A Sermon for the Baptism of Our Lord
January 13, 2008
Pastor Laura Gentry
Matthew 3:13-17
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased." (NRSV)
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The astronaut stepped onto the Moon's surface. As he put his left foot down, he proclaimed: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Many of you, I’m sure, remember watching it on TV in 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. Armstrong and his colleague Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin collected data and performed various exercises - including jumping across the landscape - before planting the Stars and Stripes flag on the Moon’s surface. They also unveiled a plaque bearing President Nixon's signature and an inscription reading: "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969 AD. We came in peace for all mankind."
Those astronauts and the country who sent them there certainly made their mark upon the Moon. Their footprints, the American flag and the plaque all bear witness to the fact human beings found a way to reach the moon. We left our mark.
As Christians, we have to ask ourselves about the mark we leave. No, we’re not doing exotic space missions but we’re doing something with the lives we’ve been given. We’re doing our thing, living our lives, taking care of our families, working our jobs, being who we are. And as we do these things, we wonder: is there anything that will leave a lasting impact?
At the beginning of this new year, as we hear about the beginning of the ministry of our Lord at his baptism. We are here in the brand new year of 2008. What’s going to happen this year? Will we do anything important? Will your and my life make a mark on the surface of this world? What will we be remembered for?
The occasion today—the day on which we see Jesus begin public ministry—gives us an important insight into what it means to have purpose in life, how we can contribute, be meaningful to this world, have an genuine sense that we have in some way fulfilled what we were put into this world for.
Jesus came from the northern county called Galilee down toward the city of Jerusalem, and to the Jordan River. It is a small but world famous river. When God's people, the twelve tribes came out of Egypt and were about to enter the "promised land," they had to cross this river, from east to west. It miraculously parted so they could go through on dry land. Only through water, as once before they came through the Red Sea out of Egypt, could they enter the Promised Land.
Now there is John the Baptist, a rather eccentric man for a good number of reasons, and he is doing something weird at this river. He is telling people in no uncertain terms: "Change!” He declares. You’d think he was running for President with that mantra. But he’s not talking about political change, he’s taking about personal change. “Get a new attitude! “ He says, “Turn away from your sin. Get ready for God’s coming!" As a sign that people were willing to change meaningless routines of life, to turn toward God instead, they were dunked by this John in the River Jordan. This was a clear sign that they had repented and were now eagerly awaiting the coming Messiah.
Jesus comes to John at the Jordan to get himself baptized. John knows this Jesus is the one he has been preparing people to meet. “What in the world does he need baptism for?” John must be thinking. He is the perfect one, without sin. He has the power to straighten every crooked aspect of life. He sure doesn’t need to repent, he’s already going God’s way.
So, of course, John tries talk Jesus out of Baptism. But Jesus explains that he has come to fulfill all righteousness! He has come to make everything right. The only way he can make everything right is by taking that which is "un-right" upon himself. He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that we might have this rightness with God. He is stating that from this moment on he will do right, be right, and amend all that is bad in the lives of people.
And as Jesus comes up out of the water, heaven opens. It is hard to imagine just what the author means by saying that the “heavens open” but it certainly must have been amazing. Many artists have attempted to illustrate this scene simply because it sounds so compelling.
Then Spirit of God, appearing like a dove, rests on Jesus! This dove is not simply a symbol of peace, as often the dove symbol is used. The dove is the symbol to God's people of the Spirit that hovered over the face of the deep chaos and darkness at the beginning of time. A new creation is taking place! Now this Spirit is upon Jesus. He will be the light of the world! He will be the Sun of righteousness. He will be the end to darkness, to despair, to that which lurks in the dark shadows of the heart.
And then the voice. The voice is speaking to the crowds around John, to us who crowd around Jesus today. The voice from heaven says, "This is my Son, whom I love."
Until this time, these people known as Israelites, Jews, the people of Israel were called God's Son, God's children. You had to belong to "them" in order to be part of God's family. Now, Jesus is called, God's Son! He is a new beginning of "God's people." From now on, all who are part of his family are in God's family. The old barriers are gone. By getting united with Jesus in baptism, you and I join God's family. As God’s children, we just might make our mark in history after all!
God’s voice from heaven says, "with him I am well pleased." These words are reminiscent of the prophet Isaiah’s words about the coming of the "Son of God". In Isaiah’s prophesy, he says that the Messiah will be a servant. He comes not to show off how powerful he is, but to serve. He has come to give us the righteousness we need to be in God's family.
This Jesus makes his mark, not by flying do the moon or doing anything big and lofty, but by serving people. Here already at his baptism, he begins his serving us by putting himself under the law—he who is above all laws. He will do all we do not do in serving others. He will take the consequences of our failure to trust God's ways are the only ways. It will get him nailed–nailed to a cross. There he will be a servant to the end. Even when taunted to show that he is really the God he claimed to be, he will remain true to his mission—royally and divinely to serve you and me so that we could be in God's family, righteous before the heavenly Father.
Jesus begins at his baptism to serve; we begin to be his family and serve from our baptisms. We are adopted into God’s family when the waters of our baptism flood over us and we are washed clean of impurity, dying once for all to the old loyalties to self, world, and evil. And God marks us. In our baptisms, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever.
Will we make our mark in this world? I don't know. I do know that every time we serve others, as God in Jesus served us, we fulfill the law of Jesus. Theologians like to call this our “baptismal vocation”. The root of the word vocation comes from the word voice and means a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action. In our baptism, God calls us to a particular course of action: to a life of love—a countercultural life that includes and cares for all of God’s people. This is quite a vocation we’ve been given! We don’t have to go to the moon but God expects us to make our mark!
Loving and serving others means we are aware of our failures. We must be aware that we stand before the perfect God. We must accept our baptismal vocation and follow the lead of Jesus—to forgive others as we have been forgiven. Living out this calling means that we do so in the Spirit’s power, as Jesus did, asking for help at every step of the way, for our human nature will always want to get in the way and keep us from following God’s will. Martin Luther explained that baptism is something that is done in church one day but that takes the rest of our lives to complete.
Jesus today reminds us by being baptized, that we too are baptized, that we have been marked with his cross and called to a whole new way of life. We have been marked in order that we may leave a mark by doing God’s will.
What mark will you leave on this world? How does being marked with the cross of Christ make a difference in your life? How will you fulfill your baptismal vocation to live a life of love? How exciting to remember, as we enter this new year, that we have been marked by the cross of Christ and we are full empowered to make our mark! Amen.
Now, may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
© 2008 Laura E. Gentry
Showing posts with label service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label service. Show all posts
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Sunday, November 18, 2007
KEEP AWAKE
A Sermon for the 24th Sunday after Pentecost
November 18, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry
2 Thessalonians 3
Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right. (NRSV)
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
The passage from Second Thessalonians reminds me of the fable of the Grasshopper and the Ants. When the weather was fine, the ants did toil hard to obtain and store up as much food as possible that would sustain them during the winter months. The Grasshopper, watching the ants labor diligently only poked fun at them. The grasshopper preferred to waste time making music, dancing and enjoying the warm weather.
One ant stopped to ask the grasshopper, "Aren't you going to store up for the winter, what will you eat?" The grasshopper just laughed and said, "I do not need to work all day, I just want to dance and play." So the ants left the grasshopper alone.
When winter approached, as winter always does, the ants were deep underground with their summer's harvest. The grasshopper unable to find a blade of green grass, cried out at the entrance of the ants' underground nest. The ants' reply was harsh, “When the weather was fair and food was plentiful you wanted to play, now you must dance hungry to bed each night."
Regardless of which version you’ve heard, the story of the ants and grasshopper is clear. Idleness may be fun at the time, but it has its price in the end. We must work and prepare ourselves, so as not to end up being caught by surprise in the future.
I place this well-known fable in beside Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, because he is responding to reports that certain members of the new church at Thessalonica are starting to abandon their jobs in anticipation of the final judgment. They are hanging around laughing and talking, sure that they do not have to work, as the day of the Lord is going to happen at any minute, they think. Therefore, they feel that working is a complete waste of their time. Paul says that they are “playing truant,” that they are, in essence, playing hookie from work that must be done. So Paul reminds the church at Thessalonica that when he was among them his example was one of work, not leisure like these busybodies. He maintains that he did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it. Not only did he do the work of an evangelist, but he did manual labor to make a living as well.
Idleness was a grave sin in ancient Jerusalem. All citizens were charged with learning a trade, even the Rabbis were not paid for their teaching but earned their living at another occupation. A wise saying once stated, "He who does not teach his child to work, teaches him to steal." It was very important that all people be active in a trade—and not just any trade, but a trade that would enhance the life of the community.
We do not hear near enough about Jesus' trade as a carpenter. We know that he received this training from Saint Joseph and the bible doesn’t tell us what kind of carpenter he was, but legend holds that Jesus made the best ox yokes in all of Palestine. People came from afar to obtain his work. Of course, this should does not surprise us. Since Jesus was the son of God, I imagine anything he crafted would be the finest in all of Palestine. Nevertheless this legend demonstrates that Jesus not only had a trade but was well-practiced at his craft.
So Paul is found urging the believers at Thessalonica to do the same. He condemns the people who are content with their idle behavior. These busybodies seem to have more time to meddle in the affairs of others rather than see to their own work, and it is doing much harm. Paul points out that it is a great error and abuse of religion, to make it a cloak for idleness or any other sin.
Why is having a task to do so important? Why do Paul and Jesus require believers to keep their hand at positive work? Well, we have heard the saying that idleness is the devil's playground. People with not enough to do soon find themselves making sport and entertainment out of the affairs of others. These things are not conducive to religious life, they are not sympathetic to the Gospel. Both the New Testament readings of today speak to the need for people to continue living their lives in the manner which keeps them productive and witnessing for God. They cannot grow tired and weary and cease doing what is right, they must wake up and do the work of a true Christian for we do not know when the final judgment will be.
When faced with the question of the final judgment our response should not be fear or panic. When asked what he would do if the world ended tomorrow, Martin Luther responded, "I would plant an apple tree," signifying that the news of all things coming to an end should not cause us to lose hope nor act in a fashion that is out of our ordinary character. We should be able to act as we always act: with confidence and with hope.
I heard an old story about a man, who was negotiating to buy a house and bought it without even seeing it. He was asked why he took such a risk; his answer was, “I know the man who built that house and he builds his Christianity in with the bricks.” The Christian should be a more conscientious worker than anyone else. Do you build your Christianity into the bricks of your work? Does your faith reflect in the way that you do your job? Is your conscientiousness evident in the way you farm your land or labor in the factory or heal patients or cut hair or process data or teach students or answer telephones or raise your children? No matter what occupation you hold, you should be doing it with all your heart and soul and in doing such quality work, you are being a faithful witness to the Lord whom you serve.
Mother Teresa was a great example of such faithful witness through service. In 1970, Malcolm Muggeridge, a European TV anchorman, went to Calcutta to do a special documentary on Mother Teresa. When met first her, she was working out in the streets with sick and poor people in a ghetto like he had never seen before—amid stench, filth, garbage, disease, and poverty that was just unbelievable. But what struck Muggeridge more than anything else, even there in that awful squalor, was the deep, warm glow on Mother Teresa's face and the deep, warm love in her eyes.
"Do you do this every day?" he began his interview.
"Oh, yes," she replied, "it is my mission. It is how I serve and love my Lord."
"How long have you been doing this? How many months?"
"Months?" said Mother Teresa. "Not months, but years. Maybe eighteen years.
"Eighteen years!" exclaimed Muggeridge. "You've been working here in these
streets for eighteen years?"
"Yes," she said simply and yet joyfully. "It is my privilege to be here. These are my people. These are the ones my Lord has given me to love."
"Do you ever get tired? Do you ever feel like quitting and letting someone else take over your ministry? After all, you are beginning to get older."
"Oh, no," she replied, "this is where the Lord wants me, and this is where I am happy to be. I feel young when I am here. The Lord is so good to me. How privileged I am to serve him."
Later, Malcolm Muggeridge said, "I will never forget that little lady as long as I live. The face, the glow, the eyes, the love—it was all so pure and so beautiful. I shall never forget it. It was like being in the presence of an angel. It changed my life. I have not been the same person since. It is more than I can describe." By the way, after Muggeridge made those comments, Mother Teresa continued to serve in that sacrificial way until the end of her life nearly twenty-seven more years. Yes, I realized that you and I are not famous nuns working in India, but we too, can work with that kind of spirit, putting our whole selves into the work that we do.
The day of the Lord will come one day and we, like the ants in the story of the Grasshopper and the Ants, must be prepared. Since know not the day nor the time, Paul's advice is to keep ourselves active in serving the kingdom with our respective gifts, keeping awake and not becoming idle as people are prone to do. We must not only labor with integrity at our profession, but we are to practice our faith daily in order to be the best possible witnesses for Jesus Christ. And this will keep us from the dangers of being busybodies—of meddling in other people’s affair when we ought to be concentrating on our own lives. May we awaken to the work before us and may our hearts be motivated to bear the best witness for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And now, may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
© 2007 Laura E. Gentry
November 18, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry
2 Thessalonians 3
Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right. (NRSV)
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
The passage from Second Thessalonians reminds me of the fable of the Grasshopper and the Ants. When the weather was fine, the ants did toil hard to obtain and store up as much food as possible that would sustain them during the winter months. The Grasshopper, watching the ants labor diligently only poked fun at them. The grasshopper preferred to waste time making music, dancing and enjoying the warm weather.
One ant stopped to ask the grasshopper, "Aren't you going to store up for the winter, what will you eat?" The grasshopper just laughed and said, "I do not need to work all day, I just want to dance and play." So the ants left the grasshopper alone.
When winter approached, as winter always does, the ants were deep underground with their summer's harvest. The grasshopper unable to find a blade of green grass, cried out at the entrance of the ants' underground nest. The ants' reply was harsh, “When the weather was fair and food was plentiful you wanted to play, now you must dance hungry to bed each night."
Regardless of which version you’ve heard, the story of the ants and grasshopper is clear. Idleness may be fun at the time, but it has its price in the end. We must work and prepare ourselves, so as not to end up being caught by surprise in the future.
I place this well-known fable in beside Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, because he is responding to reports that certain members of the new church at Thessalonica are starting to abandon their jobs in anticipation of the final judgment. They are hanging around laughing and talking, sure that they do not have to work, as the day of the Lord is going to happen at any minute, they think. Therefore, they feel that working is a complete waste of their time. Paul says that they are “playing truant,” that they are, in essence, playing hookie from work that must be done. So Paul reminds the church at Thessalonica that when he was among them his example was one of work, not leisure like these busybodies. He maintains that he did not eat anyone's bread without paying for it. Not only did he do the work of an evangelist, but he did manual labor to make a living as well.
Idleness was a grave sin in ancient Jerusalem. All citizens were charged with learning a trade, even the Rabbis were not paid for their teaching but earned their living at another occupation. A wise saying once stated, "He who does not teach his child to work, teaches him to steal." It was very important that all people be active in a trade—and not just any trade, but a trade that would enhance the life of the community.
We do not hear near enough about Jesus' trade as a carpenter. We know that he received this training from Saint Joseph and the bible doesn’t tell us what kind of carpenter he was, but legend holds that Jesus made the best ox yokes in all of Palestine. People came from afar to obtain his work. Of course, this should does not surprise us. Since Jesus was the son of God, I imagine anything he crafted would be the finest in all of Palestine. Nevertheless this legend demonstrates that Jesus not only had a trade but was well-practiced at his craft.
So Paul is found urging the believers at Thessalonica to do the same. He condemns the people who are content with their idle behavior. These busybodies seem to have more time to meddle in the affairs of others rather than see to their own work, and it is doing much harm. Paul points out that it is a great error and abuse of religion, to make it a cloak for idleness or any other sin.
Why is having a task to do so important? Why do Paul and Jesus require believers to keep their hand at positive work? Well, we have heard the saying that idleness is the devil's playground. People with not enough to do soon find themselves making sport and entertainment out of the affairs of others. These things are not conducive to religious life, they are not sympathetic to the Gospel. Both the New Testament readings of today speak to the need for people to continue living their lives in the manner which keeps them productive and witnessing for God. They cannot grow tired and weary and cease doing what is right, they must wake up and do the work of a true Christian for we do not know when the final judgment will be.
When faced with the question of the final judgment our response should not be fear or panic. When asked what he would do if the world ended tomorrow, Martin Luther responded, "I would plant an apple tree," signifying that the news of all things coming to an end should not cause us to lose hope nor act in a fashion that is out of our ordinary character. We should be able to act as we always act: with confidence and with hope.
I heard an old story about a man, who was negotiating to buy a house and bought it without even seeing it. He was asked why he took such a risk; his answer was, “I know the man who built that house and he builds his Christianity in with the bricks.” The Christian should be a more conscientious worker than anyone else. Do you build your Christianity into the bricks of your work? Does your faith reflect in the way that you do your job? Is your conscientiousness evident in the way you farm your land or labor in the factory or heal patients or cut hair or process data or teach students or answer telephones or raise your children? No matter what occupation you hold, you should be doing it with all your heart and soul and in doing such quality work, you are being a faithful witness to the Lord whom you serve.
Mother Teresa was a great example of such faithful witness through service. In 1970, Malcolm Muggeridge, a European TV anchorman, went to Calcutta to do a special documentary on Mother Teresa. When met first her, she was working out in the streets with sick and poor people in a ghetto like he had never seen before—amid stench, filth, garbage, disease, and poverty that was just unbelievable. But what struck Muggeridge more than anything else, even there in that awful squalor, was the deep, warm glow on Mother Teresa's face and the deep, warm love in her eyes.
"Do you do this every day?" he began his interview.
"Oh, yes," she replied, "it is my mission. It is how I serve and love my Lord."
"How long have you been doing this? How many months?"
"Months?" said Mother Teresa. "Not months, but years. Maybe eighteen years.
"Eighteen years!" exclaimed Muggeridge. "You've been working here in these
streets for eighteen years?"
"Yes," she said simply and yet joyfully. "It is my privilege to be here. These are my people. These are the ones my Lord has given me to love."
"Do you ever get tired? Do you ever feel like quitting and letting someone else take over your ministry? After all, you are beginning to get older."
"Oh, no," she replied, "this is where the Lord wants me, and this is where I am happy to be. I feel young when I am here. The Lord is so good to me. How privileged I am to serve him."
Later, Malcolm Muggeridge said, "I will never forget that little lady as long as I live. The face, the glow, the eyes, the love—it was all so pure and so beautiful. I shall never forget it. It was like being in the presence of an angel. It changed my life. I have not been the same person since. It is more than I can describe." By the way, after Muggeridge made those comments, Mother Teresa continued to serve in that sacrificial way until the end of her life nearly twenty-seven more years. Yes, I realized that you and I are not famous nuns working in India, but we too, can work with that kind of spirit, putting our whole selves into the work that we do.
The day of the Lord will come one day and we, like the ants in the story of the Grasshopper and the Ants, must be prepared. Since know not the day nor the time, Paul's advice is to keep ourselves active in serving the kingdom with our respective gifts, keeping awake and not becoming idle as people are prone to do. We must not only labor with integrity at our profession, but we are to practice our faith daily in order to be the best possible witnesses for Jesus Christ. And this will keep us from the dangers of being busybodies—of meddling in other people’s affair when we ought to be concentrating on our own lives. May we awaken to the work before us and may our hearts be motivated to bear the best witness for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
And now, may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
© 2007 Laura E. Gentry
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