Ramblings

"To Ephiphanize" - 1-17-2021

Sermon preached online to Nagoya All Saints International Church based on the readings for the Second Sunday after Epiphany (RCL).

When you went to school did you have science fairs?  I certainly did.  Science fairs are where students or teams of students will research a science topic, fashion an experiment, present their results and project to their fellow students, judges and the public.  Recently, I found myself remembering my first science fair. It was in sixth grade, and my experiment was on the topic of "Reflections." It was a simple experiment using water and milk, a clear glass bottle, water, a mirror, dirt, a bell, a flashlight, and few other miscellaneous items and of course poster board.  Anyway, for my work, I got a blue ribbon not the top grand prize but better than a second place red or third place white ribbon.

What I mostly remember about the whole event however was not the science it was the reaction of the person at the table next to me, a seventh grader, who got a red ribbon, and I knew why! When the judges came by to ask us about our projects, I was able to answer their questions and show how my experiment worked, my thesis and results, whereas when they came to her --- I was listening as I was right next to her --- she could barely describe her topic, much less answer the questions.

Later that night, when we showed our projects to the community, with my blue and her red, she kept looking over at me with a frown … "but yours looks so bad." This was true! Mine looked like it had been haphazardly slapped together whereas her presentation was gorgeous; a lot of time had been spent on her presentation!

Years later I still remember that event in my life. That experience taught me a valuable lesson.  The judges were less concerned about the packaging and more interested in what we learned and if we were able to express it.

As you know we are in the next chapter after Christmas --- the season of Epiphany --- when we explore what does this incarnation, this God in a baby --- this manifestation of truth, hope and light that comes into our world in Jesus Christ --- what does it mean?  Now comes the time to ask: We had the packaging of Christmas, the lights and tree but what have we learned?  “Come and see what?”

Think of it this way, if we had a Theology Fair with four students ---Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John --- assigned to do a project all with the same topic, Jesus Christ.  They had all prepared and worked hard and were lined up before us and we happened to be standing listening in, as they described Jesus Christ to the judges --- what would we hear?

First is Mark; scholars believe the oldest of the gospels. Mark includes nothing about the birth of Jesus. Mark's focus is straightforward and to the point, it is his three-year ministry, but the most important point is the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Mark’s poster board has only one picture – a cross.  Mark does not know or does not care to tell us of Jesus' origins, for example so he says nothing at all.

Then we come to Matthew's table. Matthew is more measured and begins by explaining the lineage of Jesus from Abraham, through David, to Joseph. For Matthew, the important point is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament to usher in the Kingdom of God. That point is repeated through his whole presentation.  Jesus is referred to early on as the Messiah and named "For He will save His people from their sins." If Matthew had a poster board it would have charts. 

For Luke's table, he altogether paints a different picture again and focuses more on the identity of Jesus as evidence of God at work, more historical in nature. Jesus is described in terms of great, holy, and full of wisdom and grace, healing people and constantly being called the Son of God and that this kingdom of God has special meaning for the poor.  Luke’s poster board would be a collage of images and protest artwork.

And then we come to John. The last but the most gifted of the four gospel tables in John's way with words. John has the largest vocabulary, the most soaring and elaborate of poetic strokes, as he reflects on the meaning of the birth of Christ. His is not explanation, or even chronological so does not begin with an angel visiting a virgin. Instead, we begin with the Word that is incarnate in Jesus and this presentation of Jesus cannot be explained with spoken word.  

In comparison to the other three presentations, John's would be to do away with poster board altogether. "In the beginning was the Word," John says. And by "the beginning," he means the beginning of time before time even existed. When God looked out on nothingness, before anything was created, the Word was with God.

It would be great to have a Theology Fair in our church, with a panel of judges to judge the tables of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, with enthusiastic children and proud, supportive parents. It would be great to have hundreds of people attending with NHK filming each response from each of the four presentations.

That of course that is exactly the issue that I learned back in sixth grade; in this case each of the gospels knows well the subject, Jesus Christ. The whole point is that they are so passionate that they want us to understand as well on a subject where they are all correct.   Their interest is not on which version is most beautiful, for we are not judging a presentation on how it looks.  They all have have a “come and see” presentation.

Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John are not interested in prizes, instead, they want to share what they learned about God and if there are lonely hearts, hungry bellies, broken souls, if there is injustice, then the light and the warmth of the gospel needs to be repeated.  The authors of these gospels are not interested in self-promotion or presentation rather if we honor our faith by serving God as they learned and experienced through Jesus Christ, before we serve ourselves, then the nations will see God's justice, and the whole world will glimpse God's glory; we will shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that Christ may be known and worshiped to the ends of the earth --- and our flesh will transmit God's light.

I think back to that young woman next me at the science fair whose visual presentation could have won a blue ribbon, yet who struggled to articulate her presentation in the most basic of terms.  We may feel the same as Christians, like we must clean up and present our best face rather than focus on the subject matter.  But then that would suggest that faith is all knowledge based as well, and that is not true.

How do we break out of this conundrum?  One key point is that scholars have noted that none of the Gospel writers wrote in a vacuum the community behind the authors were key. Each was writing too and responding to their various contexts each of whom had uniquely diverse questions, concerns, society pressures, joys, and sorrows.

For example, for the community around John rather than asking the question "how is Jesus like God?" their question was, "how is God like Jesus?" John answered by saying that Jesus imitated God so clearly that it can be shown that God is love and has loved all humanity without distinction or disparity and reconciles us without any vengeance or retaliation for our separation from God.

Christmas is over, the presentations are done.  Now we have the season of Epiphany, when as a family of God we come together to support each other as we present Christ to the world.  We are the ones asked to make presentations on what we have learned to all those we meet.  Will be more concerned on how fancy is our visual display? Or are we ready to pursue justice, to bring all to God's table for a taste of forgiveness?  What would we put on our poster board about God through Jesus Christ, or do we have something altogether different? What is our “come and see;” how do we “epiphanize” or share the light of Christ with others.  Amen.

"Let it be" - 12/20/2020

Sermon based on Luke 1: 26-38; also see Luke 1: 5-24 for the 4th Sunday of Advent.  Shared via Zoom with Nagoya All Saints International Congregation

In a celebrated video commencement speech to graduating High School seniors in the United Sates posted online on May 15, 2020 the talk show host, actress, businesswoman and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey said: "I know you may not feel like it, but you are, indeed, the chosen class for such a time as this.”  Winfrey continued, "You're also a united class, the pandemic class, that has the entire world striving to graduate with you.[1]  Even though there may not be pomp because of our circumstances, never has a graduating class been called to step into the future with more purpose, vision, passion, and energy and hope."

"It's really OK to not have all the answers," Winfrey added. "The answers will come for sure if you can accept not knowing long enough to get still and stay still long enough for new thoughts to take root in your more quiet, deeper, truer self. The noise of the world drowns out the sound of you. You need to get still to listen.”

Fast forward to December, and here we are those chosen by happenstance and evolutionary biology as the pandemic people. I do not know about you, but I reach this point on one hand grateful for so much, as well as sad, tinged with grief and tired.  I cannot wait for this year to be over but also left wondering “what next?  Or in other words, I am ready for some return to “normalcy” with trepidation.

It is with 2020 and the hoped for “new normal” in 2021 in mind, that I read the gospel, the news to a young virgin Mary, that she was going to have a baby --- but not just any baby; "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David."

What a graduation for this poor, young woman.  Pregnant and not just a baby, --- but THE baby! We could spend time just on that theme --- the promise of a messiah. However, I was once again struck by Mary's reaction to this drama in her life and reminded that to understand it more fully, it is helpful to follow Luke’s narrative arc.  You see, the author of Luke wrote Mary's response right after elderly Zechariah's reaction to the news that he and his similarly aged wife, Elizabeth would have a child later to be known as John the Baptist.

Even though the promises made to Mary were much greater --- and therefore should have been harder to believe --- Mary's response is seen in the light of Zechariah's, which is why they are back-to-back in Luke.

When the angel finished his announcement, Mary replied with, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" Zechariah's response on the other hand was different, Zechariah begins with, "How will I know that this is so?” but then adds: “For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years." There is a subtle but important difference at work here. Zechariah wanted proof, whereas Mary wanted understanding.

Subtlety you may have also noticed that Luke does not spend much time with the response from Elizabeth to this extraordinary news.  Instead, Zechariah's response reveals fundamental calculations: age, when was the last time they had been physically intimate, etc.  The focus is on Zechariah and good, logical reasons for concluding that it was near impossible --- like Mary’s in that sense --- to understand the mechanics of it all. That means Zechariah's question really is, "Why should we believe something as preposterous as that?"

If we then compare Zechariah to Mary, we are left with this question: which is harder to believe, that an older couple, well past childbearing years, should have a child or that a virgin would conceive and give birth to a son?  Without bringing in other possibilities, Mary was not a virgin, Elizabeth was having an extra marital affair, and we take both miracles at face value, which bring us back to their response: Mary sought understanding, and Zechariah wanted proof.

Think of this way, after Zechariah asked his question, he was told by the angel that he will now remain … silent, unable to talk until the birth of his son. Whereas the angel responded to Mary's with words of assurance to which Mary responded: "Here am I, a servant --- slave --- of the Lord.  Let it be with me according to your word."

This is at the heart of Luke's purpose in sharing these two stories back-to-back.  In both miracle birth's that of Jesus and John --- both can only be met with a response beyond the miracles themselves.  We humans can do nothing to bring about what is going to happen, rather the focus is on our response.  Luke paints a picture: We can demand proof and experience silence or be surprised by the miracle but then willing to "let it be to me."

This subtle distinction, this awareness of course has been noticed by many, just remember the lyrics of the song from the Beatles. "When I find myself in times of trouble / Mother Mary comes to me / speaking words of wisdom, let it be."  Constructively “Letting things be” is, you might say, the wisdom of Christmas and something for us to consider near the end of one year and the beginning of a new one. 

I do not know about you but for me that is something to ponder and incredibly challenging; it runs counter to my white, on the downward slope of middle aged, male, North American point of view.  Now, I want to be clear. The response of Mary does mean accepting everything that comes our way… not at all!  Because that is flip and does not recognize the complexity of this narrative.  Just imagine, although this is her first child, Mary must have known and would soon begin to experience, the daily changes; the swollen and sore breasts, tiredness, frequent desire to urinate, and nausea.  “Let it be” is not simple acquiescence.

Rather, may we be open to this mysterious gift of grace from God as we move into 2021.  How can we be less like Zechariah and more like Mary with a --- "let it be" faith --- open to change, being change, while living in trust of God’s promises in this world, at this time?  As Christmas approaches the first mysteries of God's miracles will once again be a challenge.  That alone was a challenge to Zechariah; it was to Mary. But it is a question that does not end with one overwhelming event for it continues through the season, into every day as we navigate into 2021 as Christians.

Into each step of each day into our lives, God is calling us ---in part ---to live into this new normal in this mystery of Christmas or in the words of Ms. Winfrey, that it is “really OK to not have all the answers.”  And that the answers that we do have from God “will come for sure if we can accept not knowing long enough to get still and stay still long enough for new thoughts to take root in our more quiet, deeper, truer self.”

God pulled Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary into a new “normal.”  God is calling us away from lives that may in many respects may feel pulled, tossed, and turned, --- and perhaps as jaded, and long lived, as Zechariahs’ --- to live in one that is filled with the daily surprise of love, joy, hope and peace with the possibilities of “let it be” with me.  In a way, the coinciding of a new year, with Christmas is a historical fluke, nonetheless what better way to enter the world each year from the cradle where the gift of Christmas is for all us into "Let it be with me according to your word" dear God, today and every day.  Amen.

 

[1] https://www.insider.com/oprah-class-2020-commencement-speech-video-watch-2020-5

"Puzzle Parables" - 11/15/2020

Shared with Nagoya All Saints International Congregation based on the Matthew 25: 14-30

I wonder about that hole in the ground, the one dug by the third servant in Jesus’ parable of the talents. Does he dig the hole by his own choice, or on account of the choices of others? Think about that with me.  Is the servant a victim of circumstance, or was it his own “lack of talent” that led to his decisions or does he have some culpability in his choice he makes when he buries the talent?  And, then there is the question, once the hole has been dug, is there any way out?

Jesus’ parables are like that. They invite listeners --- even require us --- to puzzle over their potential meanings.  Some parables seem simpler for example, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”[1]  Other parables sound like confusing riddles, or even bad jokes, and some challenge us to think more deeply about life and the systems that we are part of. 

Let us take a moment to review today’s parable: this parable of the talents. In Jesus’ day, one talent represented wages for approximately 15 years: enough money to fund the winnings of a large lottery jackpot. The story begins simply enough: “It is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.”

While the man is gone, the first two servants put his money to work, doubling its initial value. The third servant guards the man’s fortune by burying it in the ground. When the man returns, the first two servants receive a handsome reward for their investment savvy. So far, so good, at least from the view of those of us who benefit from market economics: where one is rewarded for education, talent, ingenuity even luck. No joke here or riddle.

But then the parable takes a threatening turn. When the man learns that the third servant has hidden his money, he calls him out. “You wicked and lazy servant!” He confiscates the money and passes it along to the richest of the three servants. Adding insult to injury, he calls for the third servant to be cast into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The punch line of the parable seems to be that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Is this a simple parable, a good riddle or a bad joke or something else entirely?

Now to be honest, the parable of the talents has long encouraged the church’s fruitful stewardship of whatever gifts God has given. By this interpretation, the servant who buries his gift is like a tree that does not bear good fruit.  Those who increase their gifts are like a faithful servant who is at work when the Lord comes.  Admittedly I have even done a few sermons with that in mind. 

But again, Jesus speaks in parables so that his followers will be required to ponder more deeply.  For example, I have often found that I am far to quick to avoid the parts that do not fit with my first “go to” interpretation.  We should not view the fruitful stewardship of gifts as the only interpretation that is worthwhile.

Because viewed from a different perspective, the parable exposes the challenges of faithfulness in a world dominated by power and wealth where one is rewarded for education, talent, and ingenuity, --- unless you are not.  Return to the parable with me for we learn later that the man is rich, which should not have been a surprise because of the astronomical figures expressed in talents involved.  But we also learn --- at least from one perspective --- this rich man has achieved his wealth at the expense of others; “I knew that you were a harsh man reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed.”[2]  With that lens in mind, we now discover in the parable that the first two servants multiply the rich man’s dishonesty. Whereas the third servant refuses to participate in this system, and for this refusal he is abandoned and condemned to a place of suffering.

So, in a roundabout way, the parable offers a clear-eyed analysis of the real world, one where we may find ourselves, perhaps not in much control of our circumstances, or comfortable in participating in something we find troubling.  Or we may feel like the best way in this world is to dutifully play it safe not challenging ourselves with what we have. Or we may have been given something to which we do not want or care for.  Look again at the precise accusation of the rich man who distributed the talents.  The rich man calls the slave “wicked” and “lazy.”  The laziness charge certainly sticks because whatever the method the rich man became wealthy, he certainly was trusting and generous in his servants and honest in his evaluation of what constitutes success.

Where is the good news for us in any of this?  Remember again the parables are Jesus way to teach us, so Jesus may be adding further depth to some earlier words about the cost of discipleship: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. . . . For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?”[3]

How do we see that in this parable?

If that were not enough to ponder, there is something else, as you may know from you own Bible study, context is important.  In Matthew, Jesus tells this parable a couple of days before his arrest and crucifixion, events that will testify to many things, but one is the world’s fondness for punishing those who speak truth to power. And like the third servant in the story, Jesus will be condemned to suffering. Abandoned by most of his friends, he will cry out to God, “Why have you forsaken me?” Then he will be buried in a rock-hewn tomb, just as the talent is buried deep in the ground.

This is not the end of the story, however, even if it marks the ending of today’s parable. As Matthew’s Gospel makes clear, a hole in the ground --- even a tomb --- cannot contain Jesus. Jesus is the Messiah, raised from the dead. Or as another parable suggests, the “kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field,” and the day will come when the Messiah will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.

There is so much to make of this parable, so in that spirit, I began with a question for you and will end with a new one. I began by asking, does this third servant dig the hole by his own choice, or on account of the choices of others?

Thankfully, Jesus broke free from the tomb to reconcile us to God, to free us.  A freedom that calls us to be wise as foxes and an innocent as doves.  On one hand to live in the grace freely and fully into the grace have received, as well as to not be afraid to fully empty ourselves as disciples of Jesus Christ including speaking truth to power.  

Yet, unlike the two servants, the risks God would have us take are for the sake of others who have found themselves in holes of their or others making, for those who need to hear the promise of reconciliation.  Risking ourselves, not just our money or our status --- that is a genuine risk of discipleship.  Other people are the focus of our risk-taking.  Relationships are the riskiest business around. A freedom to risk love and service, to risk rejection and ridicule, to risk despair for the promise of fulfillment --- those are the truly profound risks that God wants us all to take, a challenge to which none of us does alone.   We have a loving Savior who wants to see us do well, to succeed with whatever he has given us to do.  So the question is this, if God risked everything in the person of Jesus Christ for the sake of our salvation, doesn't it seem likely that this same God might expect more than self-seeking, self-motivated, safety- conscious behavior from those who have been so wondrously graced?  Amen.

 

[1] Matthew 13:33

[2] Vs. 24

[3] Matt. 16:24–26

"The Gift of Appreciation" - 10/18/2020

Sermon shared during Zoom worship for Nagoya All Saints International Church, Nagoya, Japan based on 1 Thessalonians 1-10.

When I began to learn Japanese, it seemed I heard “thank you” all the time.  Perhaps because I was learning, or maybe because it was one of the first words I began to use on a regular basis.  Regardless it seemed like I heard a variation of thank you everywhere from the formal “arigatou gozaimasu” to the more formal “doumo arigatou gozaimasu” to the informal “thanks” or either “arigatou” or “doumo.”

But there are some unique to Japanese for example there could be a situation, like someone holding open the door to an elevator, where I would hear “Sumimasen, arigatou gozaimasu” which translated into English sounded and still sounds a little strange, “I’m sorry, thank you.”  And then there are some that are quite unique to Japanese as one can say, “osore irimasu” and “osewa ni narimashita” depending on the situation.

As I continued to live and learn more Japanese, I also found myself wondering are the words of appreciation I seemed to be hearing, everywhere were they because they were thankful or … just being polite?  Were the expressions proforma said … just to be said. Can “thank you” become so repetitive or common that it loses its meaning?  Overtime as my interactions in Japanese increased, or maybe because it was from my own maturity, or it could have been the novelty of living in Japan wore off, or a combination of all the above, I came to realize that just like in English words of appreciation do not always reflect a person’s feelings.

I remembered that experience, words of appreciation and their intention, when I considered the Apostle Paul's letters as we have them in the New Testament.  In the letter-writing standards of Paul's day, it was common, even expected, to include an expression of thanksgiving in the opening section of letters.  Paul did it in all his epistles to the churches, except for the one to the Galatians.  In that single case, it is possible that he was so distressed about the problems in the Galatian church that he could not think of any basis for thanksgiving. But that single exception also suggests that when Paul did include a thanksgiving in a letter, he did not do it as a matter of courtesy or routine, but only when he believed it was warranted.

Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, our second lesson, is an example the other way --- he is sincerely appreciative. In this letter, he not only included a thanksgiving for the Thessalonian church members at the beginning, he also thanks God again for them halfway through the second chapter and again in the third chapter, which is a lot, considering that there are only five chapters in the whole letter![1]

Why was Paul so appreciative?  For one Paul had an interest in the church at Thessalonica, for he and Silas had planted it there on Paul's second missionary journey. In fact, in the letter, Apostle Paul compared his feelings for the Thessalonians to the compassion parents have for their children.[2] And Paul had reason to be proud of the Thessalonians. Paul and Silas had barely gotten the church off the ground before they had been run out of town by a mob.[3]  Yet in those hostile surroundings, those with whom they had spent time continued growing.

Paul had much to thank God for on their behalf. Their persistence amid that hostile environment may be what Paul had in mind when he wrote in his thanksgiving, “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia” (1:6-7).

As I continued to review the lesson, I realized there is more to Paul’s appreciation today that we can possibly learn from.  First, notice that Paul's expressions of thanks are addressed not directly to the Thessalonians, to the people themselves, but to God on their behalf. Writing not only for himself, but also for Silas and Timothy, Paul says, “We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Of course, the Thessalonians would have heard that as a thank you to them as well, yet it is to God that Paul is expressing thanksgiving.

Note that Paul is not saying he is thankful that the Thessalonians are nice people or give a nice donation; he's much more specific about his reasons for thanking God: He's thankful for their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope.”  If this sounds familiar it is because we know from 1 Corinthians 13, that Paul considers these the trifecta of discipleship, so we should not be surprised that he also refers to them here.

However, when Paul includes faith, love and hope in his thanksgiving for the Thessalonian Christians, he does not talk about them as virtues in isolation, but Paul gets specific: He's thankful for their work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope.  In other words, their faith is grounded in the salvation presented by Jesus, it is translated into their conduct, how they act toward one another, the way in which they face the challenges of life, and their attitude about how things will come out in the end. Based on Paul’s view, Christianity is not a static belief for these Thessalonians, but a dynamic force that permeates all they say and do.

There is second point for us from Paul’s sincere words of appreciation that we can learn from.  Letting someone know you are thankful for something they have done or some attitude they exemplify has another effect as well: It encourages the person to continue in that way. That is what Paul has in mind as he lavishes praise on the Thessalonians; he wants them to keep on living this trifecta --- faith, hope, and love --- wholeheartedly.

But this encouragement is a two-way street for Paul himself is also a better person for his efforts to thank the Thessalonians. In expressing praise to God for them, he is recognizing the ways in which God is blessing his own faith, hope, and love. 

There is a third component for us to understand in Paul’s words of appreciation that can help us.  Back in the 1930s, the Jewish philosopher/theologian, Martin Buber, wrote a book in which he postulated that our human interactions are of two kinds.[4] Simply put, the first is called the “I-it” relationship. This is when we have no vital concern for other people; we are detached from them. We stop at a restaurant for lunch and a server takes our order. We do not know her.  We do not know about her marriage or her concerns about her children or her sore feet. She is primarily a person who provides a service. Our relationship to her is essentially the same as to a robot who could deliver food to your table. This is a subject-to-object, “I-it” relationship.

The other way in which we relate to others, says Buber, is the “I-thou” relationship. This is when the other person ceases to be a “something” to us and becomes a “someone.” I-thou is where we view others not in terms of what they can do for us, but in terms of who we are as ourselves and who they are to us.  Paul in his appreciation reminds us to see the other person as thou and not as it, and that changes both the other person and us.

We can give a token like a coin in gratitude.  That is a subject to object, an “I-it” relationship as Jesus reminds us today in the Gospel.^[5]  Or we can live in relationship thankful to God who gives all.

In summary, Paul's practice in his letters and particularly today of thanking God for those among whom he worked was not just a habit, a common salutation in all but one of his letters, but a relationship. It encouraged the people in the churches and assisted Paul in his own life of faith.  It affirmed their signs of faith, hope and love and their mutual foundation in God through Jesus Christ. More important in my view, it affirmed the sacredness of that person. 

Through Christ authentic appreciation is an important lesson for us.  We can help each other in faith and strengthen its vitality by first thanking God for the faith, hope, and love of our fellow worshipers and second, by thanking them directly as well. Furthermore, this life in appreciation is not limited but can be lived out beyond walls.  In doing so we can build upon on our relationships with our family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances by thanking them not out of habit or custom, not in terms of what they can do for us, or out of expectation for what we have done for them, but in terms of who we are ourselves; loved, forgiven and in relationship with God through, with, and in Jesus Christ --- sacred.

In doing so, we build upon ALL our relationships and become more faithful, hopeful, and loving as well as catch a grateful glimpse of God through Jesus Christ.  Thank you.  Amen.

 

[1] 1:2-5, 2:13-16, 3:9-10

[2] see 2:7, 11

[3] Acts 17:5-9

[4] https://www.britannica.com/topic/I-Thou

[5] Matthew 22: 15-22

"Thanksgiving in Suffering" - 9/20/20

A synthesized Sermon shared at Odawara Lutheran Church, Odawara, Kanagawa, Japan and Nagoya All Saints International Congregation, from two different but similar sermons I preached.  Based on Philippians 1:21-30

Is the Apostle Paul writing from the clarity that ending can bring? According to The Atlantic, a US magazine, a study was done of more than 3,000 professional soccer games.[1]   It revealed that 23 percent of goals came in the final 15 minutes of the 90-minute match. The end of the game has a focusing effect, motivating players to summon their strength for a final push.  Another study looked at hospice workers and other end-of-life professionals. For these people, exposure to death causes them to “live in the present, cultivate a spiritual life and reflect deeply on the continuity of life.” Endings are important.

In his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul offers a perspective on the end of life. “For to me,” he says, “living is Christ and dying is gain” (1:21). He knows that his ongoing life on earth means “fruitful labor” for the Philippians and for him, but at the same time he admits of his “desire is to depart and be with Christ” (vv. 22-24).

Are those words, are they written close to his death, a prisoner on death row, using remarkably positive language to describe his situation? “I want you to know,” he writes earlier in this chapter, “that what has happened to me has actually helped to spread the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ” (vv. 12-13).  It seems that at least part of him wants his life on earth to end, so that he can be with Christ and share his resurrection life.  Are these words written with the clarity that impeding death may bring or is there a deeper theological meaning that Paul is trying to teach?

As you may or may not know, there is some lively Biblical scholarship regarding Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, this letter to the Philippians. Scholars consider Philippians without a doubt to be an authentic work of the apostle Paul; that does not mean, however, that all the debate about the circumstances of its writing have ceased. The reason I bring it to your attention is that there is an ongoing debate over our portion today.

Tradition has it that the letter was written close to his death.  However recent scholarship around the literary integrity of the book, challenges the traditional location and date of its composition.  A close reading of the book suggests that Philippians is not one letter but two.  In that view, chapters 3 and 4 were sent first, followed by chapters 1 and 2, then compiled into one later.  That would mean given the usual chronology of Paul’s life and ministry, that would place these letters of Philippians sometime around 54-55 AD rather than about a decade later during his imprisonment in Rome and subsequent death.

I will not get into all the details about this scholarship, whether Philippians is a single letter or a composite of two letter, other than to direct you to the most obvious question. There is a sudden shift in tone found in 3:1, where Paul goes from “finally” encouraging the Philippians to “rejoice in the Lord” to telling them how it was not “irksome” to keep writing to them about the same things. The first two chapters had been filled with thanksgiving, and much of the next two chapters detail problems of divisions within the church.

I suspect we will never know, if it was one letter or two, but how does that scholarly debate impact us?  Let me return to my original question; should we interpret Paul through the clarity that impending death can bring?  Or were those words written a decade earlier without his impending death in mind?  And if it is the second, what did Paul have in mind?

I am wondering then if the second question is true that Paul’s words should be seen through something else found in the first two chapters --- through the sufferings. “Paul’s own afflictions,” writes Professor Morna Hooker, are not described in a negative way.  Instead, they “are seen as an opportunity for the gospel: People talk about his case; therefore, they learn about the Christian faith, and other Christians are encouraged to make a similar stand.”[2]

Remember, Saul later Paul of Tarsus went from holding the cloaks of those stoning St. Stephens, to blindness on the road and then new sight.  He experienced the cold shoulder of the first disciples who only knew Paul as a persecutor of the early church.  Paul experienced shipwrecks and imprisonment and hostile communities plus all the things we could summarize if we had his daily diary, the cold nights and inclement weather on the road. Professor Hooker continues, “The amazing fact that oppression leads to growth reflects the paradox that lies at the heart of the gospel — namely, that God’s power is revealed through the weakness of the cross and that victory comes through apparent defeat.”[3]

Paul wants us to live in a manner worthy of the gospel, aware of the defeat it can bring, reflective of the grace and love of Jesus Christ.  By doing so, for Paul we become stronger and more focused, standing firm in one spirit, and striving side by side with one mind. Such strength and unity do not often happen in good times. In fact, it usually happens in challenging times. Live your life “in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ,” Paul writes, “so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel” (v. 27).

Paul reminds the Philippians that God “has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well — since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had” (vv. 29-30). For most of us, the privilege of believing in Christ is easy to accept, and we are happy to receive the gift of forgiveness and new life. But “suffering for him as well”? That is a bit tougher to swallow.

For Paul, however, believing and suffering go together. Perhaps not surprisingly, we tend to be prejudiced, narrow regarding suffering without realizing it placing it solely in either thinking “no one knows the trouble I have seen” or thankful suffering has passed us by.   Yet, just think of the vast definitions of suffering illustrated in the Bible.

1. Creation suffers (Genesis 1-3)
2. Suffering can be mysterious. (Job)
3. Grief can cause suffering. (The death of Lazarus)
4. Suffering can come from being a victim. (Exodus)
5. We can experience empathic suffering, as we walk with others who suffer. (Old Testament prophets)

Those are just a few.  There is no one kind of suffering, one better than another.  There is no one form of suffering that is truer to the meaning of suffering.  Rather, while it is true that Christ died for us, the Apostle Paul is reminding us in today’s passage --- and perhaps to himself --- that it is also true that Christians die into this fullness of Christ. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Paul asks the Romans (6:3). “We suffer with him,” he says, “so that we may also be glorified with him” (8:17).

Did Paul write these words in his cell as he waited death?  Or a decade earlier?  Regardless Paul is describing the challenge for us all as we live out our faith as the hands and feet of Jesus in the world.  The apostle Paul while happy to serve the Christ in this life, understood that with faith comes the clearness that suffering can bring.  An understanding that we will depart and be with Christ which provides strength and clarity --- and comfort --- throughout this life.  At the same time, we live in, with and through not only the joys of life in Christ in thanksgiving but within the variety of “sufferings” that this life can bring.  Amen.

 

[1] Healy, Ben. “The Science of Getting Over It.” The Atlantic, November 2019, www.theatlantic.com.

[2] Hooker, Morna D. “The Letter to the Philippians.” The New Interpreter’s Bible (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2000), 492.

[3] Ibid.