1 Christmas, Year B

“GOD’S PEOPLE: HIS CREATION, AND HIS RE-CREATION”
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, December 28, 2008
Isaiah 61: 10 – 62: 3; Psalm 147: 13 – 21; Galatians 3: 23 – 25, 4: 4 – 7; John 1: 1 – 18


“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God!”

Cosmic words, aren’t they? “In the beginning,” we hear this morning….

In other words, “as far back as the human mind can imagine, and then, even further than that.”

This morning, we hear John’s words, as he attempts to describe the coming of Jesus Christ in his own limited vocabulary: “In the beginning was the Word….”

John – as we’ve noted in the past few days – isn’t the least bit interested in the birth stories of Jesus, as are Matthew and Luke. No, like Mark, he omits all those details entirely. But, in similar fashion to Mark, he launches right into the beginning of the earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But unlike Mark, John does something else: He appends a Prologue[1]to his gospel account before beginning the account of John the Baptist’s witness. In these first 18 verses, he outlines some (but not all) of the themes he will pick up on as his gospel account unfolds. Among these themes that we hear are the following:

• The divine nature of Jesus Christ (high Christology),
  
  
• Jesus Christ as the creator (and bearer) of all things, especially life and light,
  
  
• John the Baptist’s witness to Jesus Christ’s identity,
  
  
• The gift of eternal life for all who believe and accept Him.

So now, as we turn to the text itself, let’s pick up on some of these themes: [2]

The divine nature of Jesus Christ: First, we begin with Jesus Christ’s identity: John uses the term “Word” to describe this being with was “in the beginning”, who was “with God”, and who “is God.” (Note the progression of language: “in the beginning” – “was with God” – who “is God”.) Essentially, John is emphasizing the divine identity [3] of the Word, who became flesh, who took the name of Jesus, the Christ. “Jesus” would refer to His humanity, while “Christ” refers to His everlasting, divine nature. So, the Word, the Christ, the Son (as John and the Nicene Creed both state it) existed from before all time, from everlasting, from “the beginning” (John’s words, but also found in the Nicene Creed). Then, in the fullness of time (as St. Paul states it in our reading from Galatians today, “But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman,”) the Word became flesh, Jesus.[4]

Jesus Christ as the creator (and bearer) of all things: Next, we ought to consider the idea that Jesus Christ is the creator of all that is. John puts it this way, “All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” John is saying, essentially, that Jesus Christ is the maker of all things (the Nicene Creed puts it this way, “By whom all things were made”).

But John goes on to outline exactly what it is that the Word created: It is life and light. Remarkably similar – this passage is - in some respects to the outline of creation in Genesis 1: 1 – 5, where we read that God said, “Let there be light.” [5]

Relying on our knowledge of the created order we live in and are a part of, we know that no life would be possible without the presence of light. So, John’s statement makes sense as we consider the nature of the world around us.

John the Baptist’s witness to Jesus Christ’s identity: But having begun by outlining the nature of the Word, Jesus Christ, then moving on to the creative powers of that Word, John now begins to narrow his focus more and more, pulling together the threads that will connect this eternal Word with the person of Jesus Christ. He does so by interjecting John the Baptist’s witness to this person, Jesus Christ.[6]

John (the gospel writer) wants us to know that this cosmic Word is one and the same with the person of Jesus Christ, to whom John the Baptist bore witness.

The gift of eternal life for all who receive and accept Him: Our fourth point is to affirm that the focus of all of this creative power, the purpose of the coming of the eternal Word to us as one of us, fully human and yet fully divine, is to create with us, a new relationship with God, one that will last throughout all eternity.

This last point is well worth repeating: The purpose of the coming of the Word is to create within us a new relationship with God, one that will last throughout all eternity.

Here are John’s own words, “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” [7]

So God, acting through the Word, is the giver and creator of life, in this case, new life as children of God. God is the active agent, and we are the responders to God’s action… “As many as received him,” John says, become children of God.

St. Paul puts it this way: “But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father.”

Paul describes the familiarity of this new relationship that we have with God the Father through the work of the Son, using the Aramaic word for “daddy”, “Abba.”

So, how about us?

What is the state of our “new creation” in God through Christ?

After all, God seeks after us, seeking our acceptance (John’s word, “received”) of Him through the work of Jesus Christ.

God seeks our receiving of Him not only in mind, in our thoughts and ideas, but also in our hearts, in the very core of our being.

God seeks to create a new heart and a new mind for us by His presence within us.

God seeks to renew the creation He has already begun with us, just as He upholds and renews the created order we see around us in the world He has created for our life and wellbeing.

Today’s text calls us to reflect, “Am I a new creation in God?” “Am I a child of God by having received Him?” “Am I in need of some spiritual ‘recreation’?”

AMEN.

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[1] That is what Bible scholars have come to call these first 18 verses of the Fourth Gospel.
[2] These first 18 verses are complex, and have prompted biblical scholars to pour out page after page of commentary about them. In the space of time available for a sermon, we can only hope to scratch the surface of their meaning and importance.
[3] The technical, theological term for the emphasis on the divine nature of Jesus Christ is high Christology. By contrast, low Christology would refer to an emphasis on Jesus Christ’s human nature.
[4] The Church would wrestle with this concept of the Divine Son taking on our humanity. Eventually, by the Fifth Century, at the Council of Chalcedon, (451 AD), the concept was stated in these terms: “the one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation, the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons….” (See the Book of Common Prayer, 1979, p. 864, for the entire statement.)
[5] Biblical scholars have also long noted the similarities of the Genesis 1 text and the John 1 text, both of which begin with the words, “In the beginning”.
[6] Notice the overall shape of these first 18 verses: 1. Verses 1 – 5 have to do with the divine Word and the creative powers of that Word; verses 6 – 8 have to do with John the Baptist’s witness; Verses 9 – 14 have to do with the Word coming into the world, and the purpose for which He came; and finally, verse 15 reverts back to a reference to John the Baptist, while verses 16 – 18 come back again to the purposes of the Word’s coming, identifying Jesus Christ (verse 17) with that Word.
[7] Verses 12 - 13

Christmas Eve, Year B

“BLESSINGS AND CURSES” [1]
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Isaiah 9: 2 – 4, 6 – 7; Psalm 96: 1 – 4, 11 – 12; Titus 2: 11 – 14; Luke 2: 1 – 20

“Class, it’s a pleasure to do theology!”

So said one of my theology professors at seminary….(In fact, every class began with this greeting.)

Taking a hint from my theology professor, let’s do some theology around the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Specifically, let’s look at how Jesus’ coming among us as one of us (the technical, theological term for this is “incarnation”, that is to say, Jesus’ coming in the flesh) relates to an ancient reality of human existence:

Blessings and Curses

Blessings and curses have to do with God, with God’s holiness and God’s mercy, and with our circumstance as fallen human beings, human beings who are capable of committing sin, human beings who, in the process of sinning, fail to measure up to God’s standards of holy living.

In the course of this sermon, in examining the concept of blessings and curses, we will keep four traits of God in view at all times:

• God is holy
• God is merciful
• God saves His people
• God uses human beings to do the saving

Now, we begin by looking at the curse under which the human race lives:

Curses come by virtue of our own wickedness….for we bring upon ourselves untold misery by our rebellious ways. Like Adam and Eve, who fell for the serpent’s temptation in the Garden of Eden,[2] and who separated themselves from God in the process, we human beings, being children of our original parents, Adam and Eve, also separate ourselves from God by our sinfulness, for we know that God is holy, that God cannot tolerate the sin and the rebelliousness that sin represents.

So, Adam and Eve separated themselves from the blessing of having a face-to-face relationship with God, as they walked with Him in the Garden of Eden .

Ever since, humankind has endured this separation.

Now we said at the outset of this sermon that God is not only a holy God, but He is also a merciful God.

In response to our original parents’ (Adam and Eve) rebellion, God could simply have “written them off”, casting them out of the Garden of Eden, only to die spiritually and physically because of their separation from God, who created them and who sustained them by providing for them everything necessary for their livelihood in the garden.

But God did not do that….Instead of divine judgment in the form of death, God provided a way for them to conceive and to bear children (though, as a result of their sinfulness, only with pain), so that death’s power was blunted (though only temporarily) through the succeeding generations who would be born to Adam and Eve’s children, and to their children’s children.

By virtue of the power to conceive future generations of men and women, the possibility of relating to God was preserved, even though the separation that became a reality with Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the garden remained in place.

Down through time, God’s holiness was evident again and again as wicked human beings were punished for their evil ways. Genesis recounts some of these events: The Great Flood (Genesis 6 – 8), and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18: 16 – 19: 29) are two examples.

And yet, God is merciful: for God preserves the human race through the agency of Noah and his sons, who built an ark in response to God’s command. Likewise, Abraham and members of his family were spared when the fire and brimstone rained down on the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

For, you see, God is holy, but God is also merciful. God saves His people, and God uses human beings to do the saving.

(For further evidence of these traits, consider also Moses, who led the Chosen People out of bondage in Egypt, through the Red Sea waters, to the Promised Land, or the Old Testament prophets who called God’s people to repentance and holiness of life time and again, speaking of God’s holiness and God’s mercy.)

Now these threads that we have been considering, God’s holiness, God’s mercy, God’s saving of His people, and God’s using human beings to do the saving, all come together in Jesus Christ, and so it is to that part of our theological reflection that we now turn:

God’s holiness: “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father,” Jesus said to Thomas.[3] In Jesus Christ, we see the holiness of God the Father, made manifest in the perfect life of Jesus Christ, seen in His teachings and in His manner of life.

God’s mercy: God could easily have written the human race off, given our sinful, hard-headed ways. But Jesus’ birth demonstrates two things: 1. That God was willing to set aside all divine power and prerogatives to come among us as one of us (fully human), taking up our human life in the weakness and humility of the babe who was born in a cow’s stall in Bethelehem. Such a self-emptying[4] is most clearly seen in Jesus’ birth; and 2. That God cared enough to “send the very best”, himself!

God saves His people: We’ve already recounted some of the ways that God demonstrated His saving power over the people that He loved, people that He had chosen to be His own possession. Now, in the person and work of Jesus Christ, God’s saving power is clearly seen, as the babe who was born in Bethlehem grows into manhood, then suffers and dies for our sins on the cross. Since we, in our sinfulness, are unable to pay the price for our own sins, God had to take the initiative, and to provide the sinless means by which we could have a face-to-face, personal relationship with God restored to us. Succinctly put, Jesus Christ restores to us what was lost in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve’s sin, for now we are able to approach God the Father through Jesus Christ, the Son, our sins covered by Christ’s blood. (The theological term for this payment for our sins is called the atonement – literally, the “at-one-ment” by which we are made one with God through Jesus Christ.)

God uses human beings to do the saving: For God to save us, God had to enter the human situation, even as He had done before in dealing with Noah, in making a covenant with Abraham, and in dealing with Moses. Now, God enters the human circumstance by taking on our humanity completely. Jesus is born as a baby in Bethlehem, becoming one of us, in order to save us. In so doing, God now came to know personally all of our hurts, our pains, our sorrows and disappointments (that’s one of the essential messages of Good Friday and the cross). There’s nothing we experience in our daily lives that God doesn’t know firsthand through the life and experience of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ comes to us in His birth at Bethlehem, and in so doing, stands between the blessing and the curse. He blocks the power of sin’s curse, pulling us up (if you will) out of the mire of the consequences of our own sinfulness. God’s mercy is seen in Jesus Christ’s birth, his coming among us, which we remember at this holy season of Christmas.

Jesus Christ not only blocks the power of sin’s curse, He also brings God’s blessing with Him, restoring a personal relationship with the Father, proving God’s love for us (see especially in the depth of love that the cross represents), and guaranteeing to all who believe the reality of eternal life in heaven with Him, Eden restored!

Sometimes, given the symbols of the season, it’s hard to see the great theological work that lies behind the Christ Child whom we see in our Nativity scenes. But before us, whenever we see the Baby Jesus in a crib in a Manger scene, ought we also to see the great and wonderful work of God, the God who shows us His holiness, the God who shows us His mercy, the God who saves His people, and who uses human beings to do the saving in the baby who lies before us tonight.

For Jesus Christ comes, bringing and proving God’s mercy and holiness. Jesus Christ comes, bringing God’s blessing, and delivering us from the power of sin’s curse.

Thanks be to God!

AMEN.
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[1] The essential concept for this sermon grew out of a discussion at our Wednesday morning Informal Discussion Group about three weeks ago.
[2] See Genesis 3: 1 – 15, read as one of the lessons in the service of Advent Lessons & Carols, for a detailed account of Adam and Eve’s sin in following the serpent’s suggestions. Genesis 3: 16 – 24 also goes on to chronicle the woes that became a part of the human race’s condition as a result of their transgression.
[3] John 14: 9
[4] The theological term for this self-emptying is kenosis.

4 Advent, Year B

“VESSELS: EMPTY AND FULL”
A sermon by: The Rev. Gene Tucker given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, December 21, 2008
II Samuel 7: 4, 8 – 16; Psalm 132: 8 – 15; Romans 16: 25 – 27; Luke 1: 26 – 38

Ever think about how much of our lives have to do with being full or being empty?

For example, consider the following: we are either full to the brim after a Thanksgiving meal, or empty with hunger. We are filled with joy, or drained (emptied) with sorrow. We have a full gas tank in our cars, or are running on empty. (I could go on to cite many other examples.) A good deal of the business of daily living has to do with being full, being empty, or somewhere in between the two.

All of these things are connected by the thing that holds – or doesn’t hold – whatever it is we’re thinking of: a meal, our hearts, or gasoline (to tie these three items to the examples cited in the previous paragraph), that is, a vessel.

So, let’s turn our attention to today’s Gospel, the account of the annunciation of the angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary, for Mary is the chosen vessel of the Lord, the one chosen by God to be the bearer[1] of His Son, Jesus Christ.

The first thing we might consider as we look at this very familiar account (which most of us could probably recite by heart, or could paraphrase very well) is Mary’s situation and the possible, very human, responses to Gabriel’s announcement….So, let’s begin there. We’ll cast all of these responses in terms of her fullness (her ability) or emptiness (her lack of will or lack of power) with regard to God’s invitation.

An empty vessel: In earthly terms, Mary has little to offer Gabriel, or God….she is young, but living in a society that valued age, she is female in a culture where men called the shots. She is poor in a culture where wealth and power meant a lot. Moreover, she is single: notice her reaction to Gabriel’s message….she says, “How shall this be, since I have no husband?” Mary is pretty empty, pretty powerless. She lacks the ability to respond to this announcement of God’s plans for her. Perhaps she might have considered her low condition (young, female and poor), and might have wondered how a son born to her could inherit King David’s throne. Though Luke doesn’t tell us, such thoughts aren’t beyond the realm of possibility for Mary to have pondered.

A vessel which is already full: But if Mary was poor and powerless in many respects, yet it’s probably safe to assume that she did have plans for her life. I think we’re on safe ground if we surmise that Mary’s fondest hope would have been that she would be a mother to children, perhaps lots of them. In the culture and in the time in which she lived, that was a woman’s career choice – most often the only career choice that was open to them. So, perhaps when Gabriel’s words struck her ear, she might well have thought about the sort of future she had planned on to this point in her life. Though Luke doesn’t tell us, maybe she might well have wondered how Gabriel’s message fit with the hopes and dreams she had for her life – for we all have those sorts of hopes and dreams for our own lives. Being human, perhaps Mary might have been tempted to silently respond, “Sorry, your plan doesn’t fit with my plan for my life. My heart and mind is already pretty full with those plans. I don’t have room for your plans for my life.” Again, Luke doesn’t tell us Mary’s reaction, other than to record her words, “How shall this be, since I have no husband?”

An empty and unworthy vessel: Though there’s no way to know for sure, perhaps Mary felt unworthy to take up her role in God’s plans as Gabriel lays them out to her. Maybe she might have reacted to this grand design of God by thinking to herself, “If this child which is to be born is to inherit King David’s throne, then God ought to get Himself another candidate, someone who’s connected to the rich and powerful of the nation. I am unworthy of such a calling because I am unable to deliver that sort of a background.” Again, Luke doesn’t tell us. We come to this consideration only out of our shared humanity with Mary, for that might well be how we would react in similar circumstances. Put in other words, this reaction essentially says, “My vessel has a hole in it, it is incapable of holding the gift you are offering me.”

But how does Mary react? She simply says, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

By her reaction, she is essentially holding out the vessel of her life. She is saying, “I am willing to be the vessel, the means, by which God’s plan unfolds.”

Notice that she doesn’t ask for all the nitty-gritty details of the plan. Nor does she offer doubt (though she does question the means by which the plan will unfold).

I think, as I reflect on this very familiar text, that the depth of faith that is evident in Mary’s reaction flattens out….for the text, whose story is so familiar to us, tends to read like a history book. But put ourselves in the same situation, and the drama comes to life! Mary’s response demonstrates great faith, for the events that would now unfold through her would bring risk, danger and loneliness: we can say these things because of the very traditional, honor-and-shame culture in which Mary lived 2,000 years ago….to be pregnant without being married carried with it the risk of shame, the loneliness of being shunned, or even the danger of being driven out of the community in Nazareth where she lived, or worse.

Yet Mary’s reaction shows her deep faith and willingness to follow God’s call and God’s plan for her life.

Mary’s response makes possible the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Mary’s faith and faithfulness, God’s grace is poured out on all of us. Truly, Mary’s cup overflows (to quote Psalm 23: 5), and we are the beneficiaries, for the grace of God is made known in the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High. The blessings transcend the events of the first century, for they extend into the 21st century, and to the end of time itself.

And so, we, in our time, in our culture, and in our lives, are also called to be vessels of God’s grace. We are called to be “God-bearers”, by being God’s chosen vessels, carriers of God’s grace. For we receive the blessings which overflow from Mary’s faithfulness, her Son, Jesus Christ. We are called, like Mary, to respond to God’s limitless grace.

How will we respond?

Being human, we could respond in some of the ways humans tend to respond, ways we considered earlier in this sermon. We could say to God:

• I’m an empty vessel: “I can’t follow your call and your purposes for my life, God, for I lack the means, the will, the power, and the resources to do so.” This response hold out an empty vessel to God.
  
  
• My agenda (vessel) is already full: “I’ve got plans for my life, God, and what you’re proposing doesn’t fit into those plans.” So, we put our hands over the vessel of our hearts and our minds, and close them both to God’s call.
  
  
• I’m an unworthy vessel: “You can’t mean me!” we say. “I am absolutely unworthy to do your will, God, for I am unable to do the things I think you are calling me to do. Get yourself another candidate, a better one,” we say.

But Mary’s example, Mary’s “yes!” to God, is our model. For we, like her, are called to offer the vessel God has made us to be, to offer it back to Him. We are called to simply hold the vessel of our lives and our abilities out there, and to allow God’s grace to fill them. For God’s grace goes beyond our mere human abilities, and God’s grace will accomplish that which He purposes (see Isaiah 55: 11), hopefully with our cooperation, but, if not, then without us, but through someone else.

But if we respond and offer ourselves to be vessels of God’s grace, then God’s grace is made known in Jesus Christ, God’s grace flows from God the Father through God the Son (made man by the cooperation of the Blessed Virgin Mary), to us, and then to others.

May our response stand in faithfulness with Mary, as we say, “Yes!” to God’s call, “We are the servants of the Lord. Be it to us according to your will, Lord.”

[1] The technical term for Mary’s role as God-bearer is "Theotokos."

3 Advent, Year B

“MINISTRY – A STUDY IN LESSER AND GREATER”
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, December 14, 2008
Isaiah 65: 17 – 25; For the Psalm: Canticle 15; I Thessalonians 5: 12 – 28; John 3: 23 – 30

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

This verse was one of my mother’s favorites. She would quote it often, if I remember correctly.

This verse became sort of a creed for my mother, who was a saintly, godly woman.

She lived out the essence of this verse in the following ways:

• She wanted everything she did to point toward Jesus Christ.
  
  
• She wanted God to be glorified
  
  
• In the process, she wanted herself to fade into the background.

As we look at today’s text, we can see all of these three threads at work, as we encounter John the Baptist in his final appearance on John’s gospel account, testifying to Jesus Christ. From this point on in John’s account, John the Baptist will fade out of the picture (though it’s interesting to note in our passage today that John looks forward into the future, recounting that John the Baptist had not yet been put into prison[1]).

So, let’s begin by having a closer look at this passage. Then, we will be able to look at its implications for us, as we seek to decrease, in order that Christ may increase.

We begin with an overall look at the passage: The first thing that leaps out at us is that it seems to be composed of several loosely connected threads….For example, We note that both Jesus and John the Baptist are now baptizing, but they seem to be doing so in different places entirely.[2]

Second, it seems as though the context of today’s conversation between John the Baptist’s disciples and the unnamed Jew centers around the meaning of baptism, for John (the Gospel writer) tells us that this unnamed person has asked John the Baptist’s disciples about purifying. “Why are you baptizing (you and Jesus), and what does your baptism mean and do?,” might be a way to paraphrase the context of the question that is posed to John the Baptist’s disciples.

Third, it seems that the momentum has now shifted from John the Baptist to Jesus….We have to admit that here, we must rely on other witnesses to come to this conclusion. For that evidence, we turn to Mark 1: 5, where we read, “And there went out to him (John the Baptist) all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem.” Now, notice the similarity of the language that the gospel writer uses in John 3: 26, quoting the unnamed Jew, who says, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, here he is, baptizing, and all are going to him.” Perhaps, if we are correct in our assessment, there was a shift of momentum from John the Baptist to Jesus. This conclusion, that Jesus was increasing in popularity and in recognition (at the expense of John) would make sense, given John the Baptist’s comment (read in verse 30), “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Now, looking at another aspect of the text, we notice that John the Baptist tells a very brief parable, about the “friend of the bridegroom”.[3] For an understanding of John the Baptist’s self-referencing remark, read here, we need an understanding of first century wedding customs in the Holy Land….Apparently, the “friend of the bridegroom” might refer to what we would call the “Best Man” today. In the culture of Palestine 2,000 years ago, the “friend of the bridegroom” would have been responsible for taking care of the arrangements for the wedding and for the attendant celebration (which might last for a whole week!).

So, in that sense, John the Baptist fulfills the same function, paving the way for Jesus Christ, and making the arrangements for the celebration that attends to His coming. Just as the “friend of the bridegroom” rejoices that the wedding takes place, and that his arrangements for the celebration of it are underway, so John the Baptist rejoices in the arrival of the Christ, and for the celebration of Christ’s presence, the one who “dwelt among us, full of grace and truth”.[4] Therefore, once the “friend of the bridegroom’s” work is done, he fades into the background as the spotlight falls on the groom and on the bride.

Now, we turn to the matter of “hearing the voice of the bridegroom”.[5] For an understanding of this part of John the Baptist’s little parable, let’s do a word association: Follow along with me:

Voice – speaking – word

OK, did you get that? The bridegroom’s voice speaks a word.

Now, go with me again, and search your minds for the meaning and importance of the word “word” in John’s gospel account….Recall that we read it in John 1: 1, which says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (Later on, on John 1: 17, Jesus Christ is equated – indirectly - with this “Word”.)

So, put into its context in John’s gospel account, we see that John the Baptist is most likely referring to Jesus Christ as the Word, the one whose arrival he has seen, and whose voice he has heard, the Christ[6] of God.

Now, let’s return to the original theme with which we began, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John the Baptist’s career is a study in highs and lows. Consider what we’ve already said about him…. “All Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him” for baptism, we read in Mark 1: 5. Apparently, he was pretty well known, pretty popular (even if some only came to see a spectacle and to be entertained – certainly, that seems possible to assume). In modern terms, we might say that John the Baptist was “at the top of his game.” John the Baptist had had his “15 minutes of fame”.

But now, the Fourth Gospel seems to indicate that there’s a shift going on in John the Baptist’s reputation and work….for now we read (John 3: 26) that “all are going to him (Jesus)”.

You see, John the Baptist was engaged in ministry. Ministry is a word whose Latin root is the same word from which we get “minus”.

Ministry is an activity in which we get to empty ourselves for the glory of God and for the benefit of others. As part of the process of connecting God to people, and people to God, we are only a very small part of the connecting process.

In fact, the smaller and less visible a part of the process that we are, the better! We want people to see God, not us!

You see, my mother’s creed ought to be our own: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Before we close, let’s put all of this in quite practical terms: As we live out the life of faith in this place, this family of God we call Trinity Church, let’s consider these aspects of ministry, by which we decrease, in order to allow God to increase:

• Turf: Unfortunately, the Church’s life is often marked with “turf wars”. You know, it’s the attitude that says, “Well, this is a ministry that I’ve done for ____ years.” It’s the perspective that says, “This is my ministry!” Hmmmmm…..John the Baptist’s remark, ‘He must increase, but I must decrease,’ would lead us to say just the opposite. We’d have to say that John the Baptist’s response to the idea of something being “our ministry” is that it isn’t “our ministry” at all, but God’s. We need to be reminded of that concept: Any ministry that we undertake is simply on loan to us. It isn’t our private property, not at all.
  
  
• Highs: At times in our Christian life, we will be “at the top of our game”, enjoying our “15 minutes of fame”. We may bask in the adulation that comes from doing a job well done. (I admit, this is a serious temptation for many clergy, who, like the Pharisees of old, often like to be “greeted in the marketplaces”, and who like the “places of honor at banquets”.[7]) Many times, the belief that any given ministry is “our ministry” can lead to an expectation that we will gain recognition and honor for that taking up that ministry, as if the focus should be on us, not on God. The two are often allied, one leading to the other.
  
  
• Lows: Just as certainly as we will experience some high points in our Christian life, just as certainly we will also experience some low points. Sometimes, the focus will shift onto another person who takes up a ministry that is one we used to carry out. Sometimes, a similar ministry will spring up within the congregation, and such a development can be the cause for jealousy. We may feel unwanted, unappreciated, as a result. So, low points will come along, sooner or later, won’t they?

What might we take away from the passage before us today, and from John the Baptist’s attitude toward the growing ministry that is Jesus Christ’s? His attitude is a model for us, for John the Baptist recognized that the ministry of baptism given to him was just that, a ministry. John was called to lessen himself (remember the Latin root of the word “ministry”: minus), in order that the focus might be on God. When the focus is on God, then people and God are joined together. That is the entire reason for any ministry: that God may be glorified, and that people may come to know Him in the process.

We are going to let St. Paul have the last word. For St. Paul knew all about turf wars, about highs, and about lows in the process of carrying out the ministry that God entrusted to him. Writing in Philippians 4: 11b – 12, he says, “For I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased (lows), and I know how to abound (highs); in any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want.” For St. Paul, the reason for this wonderful flexibility was to win people to God. Here we have the reason, found in I Corinthians 9: 22b – 23a, where he writes, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the gospel.”

So may we follow the good examples of John the Baptist, and of St. Paul, the Apostle, allowing God to increase, even as we decrease.

AMEN.

_________________________________________________

[1] Verse 24
[2] Some scholars think that John the Baptist is now working near Samaria, though the exact location of “Aenon, near Salim”, is unknown, while Jesus seems to be baptizing in the Jordan River, somewhere near the Dead Sea area. Again, that is also not known from the text exactly.
[3] Verse 29
[4] John 1: 14
[5] Verse 29
[6] The title Christ means “anointed” (its equivalent, drawn from the Hebrew) is Messiah.
[7] Matthew 23: 6 - 7

2 Advent, Year B

“COME INTO THE DESERT OF ADVENT”
A sermon by The Rev. Gene R. TuckerGiven at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, December 7, 2008
Isaiah 40: 1 – 11; Psalm 85: 7 – 13; II Peter 3: 8 - 15a, 18; Mark 1: 1 – 8

“John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

Welcome to the desert that is Advent!

We are called, as Christians, every Advent season, to come into the desert, into the wilderness, to repent of our sins, to undergo a cleansing of our hearts and minds, that we may be ready for the Lord Jesus Christ’s baptism of the Holy Spirit.

So, welcome to the desert that is Advent.

You see, the desert, the wilderness, is the place where salvation is found. That was so for God’s Chosen People as Moses led them out of bondage in Egypt, into the desert, the wilderness, where their passing through the waters of the Red Sea marked the beginning of their journey to the land that God had given them.

The desert is the place where salvation is found, where God is encountered. That was so for the great prophet Elijah, who, clothed like John the Baptist in camel’s hair[1] and with a leather girdle around his waist, called the people of God into repentence from their idolatrous worship of the Canaanite god, Ba’al.

The desert is the place through which God’s Chosen People would pass on their way home from exile in Babylon, returning to the Promised Land. Isaiah’s voice (chapter 40) reminds us of this salvation event in the history of God’s people, “A voice cries, ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God!’”

The desert is the place where the lonely voices of the prophets are heard. The setting is perfect, for one’s reliance on God’s providence to preserve and save life are no more urgently felt than in the desert.

It is in the desert that the hustle and bustle, the distractions of the crowded city are overcome.

And, so, John’s voice rings out in the desert, “Repent, seek forgiveness of your sins!”

It is John’s voice that points the way forward to the other baptism that Jesus Christ will offer as he says, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Are you ready to leave the hustle and bustle of city life, and to go into the desert?

Once there, you will hear the urgent voice of an odd-looking man who eats locusts and wild honey, whose words land on our ears with a sting, “Repent!”

It’s not a very appealing sight, is it? John the Baptist, that is. He isn’t one to wear fine clothes and to dress in the soft velvet of city folk. No, his appearance and rough-hewn character are matched with a sandpapery roughness in his words and in his tone that rubs our senses raw.

John’s message is no less unattractive than his appearance, for he calls us to a “spiritual inventory”. The urgency in his voice is matched with a burning call from the Lord, to tell God’s people that they must repent.

“No, thanks,” we say….. “Your appearance is off-putting, John. Your words offend our ears.” The urgency of your voice which betrays the fire in your heart ignites the tinder of our hearts, and we stand ready with the blankets of our respectability to snuff out any flame that might be started, that flame which would prompt us to heed your words and to obey the call to repent.

“We’re quite comfortable in our formal relationship with God,” we say. “We’re ‘doing pretty well,’”, we think.

“Thanks all the same, John,” we respond.

But, you see, John’s baptism of repentance and Jesus’ baptism with the Holy Spirit are offered to us Christians today, both at once….It’s a two-for-one deal, baptism, for we descend into the waters of baptism with Jesus Christ, dying to our former life of sin, repenting of our sinful nature with which we are all born, and trusting God to bring us up out of the waters of baptism into a new life, a new relationship with God in which there’s hope for salvation and for the power of the Holy Spirit to be present with us evermore. That’s what happens in baptism.

One cannot have one without the other, baptism with the Holy Spirit without the repentance which opens the way for the Holy Spirit to take up residence in our hearts. Repentance, which is the turning away from our former life of sin, precedes the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Moreover, we can’t simply sit back and say, “Well, I was baptized ‘way back when….that’s over and done with. Got the certificate to prove it.”

No, we are called to renew our baptismal relationship with the Lord, taking stock of our lives, realizing we need cleansing from our sins on a regular basis. That’s part of what Advent is all about.

Our Baptismal Covenant reaffirms this fact. In the Book of Common Prayer, page 304, the candidates (or their sponsors) are asked this question, “Will you persevere in resisting evil, and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?”

Notice the word “whenever”.

We in the Church are very realistic! We know that we will “mess up” from time-to-time.

We know that’s a certainty. We will fall short of God’s standards of holiness. It’s going to happen!

So, this Advent season, John’s voice calls us into the desert, away from the distractions and the hustle and bustle of city life. John’s voice calls us to repent, that we may prepare a highway for the Lord in the wilderness of our hearts.

AMEN.
____________________________________________________
[1] See II Kings 1: 8

1 Advent, Year B

“ECHELONS ABOVE OUR PAY GRADE? – YES & NO”
A sermon by: The Rev. Gene Tucker; given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Sunday, November 30, 2008
Lectionary readings: Isaiah 64:1–9a; Psalm 80:1–7; I Corinthians 1:1–9; Mark 13:24–37

The military has some wonderful sayings that are used to describe things. Often, they have a humorous angle to them.

One such example (which seems to fit today’s gospel reading from Mark, chapter 13) is:

“Echelons above my pay grade”

This statement simply means that the matter at hand is above my rank and my authority to deal with (and maybe even to understand).

With regard to today’s gospel reading, which deals with the return of the Son of Man, there are, it seems to me, some aspects of His return that are “echelons above our pay grade” to understand or to have authority over. But, there are aspects of it that are completely within our ability to control, to understand, and to exercise authority over.

We’ll look at both side of that equation shortly.

First, however, we ought to look at just what sort of literary genre we have before us today, which strikes our ears with its dire warnings that tell us that the “sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.” The type of writing we hear today is called apocalyptic writing.

Literally, the word (which comes from the Greek) means “unveiling”. In translation into English, it has also come to mean “revelation”.[1]

Apocalyptic writing was common to Judaism, where the Book of Daniel falls into this category. Certain books of the Apocrypha also are apocalyptic.[2]

Likewise, the New Testament contains apocalyptic passages, even as it ends with the Book of Revelation, often known as the “Great Apocalypse”.

The passage[3] before us today is often called the “Little Apocalypse” by biblical scholars.

Apocalyptic writing pulls back the veil which clouds God’s power and God’s intention from our view. We get a glimpse of God’s power to “have the last word”, and God’s intentions in establishing His command over all that is (including the powers of evil).

Such writing often appears at times of great distress among God’s people. It offers hope at just such a time when it seems like there is no hope. It reminds people to expand their horizons, to see that God is still with them in their trials, that God is still in charge, and that, in the end, persecutions and hardships will cease, and God’s name will be acknowledged by all.

Mark’s gospel account, written (most scholars think) in the years 65 – 70 AD, was most likely the first gospel account to be written. But, if so, it was also written just after the first organized persecutions of Christians occurred under the Emperor Nero (62 – 64 AD). The Christians to whom Mark was writing were reeling under the reality of the awful things that had happened in Rome to the believers there. Chapter 13 of Mark’s account serves to strengthen their weak knees, and to lift their drooping hearts. It serves to remind them that God is still in charge, that persecutions will eventually end, and that they are to be watchful and faithful in the meantime.

Before we leave the matter of apocalyptic writing, we ought to enumerate some of its features. They are:

• It arises during times of hardship and persecution
  
  
• It pulls back the veil which shrouds God’s power and God’s intentions, allowing us a glimpse of both.
  
  
• Its language is both figurative and literal, tying together the present reality with future reality.
  

This last point is most important: Since some of the language (but not all) is figurative, a strong word of caution is in order about the interpretation of the timing of future events. Many, many Christians down through the ages have longed for Jesus’ return in glory (as they should!), but many have longed for that great and glorious day so much that they have attempted to decode with certainty the timing of that return. All such ventures are risky ones, at best. Recall that today’s gospel says, “But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

The present reality is spoken of in literal terms, while (as we said) the future reality is addressed in figurative terms. If some Christians have “gone out on a limb” to set the timing of the Lord’s return with preciseness, then many others have reacted to these risky ventures by shying away from the topic altogether.

Alas, we are called to hold both the present reality and the future reality together in tension.

Not knowing the exact time of these future events ought to prompt us to a better attitude of watchfulness.

God’s people down through the ages have watched and waited…..Notice the opening verse of today’s passage from Isaiah 64: “Oh, that thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down!” The people in Old Testament times were watching and waiting.

Early Christians, too, watched and waited. St. Paul addresses their concerns by describing the return of the Lord in some very specific ways (though he never sets the time frame, quite wisely). See I Thessalonians 4: 13 – 5: 2, and I Corinthians 15: 51 – 52 as examples.

Well, then, returning to our opening theme, we must ask ourselves “what matters concerning the Lord’s return are ‘echelons above our pay grade,’ and which are “within our pay grade?’”

Let’s describe, first of all, those things that are “echelons above our pay grade”:

he exact timing of the Lord’s return: Recall that Jesus tells us “no one knows the day nor the hour”, but “only the Father”.

• The signs that will accompany His return: Remember that apocalyptic writing employs – to some degree or another – figurative language. A strong word of caution is always in order when we approach this literary genre.

These things, then, are within our ability to understand, and our authority to exercise control over:

• The signs that will accompany the Lord’s return: Notice that this aspect of these future events is both within and outside of our ability to understand. The signs that will accompany Jesus’ return are the connecting point of the present reality and the future reality.
  
  
• Watch! Notice that Jesus uses this word three times in the passage read today. We can be ever mindful of the future reality of the Lord’s return. If we are, then all of the present reality is forever changed, forever made holy. God’s future reign already breaks into the present reality!
  
  
• Be good stewards: Jesus reminds us (in Mark’s abbreviated form of Matthew’s Parable of the Talents[4]) that we are to be good and faithful servants, caring for the work that God has given us to be in charge of until the return of the Lord.

Today, we have the two great Advent themes before us:

1. Jesus’ Second Coming in great power and great glory, and
   
   
2. Our preparation for Jesus’ First Coming as He is born in a cow’s stall in Bethlehem.

Since we find ourselves between the First Coming and the Second Coming, we find ourselves in the same position as those early Christians who first read and heard Mark’s gospel account.

We, too, like them, watch and wait.

We, too, like them, are called to live in the tension of the present reality and the future reality, knowing that the future reality offers hope, especially at times when there is no hope.

We, too, like them, are called to be faithful stewards of the riches God has given us to care for, until His return.

May we be faithful in all these things!

AMEN.

__________________________________________________________
[1] As in the Revelation to St. John the Divine, the last book in the New Testament, which is also known as the Apocalypse of John.
[2] I Enoch , IV Esra, and II Baruch are examples.
[3] Mark 13: 1 - 37
[4] See Matthew 25: 14 – 30.

Last Pentecost

"A QUESTION FOR MATTHEW"
A sermon by The Rev. Gene R. Tucker, given at: Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
PROPER 29: Ezekiel 34:11–17; Psalm 95:1–7; I Corinthians 15:20–28; Matthew 25:31–46

Let’s ask Matthew a question this morning (before we leave our year-long walk with him in this first year of our three-year cycle of readings):

“Which is it? Which timeframe is important?”

We ask this question because of what we read this morning, and because of what we read elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel account.

Consider the beginning of the passage we read today: “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.”[1]

Obviously, Matthew is recording Jesus’ words, which refer to some time in the future….the scene is a cosmic one.

But then consider these words of Jesus that Matthew also recorded:

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”[2]

This statement from our Lord Jesus Christ seems to refer to the present. Matthew seems to be reminding us that Jesus is with us, here and now, whenever we gather together in his name.

Furthermore, consider this statement, the one that closes Matthew’s Gospel account: “And lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”[3]

Here again, we read another statement that seems to refer to the here and now…. “Lo, I am with you…”

So, Matthew, our question is: “Which is it? Which timeframe is important, the future, or the present?”

Matthew seems to be confusing us, isn’t he?

After all, as rational human beings, we understand we can’t reconcile present reality and future events. We can’t live in two timeframes at once.

As children of the Enlightment, that 17th and 18th century movement that maintained that human intellect and reason could understand all realities and could discern all knowledge, we know we must either choose the present, or the future.

Or must we? Must we choose either the present or the future?

Christians down through the ages have often done just that:

The present: Some choose to emphasize the aspects of the Gospel that focus on the present: “Care for the poor and the needy, the downtrodden and the oppressed is the Church’s concern and focus,” they would say. “What happens in our daily lives is the central concern for us as Christians,” they might maintain.

The future: Other Christians spend large amounts of time trying to figure out the timeline for future events, trying to guess what God’s plans and schedule for the fulfillment of His purposes for the world and for humankind are. Consider the series of books that have appeared in recent years that deal with this subject, books such as “The Late Great Planet Earth”, or the “Left Behind” series. These books sold (and sell) quite well. People are fascinated by these topics, and want to know if the authors have some “inside knowledge” by which God’s mysteries can be unraveled, at least a little bit.

So, what’s the answer, Matthew?

Do you want us to choose either the present or the future?

What would you say, dear reader (or listener)?

Let me venture an answer on Matthew’s behalf: The answer, Matthew seems to be telling us, is that we must choose both the present and the future!

“Both”, you say…..

Yes, both.

You see, Matthew seems to hold both the present reality of our daily walk with the Lord and the future reality when the Lord will return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords[4] in tension with one another. Matthew never seems to think that both realities cancel each other out, or that we must choose one over the other.

And the reality of both the present and the future is present in the passage before us today….

Let’s look a little closer:

The future: We noted earlier on that the passage today begins with a cosmic scene. Recall with me the words, “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another.

Wow! Matthew now unfolds for us – in Jesus’ words – the final, climactic scene that he has alluded to all through his Gospel account. Remember that, time and again, Matthew has alluded to this final separating process, in which the good and the bad will be separated out. We’ve read and heard these words over and over, as we do (for example) in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13: 24 – 30). There, we read that the weeds that had grown up with the wheat will be pulled up “at the harvest”.

The present: But Matthew picks up on the Lord’s emphasis on the here and now, the present time of our daily lives…..

Notice how this unfolds in our narrative today: Our Lord chronicles a series of concrete, observable actions that all take place in daily life, actions that meet everyday needs. Deeds such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the prisoner, welcoming the stranger.

So, then, if we are to live with the tension of a dual focus on both the present and the future, then how to we reconcile the two?

I think the answer is that: the future makes holy the present.

Let me say that again: the future makes holy the present.

The key to understanding that important connection is found in the text….Notice how the Lord emphasizes the eternal consequences of our daily actions: “As you did it (these things) to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it unto me.”[5] At the end of the passage, we note that these righteous will enter into eternal life.[6]

No longer can we take actions that occur in daily life as isolated, minor events. They are not isolated, not from God’s knowing and seeing, nor from the importance that God attaches to them.

Moreover, Matthew seems to be telling us through Jesus’ words that we are in charge of our own spiritual destiny. Our actions and the choices we make to do good works affect our spiritual welfare in a direct, cause-and-effect sort of a way.

Having walked with Matthew throughout this entire Church Year, we would expect nothing less….

For Matthew has the daily walk (remember that this is a key concept of Judaism – which Matthew carries over into his understanding - the daily walk (Heb: halach) with God) always in view. Matthew’s concern – unlike John, who is more concerned with our conscious decision to accept Christ as Savior, to be “born again”[7] – is with the everyday decisions and actions we make.

For the mature Christian, we must embrace these various perspectives, for no one approach can begin to comprehend the mystery of God and the scope of His workings in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

So, we are called to say, with regard to our overall relating to the Lord, that we must:

• Accept Christ as Lord of our lives, being “born again”, (John’s concern) and
  
  
• Walk daily with the Lord by following Jesus’ teachings.[8] (Matthew’s focus)

And, with regard to the passage before us today, we are called to:

• Concentrate on our daily actions, our everyday choices, and
  
  
• Keep the final judgment always in view, as well.

May we, by God’s grace, embrace and hold fast to the mystery of God, revealed for all time in the teachings and life of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

May we, by God’s grace, be mature in our faith, holding fast to both the present and the future realities of God’s plan for humankind.

May we, by God’s grace, accept Him as Lord and Savior, as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and may we walk with Him in this life, that we may live with Him in eternity.

AMEN.

__________________________________________________________
[1] Verse 31
[2] Matthew 18: 20
[3] Matthew 28: 20
[4] This is the title we read in Revelation 17: 14 and 19: 16. (Recall Handel’s use of this title in the “Hallelujah Chorus” from “Messiah.”)
[5] Verse 40
[6] Verse 46
[7] See John 3: 3, where Jesus uses this phrase in His conversation with Nicodemus.
[8] Jesus’ teachings are another of Matthew’s major concerns.

27 Pentecost, Year A

“IN THE MEANTIME”
A sermon by: The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, November 16, 2008
Proper 28 -- Zephaniah 1:7, 12 – 18; Psalm 90:1–8, 12; I Thessalonians 5:1–10; Matthew 25:14–15, 19–29

“For it will be as when a man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property…”

Today’s reading follows directly on last week’s, where we heard the “Parable of the Wise and Foolish Maidens”.

That’s important for us to know, if we are to understand the context of today’s passage. “For it will be,”, we hear. What does “it” refer to?

The answer is (taken from the context of the preceding passages in Matthew’s Gospel account:[1] The return of the Son of Man.

The focus is on Jesus’ eventual return to earth. It is that time when the final sorting out will be accomplished, when the good and the bad are separated. This is one of Matthew’s major concerns.

But Matthew’s other concern has to do with the question, “What should we, as Christians, be doing until the Lord returns?” Matthew’s concern, you see, also lies with the everyday matters of Christian living.

Jesus’ parable, heard today, deals directly with the Christian’s daily walk with God, the everyday matters of living.

So, let’s turn now to this parable, and note (as we should always do) some of the features of it:

• Talents: A talent (usually measured in silver) was an enormous sum of money. One commentator says it is equal to 15 years’ wages for a common laborer in Jesus’ time. (As an aside, it’s worth noting that this parable is the vehicle for the word “talent” coming into our modern speech, where it has come to mean one’s abilities and gifts.) So, each of the three servants are entrusted with a large sum, a valuable asset.
  
  
• To each according to his ability: Notice (verse 15) that each servant is entrusted with a sum which is calculated to correspond to that servant’s ability. (The subtext here is that the man knew his servants quite well, just as they knew him quite well…..see the next point.)
  
  
• You reap where you do not sow, and gather where you have not winnowed: The wicked and lazy servant knew the master’s characteristics, that he was successful in all that his affairs. (Presumably, the other two servants knew, as well.)
  
  
• I hid your talent in the ground: In these uncertain economic times, hiding money in a mattress might seem to be a good move. During Biblical times, hiding money in the ground was the surest way to secure it (remember, there were no locks on doors at that time). If a person was entrusted with a sum of money and hid it in the ground, in the event that it was stolen, he would not be held accountable. The bottom line for this third servant, the wicked and lazy one, is that he followed the safe and acceptable path.

Now, notice the responses of the three servants: In verse 16 (not read as part of our Gospel today), we note that the one who had received five talents “went at once” and traded the five talents, so as to make five more. Likewise, the one who had received two, did the same. These two servants respond immediately to act on what they had been given. Perhaps the value of the talents motivated them. Perhaps the master’s nature – one who reaps where he does not sow and gathers where he does not winnow – provided the motivation.

But the third one takes the conventional, acceptable (and safe) route, hiding the talent in the ground.

You and I live in the timeframe of this parable. We are like the three servants, for we have been entrusted with the riches of the Lord.

What to do with this trust is the key question for us….

We could be like the third servant. We could take the safe and conventional route, content to simply “go along to get along” with God.

But, like the master in the parable, results and growth are expected. We are called to contribute to the increase of the kingdom of God by making wise uses of those things that God has given us to use for the benefit of His kingdom.

Each of us has been entrusted with the riches of God. To be sure, the amounts and the types of the gifts we have been trusted with differ according to our abilities to handle them. Are we living up to our full potential, spiritually?

26 Pentecost, Year A

Proper 27 -- Amos 5: 18 – 24; Psalm 70; I Thessalonians 4: 13 – 18; Matthew 25: 1 – 13
“FAITH: THE LAMP BY WHICH WE GREET THE LORD”
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, November 9th, 2008

“Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Today’s Gospel text contains this disturbing sentence with which the parable of the ten bridesmaids[1] closes, “Watch, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

As is typical of Matthew’s Gospel account, he wants us to be absolutely sure we get the meaning and the application of Jesus’ parable, heard today, that is, the Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Maidens.

OK, well enough. But the question arises, “Watch for what?”

For the answer to that question (and also the context of today’s parable), we must back up into chapter 24, where we discover that Jesus is talking about the coming of the Son of Man, that is, himself.

OK, so now we can understand that the context of today’s parable has to do with the waiting and the watching that the early Church (represented by the 10 maidens) is undertaking as it watches for Jesus’ return. It is a concern that St. Paul addresses in the I Thessalonians reading we hear today.

We might pause for just a moment to remind ourselves that the early Church was quite concerned with the matter of Jesus’ return to earth to reclaim those who had come to faith in Him. St. Paul’s writings (see I Corinthians chapter 15 for another passage on this topic) contain a number of references to it. The Fourth Gospel also records Jesus’ words as He says, “I am going away, but then I will come back to you.”[2]

So, Jesus has some specific instructions for these early believers: Watch! Be prepared!

Let’s look, then, a bit more closely at this parable we have before us this day: Three things stand out about it, and all three are typical of Matthew’s concerns:

• The good and the bad stand side-by-side: If the 10 maidens represent the Church, then the Church is composed of those who are doing the work God has given them to do, being prepared for whatever may come. But others are not, not at all. Moreover, there’s little indication of “who’s who”, not until the time of reckoning comes. Matthew has treated this subject before, as he records Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares.[3]
  
  
• The final “sorting out” is coming: The bridegroom’s approach spells the end of uncertainty about the true identity of the members of the Church. A consistent theme throughout Matthew’s Gospel account, we see it again here as we hear Jesus say, “The door was shut,” while the five foolish maidens come, seeking entrance, only to hear the bridegroom say, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”
  
  
• “Walking the walk”, day-by-day, in the meantime: If Matthew has the “big picture” in view (that is, the final day of reckoning), then he also has the everyday “business” of being a believer in view, as well. The Hebrew word for this daily “walk” with God is halach. It is a key part of the Jewish understanding of our relating to God.

It is to this issue of our daily walk that we now turn.

And specifically, we turn to the image of the lamps the maidens carry.

Interestingly enough, Jesus does not use the image of a wedding garment (as He did in Matthew 22: 1 – 14) to show the preparedness of the maidens. Here, He uses the image of the oil lamps.

The oil lamps have two components that Jesus specifically identifies in His parable: the wicks (which need trimming as they are put into use) and the oil which fuels them.

Let’s unpack the image of these two components a bit, drawing conclusions from them:

• Oil: The Old Testament often uses oil as a symbol for the good deeds of God’s people. In Old Testament imagery, this oil is the fuel for the daily walk with God, consisting of deeds of kindness, generosity, and righteousness.
  
  
• Wicks: I remember my Danish grandmother trimming the wicks on the kerosene lamps that were an essential part of the emergency equipment every household needed to have in the rural farm country where the electricity could go off at any time. She was good at trimming those wicks! You see, wicks need trimming regularly as they see use. So Jesus’ image of the trimming of the wicks represents the regular sharpening and honing of our lamps of faith, which are the means by which we will recognize Him when He comes again.

Finally, let’s work with the image of the lamp, its oil and the regular trimming of its wicks, for a moment:

Jesus clearly wants us to understand that we can’t be sitting around, looking into the heavens, waiting for His return in the clouds. Apparently, as we read through I Thessalonians, this was a clear problem for the early Church there in Thessalonica: many people refused to work, or to “be about the business of the Kingdom of God” by sitting around, waiting for Jesus’ return. A cursory look at Christian history will reveal periods of time when many Christian people did just the same thing…Groups and leaders have arisen from time to time, claiming to know just when Jesus would return. (Guess they forgot to read the end of today’s parable, and especially Jesus’ statement, “you know neither the day nor the hour.”)

We have work to do!

We have deeds of kindness, acts of mercy and generosity to put our hands and our hearts into. That’s the “oil” of bringing the kingdom into reality.

Then, too, as we act on our faith, fueling our walk with God with the oil of righteous acts, we will need to sharpen the wicks of our lamps in order that the light given off may be bright.

You see, with regular use, our faith needs maintenance. We need to sharpen our skills that our light might shine brightly into the world around us.

To do so, we sharpen our skills by regular attendance at worship, Sunday-by-Sunday. We hone our knowledge of the Holy Scriptures by regular and deep study. We trim away any excess material that might accrete to our faith walk by acknowledging our sins and our weaknesses, which dim the light of Christ.

One last thought: doing all of these things: deeds of righteousness, acts of mercy, regular worship, consistent Bible study, allowing God to trim away anything that would hinder our walk with Him, all of these things keep the light God has given us shining brightly. For in the final analysis, it is this light which will allow us to see Christ when He comes again.

AMEN.

[1] The Greek word which is sometimes rendered as “bridesmaids” or “maidens” literally means “virgins”. For the purposes of this sermon, I will use “maidens”, which is how the Revised Standard Version (RSV) translates the Greek word.
[2] Paraphrased from John 14.
[3] See Matthew 14: 24 – 30.

The Sunday after All Saints, Year A

All Saints Sunday, Year A: Ecclesiasticus 44:1–10, 13–14; Psalm 149; Revelation 7:2–4, 9 – 17; Matthew 5:1–12
"SAINTS: WORKERS IN THE LABORATORY OF GOD, THE CHURCH”
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 (by Mr. Barney Bruce, Licensed Lay Worship Leader)

“Let us now praise famous men and women”, workers in God’s laboratory, the Church.

Have you ever thought of the saints in ages past as workers in a laboratory?

As I prayed about this sermon, and thought about the saints in the Church’s history, and yes, even the saints I have known in my own life, I think the image fits….For the saints are those people who delve into the mysteries of God, seeking to apply the wisdom that comes from God to our everyday lives.

Lab workers do the same thing: they seek to take the wisdom of the way the world was created, and apply it to everyday situations and problems.

Take, for example, some famous people from the past, who are the discoverers of things that have made human life safer, more enjoyable, and more disease-free: We could name Thomas Edison, whose laboratory is preserved at the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. Edison labored in his lab, and in the process of painstaking research, was able to take the elemental things of the world like electricity, magnetism, and other things to create the incandescent light bulb and the phonograph. Likewise, Jonas Salk worked in his lab to discover a vaccine for polio 50-some-odd years ago.

These are the saints of modern science that we can name. In secular terms, they would be saints with a big “S”.

But there are many others who work, day-by-day, whose names we do not know, but who seek to find answers to many of the problems humankind faces today. As they do so, they work with the basic elements of the universe as God designed it to find ways to relieve suffering, to make life better and safer.

Lab workers need a lab in which to work, a place were the tools of discovery are all available. They need a place where they can gather together, working together, each person’s strengths being brought to bear on the problems that lay before them. Lab workers need a place where they can share their successes and their failures. They need a place where one person’s insights can help another worker’s lack of understanding. A scientific lab fulfills many functions and many roles.

The Church is God’s laboratory. It is the place where the more seasoned explorers of God’s truth lead others. It is a place of spiritual apprenticeship, if you will. It is a place where the saints can rejoice in their successes, but openly admit their failures. It is the place where we can watch God working in each other’s lives, so that we can recognize God working in our own lives in similar ways.

The tools of discovery are to be found in the Church: God’s word written, the Holy Scriptures, are heard in each worship service, are studied for insight into the way God created human beings, and for wisdom in living in accordance with God’s commands. The Holy Spirit,enlighten s Christian believers as they seek to understand more and more of the wisdom of the God who created us, and who created everything that is.

The Church is God’s laboratory. But God does not intend for the work that is done in God’s lab to stay within the walls of the workplace.

No, the scientific lab’s reason for existence is to make life outside the lab better. Similarly, the Church’s reason for existence is to make a difference in the world outside its doors.

Many of the Church’s great lab workers, the saints we apply the title “saint” (with a big “S” to), are precisely those who made a difference outside the doors of the spiritual workplace. Consider St. Francis of Assisi, for example….Like many saints of his time and place, Francis was a shining beacon of light in an otherwise pretty dark time….Francis called Christians to return to their spiritual roots, if you will, calling them to a life that is free of ties to material wealth, to power and prestige. The Church of Francis’ day was in love with all three of these: material wealth, power and prestige.

Now it is our time in the lab. We are the modern-day discoverers of God’s timeless truths. We are called to take our place in the lab, where we read the record of the discoveries of ages past, as God’s workers in the same lab in ages past wrote down their record of discovery. We know that record of discovery as the Bible. We are called to take our place in the lab, where we study their struggles, their failures, and their successes. For we are the inheritors of their work, and we benefit from knowing their stories. There’s no need to duplicate their work, though we are called to build on the results of it.

But just as the challenges of a modern-day technician in a scientific lab are different from the workers of generations ago, so, too, are the challenges we face in the Church different from theirs.

In some cases, the challenges the outside world presents us as 21st century Christians are more complex than the challenges of years ago.

Yet the basics of the faith that sustained and empowered the saints of ages past remain the same. The way God designed the world spiritually remains constant. The challenge for us is to reapply those same principles and that same wisdom to new and more complex problems.

The saints that we remember mastered just those sorts of challenges are the ones we remember, like St. Francis of Assisi.

But Francis and the other masters of discovery were simply following in Jesus’ footsteps. For Jesus is the founder of the lab, and what we remember Him for most particularly is His ability to apply God’s wisdom in new ways, addressing deeper human concerns and needs in the process.

Essentially, that’s the “bottom line” for the Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 1 – 12), for the Beatitudes seek to lead us into a deeper understanding of the wisdom of God. At first glance, each of these sayings looks like foolishness to the world, like a puzzle that a technician might face in a scientific lab. But the disciple of Jesus discovers the truths that Jesus taught in the Beatitudes and elsewhere through painstaking and careful work in the lab that our Lord founded, the Church. Eventually, the puzzle is figured out, and the ways God intended us to follow and to know make sense.

We said a minute ago that it’s now our turn in the lab….All Saints Day is a perfect time to remember and recall those Christians who have been influential in our own lives. Would that list include a Christian parent or relative, a dear friend, or perhaps even a priest? Was a Sunday School teacher the source of God’s wisdom? Was it a grandparent or a coach the one who helped us to discover the truths of God in new and refreshing ways?

We, too, are adding to the record of God’s work in our own lives. We are writing our own chapters as we seek to apply God’s timeless wisdom to the problems and challenges we face. If we’re doing the job right, we will record our failures along with our successes. We will admit that the problems and challenges we face prompt many of the searches for answers that we seek. We will rely on the wisdom of Holy Scripture, which is the record of the saints in ages past, as we press on in our quest for wisdom and understanding. For Holy Scripture is the textbook which guides our own process of discovery. Our findings are like a student’s notebook, reflections on the textbook, the Bible, that contains the master library of the wisdom of God.

So, let us “now praise famous men and women”, the saints of God, those in ages past whose names we know, and those whose names have been forgotten, but who are known to God alone. Let us praise the saints of God in our own lives in ages past, and let us praise the saints of God with whom we rub elbows everyday.

AMEN.

24 Pentecost, Year A

“LOVE GIVEN, LOVE RETURNED”
Proper 25 --Exodus 22:21–27; Psalm 1; I Thessalonians 2:1–8; Matthew 22:34–46
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, October 26th, 2008

“Class, it’s a pleasure to do theology!”

You’ve heard me say before that that was the way one of my theology professors in seminary started every class session….A distinguished-looking man, always impeccably dressed in black, with a broad clerical collar, a pressed handkerchief in his left outside pocket, and often wearing a Homberg hat, he would grin widely at us as he said these words, “Class, it’s a pleasure to do theology!”

So, let’s do some theology this morning….

Theology that has to do with love, and particularly that part of the matter of love that shows us who God is, how God loves us (because we’re worth it), and how we can imitate that love by giving that love back to God, and to others.

For that is the subject of the first part of today’s Gospel reading….Having silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees now step forward one more time, seeking to test Jesus. They ask him, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”

In response, Jesus summarizes the whole of the Law of Moses in these very familiar words (which we hear at the beginning of our service of Holy Communion),[1] “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.”

In essence, what Jesus is doing by responding in this way is to summarize the Ten Commandments. For the first four of those ten commandments have to do with the way we behave toward and regard God. The remaining six commandments have to do with the way we behave toward and regard our neighbors.

So, Jesus says, there are three objects of our love: God, others, and ourselves.

But, we must acknowledge that many people do not love God, do not love their neighbors, and certainly don’t love themselves. In connection with this point, we also ought to admit that unless a person has a healthy love of self (as distinguished from an unhealthy preoccupation with self), it’s nearly impossible to love God or to love others.

So, let’s begin our study of the theology of love by looking at the bonds of love that tie together the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. Then, let’s look at the ways we know God’s love for us, so that we can imitate God’s love by loving God in return, by loving our neighbors, and by loving ourselves.

We begin with the Holy Trinity….Theologians often describe the three Persons of the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in terms of love: They say that the Trinity is bound together by the forces of pure love….That is, the Father loves the Son perfectly, the Son loves the Father perfectly, the Holy Spirit loves the Father, and loves the Son, and so forth. It is love that binds the three persons of the Godhead together.

I must say, I don’t often think of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, the Trinity, in those terms.

But I like the description very much…..Perfect love, which is surely the most powerful force in the universe.

But the Holy Trinity’s love relationship isn’t simply focused on itself.

No, the Father doesn’t just love the Father, and doesn’t just love the Son and the Holy Spirit (and so forth). The Father also loves us!

We are folded into the relationship of love, taken up into the divine life (as theologians often describe it). God seeks to wrap us up into the life of love that the Father shares with the Son, and which the other two Persons of the Trinity share with each other.

How can we know that this is so?

By the ways in which God acts (which is, by the way, the way in which we get to know anything and anyone, by the actions we witness[2]).

God has created and given to us this wonderful world. Though it is marred now by the presence of sin and wickedness, it remains a wonderful place, a place that God called “good”.[3]

But God also has a wonderful habit of saving people….Again and again, God saves people….The Old Testament is full of such examples: Think of Noah and the Great Flood, for example. Consider the leadership of Moses, who led God’s Chosen People out of bondage in Egypt into freedom in the Promised Land. Remember the great prophets of old who, time and again, warned God’s people to return to a genuine love of Him, and to turn away from idols.

In the fullness of time, God the Father sent God the Son to save us. Here, we see the perfect image of God the Father, in Jesus Christ, His Son and our Lord. Jesus says in John 14: 8, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

God’s love is most perfectly seen in Jesus Christ, His person and His work. From Jesus’ work and Jesus’ character, we can see that God’s love is a self-giving, self-emptying sort of love. The sort of love that the Greeks would describe with the word agape, that sort of love which seeks the welfare of others, even to the detriment of self.

We see agape love most clearly in the image of the cross….Here, Jesus empties Himself of everything, and does so out of love for us.

So, God’s love is always moving outward, toward others, seeking the other. God could have turned His back on us, and simply walked away from the human race. But God doesn’t do that. He constantly, again and again, reaches out to us, reaches out of love for the human beings He created.

How might we then, respond to God’s love?

We should begin with a healthy love of ourselves….You see, God loved us, even in our sinful and fallen state….In truth, none of us, by virtue of our inability to live the way God intended us to live, are worthy of God’s love.

But Holy Scripture says that “God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”[4]

You see, God’s love bridges the gap between His holiness and our un-holiness.

For the God we love and worship is a God who is more holy than we can ever imagine, yet more willing to love us in spite of our sinfulness and waywardness, and all at the same time!

Moreover, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. That’s St. Paul’s point as he writes in Romans 8: 38, which chronicles a whole list of awful things that we might think would separate us from God and God’s love. But, Paul concludes, “Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God’s love for us is perfect, and it is a love that casts out fear entirely. Hear what we read in I John 4: 18, which says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.”

If we understand and accept at the deepest levels of our hearts the reality that God loves us, not because we deserve it, but because God made each of us intentionally to be in a love relationship with Him, we can begin to love ourselves because God loves us.

We are of infinite value to God! Each one of us is worth more than we could ever describe to God!

And so, we respond to God’s love. We return to I John 4: 19, where we read, “We love, because God first loved us.”

Today’s text calls us to a critical and deep self-evaluation:

• Do we love ourselves? (I am not talking about self-absorption, but a healthy love of self with affects how we regard ourselves and our individual self-worth.)
  
  
• Are we then able to love others? (For if we do not have a healthy understanding of our own value in God’s eyes, then we cannot love others.)
  
  
• Do we love God with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our minds?

For, you see, God’s love is the sort of love that reaches out to others, seeks an object for that sort of love. God seeks us out, in order to fold us into the equation of love that holds the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together in perfect unity.

May we come to the place where we accept God’s self-giving love for us more and more, that we may, in turn, love ourselves, love others, and love God.

AMEN.

_______________________________________________

[1] Known as the Summary of the Law, Book of Common Prayer, 1979, p. 324
[2] Think, for example, of a person who is applying for a job….the person offers references who can verify the past actions they have taken which witness to the person’s character and the person’s ability to do the work being applied for.
[3] Genesis 1: 31
[4] Romans 5: 8