The Season of Lent is a time of pilgrimage – a pilgrimage of the heart, mind, and spirit. On Ash Wednesday, we were not only marked by a smudge on our foreheads, we were invited to embrace a conscious “Observance of Lenten Discipline”:
“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: the early Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church that before the Easter celebration there should be a 40-day season of spiritual preparation....”
Most of our Scripture readings during Lent have depicted wilderness experiences: of Jesus’ 40 days of temptation; of the Hebrews 40 years between Egypt and their promised land; of Adam and Eve banished from the Garden; of Abram (later to be known as Abraham) led to “the land that I [God] will show you”; of Nicodemus’ journey from darkness to light, from curious awareness to active discipleship.
Meanwhile, the witness of the Apostle Paul writing to the Romans has been persistent and insistent:
“. . . what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Having died to make us righteous, is it likely that he would now fail to save us from God’s anger?” (Romans 5:8-9)
“If it is certain that through one man’s fall so many died, it is even more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift. The results of the gift also outweigh the results of one man’s sin: for after one single fall came judgement with a verdict of condemnation, now after many falls comes grace with its verdict of acquittal.” (Romans 5:15b-16)
To borrow again from our “Invitation to the Observance of Lenten Discipline”:
“In this way the whole congregation was reminded of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the need we all have to renew our faith. I invite you, therefore, . . . to observe a holy Lent: by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word.”
An ancient Psalmist extended the invitation simply and pointedly: “O that today you would listen to his voice!” (Psalm 95:7b) May God guide your hearing, your searching, and your journey with Jesus in these 40 days.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
An Apostle of Jesus Christ
There she sat, eating a sloppy roast beef po-boy and visiting with her friend as if it was any other day. And yet, there was a black smudge on her forehead. In south Louisiana, we know two things: It’s Ash Wednesday and she has been to Church in order to be marked as an apostle of Jesus Christ through the imposition of ashes.
An “apostle of Jesus Christ”? Many might argue that it was just a young woman on her lunch break. What makes her an “apostle”, for goodness sake? An “apostle” is one who is sent. An “apostle of Jesus Christ” is someone who goes into the world to bear faithful witness to the truth of Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul describes his function as an apostle and invites the Corinthian Christians – and us – to claim their proper role as apostles, those who go forth in the name of Christ:
“And so it is with the fear of the Lord in mind that we try to win people over. God knows us for what we really are, and I hope that in your consciences you know us too. . . . If we seemed out of our senses, it was for God; but if we are being reasonable now, it is for your sake. And this is because the love of Christ overwhelms us when we reflect that if one man has died for all, then all men should be dead; and the reason he died for all was so that living men should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life for them.
From now onwards, therefore, we do not judge anyone by the standards of the flesh. . . . And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; . . . It is all God’s work. It was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation. In other words, God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not holding men’s faults against them, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God. For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of God. As his fellow workers, we beg you once again not to neglect the grace of God that you have received. . . . Well, now is the favourable time; this is the day of salvation.”
Lent might begin with a smudge on your forehead, but God is empowering “apostles”, “ambassadors”, and “fellow workers” with Christ to “hand on” the reconciling love of God. Not sure you are worthy of those terms? How about “a new creation” or “the goodness of God”?
God will be at work in us, with us, and through us as we progress toward the Cross and the Empty Tomb. Do not “neglect the grace of God” – make God’s love known to someone today.
An “apostle of Jesus Christ”? Many might argue that it was just a young woman on her lunch break. What makes her an “apostle”, for goodness sake? An “apostle” is one who is sent. An “apostle of Jesus Christ” is someone who goes into the world to bear faithful witness to the truth of Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 5, the Apostle Paul describes his function as an apostle and invites the Corinthian Christians – and us – to claim their proper role as apostles, those who go forth in the name of Christ:
“And so it is with the fear of the Lord in mind that we try to win people over. God knows us for what we really are, and I hope that in your consciences you know us too. . . . If we seemed out of our senses, it was for God; but if we are being reasonable now, it is for your sake. And this is because the love of Christ overwhelms us when we reflect that if one man has died for all, then all men should be dead; and the reason he died for all was so that living men should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised to life for them.
From now onwards, therefore, we do not judge anyone by the standards of the flesh. . . . And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation; . . . It is all God’s work. It was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation. In other words, God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself, not holding men’s faults against them, and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled. So we are ambassadors for Christ; it is as though God were appealing through us, and the appeal that we make in Christ’s name is: be reconciled to God. For our sake God made the sinless one into sin, so that in him we might become the goodness of God. As his fellow workers, we beg you once again not to neglect the grace of God that you have received. . . . Well, now is the favourable time; this is the day of salvation.”
Lent might begin with a smudge on your forehead, but God is empowering “apostles”, “ambassadors”, and “fellow workers” with Christ to “hand on” the reconciling love of God. Not sure you are worthy of those terms? How about “a new creation” or “the goodness of God”?
God will be at work in us, with us, and through us as we progress toward the Cross and the Empty Tomb. Do not “neglect the grace of God” – make God’s love known to someone today.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Listening and Doing
Many of us spent our February Sunday mornings on a mountain with Jesus – or, at least, listening to The Gospel of Matthew’s rendering of Christ’s “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7). Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists, and others who share the “Common Lectionary” (“Lectionary” – a schedule of readings from Holy Scripture) experienced anew the life-giving, life-changing, life-redefining teaching of Jesus – all of it based on the notion that “the Kingdom” is at hand, but that “if your virtue goes no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom.” Jesus does not intend to deny us entrance to the Kingdom, but to warn us that our choices make it unlikely that we will choose to enter and abide in the Kingdom.
On Sunday, March 6 – Transfiguration Sunday according to the Lectionary; the Sunday of Mardi Gras weekend for folks in south Louisiana – the Lectionary takes us to a “high mountain” (Matthew 17:1-9) to witness Jesus’ transfiguration, wonder about what he discussed with Moses and Elijah, and hear God speak to the Apostles Peter, James, and John.
. . . “and from the cloud came a voice which said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’” – the same words spoken at Jesus’ baptism (with which we began the Season of Epiphany and now end the Season) with the added imperative, “Listen to him.”
Listening to Jesus can be challenging. Think again about the “Sermon on the Mount” (“turn the other cheek”, “love your enemy, pray for them”, “if your virtue goes no deeper”, etc.) and you quickly recognize that he asks us to think and to act as he does. There’s the “rub”: Jesus insists that it’s not enough to listen, to agree with him in principle, we must choose to do what he tells us to do.
Just prior to God speaking from the cloud, Peter expressed his inclination to make tents and stay on the mountain, basking in the glory of God’s glory and grace. Many of us have had “mountaintop experiences” – we know how good it feels and how tempting it is to want to stay there forever. Why bother about the world and all its problems? Or the Church, or the family? Let’s just live “above it all”.
Jesus came down the mountain and immediately healed a man. He was constantly seeking the least, the last, and the lost. Join him this Sunday and every Sunday “on the mountain” – and walk with him day by day sharing his ministry “in the real world”.
On Sunday, March 6 – Transfiguration Sunday according to the Lectionary; the Sunday of Mardi Gras weekend for folks in south Louisiana – the Lectionary takes us to a “high mountain” (Matthew 17:1-9) to witness Jesus’ transfiguration, wonder about what he discussed with Moses and Elijah, and hear God speak to the Apostles Peter, James, and John.
. . . “and from the cloud came a voice which said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.’” – the same words spoken at Jesus’ baptism (with which we began the Season of Epiphany and now end the Season) with the added imperative, “Listen to him.”
Listening to Jesus can be challenging. Think again about the “Sermon on the Mount” (“turn the other cheek”, “love your enemy, pray for them”, “if your virtue goes no deeper”, etc.) and you quickly recognize that he asks us to think and to act as he does. There’s the “rub”: Jesus insists that it’s not enough to listen, to agree with him in principle, we must choose to do what he tells us to do.
Just prior to God speaking from the cloud, Peter expressed his inclination to make tents and stay on the mountain, basking in the glory of God’s glory and grace. Many of us have had “mountaintop experiences” – we know how good it feels and how tempting it is to want to stay there forever. Why bother about the world and all its problems? Or the Church, or the family? Let’s just live “above it all”.
Jesus came down the mountain and immediately healed a man. He was constantly seeking the least, the last, and the lost. Join him this Sunday and every Sunday “on the mountain” – and walk with him day by day sharing his ministry “in the real world”.
Unity in Christ
The first four chapters of 1 Corinthians – from which we have been reading during the Season of Epiphany – make one point painfully clear: factionalism within the Christian community has always been a problem for the Church which takes the name of Christ. The Apostle Paul writes to the church he founded “not just to make you ashamed but to bring you, as my dearest children, to your senses.” (1 Corinthians 4:14; The Jerusalem Bible). Consider these “highlights” of his argument/appeal:
All the same, I do appeal to you, brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, to make up the differences between you and instead of disagreeing among yourselves, to be united again in your belief and practice. (1:10)
The language of the cross may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as God’s power to save. (1:17)
God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. (1:25)
. . . we teach what scripture calls: the things that no eye has seen and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him. (2:9)
I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. (3:6)
By the grace God gave me, I succeeded as an architect and laid the foundations on which someone else is doing the building. . . . For the foundation, nobody can lay any other than the one which has already been laid, that is Jesus Christ. (3:10-11)
So there is nothing to boast about in anything human . . . you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. (3:21-23)
Paul suggested a new “model” for imagining the role of the Church and of each Christian disciple. It is a powerful directive (and corrective) for its day and for our day:
People must think of us as Christ’s servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of stewards is that each one should be found worthy of his trust. . . . There must be no passing of premature judgment. Leave that until the Lord comes: he will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the secret intentions of men’s hearts. (4:1-4)
We are servants and stewards – in order that the light and love of Christ may shine upon us, into us, and overflow from us into the lives of those “who are not [yet] on the way to salvation.” May God indwell us, unite us, and extend us into the world in the Spirit of Christ.
All the same, I do appeal to you, brothers, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ, to make up the differences between you and instead of disagreeing among yourselves, to be united again in your belief and practice. (1:10)
The language of the cross may be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as God’s power to save. (1:17)
God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. (1:25)
. . . we teach what scripture calls: the things that no eye has seen and no ear has heard, things beyond the mind of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him. (2:9)
I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. (3:6)
By the grace God gave me, I succeeded as an architect and laid the foundations on which someone else is doing the building. . . . For the foundation, nobody can lay any other than the one which has already been laid, that is Jesus Christ. (3:10-11)
So there is nothing to boast about in anything human . . . you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God. (3:21-23)
Paul suggested a new “model” for imagining the role of the Church and of each Christian disciple. It is a powerful directive (and corrective) for its day and for our day:
People must think of us as Christ’s servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of stewards is that each one should be found worthy of his trust. . . . There must be no passing of premature judgment. Leave that until the Lord comes: he will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the secret intentions of men’s hearts. (4:1-4)
We are servants and stewards – in order that the light and love of Christ may shine upon us, into us, and overflow from us into the lives of those “who are not [yet] on the way to salvation.” May God indwell us, unite us, and extend us into the world in the Spirit of Christ.
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