4 Epiphany, Year C

“TODAY (PART II)”
A sermon by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Sunday, January 31, 2010
Jeremiah 1:4–10; Psalm 71:1–6,15–17; I Corinthians 14:12b–20; Luke 4:21–32

“Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4: 21)

Last Sunday, we considered the first use that Jesus made of the word “today”, a word that Luke records in his gospel account eight times. We remarked last week that Luke’s inclusion of this word (approximately eight times) far exceeds all other occurrences of it in the other three gospel accounts combined.

We also remarked that Luke seems to be preoccupied with the notion of “today”, and its implications for living the life in Christ in the here-and-now, in other words, “today”.

And so today, in this second part of our mini-series on the word “today”, let’s consider the implications of this word by contrasting Jesus’ first use of it, and His last use of it.

Perhaps it’s best if we put the two uses side-by-side, comparing the settings and application to those who heard it:

• “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4: 21) Jesus utters these words in the synagogue in Nazareth, to His “hometown crowd”. In so doing, He applies Isaiah’s prophecy to Himself.
  
  
• “Very truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23: 43) Jesus speaks these words to the repentant thief on the cross, as He – and both of the criminals with whom He was crucified – are about to die. They are spoken as the repentant thief says to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

We can see the circumstances more clearly if we consider the reactions of the group in the synagogue, as contrasted to the request of the thief:

• The Nazareth crowd wants to kill Jesus by throwing Him off the cliff (which is located on the south side of town). Of course, before they try to carry out this idea, Jesus senses their indignation and anger in His comments to them. Recall our gospel account and Luke’s inclusion of these words, “Is not this Joseph’s son?” The subtext seems to be this: “Where did this guy get the idea that Isaiah’s words apply to him?” The crowd’s reaction seems to be based in the immediacy of Jesus’ application of Isaiah’s words to Himself. If Jesus’ statement, which applies Isaiah’s prophecy to Himself, is true, then the very power and plan of God comes crashing into the self-satisfied, proud people of Nazareth.
  
  
• The thief, by contrast, has no grounds for pride, or for anger. Immediate need crashes into the reality of the thief’s circumstances. After all, he’s hanging from a cross, and death is coming quickly.

Put another way, the two motivating forces can be summarized in the words “pride” and “abject need”.

A person who is consumed with pride has no need of a power greater than – or outside of - themselves. Pride causes us to think of ourselves as being the center of our world. “We’re in charge!” we like to think.

A person in abject need, by contrast, has no such ground to stand on. Gone is their pride and their self-sufficiency. Powers that are greater and more powerful than they are have proven their ability to crush.

Immediate is the need for the sort of deliverance that Jesus applied to Himself from Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives.”

As we make our way through Luke’s gospel account, between now and the end of the Church Year in November, it would do us well to keep these two attitudes in mind as we progress. For these two attitudes, pride and abject need, will surface again and again in Luke’s writing.

Consider a few examples from Luke:

• The Good Samaritan: (See Luke 10: 29 – 37) Jesus’ parable and teaching concerning pride and abject need are clearly seen in this passage. The respected and respectable priest and Levite pass the wounded man by as they make their way from Jerusalem down to Jericho. By contrast, however, the hated Samaritan (hated by the Jews because he was racially impure) is the one who does the will of God. Those who – by the world’s standards, anyway - have grounds to be proud fail the test, while the one whose status merits the lowest form of existence and need, passes it with flying colors.
  
  
• The Prodigal Son: (See Luke 15: 11 – 32) Here, the pride-filled older son fails to exhibit God’s command to forgive, while the younger son – the one in abject need – renews his relationship with his father.
  
  
• The Pharisee and the Publican: (See Luke 18: 9 – 14) The Pharisee, standing in the Temple, proclaims, “God, I thank thee that I am not like other men are…” By contrast, the Publican (tax collector) would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but instead says, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” Notice that Our Lord tells us that the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. Jesus is saying that God isn’t listening! Furthermore, Luke makes it clear that the application of this parable is toward those who “trust in themselves that they are righteous and despised others.”

The immediacy of Jesus’ righteousness and His divine commission can cause us to react with pride and indignation. We might say to ourselves, “We don’t need saving, nor do we need release from anything!”

However, Jesus calls us into repentance. He calls us to recognize our abject need and our helplessness. Spiritually, we are in the same predicament as the repentant thief: We are powerless, a victim of our own misdeeds and inability to live according to God’s blueprint for us.

To the proud and the arrogant, Jesus says (as He said to the chief priests and the scribes in Matthew 21:31), “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.”

But to the meek of heart, He says, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

AMEN.

3 Epiphany, Year C

“TODAY (PART I)”
A sermon by: Fr. Gene Tucker, given at: Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Sunday, January 24, 2010
Nehemiah 8:2–10; Psalm 113; I Corinthians 12:12–27; Luke 4:14–21

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

“Today.”

Today is very important to Luke. In fact, the word “today” appears in Luke’s gospel account no less than eight times.

The word “today” focuses our attention on the things of this day, of the present, of the now.

Perhaps that’s why those who heard Jesus in the synagogue that day in Nazareth got so angry with Him….they’d figured out that He was equating Himself with the promised deliverance of which the prophet Isaiah spoke many centuries before. (But, lest I get ahead of myself and the story, let me say that we will defer our consideration of that reaction to Jesus’ comment until next Sunday, when we will hear Part II of this mini-series on the word “Today”.)

Jesus quotes from Isaiah 61: 1 and 58: 6 in the words Luke records for us.

So if we can assume that Jesus’ claims are genuine, that is to say, that He isn’t a madman, egomaniac, or a tireless self-promoter, then just what sort of deliverance is He to bring to all peoples, everywhere?

A reflection on Jesus’ reading from Isaiah in the synagogue that day, and the account of Jesus’ work, teaching and healing that will unfold in the pages of Luke’s account, seem to indicate that the deliverance Luke seeks to remind us of is a deliverance for people here and now, or, in other words, today.

Luke’s concern, in writing his gospel account, seems to be a very practical one. Luke seems to be asking the Church to reflect on what it should be doing, day-by-day, in living out the Gospel.

(In fairness, we have to remind ourselves that other gospel accounts are more concerned with Jesus’ divinity, His projection of the perfect image of God the Father, and so forth. That would be John’s concern, for example.)

But returning to Luke, we see a very down-to-earth focus in his gospel account. Surely, that’s the sense in which Jesus’ message is to be seen, I think.

So, as we look at the text Jesus cites as being applicable to Him, let’s look a little closer, phrase by phrase:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor: Where might the Spirit have been given to Jesus, and when was the anointing accomplished? Alas for those present in the synagogue that day, they had not been present at His baptism in the Jordan River, most likely. For it was there that the Spirit descended in the form of a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard, saying, “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.” There is the descent of the Spirit and the anointing. But notice that the anointing and the bestowal of the Spirit is for a very specific purpose: the proclamation of good news to the poor. That will be the focus of Jesus’ ministry as Luke sees it. Ministry to the poor, provision of hope to the poor, these will be hallmarks of Jesus’ activity as Luke records it.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed: All throughout Luke’s account, we read of role reversals, of just the sort that we hear in Isaiah’s word, cited here. Consider just a few with me: 1. The healing of the leper in chapter 5 (verses 12 – 16)….a healing which released the leper from the captivity of exclusion from the community; 2. eating with tax collectors and sinners (Luke 5: 27 – 32), people who were captives of their social status, by virtue of their sinful status, were drawn out of their oppressed state into one of acceptance by Jesus; and 3. delivery of those who were possessed by demons (Luke 8: 26 – 39).

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord: Here, the reference might be to the Jubilee Year, although Luke conflates the text from Isaiah a bit. The Jubilee Year was the 50th year, coming after the seventh repetition of seven years. It was a time when debts were forgiven, and slaves were set free. (See Leviticus 25: 10 for the provision of the Jubilee Year, part of whose text reads, “You shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.” )

How might Jesus’ message of liberation be encountered in our lives? How might release be ours, and how might we recognize it?

Offered for your consideration are the following:

Release from sin: Any of us who’ve lived for awhile most likely recognize that there are some areas of our lives which fail to meet God’s standards of holiness. Perhaps it’s our attitudes toward God and toward others, as much as anything, where we might see this sort of bondage. And, if we’re honest about it, we cannot help ourselves out of such a condition, much of the time. But faith in Christ allows us to break free of those things that elude our best efforts to correct. Add the Holy Spirit’s power to faith in Christ, and the impossible often becomes possible (I think of my father’s life experience in this regard, a story I’ve told many times before).

Freedom from addictions: God’s power is an integral part of victory over addictions, no matter what form they may take.

An outsider no more: God’s perfect love, seen in Jesus’ life, teachings, passion, death and resurrection, calls each of us, regardless of our social station, our background, ethnicity, economic situation, or our educational or racial background, into the perfect community of love, self-giving love, that is what the Church is called to be.

“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Thanks be to God!

AMEN.

2 Epiphany, Year C

“THE BEST IS YET TO COME”
A sermon by: Fr. Gene Tucker, given at: Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Sunday, January 17, 2010
Isaiah 62:1–5; Psalm 96:1–10; I Corinthians 12:1–11; John 2:1–11

“The best is yet to come.”

That’s the essential meaning of the event which took place at a small town called Cana, located some miles ten miles or so north of Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, the changing of water into wine at a wedding celebration there.

Jesus’ action allows the best wine to come at the late in the celebration, not at the beginning, as was customary.

Now today’s gospel text is a small window into the ancient world, and into its marriage customs. They differ considerably from ours, today, in some respects. Let’s recall some of those differences and similarities:

• The marriage wasn’t a one-day affair. The ceremony itself and the attendant party (yes, that would be the right word) lasted for perhaps a week or so. So, it was important to have plenty of wine on hand for the celebration, for the many guests who would come, and for the length of the celebration itself.
  
  
• “You always put your best foot forward,” or so the old saying goes. Here, we see that principle affirmed in the words of the steward, who comes to the bridegroom and asks why the best wine was saved for last. Put into contemporary terms, we’d say that you serve your fine French wine (perhaps a Chateau Lafite 1955) first, and then, after everyone’s judgment is a little less sharp, you trot out the Three Buck Chuck (for those who don’t know, that would be Charles Shaw wine, which sells for about three dollars a bottle). Clearly, that wasn’t the case when Jesus is the vintner.
  
  
• There’s a hierarchy of people serving the wedding and its attendant party. Named in today’s account are servants, the steward of the celebration, and the bridegroom. Notice that the same hierarchy often attends today’s wedding celebrations, for we have people who serve in the kitchen, waiting tables, catering, and so forth. Not much has changed over 2,000 years.

Now, we return to the text itself, keeping in mind our theme for the day and for this sermon: “The best is yet to come!”

Notice that several of the threads that are present in today’s account will follow us through to the end of the gospel story, that is, to the cross and to the empty tomb. These threads are:

• Mary’s presence at the wedding feast, and at the foot of the cross (see John 19: 25 – 28), though she is not named in either passage, and her resolute faith in both instances.
  
  
• A pouring out of water, into the stone jars which were used for the purification rites that the Law of Moses required, and out of the Lord’s side as it was pierced by the lance when He was on the cross.
  
  
• The third day….The wedding takes place “on the third day”, John tells us. The resurrection also takes place on the first day of the week, which is the third day after the crucifixion.
  
  
• Jesus’ “Hour”. Jesus says to His mother in our text today, “Woman, what is that to you and to me?” (This is a better translation of the Greek.). He then says, “My hour has not yet come.”

It is Jesus’ reference to His “Hour” that promises better things to come. All throughout John’s gospel account, we hear this word again and again, “Hour”.

What is Jesus’ “Hour”?

It is the time of His death and resurrection. It is the time when His glory is most clearly seen. That’s John’s distinctive understanding of the crucifixion and death. It is his understanding alone, among the Gospel writers.

Here, we can truly say, “The best is yet to come.”

For it is in Jesus’ death and resurrection, we come to see that “The best is yet to come.” It is through His death and resurrection that the best is yet to come for us, and for all who have believed in Him down through the ages. For it is “for us, and for our salvation,” (as the Nicene Creed puts it) that this death occurred, and it is for us, and for our salvation, that the victory over death is achieved on Easter Sunday morning.

You see, all of these things have a forward-looking aspect to them: they have you and me in mind! All of these things take place so that the “best is yet to come” for us.

And how can we claim for ourselves that guarantee of the “best things”?

It is to today’s event, and to the events which followed in Jesus’ earthly ministry, that we return.

Notice that John does not call today’s changing of the water into wine a miracle. He calls it a sign.

Furthermore, he calls it the “first of His signs."

John also connects this sign to a proving of Jesus’ identity, the one who comes “from the Father.” The desired result is that those who witness Jesus’ signs will come to faith in Him, in His identity as the only-begotten Son of the Father.

And in between, there will be many more signs, all of which underscore Jesus’ identity, His power over the created order, His power over death itself. All of these signs point to the fact that “The best is yet to come.”

Some of these signs we can recall briefly….Remember the healing of the lame man (chapter five), the restoration of sight to the blind man (chapter nine), and the raising of Lazarus from the death (chapter eleven). All of these things promise us that “The best is yet to come.” They also promise us that Jesus’ “Hour” will be the time of His best sign, His victory over death and the grave.

Near the end of his gospel account, John writes these words, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20: 30 – 31)

Notice that John again writes about signs. He also connects these signs to the eyewitness account of the disciples, who will become the apostles in due time. Furthermore, he makes the clear point that the entire thrust of Jesus’ signs, His death and resurrection, and the eyewitness account of the disciples, is so that you and I will believe.

For, you see, we are Jesus’ signs in the world today. We are the present-day manifestation of “The best that is yet to come.”

AMEN

1 Epiphany, Year C

“FULL IMMERSION INTO THE WATER, INTO THE WORLD, INTO LIFE”
A sermon by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Sunday, January 10, 2010
Isaiah 42:1–9; Psalm 89:20–29; Acts 10:34–38; Luke 3:15–16,21–22

“Now sanctify this water, we pray you, by the power of your Holy Spirit….”

I have opened today’s sermon with a passage which is taken from the Service for the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, Book of Common Prayer, 1979, pages 306 – 307.

The prayer which precedes this blessing of the water which is used in Holy Baptism goes like this:

“We thank you, Almighty God, for the gift of water. Over it the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation. Through it you led the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt into the land of promise. In it your Son Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us, through his death and resurrection, from the bondage of sin into everlasting life.

We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit. Therefore in joyful obedience to your Son, we bring into his fellowship those who come to him in faith, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Now sanctify this water, we pray you, by the power of your Holy Spirit…..”

Water is a wonderful thing: Without it, no life could exist on this planet.

Water is a frightening thing: For it has the power to destroy life by drowning.

Water is both life-giving and death-dealing.

In today’s Gospel reading, we hear Luke’s recounting of Jesus’ baptism. And, since it is the First Sunday after the Epiphany, the topic for this Sunday is always Jesus’ baptism, the event by which Jesus bursts on the scene, publicly taking up his earthly ministry. In His baptism, Jesus now descends not only into the waters of the Jordan River, but into the world publicly. From here on out, more and more people will begin to take notice, and to follow Him. (Each year of our three year cycle, we hear the scriptural account of Jesus’ baptism, in successive readings taken from Matthew, from Mark, and – this year – from Luke.)

Jesus enters the waters of the Jordan, goes down fully into the water, and emerges as the Holy Spirit descends in bodily form like a dove, and the Father’s voice is heard from heaven, saying, “Thou art my beloved Son, with thee I am well pleased.”

Let’s look at today’s gospel text a little more closely. For in so doing, we will discover that there are actually two baptisms described. They are:

• John the Baptist’s baptism, which is a baptism with water for the forgiveness of sins,
  
  
• Jesus’ baptism, which will be one involving the Holy Spirit and fire (John the Baptist’s description of the baptism that Jesus will administer).

John’s baptism precedes Jesus’ baptism. John’s baptism was a present-day event 2,000
years ago. Jesus’ baptism had yet to be known, for it would become a reality on the great day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus’ disciples with tongues of fire
(see Acts 2: 1 – 4).

But, lest we get ahead of ourselves, let’s return to John’s baptism, and to his baptism, which was a baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

A question immediately arises: “Why is the Holy One of God (see Luke 1: 35 – the angel Gabriel’s description of Jesus) coming to undergo a baptism for the forgiveness of sins?” He who is without sin enters the waters which wash away sin.

In all fairness, we have to say that biblical scholars have wrestled with this question down through the years.

“Jesus is leading us by example,” is the most often offered answer.

“Yes,” we can say in agreement, “Jesus does lead by example.”

Here, He leads us into the waters of baptism. By his descent into those waters, He makes holy all the waters of Holy Baptism into which those who come to Him in faith will also descend. (Notice that I am using language drawn from the prayer of consecration for the water of Baptism, cited above.)

And, as He descends into the waters, He accomplishes two things:

• A baptism for the repentance of sins is the first step in following Christ,
  
  
• He makes it possible for the newly baptized person to become an heir in Christ of the power of the Holy Spirit, that power which was made manifest on the great day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended noticeably, with power, like tongues of fire, which rested on each of the gathered disciples.

And, as we follow Him into the waters of baptism, we follow His example, dying to our
old life, for we are buried with Him in a death like His. (Notice again the reference to the prayer of consecration, cited above. This concept draws its inspiration from St. Paul’s description of the process of baptism – see Romans 6: 3 – 7.)

As we follow Him, walking with Him in the Christian life, we also follow His example,
following His teachings, and learning to “take up our cross daily to follow Him.” (Luke 9: 23).

Here again, we see the Lord leading by example, for His death on the cross for our sins and for our salvation shows by example His love for the Father, and for us.

Everything changes!

Everything changes as the Lord Jesus descends into our hearts, more and more, little bit by little bit. Our perspectives change, our self-centered attitudes begin to vanish, our willingness to walk apart from the Lord begins to lose its power, its grip over us. We die to our old, sinful selves.

By His descent into our hearts, the clear message He sends us is “You’re worth it!” “I claim you as my own child for all eternity.”

Thanks be to God!

AMEN.

2 Christmas, Year C

“COACH, GAME PLAN AND PLAYERS”
A sermon by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Sunday, January 3, 2010
Jeremiah 31: 7 – 14; Psalm 84: 1 – 8; Ephesians 1: 3 – 6, 15 – 19a; Matthew 2: 13 – 15, 19 – 23

One of the joys of being with family this past week was the opportunity I had to share some time with my sons-in-law, watching football. Of course, this is football season: the pro teams are finishing up their seasons this weekend, the playoffs are coming soon, and then there are the 39 college bowls (remember when there were only about six of them?), not to mention the Super Bowl and the Pro Bowl, both of which occur in February.

The football game in question this past week was the Baltimore Ravens’ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Apparently, this is a rivalry which stretches back some years, and this year, both teams had similar records, and both have playoff hopes.

So, it was interesting to sit around and watch the game on the large screen, high definition set, every detail coming across with vivid clarity.

As I reflected on this morning’s gospel text, I thought of the game of football.

My reflections led me to recast this very familiar account of Joseph and Mary’s flight into Egypt with the young child, Jesus, using football images to put into perspective the persons and the situations they faced.

In my reflection, I thought of God as the masterful, experienced coach who knows his own players and team, as well as his opponents’ players, team and tactics.

Just as a coach would take steps to protect his star quarterback from the opposing team’s attempts to neutralize the quarterback’s role in advancing the ball, in this situation, God assigns to Joseph the task of protecting the young child.

The threat is great enough to cause God to tell Joseph that he’s got to leave the Holy Land. We can understand the situation a little better if we liken it to the removal of the quarterback from the field for awhile. The opposing team’s plans to focus in on the quarterback and to negate his actions are thus upset.

Here, the threat comes from King Herod the Great.

Herod’s plan to kill Jesus is in keeping with his character. The first century historian, Josephus, paints an appalling picture of Herod, a man who killed members of his own family in order to secure his power as the puppet king of the Jews.

But once the threat has been removed (Herod died in the year 4 BC), Jesus is able to return to the Holy Land, for the Holy Land is the field upon which the divine drama will be played out.

God’s game-plan can now unfold, though the opposition will not go away until God’s time has elapsed. The removal of Herod does not end the threat, for, just like an opposing team, other players will step up to try to thwart the advancement of the game-plan. Archelaus falls into this category, as will the Pharisees, the Scribes, the Sadducees, and eventually the Romans and Pilate. God’s guiding hand will be necessary to chart a course which will ensure victory on Easter Sunday morning.

But my football analogy falls short in one very important respect: Last week’s game generated a lot of interest in Baltimore, probably because of the playoff implications of a win for the Ravens. However, even if we follow football only a little, we know that such deep interest in the results of a particular game diminish rather quickly.

Just the opposite is true with the Good News that Jesus Christ brings. The divine drama, God’s game-plan for rescuing lost humanity, jumps off the pages of Holy Scripture will all the vividness of a large screen TV. Its importance to us spans the years and the miles which separate us from the coming of Jesus into the world.

Jesus’ victory over His enemies, and over death itself, ensure our place in God’s eternal game-plan.

Thanks be to God!