Sermon for March 29, 2009 The Fifth Sunday of Lent Text: John 12:20-36 Title: "No Time Left" A. A certain fellow had been driving all night and by morning was still far from his destination. He decided to stop at the next city he came to, and park somewhere where it was quiet so he could get an hour or two of sleep. As luck would have it, the quiet place he chose happened to be on one of the city's major jogging routes. No sooner had he settled back for a snooze then there came a knock on his window. He looked out and saw a jogger running in place. "Yes?" he said. "Excuse me, sir," the jogger said, "Do you have the time?" The man looked at the car clock and answered, "8:15." The jogger said thanks and left. The man settled back again, and was just dozing off when there was another knock on the window and another jogger. "Excuse me, sir, do you have the time?" "8:25!" the man replied. The jogger said thanks and left. Now the man, seeing other joggers passing by, knew it was only a matter of time before another one disturbed him. To avoid that, he got out a pen and paper and put a sign on his window saying, "I do not know the time!" Once again he settled back to sleep. He was just dozing off when there was another knock on the window. "Sir, sir?" the innocent jogger said, "It's 8:45!"
Jesus didn't have to check His car clock to know what time it was, as He told His disciples in this morning's passage of Scripture: "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified!" It was the moment when the last grain of sand falls from the hourglass of history. No time left for the development of new disciples. No time left for miracles to convince the people. No time left for debates with the religious leaders. No time left, the final stage of the Master's journey to the Cross had begun. But the crowds said it was time for Jesus to raise up His army, to mount His white horse, to unfurl His banner, and to knock the Romans upside the head! That's what the people were hoping for -- justice at the point of a sword!! That is why they turned against Jesus when He didn't seem to come up to their expectations. It was time for the Kingdom to come, all right, but only at the foot of the Cross, only with the death of the Messiah Himself. B. This particular story is unique to John's gospel. Some "Greeks" approach the disciples and ask to see Jesus. These folks were not Jewish; they were Gentiles -- foreigners, if you will -- coming from a far corner of the Empire, to attend the Feast of Passover. Maybe they were what the Apostle Paul called "God-fearers", that is, folks who admired the practices and ethics of the Jewish faith, and who perhaps even believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but who hadn't yet made the leap into Judaism. It doesn't matter who they were; what matters is that they were seeking Jesus out because they wanted to meet and believe in Him. The Pharisees had inadvertently declared a prophetic truth in verse 19, immediately before this morning's passage: "Look how the whole world has gone after Him." The Greek-seekers of the Lord had proven them right; the world was and would forever be going after Him. The Gospel message is for the salvation of the whole world. This passage signals the close of the evangelist's account of Jesus' ministry. From this point on, Jesus will offer no more signs to the public. The passion narrative is to follow. With the arrival of the Greeks, John is telling us that the Gospel is no longer confined to Jerusalem or to strictly Jewish circles. The hour for Jesus' glorification had come. It would now take root in the secular, Hellenistic world. His coming crucifixion and resurrection will open the door fully to Jews and Gentiles alike. Now it's interesting to notice that we are never told whether or not the Greek inquirers' request to see Jesus is ever granted. Their request fades into the background after they encounter Philip, and both he and Andrew bring their petition to the Master. The coming of the Greeks gives Jesus an opportunity to expound upon His coming death, and the significance of it for all humanity. Jesus' crucifixion will be the moment of judgment, exaltation, fruition and challenge. The Prince of the World, who is Satan, will be judged and defeated. In the crucifixion all humankind is lifted up. Jesus is lifted up to die, but in dying, all are included in the life-giving promise, except for those who don't accept Him.
Now in contrast to the Crucifixion accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, each of which offers the reader a window into Jesus' agony and struggle, John gives the reader a description of Jesus' confidence and readiness. In John's Gospel there is no sign of weakness, no sign of wondering, no agony, no pain, no request to "let this cup pass"; Jesus is in control throughout. He lays down His life in obedience to God with His own free will. Again, here is more evidence that John was written later than the other three Gospels. John didn't want to write a strictly historical account – that had already been done. Rather, John wanted to write an account that shows Jesus as the Son of God. As I said last week, it is a missionary document, designed to help people believe in Jesus and be saved. The climax of this story is the voice of God coming from Heaven, confirming Jesus as the glorified one. But for the crowd, the sound is misinterpreted. Some think it is thunder; some think it is the voice of an angel. None of them are able to hear, see, and understand who Jesus is, and what He has to do to complete His mission on earth. As I said, they don't understand what kind of Messiah He is. They don't hear the voice of God aright, and if we are going to be true followers and disciples of Jesus, we have to discern the voice of God from the cacophony of voices that pull on us in the world today. C. So what does this passage challenge us to do and be, especially during the season of Lent? Well, I want to suggest that this passage challenges us to remember that the life of the disciple is a life of both letting go and holding on! This is true all year, but is especially important to remember during the Lenten season. The life of the disciple is not just one of giving up – like giving up chocolate or TV or ice cream during Lent. Oh, that's part of it, mind you, and if in our giving up we are led to a deeper letting go, then all the better! But we have to practice letting go, of consciously releasing that which is of the world and which blocks our deepening relationship with God. We begin by letting go of ourselves to God. Sounds easy. But we will practice it every day for the rest of our lives to get it right. For you see, it's all too easy to take back what we let go: it's all too easy to take back anger when we release it to God, and then once taken back we spew it out over the person we are angry with once again. It's all too easy to take back greed, or jealousy or envy when we let go of it and give it to God. It's all too easy to forgive someone one minute, and then point the accusatory finger or direct harsh words towards them the next. This is why Jesus directed us to live for today, and not to worry about tomorrow. Let tomorrow's worries take care of themselves, tomorrow. I stand a better chance of letting go of my bad habits for just one day, than giving letting them go for the rest of my life all at once. I've been reading a book entitled Total Forgiveness, and one of the points the author makes is very helpful. I don't know about you, but I've always been taught to forgive and forget. Do it once and then move on. I've often wondered why that was easier said than done. Well, R.T. the author of the book, teaches that forgiveness doesn't work that way. Oftentimes it has to be renewed daily, or perhaps many times a day. We want to hold onto our anger when we need to forgive someone. We want to get back at the person we are angry at, to see them fail or falter. Unforgiveness, like so many worldly traits, has to be surrendered in inches, not in miles. But the rewards of letting go are great. The more we let go of our anger, our envy, our pride, our hurt, and our hatred, the more we allow God's blessings to flow into our lives, and the easier it becomes to keep them in our lives. Remember what Jesus said, that unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it bears much fruit. Jesus then explained what he meant. He said, "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it." First we have to let go. We have to let go of our love of living as the world would have us live. We have to let go of selfishness and gain at all cost. We have to let go of the "me first" mentality and approach to life. We have to desire to surrender those things that keep us from God. And we have to keep on doing it. We can't just commit to God once in prayer and go on. Our sinful natures are liable to take back that which prevents us from receiving an anointing of God's Spirit. This is a little bit before most of our times, but you might remember Gracie Allen, who played the scatterbrained wife in a comedy team with her husband George Burns. Once, Gracie called in a repairman to fix her electric clock. The repairman fiddled with it for a while and then said, "There's nothing wrong with the clock; you didn't have it plugged in." Gracie replied, "I don't want to waste electricity, so I only plug it in when I want to know what time it is." The life of the disciple is not mastered by doing it every now and then. We have to keep working at it. Success in being a disciple of Jesus Christ not only requires us to let go. We also have to hold on. These two concepts may seem contradictory, but in actuality the two go hand in hand. We let go of self. We hold on to God's Spirit. We let go of the things of the world. We hold on to the things of God. It's like exhaling the bad air, and inhaling the good air. We accomplish this first through prayer, study, and fellowship with God's people. We encounter God through the Word, and through conversation with Him. Other believers support us in our efforts to walk as disciples of Jesus Christ. This allows us not to misinterpret what God is saying to us. Like the crowds in this morning's passage, who heard God's voice but thought it was the sound of thunder, or perhaps the voice of an angel, we too have many different voices in the world clamoring for our attention. It's all too easy to misinterpret the voice of God without immersing ourselves in Scripture study, in prayer, and in checking things out with other believers. There are times when the voices and temptations of the world sound like the voice of the angel, or appear to be attractive and Godly, but they are not. Fortunately, the Prince of this world, the Devil, has been defeated. If we face up to temptation, it will flee. Jesus also makes it plain that we hold on to Him by serving others in His Name. "My Father will honor the one who serves me." Later in John it is clear that by serving others we serve and love the Lord. After His Resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and they had breakfast together. Jesus turned to Peter, and asked Peter if he loved Him. "Of course, Lord, you know I do!", is the prompt reply. And then Jesus made it clear that the evidence of love for the Lord is service to others: "Feed my sheep", Jesus declared to Peter, and to all of us who read the account. We hold on to the Lord by serving Him. We serve Him by serving others. We find Christ in the faces of the least, the last, and the lost. The Lord took our sins upon Himself on the Cross, covering them over for all time by His blood. And it is in the lives of those most in need that we find Christ most closely present. Do we want to hold on to Jesus? Visit the sick. Declare the saving love of Christ to those who don't know Him. Feed the hungry. Give to the poor. It is in the faces of others that we find the face of Christ. Standing upon the top of the Empire State Building, looking down into the city below, all one can see is swirling light and color. Automobile headlights move swiftly down darkened roads. Neon signs light up the faces of buildings. Light from a billion windows wink on and off. The city is awash in light. But where, I was once asked by a Professor and mentor who also stood atop that high perch beside me, are the people? From a thousand feet up, all one can see is light. The people, he reminded me, are in the dark spaces! Jesus concludes this morning's passage with these words: "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The one who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the Light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." The people who hurt, who suffer, and who don't know Christ, are in the dark. At some time or other, we are all in the dark. To come out into the Light, we must let go of all that which separates us from God, and we hold on to the precious Name and presence of Jesus in our lives. And then we can reflect the Light of Christ into those dark spaces and into those dark lives who occupy those spaces. Granted, maybe only one at a time. But that is enough. Amen. Keith Almond P.O. Box 4388 Leesburg, VA 20177 703-344-3569 |
Monday, March 30, 2009
No Time Left
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
A Fine Dining Experience
Sermon for March 22, 2009 The Fourth Sunday of Lent Text: John 6:4-15 Title: "A Fine Dining Experience" A. This story has been around for quite awhile, but it's still fun to tell and it makes a powerful point: The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south." Promptly a return message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north." The captain was angered; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am the captain!" Soon another message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am seaman third class Jones." Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am a battleship." Then the reply came: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a lighthouse." Big Dog leadership is as old as the cavemen. Whoever is the biggest dog is boss. Or, failing in that, whoever has the biggest stick wins, or the deadliest knife, or the best weapon's system, or the most powerful army. Things were no different in Jesus' day. The Romans were the big dogs. And the people were tired of Roman rule. They wanted their own nation again, like in the days of King David. The prophecies from centuries before had assured the people – had even sunk into their cultural milieu – that a Messiah, or anointed One of God, would come and set up a new Davidic Kingdom. Expectation was running high as the people looked for a hero to unite them and throw off the yoke of Roman oppression. There were lots of pretenders to the throne running around first-century Israel, promising liberation from Roman rule. The people tended to move from one to the other, until their promises dried up like so much desert sand. Into this climate of chaos and hope came Jesus, who did and said things that led the people to believe that He was the one who would fill their bellies and fulfill their national dreams. John tells us that the people wanted to try and make Jesus king "by force". But Jesus refused the crown and slipped off by himself into the wilderness. Rather than choose the roar of the crowd, Jesus knew that His Lordship would require a cross for a coronation. The prophecies of old were right – the Messiah would come and had come. But like the illusionists ball-under-the-cup trick, the people had their eyes focused on the wrong place. God's Kingdom would not come in by force, but by the power of God through Jesus Christ. B. That power is demonstrated in this morning's passage of Scripture. The story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 men (even more when you count women and children) is the only miracle outside of the Crucifixion and Resurrection that is narrated in all four gospels.
The passage opens with Jesus and his disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd had followed Jesus, hoping that he might perform miracles for them such as he had for other sick people. Jesus withdrew to "the mountain" with the disciples – a large hill, actually, if the traditional site where this miracle is purported to have taken place is correct. Jesus assumes a seated posture in this beautiful spot, indicating that He intended to teach the crowds. And He does exactly that, until it gets late and the people get hungry. So Jesus asked Philip how they might be able to buy bread for the throng. The Gospel writer is quick to note that Jesus, who already has a plan in mind, was "testing" Philip. This question for Philip is unique to John; in the other Gospel accounts, Jesus responded to the disciples' concerns about the masses of hungry people by charging them to give the people "something to eat" themselves. The correct answer to Jesus' test would have been some sort of expression of trust in His ability to solve the problem, but instead Philip pointed to the significant cash outlay it would take (200 denarii, the equivalent of a day's wage for 200 laborers) to feed such a crowd. Andrew called a young boy to their attention; he had five loaves and two small fish. But this is a terribly inadequate lunch for so large a crowd. Obviously, conventional approaches to the problem wouldn't solve anything. The Master alone knows how to meet the crowd's needs. Jesus instructed the disciples to make everyone sit down. He took the food, blessed it, and distributed it to the people. From so small an amount of food, all present were able to eat their fill, and even 12 basketfuls were left over, which were gathered up by the disciples at Jesus' command. Jesus' desire to leave no scraps behind echoes Moses' instructions to the Israelites in the Wilderness not to try to save the manna for more than one day at a time. Otherwise the scraps would spoil. In response to this miraculous "sign," the people decided that Jesus is "the prophet who is to come into the world". The episode ends with Jesus fleeing farther up the mountain because the people wanted to draft Him to be king. Here it is clear that the people have misunderstood what they just saw. Rather than responding by listening to Jesus in obedience and understanding the nature and purpose of his mission, the crowd fell back on the assumption that Jesus is poised to set himself up as the earthly King who could lead Israel to military victory over her enemies. Jesus, however, rejected this vision of the Kingdom, leaving full understanding of what the Kingdom of God is until after His death and Resurrection. C. Now we need to notice a couple of places where the theological "rubber" of this passage meets the road of our lives. First of all, let's recall something we said last week about the Gospel of John, namely, that it is a missionary document. It was intentionally written by picking certain stories about Jesus over certain other stories to show that He is the Son of God, Who has come into the world to bring salvation for all people through faith. How do we know this? Simple. John tells us: "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of His disciples which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name." (20:30). John was written so the expanding Church could take it into the pagan world as a missionary document, that others could come to know and believe in Jesus. Some of these new converts were Jews. So John takes pains to tell the Jewish convert community that Jesus both reflects and supercedes what God did through Moses, the prophets, and others. For example, John lets us know that this morning's passage of Scripture takes place during Passover. Just say the word, and the person steeped in OT history thinks of Moses leading the people out of Egypt, the Red Sea waters swallowing up the Egyptian army, and the people wandering in the Wilderness. On one occasion, the people complained about hunger, just like the people on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Moses prayed to God, and they got manna to eat. But manna only holds the body together for one day. Even if the people tried to save manna for a rainy day (and they did try), it would spoil. By contrast, Jesus is the spiritual food that lasts into eternity. John explains it later in chapter 6, when Jesus says: "I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never thirst." Notice that in John, Jesus "takes" the bread, "gives thanks," and "gives" the bread to the people. This vocabulary very clearly echoes by the words of Jesus at the Last Supper, as found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which were retained in the early church's liturgy of the Lord's Supper. Indeed, if this passage sounds a lot like the sacrament, it should. This is John's Last Supper passage. Jesus' final night with His disciples in John doesn't even have a Last Supper – it has a last foot washing. By having Jesus directly feed the masses, John is saying that eternal life is open to all who believe, through the death and Resurrection of the Master. There is no question that something powerful goes on when we receive Holy Communion. In a spiritual sense, the host and wine become the Body and blood of Christ. In a very real way, the Lord is present with us at the Table. God's forgiving and sustaining grace is channeled in the Sacrament. We receive, but God gives the believer grace through the sacrament, grace that can work miracles. A friend of mine who was serving as a PT chaplain in a local hospital was making his rounds one morning when he was called to visit a patient admitted with an undiagnosed ailment. The patient, a man in his sixties, had not responded to any treatment; medical tests showed nothing; psychological tests were inconclusive. Yet he was wasting away; he had not even been able to swallow for two weeks. Finally they called the chaplain's office. When my friend walked into the room, John was sitting limply in his bed, strung with IV tubes, staring listlessly at the wall. He was a tall, grandfatherly man, balding a little, but his sallow skin hung loosely on his face, neck, and arms where the weight had dropped from his frame. John seemed to brighten a bit as soon as he saw the chaplain badge and invited him to sit down. As they talked, my friend said he sensed that God was urging him to ask John if he wanted to take Communion. At that John broke down. "I can't!" he cried. "I've sinned and can't be forgiven." With words my friend said were not his, he asked John if he wanted to confess his sin. John nodded gratefully. That sin had been draining the life from this man. John wept as he confessed, and the chaplain told him his sins were forgiven. My friend excused himself, saying he'd be back with elements for communion. Going to the hospital cafeteria, he wrapped piece of bread in a napkin and borrowed a coffee cup from the cafeteria. He ran out to a shop a few blocks away and bought a container of grape juice. Then he returned to John's room with the elements and celebrated Communion with him. John took the bread and chewed it slowly. It was the first time in weeks he had been able to take solid food in his mouth. He took the cup and swallowed. He had been set free. A few days thereafter he left the hospital. 2. There is something else this passage tells us that we need to remember. Amazing things can happen through faith in Christ! Something incredible happened that day along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It started out fairly typically. The crowds gathered on a hillside. They listened to the teacher teaching. They got hungry by the end of the day. But then Jesus blessed the loaves and the fish, and they were distributed, and distributed, and distributed. And by the end of the meal, there were more scraps left over than pieces of food when they started! How is that possible? It isn't – for you and me. But Jesus intervened. Christ got involved in the lives of those people, and the miraculous happened. Now I don't know about you, but I've never seen a miracle such as this. But I've seen a lot of amazing things happen when Jesus is in the mix of our lives. Something a few of us were talking about at our 0-dark-thirty men's Bible study on Friday bears repeating here. Jesus is in charge of the normal ebb and flow of our lives far more than we give Him credit for. Paul tells us this, when in Romans, chapter 8, he says, "In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Not that God directs our steps like a puppet master pulling the strings on a marionette. We have free will. We can choose much of what happens to us in life, both good and bad. But in some mysterious way, God can take even the messes we make of our lives and shape them into a moment in time that actually makes us better off. It may take a while. It may not be apparent until months or years later. There is no question that the best way to see God's grace is through the vision of hindsight. But God is unquestionably in charge, especially when God seems to be the furthest away. Consider Joseph, whose brothers sold him into slavery, who traveled to the far country of Egypt, who was accused falsely of a heinous crime, who languished for years in prison, and who eventually became vice-Pharaoh of Egypt. All because at the right time and in the right place, Joseph spared God's people from famine by bringing them en masse to Egypt. As he notes in the 50th chapter of the Book of Genesis: "You," (his brothers) "intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Obviously, God can even hold His grace in our lives, until the right time and the right place. My friends, this is a miracle, just as sure as the multiplication of the loaves, if not quite as showy. God calls us to believe in Him, and He will see us through. Sometimes its not easy to believe. But through faith God refines us to His purposes. Olympic gold medallist Darrel Pace was to give an archery exhibition in New York City's Central Park, and the event received coverage by all the news stations. Shooting steel- tipped hunting arrows, Pace punctured bull's-eyes without a miss. Then he called for a volunteer. "All you have to do," said Pace, "Is hold this apple in your hand, waist-high." ABC correspondent Josh Howell took a bold step forward. He stood there, a small apple in his hand, a larger one in his throat. Pace took aim from 30 yards away as we all held our breath. Then THWACK-a clean hit that exploded the apple before striking the target behind. Everybody applauded Howell, who was all smiles--until his cameraman approached with a hangdog look. "I'm sorry, Josh," he said. "I didn't get it. Had a problem with my viewfinder. Could you do it again?" Sometimes faith has to be persistent. But God will never let us go. This Lent, may we rededicate our lives to the Lord, and to even greater trust in Him, through good times, and especially in not so good times. AMEN. Keith Almond P.O. Box 4388 Leesburg, VA 20177 703-344-3569 |
Monday, March 16, 2009
Clashing Authorities
Sermon for February 1, 2009 The Fourth Sunday of Epiphany Mark 1:21-28 A. For centuries people believed that Aristotle – perhaps history's most influential philosopher -- was right when he said that the heavier an object, the faster it would fall to earth. Of course anyone could have taken two objects, one heavy and one light, and dropped them from a great height to see whether or not the heavier object landed first. But no one did until nearly 2,000 years after Aristotle's death. Legend has it that in 1589 Galileo summoned learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then he went to the top and pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed on the ground at the same instant. They have to, because gravity pulls similar sized objects at the same rate. But these learned professors who watched Galileo's experiment refused to believe the evidence of their own eyes. They refused to believe that Aristotle could be wrong. His authority was weighted more than that of the evidence right before them! It took years before the authority of modern physics was accepted, and the authority of Classical Greece, though influential, was put in its proper place. But that's the way authority is. We tend to follow a concept or a person based upon how much authority we assign to it. The more authoritative something or someone seems to be, the more we tend to believe it. Lots of things can influence authority: education, experience, and attitude, to name a few. The story is told of a missionary who got lost in the jungle with nothing around him but bush and a few cleared places. He finally found a small village and asked one of the natives if he could lead him out back to the city. The native said he could. They walked for hours through dense brush hacking their way through unmarked jungle. The missionary began to worry and said, "Are you quite sure this is the way? Where is the path?" The native said. "In this place, there is no path. I am the path." Now, who do you think the authority was in that situation?! B. This morning's passage of Scripture is all about authority; God's authority, the Devil's authority, and whose authority we choose to listen to. Mark records that when Jesus came to Capernaum on that particular Sabbath day, He entered the synagogue and taught. And the crowds were astounded! Why? Because He taught not as the scribes taught, but as one having authority. But I'm beginning to get ahead of myself. Capernaum was an important first-century city at the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. It was the center of the Galilean fishing industry and the probable home of several of Jesus' formerly-fishermen disciples. In 1981, excavations unearthed the foundations of a first-century synagogue, which gives historical weight to this scene in Mark. In this scene in the synagogue of Capernaum, Jesus is shown to teach with an authority that the religious leaders lack. The Scribes were the doctors of the Law, the Biblical scholars of the day. They knew the Law, and they lectured the faithful as one would a class. But not Jesus. He taught as one who had personal experience of exactly what the Scriptures were getting at (which, of course, He did!!). There is no indication that the audience's amazement was due to what Jesus said, but rather, how He said it.
We can begin to see a point that I was making last week. When we encounter Scripture, when we pray, when we hear a sermon, when we witness to how Jesus can make a difference in one's life, the transformational Kingdom of God encounters the hearers. Christ enters the world at that moment through the power of the Spirit. Then it becomes decision time – do I believe the Gospel, or don't I? Do I accept Christ as Savior and Lord, or don't I? Now it's understandably startling when someone comes into the sanctuary and disrupts the worship service! But it's interesting that Jesus never did send away the possessed man. Being unclean would certainly prohibit him from being part of the congregation in the first place. But Jesus loved the man, and hated the demon that tortured him. Christ welcomes the least, the last, and the lost. Healing is a part of what we do. We cannot turn away anyone who needs the healing presence of Christ. We can minister to such an individual, showing this person the healing grace of Christ. But we can't send anyone away because they are not like us. The unclean spirit recognizes who Jesus is ("the Holy One of God" v. 24). It's interesting that in Mark, God identifies Jesus as His chosen Son -- both at Jesus' baptism and at the Transfiguration -- the demons know that Jesus is the Son of God. But all the people, including and especially the disciples, are clueless as to who Jesus is. They hear His teaching, they witness His miracles, but they still don't know who He is. The first person to identify Jesus as the Son of God in Mark isn't even a disciple. He is the centurion, a pagan, who witnesses the Crucifixion and sees Jesus die on the Cross. He says, "This man was the Son of God!" We can't know who Jesus is without seeing Him through the Cross. When we see that God loves us enough to die for us, and to conquer death on Easter Sunday, thereby opening up eternity for those who believe, then we can begin to see who Jesus is. As the demon said, He is the Holy Son of a grace-filled and forgiving God. Now the unclean spirit understood immediately that Jesus' presence is of danger to them. Still, it fights back. It was common in exorcism to name the spirit in order to control it. The unclean spirit seeks to control Jesus by naming him. However, the power of the Almighty is irresistible, and Jesus simply tells the demon to "shut up!" Before Jesus casts out the unclean spirit, the question is asked by evil: "Have you come to destroy us?" (v. 24). The use of the plural personal pronoun suggests either that the one demon is speaking for the entire world of unclean spirits, or the single entity has split into two or more. No matter. Jesus is mightier than any evil. Jesus speaks and the demon obeys. The Kingdom has entered into the world to take it back from evil, and to claim it for the God who made it. C. So whether we like it or not, this text confronts us with a tough question. Who or what is authoritative in our lives? Let me deal with one thing before we answer this, because it may divert us from answering our main question the way we should. That is the situation of exorcism. Now I am certainly aware that many of the incidents that the Gospels call demon possession probably would be given a more medical explanation in the light of modern scientific knowledge. Obviously, first century understanding of medical problems is far less scientific than twenty-first century understanding. Some of the incidents in the NT can be explained away as epilepsy, just as some of the cases of leprosy in the NT are really just assorted skin ailments, such as psoriasis and eczema, irritating but hardly deadly. Even so, the NT is clear that evil exists in the world to resist God's Will, and that demons can and do afflict both man and beast. We are all used to speaking about "personal demons" that oppress the individual, such as drug and alcohol addiction, anger issues, and the like. These are certainly real, and truly these personal conditions can control a person just like the man in the story. But I have seen things and heard things that lead me to believe that there are also evil forces in the world that can afflict people and do oppose God's Will. Call them demons if you like. They are definitely demonic. But even if one doesn't believe in demons, it doesn't alter the meaning that Mark is trying to get across. Mark is telling us that through the words and the deeds of Jesus, God is doing a new thing. God has come into the midst of humanity with power. The Kingdom of God is not just near, it's here. And through faith in Christ, personal transformation and new life is ours. In his penetrating book The First Circle, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the famous Russian author who defected to America, makes an interesting observation about how the Russian authorities handle the church. He writes: "No one stops them from ringing their bells; they can break communion bread anyway they please. They can have their processions with the cross. But they will in no way allow them to have any connection with social or civic affairs. The church was allowed to go through the motions; it could have a presence, but it dare not have an influence. What bothered the scribes was not that Jesus prayed and preached. It was the fact that his prayers and his sermons were moving the people to action. I wonder if the church still has that concept of authority. So often our problem is not that we do not have authority, it is that we do not use the authority that we have. It is time that we quit defining the problems of the world and start applying the power of the church to the problems… The issue is one of authority. Solzhenitsyn is making the point that if both we as Anglicans and the Church makes Jesus, His Will, and His Words authoritative in both our corporate and personal lives, then God's power to change will be channeled into and through us. The question we obviously have to ask is 'Who's in charge of our lives'? Is it Christ or the world? Is it Jesus, or is it whatever personal demon has got hold of us. For the Church, the question is whether Christ is in charge or the world. The good news is that Jesus is in charge. He is the authority over all evil. And the Kingdom of God is here, repulsing evil, transforming lives, and freeing people from the demons in life that might possess us. How do we put Jesus in charge? First, we have to identify the demon that we are fighting. In this morning's Scripture lesson, the demon tries to gain control over Jesus by naming Him. We have to name our particular demon, whether it be alcoholism, self-centeredness, anger, abusive behavior, unfaithfulness in relationship, or whatever. Once named, we have to give it to God. Let Jesus touch us and exorcise that demon. God can get rid of it. We may have to keep giving it to God, because we humans like to take habits back when we get used to them, even habits that hurt us. It also helps to have a group of brothers or sisters who love us, support us, and to whom we can confess our sins and failings. Allow these people to support us and chastise us when we go down the wrong path. But be aware – Christ is stronger than whatever demon might haunt us. A certain Army man had been a heavy drinker for 35 years. For all those years he had been angry - angry at everyone and everything. Finally, he encountered Christ and his whole life changed. He was speaking once before a group of medical people. He told them of his personality change, how he was now sober as he once had been drunk; considerate as he once had been severe; concerned for others as once he had been selfish and self-serving. A psychiatrist, who believed that personalities are so firmly set in early life that no one can change, protested to the Colonel that at his age a person could not have such a radical transformation. "Well," replied the Colonel, "that may be true. But I am under new management - I answer to another authority - the highest and truest there is." So again, who is in charge of our lives? If it is Christ, nothing can possess us and ultimately destroy us. If it is not, let us invite Him to be in charge of our hearts and our lives through prayer. He will guide us down right paths, if we let Him. Amen. Keith Almond P.O. Box 4388 Leesburg, VA 20177 703-344-3569 |
The Necessity of Visibility
Sermon for February 22, 2009 Transfiguration Sunday Mark 9:2-9 A. Do you remember Harry Potter's Cloak of Invisibility, which he received as a gift in the first movie? He could throw that cloak over himself and become invisible at critical points in his magical adventures. Well, science has now come up with a device that works much like Harry's Cloak of Invisibility. Researchers have demonstrated that they are now able to cloak three-dimensional objects using artificially engineered materials that deflect light waves around the object they cover, like water flowing around a smooth rock in a stream. The key is to keep the light from bouncing back from the object to the human eye, thus keeping it from being seen. We've all known times we wished we could become invisible. Like the time we try to say something funny in a large group of people, and nobody laughs, or when our minds go blank in the middle of an oral report at school, or a sales pitch to a client, or when the ball is passed to us at a critical point in the game, and it goes right through our fingers. Yep, that cloak would've been a nice thing to have at such times! But alas, God didn't give us a cloak of invisibility! Rather, God wants His Church and His disciples to wear a Cloak of Visibility, that is, a presence and perspective that reflects the Light of Christ to those around us. And this morning's passage of Scripture gives us a clue as to our witness! B. Now you might be wondering why a passage such as this is read at the end of the Epiphany season. I guess, if Light is one of the symbols of the season, then this passage certainly has a lot of light in it. But this story also leads us into Lent, which begins on Wednesday. What does this story have to do with Lent? I'm glad you asked! This morning's passage of Scripture finds Jesus and His disciples continuing their travels in Galilee, making a turn south that will eventually lead to Jerusalem, and there to His suffering and death on a cross. The Twelve started out their call to follow with enthusiasm way back in chapter 1, but although the Master has performed many great miracles in their presence and taught them many truths about the Kingdom of God, the Twelve just don't seem to get it. They are even a stumbling block to Jesus' mission at one point! Earlier in chap. 8, Peter disputes with Jesus about His ultimate fate at the hands of the authorities, and as a result Jesus has to respond, "Get behind Me, Satan. You do not have in mind the things of God!" The Transfiguration story serves as a sort of signal flare in the midst of the disciples' clouded vision and yet, as the Gospel unfolds, they continue to misunderstand who Jesus really is and where He is really going. The story opens with Jesus selecting out of the Twelve three special companions: Peter, James, and John. These are Jesus' closest followers, three of the first four called way back in chap. 1. Here they follow Jesus up a high mountain, set apart from the others and from doing ministry in general. Mountains in the OT are always places of special divine revelation, because the people of Israel always thought that mountains, being closer to Heaven, were also closer to God. Ever since Moses received the Ten Commandments atop Mt. Sinai, mountains are the contemporary equivalent of a fax line straight to God. The fact that Jesus has taken them up a mountain would have stirred their anticipation for what would come next. They didn't have to wait long. Mark immediately reports that Jesus was "transfigured" before the Disciples. His clothing became dazzlingly shiny and white. Both Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus. Moses represents the teaching of the Law. Elijah represents the message of the prophets. In the midst of all the excitement, a cloud appears and the voice of God comes from it. Now in the OT, clouds always represent the presence of God; think of how when the Israelites were wandering in the Wilderness after leaving Egypt, they were led by a cloud during the day, symbolizing the presence of God. "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to Him." God calls Jesus His beloved Son both here and at His baptism in chap. 1. The demons always recognize Jesus as the Son of God. But in Mark, people have to experience the cross before they fully comprehend who Jesus is. Remember, the first time a human being correctly and fully recognizes Jesus for who He is was by a centurion, who when Jesus died, said, "Truly, this man is the Son of God." Peter's response to the appearance of Moses and Elijah is almost comical. Peter is scared out of his wits, and you can't blame him for that!! Stuttering and stammering, trying not to look stupid, Peter says, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." Some scholars have speculated that Peter's comment might infer that the Transfiguration event occurred around one of the three major Jewish feast days, the Feast of Booths. Traditionally on this holiday, the faithful Jew would construct crude "booths" and spend time in them, to remember the time God's people wandered in the Wilderness and lived in rudimentary constructions. Perhaps Peter sought to do this for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, it has been speculated. There is no way to tell. But of one thing we can be certain – Peter wanted to prolong the time on the mountain. It was an amazing experience – why not make this glory-fest last forever?! But God had no such thing in mind. As quickly as the commotion appeared, it vanished. Peter, James and John see no one with them but Jesus. If we had kept on reading we would have seen that on the trip down the mountain, Jesus underscores that his mission to Jerusalem is indeed an essential part of the glory that has been revealed about him on the Mount of Transfiguration. He orders them not to tell anyone what they have seen until the Son of Man has risen from the dead. In other words, the full meaning of His glory would not be known, and indeed, could not be understood, before he has been crucified, buried and risen. Remember, no one in Mark really understands who Jesus is prior to the foot of the Cross. To know that Jesus is truly the Son of God and Savior of the world, we have to first experience the power of the cross and the Resurrection for ourselves. C. Knowing the context of the story is vital for understanding the message Mark is trying to get across about Jesus. Immediately after rejoining the disciples, Jesus finds the rest of the Disciples embroiled in a controversy. A boy who is horribly afflicted with epilepsy has been brought to them, and they were unable to heal him. The boy's father told Jesus that this affliction convulses the child, throwing him into the fire at times, or into the water, trying to kill him. Jesus cures the child, chastising His disciples for their lack of faith and powerful prayer. These stories are supposed to be read together. The Transfiguration is not a glory that can be set apart and enjoyed forever. It's fine for a time, but eventually we have to go back down into the valley, where the demons dwell, and where illness and pain can be found in abundance. We started out talking about Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility. I stated that there are times when we wish we could disappear, so others can't see us. But as I also said, Jesus wants us to wear a cloak of visibility, a cloak that reflects the love of God into the lives of others. 'A lamp is put on a stand, so it can give light to everyone in the house', Jesus said. In other words, we are the witness of God's transforming power in a human life. What God has done for us, God can do for others. Proof of this is the Resurrection, in which death is overcome, as well as anything in life that opposes the Will of God. Jesus' transfiguration was a foretaste of what was to come. Peter, James, and John saw a glimpse of His Resurrection glory. That is why this passage is a hinge between Epiphany and Lent. At the Resurrection, each one of these former fishermen would see Christ as Lord and Savior, and it would change their lives. They stopped fishing for fish. They started fishing for people. They lost their lives fishing for people. But Christ changed the world through them. So one big area where this passage contacts our lives is that just as Jesus was transfigured into a new form, so our lives can be transformed into new Creations as well. The Apostle Paul makes this clear: He calls us "New Creations" of God. "Behold, the old is past, the new has come." The power of God is ready and able to change us, right here, right now, if we but give our lives over to Him. It won't happen all at once, but it will happen. I for one have seen this in my own life in so many different ways, and I'm sure you have as well. Sometimes it takes the Divine Two-by-Four to get our attention! Sometimes the Lord has to knock us off our high horse, so we will allow His changing love into our lives. But I could tell you story after story after story of one person after another whose life has been changed because of the Resurrection power of Jesus. I bet you could as well. And even when trials and tribulations set in, even when God seems to be the furthest away, He is right there, closer than ever. Sometimes these trials and tribulations that we blame on the inaction or inattention of God are actually levers He uses to open our hearts and let His transforming love in. You see, when all is well, we tend to pay less attention to God than when all is not well. Those times where all is not well can be used by God to help us pay more attention to our relationship with Him during the good times. It has been said that when a Cherokee youth has to go through the rite of passage from boyhood into adulthood, his father would take him into the forest, blindfold him and tell him to sit on a stump and remain there for the whole night, not removing the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shined through it. The youth could not cry out for help to anyone. Once he survived the night, he would be deemed a man. He could not tell the other boys of this experience because all young Cherokee males had to come into manhood on their own in the same manner. The boy, naturally, would be terrified. He could hear noises of all sorts. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. A human might even come along to do him harm. The wind would blow the grass and earth, and shake his stump, but the boy would sit stoically, not removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night, the sun would appear and the young man could remove his blindfold. Only then would he discover that his father was sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We need to notice that the glory of the Lord didn't last forever for the members of the kitchen cabinet. The same is true of us. I love to go on retreat – the problems of the day- to-day world are left behind. I can relax and refresh and not worry. And don't get me wrong, we all need times like this, to recharge our spiritual batteries. But eventually, the retreat ends. Sooner or later, we have to come off the mountain and go back down into the valley. And as we see in this morning's passage of Scripture, there are no epileptic demons on the mountaintop, but there sure are in the valley. The valley is where a hungry and hurting world lives. And so as the transformed people of God, we are called to go back down into the valley. We may not want to be there all the time (I'd be surprised if we did!), but that is where life is lived, warts and all. We are called to reflect God's transforming light down in the valley. It is in the valley that we are called to be Jesus to others. It is in the valley that our words and our deeds reflect the love of God in Jesus Christ. We don't have to be magnificent missionaries or powerful preachers! We simply have to be us, in our own situation, with our own gifts, telling our own story whenever the Lord brings someone to us who needs to hear it. The founder of the Central City Mission in Jacksonville, Florida, Robert Bateman, was a minister who was not afraid to get his hands dirty in the service of Christ. Bateman came from England to personally lay the bricks of the mission in the city where drunken sailors poured into bars and houses of ill repute. While sharing the Gospel, he provided thousands of meals, clothed the needy, visited those in jail and housed the homeless. He was called "the man who distributed more human sunshine than any other in Jacksonville." Early in the 20th century, Bateman went to England to study innovations in Christian social work. On the return voyage to America, he conducted the only religious service aboard a ship of 2,207 people, concluding with his favorite hymn, "Nearer my God to Thee." That night at 11:45 p.m. the ship Titanic struck an iceberg. As Bateman escorted his sister-in-law to a lifeboat he said, "Don't be nervous, Annie. This will test our faith. I must stay and let the women go. If we never meet again on this earth, we will meet again in Heaven." He threw his handkerchief into the descending lifeboat saying, "Put that around your throat. You'll catch cold." Dr. Bateman collected about 50 men on the stern of the ship and told them to prepare for death. He led them in saying the Lord's Prayer and as the band played his favorite hymn, "Nearer my God to Thee," the great ship slid underwater. Usually our acts of heroism are less epic, but no less important. I'm witnessing to the love of God when I pitch a ball with my children, or I listen to a co-worker whose spouse has just left him. I'm witnessing to the love of God by volunteering in a soup kitchen, or going on a mission trip, or being kind to someone who is not very kind to me. The Resurrection Power of God is with us always, even in the valley, even in the depths of trouble. And we are called not only to experience the glory, but to go down into the valley, where the glory is needed. Amen. Keith Almond P.O. Box 4388 Leesburg, VA 20177 703-344-3569 |