in the place they were on the way to.

Slavery to empire (in spite of its many enticements!) no long would be their frame of reference. Instead they would reverence God by serving the neighbor, establishing a commonwealth of justice, mercy, love, inclusion, and shalom sufficiency. They'd learn to live together in this here and this now without undue longings for what used to be, without overly extravagant imaginings of what the future might hold.

In baptism, we live reborn in the water of Jesus' birth and alive in the transforming, rebirthing power of the cross. We live fully engaged in the world, yet as an alternative community to those under the reign of death, its idols and its artifacts, as we embody God's truth with wholeness and integrity.

We began the year anticipating the birth of an infant; we end the year with a cross. Martin Luther insisted if you really want to see the fulness of God's power and rule, look to the Bethlehem manger—look to the Calvary cross.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah
nor the ruler's staff from between his feet
until he comes to Shiloh
and to him shall be
the obedience of the peoples.
Genesis 49:10

Pentecost 26B

Hannah, prophetess and mother of Samuel, thanking God
Miniature from the Paris Psalter, Tenth Century
Bibliothèque nationale de France
from wikimedia commons via Vanderbilt University Divinity Library

This year of grace is almost over! Next Sunday is Reign of Christ / Christ the King, and then it's Advent, with quiet, yearning, hope-filled days and nights. Every Advent

we hear and sing Mary's Magnificat

that evokes parts of Hannah's hymn of praise. Advent is only two weeks away, and how serendipitous that one of today's readings is part of Hannah's story; the responsive psalm to the reading from 1 Samuel is Hannah's lyrical song.

Jesus' mother Mary heard, learned, and memorized scripture through synagogue attendance and probably from scripture reading and teaching at home by her parents. Mary's words were Spirit-inspired, but she was able to express herself so beautifully because she knew Hannah's song by heart and carried it with her.

• The alternate first reading, 1 Samuel 1:4-20, tells part of the story of Hannah.

• Here is a synopsis of Hannah's story that includes expressive paintings along with detailed scriptural background.

1 Samuel 2:1-10

¹ Hannah prayed and said,

"My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God.
My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in your victory.
² There is no Holy One like the Lord, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

³ "Talk no more so very proudly; let not arrogance come from your mouth,
for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by God actions are weighed.

⁴ "The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength.
⁵ Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.
⁶ The Lord kills and brings to life; God brings down to Sheol and raises up.

⁷ "The Lord makes poor and makes rich; brings low and also exalts.
⁸ God raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them he has set the world.

⁹ "God will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked will perish in darkness, for not by might does one prevail.
¹⁰ The Lord's adversaries will be shattered; the Most High will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; and will give strength to the king and exalt the power of his anointed."

Pentecost 25B

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
Psalm 146:5

Hebrews 9:24-28

²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. ²⁵ Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the holy place year after year with blood that is not his own, ²⁶ for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world.

But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once and after that the judgment, ²⁸ so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Hebrews, week 6 of 7

Before we take a quick look at this week's text from the elegant and theological deep homily, a short review.


Week 1, Pentecost 20

Hebrews 1:1-12

The book's poetic opening sums up Jesus' essence, role, purpose, and persona; the entire letter consistently reminds us Jesus Christ is both fully divine and fully human, with refrains of "like God" and "like us."

Hebrew's explicit insistence on both natures of Jesus Christ looks forward to the Council of Chalcedon that in the year 451 described Jesus "…in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation…" Most denominations affirm the very short Definition of Chalcedon.


week 2, Pentecost 21

Hebrews 4:12-13

4:12 The "living and active" word of God here is more God's dynamic proclamation and revelation than it is the written scriptures. God's word is like a sharp knife that reveals everything, and it does some welcome mending and rearranging, too. In any case, it's not a cursory dusting off.

4:13 "God to whom we must render an account." Logos is the word for account, but this is not the preexistent Word that John's gospel identifies with the Christ of God. It's more financial in terms of what you owe God and others—like your car note.

Hebrews 4:16

After explaining that Jesus as high priest, as mediator between heaven and earth in his resurrection and ascension, knows us and sympathizes – resonates! – with us, Hebrews 4:16 advises us to "approach the throne of grace with boldness in order to receive mercy."


week 3, Pentecost 22

Hebrews 5:1-10

Although Jesus was not a Levitical priest in the lineage of Moses' brother Aaron (5:4), he met qualifications of (5:2) compassion and understanding; plus, (5:4) God called and appointed Jesus. Being from the tribe of Judah, he didn't qualify as a priest in human terms, but (5:6) Jesus was a priest in the much older tradition of Melchizedek.

As one commentator observed, Hebrews "looks away from the temple. back to the exodus—to the tabernacle in the wilderness." Then it glances further back, to Abraham, to the patriarchs and matriarchs. And then? Further into history to Abram, with Melchizedek, whose name means King (Melech) of righteousness (Zadok, Tzadek…).

When the Jerusalem high priest entered the Holy of Holies once every year, the high priest's sacrifice atoned for the peoples' sins and for his own. Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension never needs to be repeated. It literally has been finished, "once for all." Late pastor and theologian James Nestingen used to speak of Jesus "delivering the goods" of absolution and forgiveness.


week 4, Pentecost 23

Hebrews 7:23-28

Earlier weeks have been about typical requirements and duties for the high priest as mediator between earth and heaven, along with ways Jesus didn't meet some of those in human terms, and the manner in which he met and exceeded them in divine terms.

In all this Jesus goes way far back in the journey of God's people to the book of Genesis and a high priest named Melchizedek, who provides a large part of the template for Jesus' unique high priestly role.


Today's Reading

9:24 "Christ entered heaven itself…on our behalf!"

Interpreting 9:24 "sanctuary made by human hands … a mere copy of the true one" is difficult without knowing the author's purpose. But whether it's about God's original intent for earth not yet achieved, or about an ultimate, eschatological location, just like all of Jesus Christ's actions described in Hebrews, it's for us and at no cost for us—it's grace and not transaction. Verse 25 picks up on the refrain that unlike yearly actions of a high priest at the J-Temple, Christ's single action was sufficient to redeem all.

9:28 "…so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."

Along with some scripture-based creeds and confessions, the bible in places affirms a second coming (a return, an appearance, a parousia, an advent) of Jesus Christ, although when, how, and where details are so unclear it has led to some highly imaginative scenarios. In any case, this verse assures us Jesus is for us and will be with those who await him, though it doesn't suggest when. I find the assurance for our future especially interesting because this homily or sermon mostly has been about what Christ already has done for us.

Pentecost 24B • All Saints

All Saints ELCA, University City, San Diego
All Saints Sunday 2013

• Here's All Saints 2020, the first All Saints Day during Covidtide

• And here's All Saints 2023


Hello, Readers,

Despite insisting I was going to blog Hebrews until Reign of Christ, the reading for this Sunday is "more of the same" as I've already written about Jesus as high priest.

• Hebrews 9:11-14

I'm not familiar enough with Hebrews to dig out much more, so let's consider the first reading.

Deuteronomy 6:1-9, [10-12]

¹ "Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, ² so that you and your children and your children's children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long.

³ Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.

⁴ "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

⁶ "Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. ⁷ Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. ⁸ Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem [frontlet] on your forehead, ⁹ and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

¹⁰ When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you – a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, ¹¹ houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, ¹² be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

• Psalm 119:1-8 aligns perfectly with the reading from Deuteronomy.

Similar to the Beatitudes in Matthew's gospel, Psalm 119 declares those of us who walk in God's ways, keep God's decrees, learn the righteous ordinances (maybe learn best by doing?!) will be blessed, happy, content.


Love the Lord Your God

Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, so that you and your children and your children's children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. Deuteronomy 6:1-2

You know the story! Out of imperial Egypt, liberated from production quotas, into the exodus desert, on their way yet still far from the place God first promised Abraham, technically Israel was free. In the desert's sparse economy, only after God quenched their thirst and filled their hunger with surprising gifts like water from the rock and manna from the sky, Israel received the Ten Words or Commandments of the Sinai Covenant. With guidelines and boundaries that would help them stay free, slavery to empire no long would be their frame of reference; instead they would reverence God by serving the neighbor. Walter Brueggemann calls the commandments "breathtaking gifts of grace."

Scholars consider both the nomadic desert lifestyle and the commandments constitutive events for God's people.


Shema, Israel's Creed to Live By

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:4-5

The Shema is about exclusive loyalty to God. In the same way the first commandment charges us "no other gods," no value system, religion, ideology, art, beauty, or aspiration (all good things) is to replace God as our ultimate reference and ground of meaning. One scholar mentioned it's also about "God's internal unity," citing every experience of goodness, love, beauty, wisdom, etc. as "disparate and scattered signals of God's presence." David G. Garber, Working Preacher, 2024

Martin Luther begins his Small Catechism with the commandments. As Luther insisted, we need only the first commandment, "You shall have no other gods." He asks, What does this mean? And answers, "We should fear, love and trust in God above all things."


Milk and Honey

Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey... Exodus 33:3

…a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Deuteronomy 6:3

Milk and honey is a sign of the fullness of God's reign in justice and righteousness. Flowing honey and surging milk begin with fertile land. Rivers of usable water mean luxuriant grass so cattle can graze, cows produce milk, people make cheese. Bovines will bear healthy calves, and they'll fertilize grain and vegetable gardens. Bees make honey; bees pollinate fruits and flowers, vineyards and other food crops. Bees mean fertilized crops; bees mean jars of sweet honey on the shelf, drizzles of honey on your home-baked bread.

Streams mean irrigation for olives, figs, pomegranates, vineyards, barley, and wheat. All that good eatin' outta the good earth leads to conversing and connecting around the table.

Dairy, beef, honey, and harvest mean nourishment for farmers, families, and community, with overflowing everything to sell at market or barter and trade in order to get whatever you cannot grow on your own. I've probably left some connections, but it's about heaven's blessings aplenty on earth, from the heart of the earth—and notice how interrelated and interdependent all this is! As I wrote, I couldn't figure out how to put anything into logical order.

I can just hear the people listening to Moses, loving his words, and promising, "We will do all the words God has spoken!"


Where We Live

Only when milk and honey abounds can we offer back to heaven the feast of eucharist that gathers and welcomes all creation and all people, excluding only those who exclude themselves. This "foretaste of the feast to come," as the liturgy expresses it, is the sign and realization of all creation's reconciliation, a celebration of justice and integrity of all and for all.

The people all answered together,
"All the words the Lord has spoken we will do!"
Exodus 19:8

Pentecost 23B :: Reformation

O magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt God's name forever.
Psalm 34:3
Reformation 507

Most years I've written about Reformation for the last Sunday of October. This year I'm continuing Hebrews, so here's a trio of Reformation Sunday reflections from previous years that celebrate God's grace and freedom in Jesus Christ. The readings are the same every year, but some pastors sometimes apply the current week after Pentecost readings to Reformation, which usually works well.

• Reformation 500 :: 2017

• Reformation 2020–Therefore we will not fear

• Reformation 2021–Be still and know that I am God

Hebrews 7:23-28

²³ Furthermore, the former priests were many in number because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, ²⁴ but he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. ²⁵ Consequently, he is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

²⁶ For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. ²⁷ Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests humans, who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Hebrews, week 4 of 7

As I previously mentioned, because I'm not very familiar with Hebrews I decided blogging about it all seven weeks would be a good learning experience. This week I finally read it in one sitting, although that was wasn't quite my first time. In a previous life we read through Hebrews without commentary or interpretation for our weekly staff devotions. In addition, the Monday evening women's bible study I hosted for a few years (the guys met at someone else's place and we got together whenever anyone had a birthday) at least began a discussion of the book. I remember how interesting it was to discover many well-known biblical quotes in Hebrews.

The homily by a still unidentified author was intended for Jewish Christian either in nearby diaspora or scattered far to the known ends of the earth. I've already mentioned Hebrews is formally and intensely theological, but as I kept reading it struck me how very Greek, systematic, and philosophical it was—rather than being earthbound and Hebraic.


This Week's Passage

Last week, this week, and the next two describe Jesus' high priestly identity in great detail.

Earlier weeks have been about typical requirements and duties for the high priest as mediator between earth and heaven, along with ways Jesus didn't meet some of those in human terms, and the manner in which he met and exceeded them in divine terms.

We learned the human high priest needed to be from the tribe of Levi and descended from Moses' brother Aaron. We heard about the high priest entering the inner tent of the temple once a year to make offerings for his own sins and the transgressions of the community.

The author reminds us Jesus was from the tribe of Judah; Jesus had no need to make offerings one after another,,because the quality of his offering – himself– was sufficient to atone for all the sins of all humanity.

But like conventional high priests, Jesus brought qualities of obedience, compassion, and sympathy.

In all this Jesus goes way far back in the journey of God's people to the book of Genesis and a high priest named Melchizedek, who provides a large part of the template for Jesus' unique high priestly role.

This week emphasizes how human high priests always ended up dying, so they always needed to be replaced, but because Jesus' priesthood is permanent and forever, he thus can save everyone forever. In addition, Jesus' has splendid characteristics of being holy, blameless, undefiled separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens—that we can interpret as authority because of his ascension that was necessary to finish the work of redemption.