Reflections on "The Beatitudes: Those Who Mourn" Matthew 5: 1-12; Isaiah 61: 1-4

This was the second week of a five week series on the Beatitudes. 

 The source citations are not as good as they should be.  The Barbara Brown Taylor quote did not have the book from which the citation came. I also utilized the New Interpreter's Bible's commentary on Matthew several times.  I tried to reference it each time, but may have missed a spot.  I try not to be so sloppy with my source citations, but had a bad week in that regard.

I have learned a lot about the Beatitudes, which also means each week I had been challenged to find a focus in midst of all the material.  It has also been a challenge to connect the Beatitudes to our daily living.  

I found myself moving off the written text quite a bit, so what was preached is quite a bit different than what is found below.

When I went back over my notes for the sermon searching for better source citations, I realized that I had not included some of Mark Powell's insights in the sermon.  The sermon would have been better had I remembered his comments. For example, he notes how to inherit is to receive a gift, not earn a reward, which would have been a good point to make in the sermon (Powell, God with Us, 126). 

The connection to Isaiah 61 and then Jesus' use of that passage in the Gospel of Luke was an important point.

“Those Who Mourn”  SAPC, January 26, 2020, Beatitude series Week 2;   Matthew 5: 1-12; Isaiah 61: 1-4

When Jesus[a] saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

3 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely[b] on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Introduction:  We continue reading through the Beatitudes this morning. A reminder that in Matthew, the Beatitudes were the first instructions recorded from Jesus after he began his ministry with teaching and healing.

he seems to be speaking to his disciples, who have gathered with him on the mount, but the crowds seem to be listening in as well.

In the second and third Beatitudes we focus on this morning, we see clearly how Jesus builds on the Old Testament understandings the people brought to his words.

Move 1: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted” is closely tied to the prophet Isaiah’s words that we read in the 61st chapter.

a.  A reminder - in the Gospel of Luke, immediately after being tempted in the wilderness Jesus goes to Nazareth, read this prophecy from Isaiah, and then announces he has come to fulfill what Isaiah had prophesied.

b.  Back to the word “mourn.”

1.   We hear the word mourn and probably think about someone whose loved one has died.

2.  As we dedicate our prayer room that houses the columbarium, we might have images of people gathering in the prayer room to mourn the death of their loved ones whose ashes are inured in the columbarium.

2. We can imagine the emotions that come with that kind of mourning.

b.  As we hear Jesus refer to those who mourn, we need to broaden our sense of those who mourn.

1.   The biblical tradition of those who mourn is tied to the community of God’s people who mourn the devastation of Israel and the disobedience that brought about such destruction;  

2. When the prophet Isaiah prophesies about to spirit of the Lord being upon the one who comes to “comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn in Zion,” he is talking to those who see the devastation of Jerusalem, those who live in the aftermath of the defeat of God’s people (New Interpreter’s Bible, Matthew) 

  3. Mourning takes on a communal aspect.  

4.  those who mourn are being told that God is not done.  Comfort and justice will still be found for God’s people and the world.

5.  those who mourn are God’s people who look at the world and lament the gap they see between the reality in the world and the world to which God calls us.

6. In this Beatitude, we heard Jesus offer a word of hope to those gathering to listen to him. 

b. “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” also has Old Testament connections. 

1. the Greek word for “meek” can be translated as “gentle” and is used in several places in the Gospel of Matthew to characterize the reversal of kingship as lived out in the world in which they live (New Interpreter’s Bible, Matthew)

2.  paralleled by Psalm 37:11; in the OT context, meek are nonviolent people who are humble and gentle in their dealings with others because they have humbled themselves before the greatness of God. 

3.  in the context of Psalm 37, it seemed to be a promise that the tenant farmers and owners of small plots of ground would no longer be oppressed by the wicked rich but would gain their fair share of the soil.  

4.  Perhaps Matthew uses the phrase “they shall inherit the earth” to use imagery grounded in the experience of those who worked the land.  (Douglas Hare’s, Matthew, from the Interpretation commentary series, 37-39)

5. again in this third Beatitude we hear Jesus offering a word of hope to those who live in the gap between how the world operates in real-time and God’s desire for how the world should operate.

Move 2:  Finding our place in the Beatitudes

a.   We note that Jesus is speaking to people who mostly belong to the minority and marginal community in their world.

1. Jesus’ words are meant to shape and strengthen the community's identity and lifestyle as they live in a dominant culture that does not share the worldview they have as God’s people.

2.  They have little power and are desperate to be reminded that God is still at work, that they can still hope in the future God has for them.

3. And that hope should shape the way they live their lives.

b.  Fast-forward to our time when we live in a  much different context.

1.  We can read about the decline fo Christianity and the failings of the church, but we still recognize that we Christians have power and resources in our world.

2.  We are not a minority group with no ability to enact change.

c.  as we hear these Beatitudes, we can be people who lament the gap between the reality of the world in which we live and the kingdom to which God calls us.

1.  Barbara Brown Taylor – dual citizenship;   a man describes his dilemma: “On Sunday morning, I walk into a world that is the way God meant it to be.  People are considerate of one another. Strangers are welcomed.  We pray for justice and peace.  Our sins are forgiven.  We all face in one direction and we worship the same God.  When it’s over, I get in my car to drive home feeling so full of love it’s unbelievable, but by the time I’ve gone twenty minutes down the road it has already begun to wear off.  By Monday morning it’s gone, and I’ve got another whole week to wait until Sunday rolls around again.” (my notes lost the book, but the page number is correct! p. 26) 

2.  Our calling, it seems to me, is to work to close the gap.

3.  To use the power and resources we have available to transform the world we know into the world that reflects the justice and mercy of God.

4. we can dare to do this work because we know, that in life and death, we belong to Jesus Christ, the one who came and modeled for it what it was like to work for justice, to bring healing, or free the oppressed, to heal the sick, to proclaim the good news.

5. that is the assurance Jesus offers his followers, offers us in the Beatitudes; that is the call Jesus issues to those listening.

Conclusion:  Are we listening?

Reflections on “Words from the Mount” Matthew 5: 1-12

The sermon begins a five-week series on the Beatitudes.  Interestingly enough, it is the first time I have preached a series on the Beatitudes, although my predecessor here at St. Andrew had done one many years ago (the old-timers can make the comparisons, I suppose!).  

When the week started and I did the bulletin, i thought the emphasis was going to be on the difference between Moses and the  Ten Commandments and Jesus with the Beatitudes, but that did not bear out as I did my sermon preparation.  I do think it made an interesting part of Move 2 in the sermon below.

I was hard to push through all the information I read about the Beatitudes and shape it into a sermon.  I also found it challenging to figure out how the Beatitudes speak to us today.  Figuring out what to do with the eschatological emphasis of the Beatitudes, while not making the Beatitudes those things that are so beyond our human ability to do them was problematic for me.  I think it is also hard to speak of the "poor in spirit" or "poor in anything" in a congregation where most of us do not know what poor is, whether because we have lots of wealth or because we might be deluding ourselves!

I found the discussion of "happy" or "blessed" to be really interesting.  I could probably spend a whole sermon (or maybe series) on the concept of blessed as well.

“Words from the Mount”  SAPC, January 19, 2020, Beatitude series Week 1; Matthew 5: 1-12  

When Jesus[a] saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

3 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely[b] on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Introduction:  Welcome to the Beatitudes, the opening section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

As the story goes in Matthew, Jesus has been baptized in the River Jordan with the voice from the heavens declaring he is the Son of God; 

then tempted in the wilderness and overcoming the devil; 

Jesus called the disciples; 

and now he initiates his ministry by preaching to the crowds. 

For Matthew, the Beatitudes are the first real teaching and instruction Jesus does.  

We will spend the next five weeks exploring the Beatitudes.

Since there are more Beatitudes than weeks in the series, we will double and sometimes triple up the Beatitudes.  

You might note as we work through the Beatitudes that they can be seen as three different sections( Mark Powell, God with Us: A Pastoral Theology of Matthew’s Gospel)119-140):  

the first four: 

The second four: 

and the final section when the language shifts and seems to focus solely on the disciples:  “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely[b] on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

This morning we look at the Beatitudes in some general ways and then look at the first “Blessed” statement.

Move 1:  Do we mean Blessed or happy?

a.  If you have been exposed to the Beatitudes over the years, you probably have heard them introduced with the word “blessed” or the word “happy” to begin each phrase.

1.  Happy is well within the acceptable translation of the Greek makarios. 

2.  Literally, makarios describes “certain people wh are in a privileged, fortunate circumstance” (New Interpreter’s Bible).  LIterally, Jesus pointing out people who are in a fortunate circumstance.

3.  The challenge of using “happy” is that it has the connotation of feeling good, or putting a smile on our face. "Happy" references our emotional state.

4. In fact, the way “Blessed” has become used in recent years focuses more on the emotional state as evidenced by the proliferation of #blessed to describe when something makes us feel good or happy.

b. Jesus is doing much more than trying to make those listening feel good about themselves - Jesus is announcing how we are to understand salvation in the counter-cultural worldview he proclaims.

1.  The blessed, particularly in the first four instances (See Mark Powell for his discussion of the three stanzas of the Beatitudes), are referring to those people for whom God shows favor and includes in the kingdom fo God that has come near.

2.  the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and those who thirst for righteousness characterize those who are saved.

3.  it is not explicitly a call for the disciples or those listening to become poor in spirit, or mourners, or meek, or people who thirst for righteousness, but a description of how God views the world.

c. This perspective, of course, is counter to the values of the world.

1.  the world into which Jesus comes is a world of empire - the Romans have the power, the Romans conquer, the powerful run the world.

2. Even within the religious segment of the world into which Jesus comes, the Jewish community, the religious authorities have the power to demand how one acts and to convey God’s blessing.

3. But Jesus offers a different view - he does not come to live out the commands fo the powerful in the world; he does not come to confirm the worldview that the ones with all the resources and control have it all.

4. No, Jesus comes to offer a different approach that begins with understanding God as the ultimate source of life and power, the God who comes to save.

d.   I had a conversation with a friend this week about one of their close friends,  a guy I knew a bit, who had died.

As those types of conversations go, we ended up talking about who is in heaven and who is not.  

what were the chances of this guy who died getting into heaven.

1.  I imagine a similar type of conversation is in the background of the Beatitudes.

2. Jesus’ disciples, who have been looking for the messiah and are betting, literally with their lives, that he is the one, have been listening to him preach, looking out over the crowds.

3.  now, they are gathered on the mountain (text not clear about who is listening in at the point; it reads like it is the Jesus with a small group of his disciples, but later it suggests the crowd is still listening).

4.  As I envision it, one of the disciples asks jesus, “So Jesus, look at all those people out there.  Which ones of them are going to be saved.  Which ones of them are what we call “Blessed.”

5. And off Jesus goes, connecting the good news he brings with the world in a very different way - the world’s power does not matter; God’s power to save is all that counts.

Move 2:  IN the Beatitudes, we also learn something important about Jesus - following him may be harder than following the Ten Commandments.

a.  Jesus comes across in this story as the next Moses.

1. Remember the pattern to Moses’ life:  he is saved in a basket during the slaughter of infants; he goes away and then returns as the hero; he literally passes through the waters of the Red Sea; he and the Israelites are tempted in the wilderness; he goes up on a mountain to talk to God.

  

2. now here comes Jesus:  he is saved from the slaughter of infants; he runs away to Egypt to return late as a leader of God’s people;  he passes through the waters of baptism;  he is tempted in the wilderness; he goes up on the mount to talk about God.

b.  I suspect the disciples were looking for the updated version of the Ten Commandments.

1.  Black and white rules.

2. Okay, maybe not quite black and white, but certainly rules to live by that seem rather specific.

3. But Jesus does not offer black and white rules.

4. Jesus invites the disciples to understand the world in a different way.

5.  Jesus invites the disciples to ground their lives in God’s righteousness, not the ways of the world.  

6.  God’s righteousness marked by love, mercy, and justice.

c.  Moses bring rules.

1. Jesus offers a new way of life.

2.  Charles Cook - “We admire the instruction, but fear the implications.”

3.  Discipleship is not about following a set of rules, but about giving yourself wholly over to God.

Move 3:  Specific example:  “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.”

a.  The Greek word for ptochoi (poor) is seen as referencing a group mentioned in the Old Testament that are the  dispossessed and abandoned ones in Israel. 

1.  In Matthew, However, it is likely that Matthew extends the image beyond Israel to the "dispossessed and abandoned people of the world in general" [Mark Powell, God with Us: A Pastoral Theology of Matthew’s Gospel, p. 123]

2.  the people who understood that they had no hope if they were dependent on what they could do for themselves, or what they could provide for themselves.  Their only hope was in God.

3.  In fact, there was an Old Testament understanding of the poor that looked upon the poor as being pious, closer to God because they understand their dependence on God.

4.  But in Matthew, Jesus adds the phrase “in spirit” to poor, which suggests financial poverty and spiritual poverty.

5. What could be more hopeless than to have no financial viability and no reason to even have hope.

6.  And yet, these poor in spirit are the ones Christ identifies as those being claimed by God

b. As we hear Jesus lift up the “poor in spirit,” he reveals how different a message the good news he brings is to the message the world gives.

1.  The poor in spirit, the hopeless, the ones who have no power in direct contrast to those who control the world, who can make demands on what people should do.

3.  The good news Jesus proclaims is that God sees the world differently than we do.

c. Imagine you are one of those disciples who has given your life to following Jesus in the hope that he is in fact the messiah.

1. or imagine you are one of those in the crowd who are listening as Jesus teaches with authority.

2.  Or better yet, hear these words of Jesus today in our own time, as followers of Christ who have access to lots of power and are not by most standards in the world considered poor.

3.  how do we hear these words?

4.  Perhaps as a reminder that the good news Jesus brings does not reaffirm the ways of the world.

5.  We are called to a new way of living the begins with giving our lives over to God, submitting to God’s desires, laying claim to our hope in God, not in the powers and riches of the world.

6.  We also hear the good news that as Jesus looks out over the disciples and the gathered people, Jesus claims us as those people.

7. We are not outsiders listening as Jesus describes those other people whom he claims.  

8.  Jesus claims even us.

9.  We may not be there yet; we may still be too caught up in the ways of the world; but Jesus claims us and calls us to a new way of life.

Conclusion:  Go ahead and tweet it, text it, announce it - #blessedarethepoorinspiritfortheirsisthekingdomofheaven.  And then live it.

Reflections on “Passing through the Waters” January 2019, Matthew 3: 13-17; St. Andrew; Baptism of the Lord Sunday

I had some new insights on this text for this sermon.  I enjoyed working with the text this week.  

The final story was one I had saved to share at the man's funeral, but I had left the church I served in OH before he died.  it sort of felt like I was preaching that part of the sermon for him!

“Passing through the Waters”   January 2019,  Matthew 3: 13-17; St. Andrew; Baptism of the Lord Sunday

Matthew 3: 13-17  Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved,[d] with whom I am well pleased.”

Introduction: Matthew simply tells the story of Jesus’ baptism.

Matthew is not trying to give us a theological rationale for baptism. 

In fact, the story in some ways confuses our understanding of baptism.    We tie baptism closely, although not exclusively, to forgiveness of sins, which means the story fo Jesus’ baptism is confusing - why would the sinless Jesus need baptism?

No, the theology of baptism will be argued about and worked out over the generations following Jesus’ baptism as the church decides how and when baptism should take place.

Matthew simply tells the story of Jesus’ baptism.

Matthew is not trying to give a theological rationale about who Jesus is.

The voice from the heavens is less a theological rationale for Trinity than a familial statement of recognition - God calling out God’s son for all to recognize.

Again, generations of theologians will hammer out what it means to follow a  Trinitarian God.

Matthew simply tells the story of Jesus’ baptism.

We who receive Matthew’s story are left with less theology about baptism and more of an impression of who Jesus is and what he is doing as he passes through the waters of baptism.

So let’s take  few moments and reflect on Jesus being baptized.

Move 1:  In his baptism, Jesus joins with us.

a.  In our baptismal language, we speak of how we are united with Christ in our baptism.

1. For me, one of the powerful moments in our funerals and memorial services is when we return to the waters of baptism and proclaim that in our baptism we are united with Christ in his death and in his resurrection.

2.  Our claim of baptism which links us to Christ.

3. In some ways, that language speaks of our movement toward Christ.

b. In Christ’s baptism, however, we clearly see that Jesus first moves to us as he joins with us in the waters of baptism.

1. john is correct, after all  - it makes more sense for him to baptize Jesus.

2.  Jesus seems to understand John’s point - “let it be so now,”  Jesus replies, both an acknowledgment that this is not the usual baptism for John but something that needs to be done.

3.  In fact, Jesus goes on to say that is must be done to fulfill all righteousness.  In other words, to live into the right relationship between God and humanity that begins with God’s covenant to be faithful and to save God’s people (Warren Carter, Professor of New Testament; Brite Divinity School, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3137)

4.  In passing through the waters of baptism, Jesus further defines God’s relationship with us as one in which God joins with us.

c.  Notice that pattern for how God connects with us.

1. God’s chooses to join with us.

2. Evident at Jesus’ baptism is an ironic tension that reminds constant throughout his entire earthly ministry.  Jesus’ uniqueness is known in and shouted from the heavens - a higher authority there is not - but his own baptism and ministry are characterized by a consistent and conscious submission to those for whom he is bringing the gospel.  (Troy Miller, 241, Feasting the Word:  Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, Volume 1, Advent through Transfiguration; eds David L Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, Westminster John Knox Press)

3. In some ways, Jesus being baptized in the River Jordan by John is the adult version of Jesus being born in Bethlehem.  

2. God’s persistent and consistent joining with us.

Move 2:  Jesus moves through the water of baptism as part of his life’s trajectory.

a.  Simply put, we might say that Jesus has come from God and is going to God.( http://donteatalone.com/uncategorized/lenten-journal-where-are-we-going, Milton Brasher-Cunningham, 2/17/13, donteatalone blog) 

1.  Jesus, who arrived as God’s gift in the Christ-child is moving back toward God.

2. Passing through the waters of baptism on his way.

b.  We model our lives after Jesus.

1. We, too, pass through the waters of baptism, whee we are united with Christ.

2. We commit to following where Jesus goes.

3. We join with Jesus as we follow him toward God.

c.  That movement, of course, encompasses more than just being baptized.

1.  In joining with Christ in this movement, we commit to living and working as his disciples in our world.

2.  As the prophet Isaiah describes our task:  we follow Jesus to become a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

3.  We who have been given the gift of life by God now live our lives as a gift to God.

Move 3:  In the waters of baptism, we find our hope.

a.  Not everyone wants to be baptized.

1.  In fact, there is a growing trend of people being “debaptized.”

2.  this seems to of particular interest in Europe.

3.  in the last decade, tens of thousands of people have been debaptized.

4.  For some, being debaptized involves downloading  certificate of debaptism that renounces their baptism (The Lutheran" June 2009, p12  "'De-baptism' Forms a Hit”) 

5. For others, being debaptized is a little more lighthearted s they have ceremonies with blow dryers drying off the top of your head  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debaptism)

6.  Presumably, if you were immersed you would have to blow dry your whole body.

b.  Imagine wanting so badly to be debaptized, to renounce God’s claim on your life.

1.  A sign of despair .

2.  Not knowing where to turn or not trusting in the God to whom we are called to turn.

3.  Some days, perhaps we can imagine such despair.  

4. Turn on the news or go to your favorite news website:  political turmoil in the United States; fires raging in Australia; the brink of war in the Middle East; a Ukrainian civilian plane accidentally shot down; tensions with North Korea

5. much to worry about - hard to see a way out at times.

c. Into that despair comes the question:  with whom do you want to put your trust?

1.  There was an old guy in the church I served in Ohio.

tough, old guy.  I would say he was the last member to finally agree that I was ok to be his minster.  It only took about five years, or so.  

WWII vet.  Had one of those souvenir bosses with stuff from his time in military hanging from the wall.  one day, I noticed it had both a purple heart and a silver star.

I asked him to tell me about it.  Both were earned the same day of battle in Italy.  he was in a forward observation car calling in mortar strikes and airstrikes. He literally got blown up, he told me he ended up in a broken-down vehicle in a crater that had once been the observation point.  

but he was able to keep on communicating, despite being wounded.  For that he ended his medals.  

He sort of glossed over that part of the story.  The part of the story he really wanted me to hear was about the day before the battle.

they knew what was about to happen.  He’d grown up going to the Presbyterian Church in Troy, but he had never been baptized. 

so the day before the battle, he walked back to the rear, a mile or more, found a chaplain, and was baptized.

he told me he wanted to be baptized with Jesus before he went into battle.

Conclusion:  Jesus passes through the waters of baptism to join with us, in life and in death.

.

Reflections on "marked People" Matthew 2: 1-12

I think this is the fourth time in the last three weeks we have read from a portion of Matthew 2.  From the star stopped on Christmas Eve to Joseph leaving for Egypt with Mary and baby Jesus in two to the wise men's escapades to the Egypt and Nazareth being places in the birth narrative, the preaching has been Matthew-centric.  I suppose most years we mostly focus on the Luke birth narrative, so it was ok to spend s much time in Matthew.

This sermon was tied to a Sunday school activity in which the kids marked the doorways of the church with gold stars as a contemporary living out of the Christian Epiphany tradition of "marking the doors" to declare Christ's presence in all the rooms we enter and leave.  

We also had the wise people (three young men and a tag-a-long young woman) process to the chancel area with gifts as we began our worship service.  They also joined us for the Time with Young Disciples, where they were interviewed about their experience of going to Bethlehem.  

Needless to say, we had a lot going on that filtered into the sermon.  Not sure the sermon worked that well - maybe too much going on!

“Marked People”  Epiphany SAPC, January , 2019; Matthew 2: 1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men[a] 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,[b] and have come to pay him homage.” 3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, 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[c] was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:

6 

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

    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler

    who is to shepherd[d] my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men[e] 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,[f] until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw that the star had stopped,[g] 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.

Introduction:  Epiphany Sunday 

the appearance of God — Christ’s birth;  Epiphany focuses on the wise men arriving to discover this appearance of God.

epiphany can also mean a revelation - new revelation of who God is and how God chooses to live and work among us in human flesh.

But the new revelation not just about who God is in Christ, but we also come to realize who we are because of God coming in Christ, who we are in light of God’s ongoing presence, who we are because of God’s promise to come again in Christ.  

Look at this new revelation through the lens of the story of the wise men.

Move 1: First of all, we notice they were looking for the appearance of God in the particular.

a.  The question the wise men have for King Herod:   “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews?”

1.  Not looking for God in general terms.

2.  Not looking for some generic god.

               3. they were looking for God in particular” (I came across this idea reading Dr. John Mcoy’s sermon, “A Wise Man's Christmas”12/20/.81 sermon preached on St. Andrew)

4. Looking for the God with whom they could have a relationship.

5.  Looking for the God who comes in the particularity of their lives.

b. Likewise, we are not looking for some general concept of God.

1.  We are looking for the God who comes in the particularity of our lives and our time.

2.  During Sunday school today the kids put into practice an old Epiphany tradition of marking the doors.

3.  They put stars over the doors as a reminder that Christ arrived and is present.

4. Christ, the real person, who arrived and is present even now by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the particular places we live and go.

Move 2:  The Wise men also remind us that the appearance of God in Christ marks us for salvation and redemption.

b.  In the coming fo Christ, we see God’s desire to save and redeem all the world.

1.  Tom Long reminds us that  the wise men are the out-of towners; 

2. the wise men are the outsiders to the faith;

3. they did not have the long tradition of expecting a Messiah.

4. They did not know the customs and rituals of the Jewish tradition.

5.  But they arrived at the house where the baby Jesus was because they were seeking God.

6.  There they found God and their lives were changed forever.

b.  The chalking of the doors that took places in Sunday school takes us back to that night in Egypt when God’s people were instructed to mark their doors so the angel of death would pass over them

1.  the night marked God rescuing Israel from slavery in Egypt.

2.  The story of the night is told generation after generation to remind God’s people of God’s saving grace and God’s desire to redeem.

c.  the similarity in marking the doors in Egypt and marking our doors today is not just the fact that marks were made over doors, but in what the marks mean - God is at work saving us

1. that is God’s desire we discover in the presence of Christ is our midst; that is what we lay claim to  - God’s saving grace.

2.  We join with the wise men as people marked for salvation and redemption by the appearance of Christ.

Move 2:  marked by the journey

a.  poem entitled “Wise and Weary Ones”

Christmas was gone

before they got to the manger,

camels and servants grumbling.

“We saw his star in the east,” they said.

Mary wondered why

a sign from God didn’t get

them there on time for the birth.

“You missed the angel choir,” she replied.

They knelt before the babe,

offering gifts and hopeful hearts: 

“What matters is we made it.”

( Milton Brasher-Cunningham - January 8, 2015; donteatalone blog)

b.  We never hear from the wise men again.

1. they appear with little known about them.

2. they discover God in the Christ-child.

3. then they go home a different way.

4. People changed by discovering God present in their midst.

Conclusion:   We are marked people, changed by the God we meet in Christ.  Amen.

Reflections on "Ornaments: No Ornaments” SAPC, December 29, 2019 Matthew 2: 13-23

The final sermon on the Advent/Christmas preaching series on ornaments.  As an addition to the sermon, "Joseph" walked down the center aisle after the Scripture reading and laid down on the top step of the chancel area.  At the point noted in the sermon, he jumped up and raced down the center aisle out of the sanctuary.  "joseph" did a great job, but I do not think it added to the sermon as I imagined it would.

“Ornaments:  No Ornaments”  SAPC, December 29, 2019,  

Now after they [wise men] had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 Then Joseph[h] got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”

16 When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men,[i] he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.[j] 17 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:

“A voice was heard in Ramah,

    wailing and loud lamentation,

Rachel weeping for her children;

    she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

19 When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 20 “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” 21 Then Joseph[k] got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And after being warned in a dream, he went away to the district of Galilee. 23 There he made his home in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled, “He will be called a Nazorean.”

Keith comes down center aisle and lays down on top chancel step.

Move 1:  one of our family Christmas traditions in OH was to cut down our Christmas tree.  

All our home videos and Christmas photo albums have two rounds of Culps at the Valley View Farm – the first when we tagged the tree; the second, when we cut the tree and brought it home (usually one round of photos had everyone smiling; one round recorded an obvious spat among the girls)

One round of photos usually involved cold weather with heavy jackets and often snow on the ground; the second set was usually warmer.

Except one year. One year it was warm in the photos when we tagged the tree and it was warm when we cut the tree down and brought it home. In fact, that year, it didn't really get cold until after Christmas.

Not being tree people, we did not understand the consequences of not having a cold spell before cutting down the tree:   with no freeze, the bugs were still alive all through tree.

I was at work when I received one of those emergency phone calls from home.  “Bugs are everywhere – in the tree and in the room where the tree was. Stop everything and get home.”

But I could not get home fasts enough. My wife and daughters had solved the problem.

They had found some Raid bug spray in the garage and sprayed the tree from top to bottom. Although it seemed like a good idea to my wife and daughters, it began a daily transformation of our Christmas tree from pretty green to very dry light green to brown to rapidly shedding pine needles.

We generally waited a few days after Christmas to take down the tree, trying to stay in synch with the twelve days of Christmas.  

 but not that year. Dec. 26^th arrived and the ornaments were removed. The ornament removal process created a cascade of falling brown pine needles, leaving a tree with bare limbs that made Charlie Brown’s tree look grand and glorious.

The stark contrast between Christmas and the day after had never been greater.

December 25th may give way quickly to December 26th, but the impact and implications of the coming of God in the christ-chid continues.

What are we to do in response to the arrival of the Christ-child?

Move 2:  Look at Joseph, Mary’s husband and the earthly father of Jesus for a few clues. 

a.  We mostly remember the birth fo christ as told by the Gospel of Luke.

1.  Pregnant Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem.

1.  no room at the inn. 

2.  Angels in the sky announcing good tidings

2.  Shepherds hearing the good news and heading to Bethlehem.

3.  Mary treasuring things in her heart.

4. not quite, but almost a Hallmark Christmas movie.

b.  If we wander into the gospel of Matthew, we limit ourselves to the wise men following the star to Bethlehem with gifts for the Christ-child.

1. We generally stay away from the part of the story we read today.

2.  somehow, our image of Christmas does not have room for baby Jesus  being whisked off to Egypt and King Herod killing infant.s  

3. but i think we can learn a lot from the Gospel of Matthew about how to move on beyond Christmas.

c.  Listen to what happens.

1.  An angel of theLord appeared to Jospeh in the night and commands:  “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt.

Keith jumps up and runs down the center aisle out of the sanctuary.

2.  And Joseph did.

Mov 2:  two thoughts:

a.  First of all, Joseph did what God told him to do.

1.  he did not  stop and think about it.

2.  He did not check out his other options.

3. he did not do a cost-benefit analysis.

4. He simply grabbed baby Jesus and Mary and took off.

5.  no questions asked.

b.  The birth of Christ asks us this question:  Since God came into the work to join with us, will we join with God?

1.  Even as the Presbyterian part of me struggles with Joseph’s immediate response with no thoughtful reflection, his response reminds us of our call to follow Christ into the world.

2.  If the one who is for us asks us to go, shouldn’t we go?

3. Christmas continues beyond December 25th when we respond to God’s call and give our lives over to serving Christ.

c.  Secondly, we are reminded in this story that God is continually working to save us.

1. the prophet Isaiah tells God’s people that the messenger is coming who is bring us God’s salvation.

2. that messenger has arrived in the Christ-child.

3. God’s desire to redeem and save continues as God has Joseph take baby Jesus away from the death king Herod desires for him.

4. I do not know the mystery of God’s ways or why the King Herod’s of the world continue to threaten with death.

5. But I do know the God who desires to redeem and save.

6. I know this God most fully in Christ Jesus, the one who comes to live among us.

7.  So we dare to follow Christ into the world because the God who sends us has joined with us to redeem and save the world.

Conclusion:  The ornaments are gone, but the work of God continues. Get up and go into the world serving Christ.

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