Advent 2B

Mark 1:1-8

¹The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. ²As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; ³the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'"

⁴John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. ⁸I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

We opened with the responsive psalm:

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

¹Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. ²You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin. (Selah)

⁸Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts. ⁹Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. ¹⁰Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. ¹¹Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. ¹²The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. ¹³Righteousness will go before him, and will make a path for his steps.

Overview of Mark's gospel from last week...

Review and reminder: Mark's the gospel for the texting and tweeting crowd. Gospel originally was the returning Roman general's victory announcement of wiping out his enemies—a proclamation of death and destruction. Mark was the first to subvert that concept of gospel into God's victory of life over death, the triumph of resurrection.

With the season of advent the church begins a new year of grace and prepares for Jesus' birth at Christmas.

Luke's gospel starts out with genealogy and then moves onto the angel's annunciation to Mary, the birth of John the Baptist, Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, shepherds, angels... the traditional nativity manger scene.

Matthew's gospel begins with genealogy, an angel speaking to Joseph in a dream about Mary's pregnancy – " do not fear", the famous visit by magi from the east, flight into Egypt with Jesus as a refugee.

John begins with the pre-existent logos that's also a type of birth account.

Mark skips all that early stuff and brings us a wilderness scene of John the Baptist by the riverside.

Mark 1 is "the beginning of the good news..." is this chapter the start, or is the entire book of Mark with its 16 chapters the beginning of the good news? Probably! Because the good news continue for centuries, up until today in the 21^st century as we become angels or messengers of the gospel!

Discussion of style, context, and content of the ministry of John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin. Locusts and grasshoppers in the bible are the same thing. John as a nature guy, outside the social and religious establishment, outside polite society. On the edges of the margins.

Advent 1B

Mark 13:24-37

²⁴"But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, ²⁵and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶Then they will see "the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. ²⁷Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. ²⁸"From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.

³⁰"Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. ³²"But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. ³⁵Therefore, keep awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn, ³⁶or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. ³⁷And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake."

With the start of the new church year, we spent a fair amount of time with an overview of the gospel according to Mark; here's a short blog for Advent 1.

Today with the first Sunday of Advent, the church begins a new year of grace. Blue is the color for Advent; blue is the color of hope. Advent with its hope is a harbinger of Easter, the fulfillment of hope. Every year the scripture readings open Advent with a splash of apocalyptic, signaling the end of the world as we've known it—the end of death, destruction, empire, violence, exploitation.

Remember apocalypse, apocalyptic, apocalypticism? Revealing, uncovering, unveiling. Apocalyptic literature usually includes code words and images we need to interpret or unwrap on a level beyond the obvious. The passage from Mark's gospel that opens Advent this year 2017 comes from the middle of Mark's passion narrative!

Mark RCL Year B Intro

As the earliest and shortest and most immediate of the four canonical gospels, Mark is the one for the texting and tweeting crowd!

Although all known manuscripts carry the heading The Gospel According to Mark, it's probably not by Peter's ministry companion John Mark, but from an unknown author (or group thereof).

Prior to Mark, good news or "gospel" was the returning Roman general's announcement of annihilating the other army's troops. This gospel according to Mark subverts that into the Good News of God's victory over the powers of sin and death, the triumph of the reign of life.

Probably written from Rome to Greek speaking gentile Christians, maybe as early as 45 C.E., almost definitely no later than 60 C.E..

Between them, Matthew and Luke include 631 of Mark's 661 verses. We find about 90% in Matthew; 50% in Luke. A year ago we talked about a possible source called Q for the first letter of the German Quelle meaning source or river. Was there a Q? Not known. Was Mark Q? Probably not.

No birth narrative; no resurrection account.
Mark doesn't mention Joseph, Jesus' earthly father.
Mark includes a lot of miracles, healings, and exorcisms.
Mark famously features the Messianic secret – Jesus' don't tell anyone!

Just as in Matthew and Luke, Mark's Jesus loves to refer to himself as "Son of Man" – the Human One. Daniel, Ezekiel, Enoch.

After his baptism followed by 40 days in the wilderness (also in Matthew and Luke), Jesus calls disciples Simon, Andrew, James, and John; then his first act of public ministry is casting out a demon in the midst of a synagogue service.

Just as for Luke, in Mark's gospel the journey to Jerusalem and the cross is intentional and incessant.

Mark particularly brings us God coming near to humanity and to all creation. Think of how central the Jerusalem temple was to economic, political, and religious life. God no longer is far away, behind the clouds, ensconced, contained, and protected in the temple. But then again, all the gospel accounts are about God-with-us, God-among-us, God-for-us...

Where do we look for God? Where do we find God?

Not in the temple – but on the cross
Not in established religious, economic, political institutions – but outside the city limits, in the wilderness. In the stranger and outcast. In, with, and under all creation.
In the mainline church and in mainstream society? Can we answer that question?

Reign of Christ • Christ the King A

Responsive Psalm 95 was our opening prayer

Psalm 95:1-8a

Refrain: We are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

¹O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! ²Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! Refrain

³For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. ⁴In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. Refrain

⁵The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. ⁶O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! Refrain

⁷For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice! ⁸Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness... Refrain

Matthew 25:31-46

³¹"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.

³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.'

³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.'

⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'

⁴⁴Then they also will answer, "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

The church has journeyed through another year of grace; today we conclude with the feast of Christ the King / Reign of Christ / the Sovereignty and Rule of the Crucified and Risen Jesus of Nazareth. I strongly suggested everyone read the commentary from Sundays and Seasons printed on the back of our worship bulletin.

We don't talk much about royalty – kings, queens, etc. Or do we? We know particularly the British royals are well aware of their positions of service to the people. What about others in authority? Government leaders such as presidents, prime ministers, senators, mayors, members of parliament, city or town council— in a democracy, the people elect most of those leaders, so technically their decisions are supposed to respond to the will of the people. Bosses in a workplace? Manager, supervisor, CEO... Church? In most mainline church polities, voting members of the congregation elect the governing board (council, session, consistory, vestry). In episcopal polity that designates the minister of word and sacrament as "rector" or ruler rather than pastor, that person wields a kind of authority the pastor in most Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc. churches doesn't have. However, the resident pastor – whether interim or settled – is responsible for the theology that goes down.

Today is the last Sunday in Revised Common Lectionary Year A that features the gospel we received from the community gathered around Matthew. What are some of Matthew's features?

Matthew begins with Jesus' genealogy, and then emphasizes Jesus as God-with-us, from the time an angel instructs Joseph to name the baby Emmanuel, to the end of the gospel account when Jesus promises to be with us always, and then send us, his followers, out to be his ongoing presence in the world. Although Luke's gospel features the role of women, including Jesus' mother Mary, Matthew tells us quite a lot about Jesus' stepfather Joseph.

Matthew uniquely brings us a visit by the magi from the east, demonstrating Jesus as Savior for all. Only Matthew brings us the flight into Egypt, where Jesus becomes a refugee. Matthew emphasizes Jesus as the new King David and as the new Moses, the new liberator. Pastor Peg reminded us Matthew's Jesus does a lot of teaching and explaining. I mentioned by the time Matthew's community recorded this gospel, the second Jerusalem Temple had been destroyed, but it still was standing during Jesus' earthly life.

Next week we start a new year of grace with the first Sunday of Advent and the gospel according to Mark.

Pentecost 24A

Matthew 25:14-30

¹⁴"For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; ¹⁵to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. ¹⁷In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. ¹⁸But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

¹⁹After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, "Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.' ²¹His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'

²²And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, "Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.' ²³His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.'

²⁴Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, "Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; ²⁵so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' ²⁶But his master replied, "You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? ²⁷Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. ²⁹For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. ³⁰As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

The church has almost cycled through another year of grace! Today is the next to last Sunday for this liturgical year. In the Revised Common Lectionary that provides our scripture readings we're concluding Year A, Matthew's year, that like the others intersperses some readings from the gospel according to John. The RCL is ecumenical, meaning many different church bodies and denominations follow it. Next Sunday we'll celebrate Christ the King / Reign of Christ / the Sovereignty of the Crucified and Risen Jesus of Nazareth. And then it will be Advent.

Today we hear another famous parable, this one's about talents and has received a wide range of interpretations. Originally a talent was a huge amount of money—one source I found said it was about twenty years' wages, but of course that would vary depending the person's job and skill. Using that guideline, five talents would be 100 years' pay! We get the word talent that refers to someone's natural gifts and abilities from the Greek word in this parable.

Jesus does not open with "the kingdom of Heaven / God is like," so this is not a parable of the Kingdom or Reign of God. The account starts out about money and a worker's wages; the master in the story is not God or Jesus. The way the money economy still goes down, if money is making money, someone is being exploited, so Torah and Jewish culture forbade charging interest on a loan. Not only excessive interest or usury—forbidding any interest percentage whatsoever. So the concept of "investing" money in a securities, commodities, or any other market would have been against the counsel of Torah.

A class member pointed out the master gave no instructions, but simply handed out money. One commentary I read (that Pastor Peg also had seen and mentioned) suggested the guy who got only one talent had been a good and faithful steward and held onto the money, had not violated Torah guidelines by trying to make more money with it, and even informed the master about the master's reputation, prophetically speaking truth to power, and got cast out of society. Commentary suggested that guy could be a model for Jesus himself! Someone mentioned they'd only heard this (stewardship?) parable applied to our native gifts and abilities, and that's definitely one type of talent we need to invest and cultivate in time, training, education, practice, some of which take actual money, too.

Pentecost 23A

Matthew 25:1-13

¹Jesus said to the disciples, "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ²Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; ⁴but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. ⁶But at midnight there was a shout, "Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.' ⁷Then all those bridesmaids got up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸The foolish said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' ⁹But the wise replied, "No! there will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'

¹⁰And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. ¹¹Later the other bridesmaids came also, saying, "Lord, lord, open to us.' ¹²But he replied, "Truly I tell you, I do not know you.' ¹³Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Two more Sundays and we'll have cycled through another year of grace in the church! Next week will be Pentecost 24; then on the last Sunday of this year of grace, we'll celebrate Reign of Christ / Christ the King before we move into another season of Advent, into Revised Common Lectionary Year B when we feature the gospel according to Mark that's the earliest and shortest of the four canonical gospels.

Let's begin with the Apostle Paul's reminder from 2 Corinthians 6:2 that reminds us now is the "acceptable time, the day of salvation." Today, this instant, is the time to repent, forgive, start making restitution—the time of action, time of doing justice and righteousness God calls us to through the prophet Amos 5:24 in the first reading for today. Paul picks up on God's promise in Isaiah 49:8a that in a favorable time, a day of salvation, God will answer us and help us. That's right now. It's today.

Like the characters in Matthew's allegory we need to wait, but we also need to take life-giving, merciful, loving, justice-enhancing action Jesus calls us to in the Beatitudes as we wait. Interesting the lectionary juxtaposes this wedding attendants story with Amos' call to cascading righteousness and justice.

Last week for All Saints Sunday we again heard the "Blessed are" Beatitudes from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Maybe you've heard them referred to as Be-Attitudes?

Jesus addresses his parable or allegory to his "disciples," to us. Yes, we need to wait for the second coming of Christ Jesus tells us about, but it's not passive waiting. The "end times" are the end of the world as we know it; the end of violence, injustice, and exploitation that we know too well. The dawn and beginning of the new world of peace-filled shalom, distributive (and other forms of) justice for all, integrity and purposefulness for all creation. The end times are a gateway or open door to the new creation.

Our discussion placed this passage in context of the beatitudes, and in the context of Jesus' talk about end times or eschatology (the word about "last things") in the previous chapter, Matthew 24. Also looking forward to Reign of Christ where Jesus tells people whenever anyone gave a cup of water to the least of these, visited those in prison, etc. they (we, us, you, me) did those merciful and life-restoring actions to him. We talked about the massacre at First Baptist Sutherland, Texas last Sunday. This past week all over social media people said "thoughts and prayers" were not enough. They needed to hear about the end of gun violence, the reform of the NRA, repeal of existing gun laws, etc. Take action! Be God's hands, feet, voice, presence in the world!

Reformation 500

Jeremiah 31:31-34

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, "Know the Lord," for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Opening Prayer from J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 79; this was the choir anthem and our sending hymn – ELW 840.

Now thank we all our God,
with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done,
in Whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers' arms
has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

Martin Rinkart, ca. 1636; translation by Catherine Winkworth

This year's Reformation Sunday / Reformation Day is Reformation 500! Class was less formal and structured than usual. We discussed God's promise of newness and restoration, of resurrection from the dead through the prophets—especially through 2nd Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

I mentioned how today's revised common lectionary texts fit well with Jesus' promise of constant presence with us via the gospel we received from John; how they mesh with this year's featured gospel according to Matthew that starts out with Emmanuel, God-with-us, concludes with Jesus' promise to be with us always and his Great Commission charge to us to be his witnesses and presence everywhere on earth. Over the past 4 weeks we studied passages from Philippians; today also fits well with the Apostle Paul's close identity with the crucified and risen Christ, his longing to be "in Christ' to such an degree he shares in Jesus' death and resurrection.

I asked again how we know God is with us; like last week, (for once) I wanted a specific answer: word and sacrament. Beyond a nice, calm, smug, or satisfied feeling, Word and Sacrament remain earthbound, physical evidence we can sense (smell, hear, taste, see, touch) God is here. With us.

Observations about Luther and other reformers acting as God's agent through the Holy Spirit of life, renewal, restoration, and resurrection. Church always is situated in place and time; we discussed the geography of how we're the only church on this plot of land, this longitude and latitude; talked about the chronology of countless other valid expressions of the church around the world, hundreds in this city.

I asked especially about dreams for LCM, for this neighborhood, and this city. All Saints' Sunday next week!

Pentecost 20A

Psalm 96

Refrain:
Sing a new song for God, all the earth! Sing a new song! Sing a new song!
Sing a new song for God, all the earth! Sing a new song! Sing a new song!

Declare God's glory,
and bless God's name.
Tell the story day after day for God is coming, oh, oh,
here among us, oh, oh!
Refrain:

Let the sky and earth be glad.
Creatures of the sea and land.
Come and make a joyful noise,
ev'rything that has a voice!
Let the sky and earth be glad,
creatures of the sea and land.
Refrain:

And the fields are celebrating,
in their joy the crops are waving,
and the forests singing in rhythm,
ev'ry tree can hold the vision!
Refrain:

Paraphrase and music by Richard Bruxvoort-Colligan

Matthew 22:15-22

¹⁵Then the Pharisees went and plotted to entrap him in what he said. ¹⁶So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. ¹⁷Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?" ¹⁸But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, "Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? ¹⁹Show me the coin used for the tax." And they brought him a denarius. ²⁰Then he said to them, "Whose head is this, and whose title?" ²¹They answered, "The emperor's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's." ²²When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.

Creation Psalms

The lectionary appoints Psalm 96 and two other creation-focused psalms 98 and 148 every year for the feast of the nativity, incarnation, the celebration of God-among-us that begins in a spectacularly paradoxical way with baby Jesus in the Bethlehem manger. Those psalms bring us all creation celebrating the prospect of the new and more loving human stewardship and caretaking of creation that will happen as a result of Jesus. As Hebrew bible scholar Walter Brueggemann says, "Of course the forests clap their hands! No more clear-cutting! Of course oceans rejoice! No more pollution!"

we've traveled far in the church's year of grace...

in this Season of the Spirit of Pentecost, Time of the Church, in the gospel according to Matthew:

After the famous genealogy, Matthew starts out with the angel telling Joseph to name the baby Emmanuel, God-with-us.

At the end of the gospel, Jesus promises to be with us always, and sends us into the world (Great Commission) as his crucified and risen presence. Our readings from John's gospel have emphasized abiding in Jesus. That's more than simple assent, more than plain "believing," more than basic trust. As the apostles Paul would have it with his expression "In Christ" (and with the Philippians passages we've considered over the past month), it's total surrender to Jesus, a kind of melting into him and his way of life, identifying and living into his death and resurrection. Remember, for the apostle Paul, the gospel is Death and Resurrection.

Back to Matthew:

Today's scripture passage has us in Holy Week.

• "The Lord has need." Matthew 21:1-3

• Daughter of Zion, your king is coming to you. Matthews 21:5

• 21:8-9 Palm branches, Hosanna to the Son of David

• 21:10 "When he entered Jerusalem...." who is this?

• 21:11 the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee

• 21:12-17 Cleanses the Temple – "den of robbers" in verse 17 left for Bethany

• 21:18-22 curses the fig tree // verse 22, whatever you pray in faith shall be given to you

• 21:23-27 Enters the Temple, questions about John's baptism verse 17 "neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

Parables

• 21:28-32 vineyard workers

• 21:33-46 Vineyard with watchtower, kills slaves, kills the son; 21:42 stone the builders rejected

Matthew 22

• 22:1-14 Wedding Banquet. 22:9 go into the streets and invite everyone. 22:12 How did you get in here without a wedding robe?

• 22:15-22 today's political practical text

• Last Sunday we heard 22:34-40 the greatest commandment: 37 = God 38 = neighbor as ourselves. The lectionary assigns this text for Pentecost 21, but next Sunday we'll be celebrating Reformation rather than Pentecost 21.

• continuing in Matthew: more parables

Pentecost 19A

Philippians 4:1-9

¹Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved. ²I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. ³Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Moving toward the conclusion of the church's year of grace! This Revised Common Lectionary Year A emphasizes the gospel we received from the community gathered around Matthew. At the start of Matthew an angel instructs Joseph to name the baby "Emmanuel," God-with-us; at the very end, Jesus promises to be with us forever, "Lo, I am with you always." And, of course, we know Jesus' promise through Luke of the Holy Spirit of life, of resurrection, of abiding presence the world received in a spectacular manner on the day of Pentecost and that we as the church bring to the world around us. John's gospel also brings us God's abiding presence in the Spirit.

Texts appointed for Pentecost 19A also include Psalm 23, "Thou art with me" // "You are there" in Joel Martinson's version we sang on Sunday.

One last discussion for now of the apostle Paul's letter to the beloved church at Philippi where we was founding pastor and probably a kind of mission developer. Philippians is the "epistle of Joy," with joy or its cognates occurring at least 16 times. We refer to Philippians as a captivity letter; Paul wrote this epistle from incarceration—possibly house arrest, possibly a dungeon, yet despite circumstances, he maintains confidence in God's ongoing presence in his life and work along with assurance of his essential identity in Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:8 brings us one of Paul's famous lists: true; honorable; just; pure; pleasing' commendable; excellence; worthy of praise...

Discussion: How do we know God is with us? What physical, sensory evidence do we have that can taste, see, feel, smell, hear God-with-us, God in our midst, God's presence with us? For once I wanted a specific response! God self-reveals and is present to us in holy ordinary stuff of creation—water, grain, fruit of the vine. The sacraments model how God comes to us in everyday physical, "means" or vehicles.

How does the world know God is with everyone and with all creation? How does the world perceive God in its midst?

Pentecost 18A

Philippians 3:4b-14

⁴If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: ⁵circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. ⁷Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. ⁸More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith [or faithfulness of] in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, ¹¹if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. ¹²Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Knowing You, Jesus

All I once held dear, built my life upon
All this world reveres, and wars to own
All I once thought gain I have counted loss
Spent and worthless now, compared to this

Knowing you, Jesus
Knowing you, there is no greater thing
You're my all, you're the best
You're my joy, my righteousness
And I love you, Lord

Now my heart's desire is to know you more
To be found in you and known as yours
To possess by faith what I could not earn
All-surpassing gift of righteousness

Oh, to know the power of your risen life
And to know You in Your sufferings
To become like you in your death, my Lord
So with you to live and never die

Graham Kendrick • Copyright © 1993 Make Way Music

This is the 18^th Sunday after the Festival of Pentecost! We're five months into the Time of the Church in the Church's Year of Grace. On the Day of Pentecost we had red paraments and vestments; almost everyone wore red to church. In three weeks we celebrate another major "wear red" festival of the Spirit— Reformation 500! Red also is the liturgical color for commemoration of martyrs.

Today we continue in the Apostle Paul's letter to the church at Philippi. As founding pastor, he writes from prison (house arrest?) with yearning and compassion, conveying his identity in Jesus Christ's death and resurrections is central.

Three of the gospels include an account of Jesus' birth. For Paul, the gospel is death and resurrection! His seven undisputed (authentic) epistles include only a single birth narrative:

⁴But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. Galatians 4

Today's passage starts out with one of Paul's famous lists; this one is tells us his credentials: Notice it includes seven (the number of perfection) elements. You remember his Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5: 22-23, his works of the flesh just before in Galatians 5:19-21? Paul's list of how love behaves in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8?

For Paul, the gospel is death and resurrection. In this passage to the Philippians church he founded, he reminds them "what's really important" in life.

Discussion that included how many people with ample wealth are generally unhappy; many with limited financial means have joy and composure. Pastor Peg observed how Jesus still thought of others, even as he was dying on the cross. How about us?

Pentecost 17A

Psalm 25:1-9

Refrain: To you I lift up my soul; to you I open my life. I give my trust, I give my hope to you.

Teach me the way of holiness;
my eyes are ever on you.
Teach me the way of honesty;
my eyes are ever on you.
Refrain

Your perfect love as old as time;
we live in your covenant love.
Your faithfulness as old as times;
we live in your covenant love.
Refrain

Psalm paraphrase by Richard Bruxvoort-Colligan

Philippians 2:1-13

¹If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, ²make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. ⁵Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

⁶who,
though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
⁷but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
⁸he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

⁹Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

¹²Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Pentecost 16A

Psalm 145:1-8

¹I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. ²Every day I will bless you, and praise your name forever and ever. ³Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable. ⁴One generation shall laud your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. ⁵On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. ⁶The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed, and I will declare your greatness. ⁷They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness, and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. ⁸The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

After opening with responsive Psalm 145, we began with the serendipitous start of the Philippians church. Acts 16 recounts how Paul and Timothy went to Roman colony Philippi in Macedonia, then to the river on the sabbath to find an ad hoc synagogue {if there was no local synagogue, Jews would gather at the river to form a minyan or at least to pray together}, then finding Purveyor of Purple Cloth Lydia by the riverbank, finally the baptism of Lydia and her entire family.

Acts 16

⁶They [Paul and Timothy] went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ⁷When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; ⁸so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. ⁹During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." ¹⁰When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

¹¹We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, ¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. ¹³On the sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.

¹⁴A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us.

Most major cities originated and grew up alongside a river; waterways are strategic nodes of communication, commerce, immigration, and exchange of ideas. The early church always baptized in the flowing water of a river; a river is a dynamic, open system. How about our walk by faith? A participant at our August Green Faith Team meeting suggested being baptized in the Los Angeles (San Diego, Amstel, Cumberland, Chicago) River, identifying with the city beside the river banks, especially seeking the well-being of that river and that place.

Philippians 1:21-30

²¹For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. ²²If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. ²³I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; ²⁴but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. ²⁵Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, ²⁶so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

²⁷Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God's doing. ²⁹For God has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well— ³⁰since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

The apostle Paul wrote this letter from jail or prison or (most probably) house arrest. Incarceration. Philippians is his "epistle of joy" to that church at Philippi where the Roman caesar was the default divinity. Philippians uses the word joy 16 times, Christ 50 times.

In 1:27 Paul counsels the Philippian Christians to live out their baptism via their public, political lives "in a manner worthy of the gospel" as witnesses to Jesus' death and resurrection—not to Rome's death-dealing imperialism. How about us? As we frequently observe during our Sunday morning discussions, even the smallest actions add up to big ones; they're synergistic— more than the sum of their individual parts!

Pentecost 15A

Psalm 103:1-13

¹Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. ²Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits— ³who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, ⁴who redeems your life from the Pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, ⁵who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. ⁶The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed.

⁷He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.

⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. ⁹He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger for ever. ¹⁰He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. ¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him; ¹²as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us. ¹³As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.

Romans 14:1-12

¹Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. ²Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. ³Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. ⁴Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

⁷We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸ If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹For it is written, 'As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.' ¹²So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Psalm 103

Again the responsive psalm was our opening prayer. Psalm 103 wonderfully asks us to bless God! We often think of God blessing us, blessing all creation; how gracious of us to return the favor. Check out the long list of gifts as God forgives, heals, redeems, crowns, satisfies, renews, syndicates, justifies, bestows mercy, grace, compassion. Surprisingly, the Hebrew for "steadfast love" in this passage isn't the famous chesed we've mentioned quite a few times. It's plain old regular love. At the offertory, one of our soloists sang "O Bless the Lord, My Soul" setting of Psalm 103 from Godspell!


Being Church / Romans

We continue four months into the church's year of grace in the Season of Pentecost that's specifically time of the Spirit, Season of the Church. This year emphasizes the gospel account we received from the community surrounding Matthew, but today we'll consider another passage about living in community, living as disciples of Christ, living "in Christ" from the apostle Paul's letter to the church at Rome. You'll remember we've been hearing a lot of "ways to be church" from Jesus via Matthew; St. Paul backs it up, clarifies it all, even though he wrote Romans about 30 years prior to the C.E. 80 date we generally considerable most reliable for Matthew. Romans is Paul's carefully thought through, mature theology You may recall Romans is the seventh and the latest of Paul's undisputed epistles. That means writings that definitely carry marks of his authorship in terms of vocabulary, syntax, grammar, sentence structure. They still probably received some editing as they made rounds of different churches.


Adiaphora

Paul's letters to the various churches reveal him as pastor, church planter, circuit rider. He hadn't yet been to Rome… Today we'll consider adiaphora, or things (practices, objects, etc) that are indifferent—neither commanded nor forbidden. I said a little about the moral philosophical category of adiaphora and some about worship and liturgical practices during the Reformation in terms of Lutheran and Reformed interpretations. There was a famous incident of doctrinal adiaphora that involved Luther's sidekick Philipp Melanchthon… is only justification by faith "essential" or are there other critical doctrines?


Being Neighbors

Regarding obligations, lending, debt, oughtness, payback, last week in Romans 13:8, Paul advised us "Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." This week's passage reminds us being in Christ is our essential identity; aside from Word and Sacrament, most ceremonial, dietary, and other practices in church and in our daily lives are neither commanded nor forbidden. They're matters of indifference, or adiaphora. However, just as we've discussed regarding neighborology, or the word about being neighbors, we need to consider the position, the needs, histories, sensitivities, and even preferences of the other.

Pentecost 14A

Psalm 119:33-40

Refrain:
I desire the path of your commandments, the path of your commandments.

³³Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end. ³⁴Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. ³⁵Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. ³⁶Turn my heart to your decrees, and not to selfish gain. ³⁷Turn my eyes from looking at vanities; give me life in your ways. ³⁸Confirm to your servant your promise, which is for those who fear you. ³⁹Turn away the disgrace that I dread, for your ordinances are good. ⁴⁰See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life.

Matthew 18:15-20

¹⁵"If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. ¹⁶But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

¹⁸Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. ¹⁹Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. ²⁰For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."

Backtracking

We prayed responsive psalm 119:33-40 to open class. Everyone confirmed this acrostic poem that begins each section with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet is the longest in the psalter. Sara suggested we almost could use a section of for each Sunday of the year! Psalm 119 celebrates the obedience and freedom we receive in the gift of Torah. Different versions and translations refer to God's counsel to us as way, law, statues, commandments, ordinances, decrees, promise, testimonies, instructions, precepts, path. Hebrew has no word for "promise!" But every Word God speaks is a promise that will be fulfilled.

After the psalm section, I did a quick rundown of thus far in Matthew as we've journeyed about 75% through this Year of Grace. We started with John the Baptist's announcement of God's (the Reign of Heaven's in Jewish Matthew's parlance) presence in our very midst. Moving forward to the angel telling Joseph to name the baby Emmanuel, "God-with-us," and then to the Bethlehem stable, the manger, a baby, this Lord, who is Heaven among us. Onto the season of Epiphany that reveals Jesus for everyone, the gospel for the entire world. Then to Jesus's public ministry, passion, death, and resurrection. The fifty days of Easter prepared us for Jesus' ascension when he assumed sovereignty over all creation and prepared to send the Holy Spirit of Life (Resurrection, Renewal) that we celebrate on the Day of Pentecost that's the fiftieth day of Easter. Matthew's gospel concludes with Jesus' promise to be God-with-us forever.

On Easter evening in the gospel according to John, Jesus bestowed the Holy Spirit on his followers and counseled them regarding forgiving and not forgiving similar to our Matthew passage today. We sometimes refer to forgiving and retaining sin, binding and loosing as the "power of the keys" or the "office of the keys."

We've received instructions from Jesus via gospel writers from the communities gathered around John and gathered around Matthew. Matthew in particular is the only gospel that refers to church as ecclesia for the called-out assembly (terminology came from the Roman City Council); Matthew brings us some explicit ecclesiology, or instructions for structure, functions, and behaviors within the church as the gathered, Spirit-Inspired people of God.

Binding and Loosing

This is an extremely famous, much-discussed and analyzed passage about a central forgiveness, renewal, and restoration-related activity God calls us to. Pastor Peg reminded this text mostly is for church insiders, and doesn't relate to our treatment of all comers. It's about restoring and maintaining community in Christ; it's not about being a social club or group (all of which can be useful and wonderful) that people tend to leave when the going gets tough. Barbara commented "treat them like gentiles and tax collectors" jumped out at her. I replied, "But how did Jesus treat gentiles and tax collectors?! He included them! This was one of Jesus' many activities that outraged the religious and political insiders: he eats with sinners and outcasts. Pastor Peg told us she was going to emphasize just that in her sermon (and she did).

In the power of the Spirit, admonition, forgiveness, and restoration is one of many ways we live as the ongoing presence of the crucified and risen Christ in the word.