Sunday, January 25, 2009

3 Epiphany, Year B

“DEFINITIONS: GOD TIME & GOD’S KINGDOM”
A sermon by: The Rev. Gene TuckerGiven at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL on Sunday, January 25, 2009
Jeremiah 3: 21 – 4: 2; Psalm 130; I Corinthians 7: 17 – 23; Mark 1: 14 – 20

One of the greatest joys I had last week when I visited the family back east was the honor of helping our seven year old granddaughter, Mira, with her homework. This highly intelligent (yes, I know that all grandfathers think their granddaughters are “highly intelligent”, but in this case, it’s really true!), very motivated young lady gets some hard work to do for her first grade class….In the course of the week, we worked on math, and then also on her spelling and on an English assignment that was connected to her spelling words.

Mira had to choose three words from her spelling list and find definitions for them in the dictionary. (I don’t think I ever had to do that when I was in first grade!). So, Mira chose three words, and we went to work. She was very good at figuring out where to find the words, first of all….For example, she had no trouble knowing that “crust” came before “cry”.

As we went through the dictionary, [1] I directed her to the definitions, skipping the part that tells you where the words came from, that is, what language they were derived from), and directed her right to the definitions themselves. She caught on right away.

As I reflected on this collaborative effort with my granddaughter, I thought also of today’s Gospel, in which Mark records Jesus’ first words, as His public ministry now gets underway.

“These words are so familiar,” I thought to myself, “perhaps many of us could repeat or paraphrase them.” They roll off our backs, spiritually, don’t they, because they are so familiar.

But then, I put the two events together: the work with the dictionary, and our gospel text for today, and thought to myself, “How about going back to the basic meanings of the key words in our Gospel for today?”

What a neat idea!

We need to do that from time-to-time, get back to the basic definitions of the terms we use so frequently.

We now turn our attention to these basic words, found in today’s Gospel text, applying what might be the best meaning of these words to today’s text as they are defined in Webster’s: [2]

Time: Not only the duration of a period as it relates to the movement of planet earth, but also to “the point of period appropriate to the beginning, performance, or ending of a course of action, as in “It is time we went.”
Kingdom: Not only the political area governed by a male monarch, but the “realm in which God’s will is done.”

Repent: Not only to “grieve for one’s sins,” but to “change one’s mind” about something.

Believe: “To accept as true something that is known partially by faith.”

Gospel: A contraction of an Old English word God (good) + spell (tale).

Now, putting all of these together, let’s look at Jesus’ first words as Mark records them, drawing inferences for our walk with the Lord.

The first thing we might say is that our Lord’s words indicate an already, and a not yet aspect of the Kingdom of God. (More on that in a moment, but I wanted to plant the seed of this overall structure of Jesus’ words at the outset.)

Now, we turn to the first statement Jesus makes, when He says, “The time is fulfilled.” In some translations, we read, “The time has come.” This statement marks the already nature of the Kingdom of God…..The “time” in this case seems to be in the sense of “this is the right time for God to act.”

Next, we hear Jesus say, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” Again, in some translations, we read, “The Kingdom of God is near.” This aspect of the coming of the kingdom is the not yet aspect of its coming. It is in the process of coming, but hasn’t fully come. As a sidelight, let’s remind ourselves that Mark is clear to point out the secretive nature of Jesus’ unfolding identity and ministry. Our Lord’s ministry begins quietly, mysteriously. In Mark’s gospel account, Jesus identity, ministry and purpose in coming to earth explodes into the open at Mark 8: 31. Scholars have come to nickname this phenomenon in Mark’s gospel as the “Messianic Secret”. And so here, we hear Jesus say, “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”

Having outlined God’s action, Jesus now turns to our response, saying, “Repent.” In this case, the word might well carry the sense of “turn from your wicked and sinful ways”, just as the word carried that connotation in John the Baptist’s baptismal rite in the River Jordan. But I think it also carries the sense of “change your minds” about the nature of the kingdom. Surely Jesus’ contemporary listeners needed that action, for many of those first century Jews believed the kingdom would come with the advent of a Messiah who would be like King David, a great, military conqueror who would throw off the yoke of Roman occupation and restore Israel to its greatness of 1,000 years earlier when David united the 12 tribes of Israel into a solid nation.

Next, Jesus says, “Believe the good news!”. What a difficult demand to make of His original hearers….After all, they’d probably only heard Him this once. (They did not have the advantage we have of the deposit of faith that comes from thousands of years of reflecting on Holy Scripture, on the witness of the original Apostles and the faith community – the Church – all of which assist us in coming to faith in the true-ness of the good news. What a leap of faith!

What application might we make for our own lives, as modern-day Christians, of Jesus’ words, which fall on our ears (thanks to Mark’s recording of them), just as they did on the ears of those first hearers 2,000 years ago?

Just the following, by way of suggestion:

Time: It’s God’s time, not our time. Whenever God confronts us with His acting and asks for a response, it’s the “right time”. Today!

The Kingdom of God is at hand: It is coming. It is coming today. It comes to our hearts, to our minds. For there is the seat of God’s acting, in human hearts and minds. We – all of us who believe – are called to become small “castles” for the monarch to take up residence. To do so changes us forever, for we ally ourselves to the power of God to change our lives, and in turn, the entire world, in the process.

Repent: “Change your minds,” we are called to do. “Come to a new and fuller understanding” of who God is, what God wants of us, and how that affects our lives.

Believe in the good news: Use whatever measure of faith God has gifted us with in order to open the doors to fuller understanding and closer living and walking with God through Jesus Christ. (“I believe in order to know, and I know in order to believe,” is the axiom which governs this process.)

By God’s grace and mercy, may we come to know that the time is here, that the Kingdom of God is approaching, and may we be enabled to repent and to believe the good news.

AMEN.
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[1] Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate
[2] Here I use Webster’s New Lexicon of the English Language, as well as Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

1 Epiphany, Year B

“PICKING UP THE SCENT, STRAINING TO DISCOVER”
A sermon by: The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, IL; Sunday, January 11, 2009
Isaiah 42: 1 – 9; Psalm 89: 20 – 29; Acts 10: 34 – 38; Mark 1: 7 – 11


The other day, I was walking our two Cocker Spaniels, Phoebe and Zoe, when suddenly they caught a whiff of a scent that sent them scrambling. It’s amazing how strong two dogs can be: mind you, one weighs 35 pounds, and the other 45. When they want to go somewhere, especially when they are motivated by the thought of discovering something they might like to chase (or eat!), they can use their combined 80 pounds of weight to good advantage!. I see why they use dogs to pull sleds in the frozen north….they are strong!

So, these two dogs are pulling me along the street, trying to catch sight of something that their senses (in this case, their noses) had discovered.

They weren’t sure what is was, because they’d only gotten a glimmer – via their noses – of what it was they were sure had been there at some time in the past.

This illustration is a good lead-in to our gospel text for today, for Phoebe and Zoe:
  • Had discovered something that they knew about, but I didn’t (a secret),

  • Were single-mindedly pursuing this new discovery.

Today’s text, which recounts Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, is sort of like that: Mark gives us a glimmer of the scene, enough to put all our senses – especially our spiritual ones – on edge.

Like Cocker Spaniels on a mission, we strain to look through the pages of Holy Scripture to see for ourselves the reality of this scene. The written word gives us a hint of the reality which existed some 2,000 years ago.

That’s just what Mark wants us to do!

Mark, after all, is a writer with a mission: He’s on a mission to bring alive the reality of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark wants us to see the excitement of God coming among us, as one of us, he wants us to “catch the scent” of the great work that God has done in Jesus Christ. Mark wants us to see the drama that that plays out in the lives of the original 12 disciples, even as it plays out in our lives, as the Good News of Jesus Christ unfolds.
And to heighten the drama, Mark casts Jesus’ coming as a secret, one that is “bottled up” until the right time, when it explodes into reality and into the world’s consciousness. (More on that in a minute.)

And the Good News begins to unfold right here in Jesus’ baptism.

Let’s look a little closer at this text, Mark’s account of Jesus’ baptism. Then, let’s consider what the implications might be for us as followers of Jesus Christ, we who have followed Him into the waters of baptism.

We begin with a look at the vocabulary Mark uses….Notice the action verb in verse 10, “And as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart.”

Mark loves action verbs! This verb, “torn apart” emphasizes the violent rending open of the heavens, indicating to us that God is coming with power and decisive action, entering our world by a demonstration of His power. God breaks into our world! His power can be felt and sensed by human beings.

Next, notice that it’s Jesus only who sees the heavens torn apart, and it is He alone who sees the Spirit descending on Him in the form of a dove. The drama of God’s acting – at least at this point in Mark’s story – is hidden!

We might pause here for a moment and remind ourselves of the overall structure of Mark’s gospel account….For Mark portrays Jesus’ coming, His teaching, and His purpose in taking on our humanity, as a secret which finally bursts open because its power won’t be stopped by anything. Biblical scholars have come to name this phenomenon in Mark as the “Messianic Secret”. Time and again, Jesus will tell those whom He has healed, “Don’t tell anyone about me.”[1] But then, after His last instruction to “keep quiet”, Mark then tells us, in Mark 8: 31 – 32, that Jesus, began to tell His disciples that he would undergo great suffering, be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days, rise again. Mark goes on to say that He said all these things “quite openly”. The secret is out!

And so, what is partially hidden becomes fully known.

What is being revealed, it turns out, is the fullness of God, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit….Notice again what Mark tells us: as Jesus was coming up out of the water, Mark tells us that He “saw the heavens torn apart, and the Spirit descending on him like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved, with you I am well pleased.”

So, God the Father’s voice is heard, confirming His unity with the Son. God the Holy Spirit is present in His descent on Jesus, as well. The fullness of God is present now among us.

What might we make of this scene, and what is its importance for us?

The first point we might make is that we are witnesses to the baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ in a way that makes us more informed witnesses than the original witnesses who stood on the banks of the Jordan River that day. For, you see, we know about the Father’s approval. We know that the Spirit descended. We know that Jesus saw the heavens opened.

In a sense, then, we are closer to the event that the original witnesses were, even though we are separated by nearly 2,000 years of time, for we know things about Jesus’ baptism that the eyewitness of that time did not know. We’re “in” on the secret!

Secondly, we ought to recognize that the fullness of God’s power is present in this scene….it is an irrepressible power, one that nothing can stop! Mark is especially careful to emphasize the power and the unmistakable effects of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit come in indivisible unity to intervene in human affairs and in human lives.

Finally, for all the power and the presence of God as we see it in this scene, yet we see something of the character of God in Jesus’ baptism, a baptism which was undertaken at the hands of John the Baptist, a baptism that was specifically for the forgiveness of sins.

But, we should ask: “Why did Jesus submit Himself to a baptism which was for the forgiveness of sins?” Why was this necessary, since Jesus lived a sinless life?[2]

I think the answer is that we see the nature of God in this act….for the God who comes in power, also comes in humility. For God does not ask us to do anything that He, Himself, isn’t willing to do also. I think that’s the essential point….God says to us, “Do as I say, and as I do, for I’ve already done it!”

So, are your senses on edge? Have you caught a whiff of the exciting scent of the gospel, of the exciting reality of Jesus Christ, the Son of God who comes in power, and also in humility?

Are you eager to learn more about this mysterious Son of God, as His “messianic secret” unfolds in this season? Then you’re ready for the season of Epiphany, during which we celebrate the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, and to the world.

Welcome to the journey of discovery that is the Christian faith!

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[1] A paraphrase of Jesus’ actual words, which vary from occasion to occasion.
[2] See II Corinthians 5: 21, where Jesus’ sinlessness is confirmed by St. Paul.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

2 Chistmas, Year B

Today was the Reconsecration of the ediface known as Trinity Episcopal Church, Mt. Vernon, held as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of the first service held in that building in 1909.

The service was taken from the 1892 Book of Common Prayer, which is the version of the BCP that would have been used at that first service in the current church building.

Bishop Peter Beckwith, Bishop of Springfield, was the preacher and officiant at today's service at Trinity.