Where Two or Three are Gathered

St. Peter's, Purcellville:
decorated for Christmas

During Advent, I was leading a Morning Prayer service on Wednesday mornings.  At first it was just me, then one person joined me, then another, but this past week (the last service for the time being) it was back to just me again.  And whether I was the only one present, or whether there were others, I read through the service, aloud, each time I was there.  I noticed that even though the number of worshipers was small every time, there was a distinct difference in the feel of the service as soon as it was more than just me alone. 

That’s because something special happens when God’s people gather in His name, even if the number is quite small.  St. John Chrysostom puts his finger on it in the prayer attributed to him that comes at the end of the MP service.  “you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them”   (from Matthew 18:20) 

When we are alone, God is in us: as faithful believers, we have been given the Holy Spirit (John 14:17), and more than that, we have Jesus abiding in us, and through him the Father also. (John 14:20).  So when we are alone and speak to God, we speak to God as dwelling within us.  That is personal prayer and relationship with God, and an important part of our lives as Christians.

But what happens when “two or three gather in His name”?  There He is, in the midst of us!  God is no longer only within, but also among and between!  God “with” us.  And the presence of God in the midst of us will change everything.  The presence of God among us converts our private prayer into corporate worship – even if the time and place and form and everything else is the same (as it was for my variously attended Morning Prayer services). 

And we need to participate in corporate worship.  It is the joyful duty of God’s people to come together with God in their midst to worship.  Anyone who thinks they can “worship on the golf course” instead of attending corporate worship, doesn’t know what they are talking about.  Gathering regularly with others for worship is a cornerstone of faith and one of the simple ancient disciplines of living the Christian life.  We worship weekly, joining with God’s people in God’s presence to offer Father, Son and Holy Spirit all the glory, awe and love they inspire in us.  

If you consider yourself a Christian, yet don’t feel any need to gather with others to offer loving praise to God, then perhaps you need to reconsider your faith.  Perhaps you need to reexamine the nature of the god you believe in.  Because if the god you believe in does not inspire such love and awe in you that you want to gather with others to shout it out, then perhaps it is not God himself that you believe in, but some shadowy imposter - a mere idol.  

Find a church and go find out who God really is.  God will be there with those who gather - you can count on it!

I AM with You Always!

While meditating on scripture, the Lord granted me images of His tender and loving care of us during the course of our lives.  I pray that it fills you with peace and joy, and feeds your hungry soul!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The LORD your God is with you, 

   he is mighty to save. 

He will take great delight in you, 

   he will quiet you with his love, 

   he will rejoice over you with singing. 

                        Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV 1984) 

"I AM the Lord your God, and I AM with you always!

"I AM with you as a mother with a newborn babe.  I hold you and delight in your existence, rejoicing over you for no other reason than that you “are.”  Nothing, no action on your part, is needed to inspire My love!

"I AM with you as a parent with a young child, delighting in your childish exuberance to learn and discover My creation, quieting your fears, singing at the joy in your being.

"I AM with you as the father of a young woman preparing to wed – delighting to see you love and to transform from child to adult, quieting your unease at the changes that loom before you with the sure knowledge of My own love of you, and rejoicing for the person you have become.

"I AM with you as the bridegroom with his bride.  The beauty of your spirit and the depth of your love for Me are My great delight .  In your uncertainty at how to love in this new way, I sooth you with strength of My own love.  I rejoice at our union.

"I AM with you as a friend of your heart.  I delight when you trust to share with Me both the trials and joys of your life.  I take your hand to ease your sorrows with My quiet presence, I take your hand and sing with you in your joy.

"I AM with you as a comrade, to encourage you in times of failure.  I delight in your desire to press on, to try, to hope – even against all odds.  I am with you to supply the quiet confidence of My loving support, even in the face of your great distress and sorrow.  I rejoice that even in failure, you shall learn and grow.

"I AM with you as a loving care-giver at the end of life.  Each line and wrinkle, each scar and healed wound, remind Me of the whole of your life and the person you have become.  I quiet your heart with the sure knowledge of the time soon to come, and rejoice that you will soon be with Me more fully.

"I AM with you as one who mourns.  In quiet love, I tenderly prepare and anoint your body for the grave.  My great delight is that you were.  My greater rejoicing is that you will yet be…

"I AM with you as both Judge and Advocate, calling for a reckoning of your sins and short-comings, even as I show you how all those deficiencies shall be made right in My eyes.  I delight that you have chosen My Way, My Truth, My Life, so that  My loving sacrifice may be the quiet confidence of your soul.  Your salvation is My joy and My song!

"I AM the Lord your God, and I AM with you!"

Advent: Not Christmas "Lite"

Last night, St. Peter’s church had their annual service of Advent Lessons and Carols.  The choir did a phenomenal job, and I was glad I made the effort to venture back out into the cold, dark evening for a second church service.  As I was appreciating the choir’s anthems, pondering the readings, and singing the selected hymns with great pleasure, I was struck by how much rich content is missed by Christians who celebrate Advent as merely the season of “Christmas Lite.”

By “Christmas Lite,” I mean a time that focuses solely on the coming celebration of Jesus’ birthday, accompanied by the rapid unfurling of all things Christmas.  There seems to be so much pressure to deliver so much Christmas-centered content that it’s too much to fit it all in on, or even close to,  Christmas Eve. Christmas carols and anthems show up right after Thanksgiving and full-blown Christmas decorations appear in the worship space.  I’ve even heard of parishioners complaining to the pastor if the Christmas carols aren’t trotted out at the beginning of Advent.  Sadly, it’s simply a reflection of sentimental secular Christmas preparations creeping into the Church.

But that sort of Advent observance misses the whole point of the season.  Advent is not about preparing for your Christmas observances – it’s not about figuring out the best way to honor Jesus’ birthday.  Advent is about remembering who we are as the people of God, remembering the promises God made to comfort and care for His people, promises to reconcile us to Himself and make right all the things between us where we’ve gone wrong.  It’s remembering God’s promises to send a Savior, a Messiah, an Anointed One. 

And with the vision of a promised Savior freshly in mind, the birth of a baby to unremarkable parents in humble circumstances in a backwater of the Roman Empire doesn’t at first seem to fit our expectations.  Our Advent ponderings add so much depth and significance to what might otherwise become merely a poignant remembrance of a poor baby born in a stable.  Advent sets the stage for our Christmas joy at finding God work, yet again, in startling ways that fulfill our needs beyond what we could ask or imagine ourselves. 

See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
   and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
   and his recompense accompanies him. -Isaiah 40:10

May your Advent preparations serve to fill your heart with overflowing joy and wonder at the loving care and provision so unexpectedly  provided to us by our Creator, the One God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen!

* * * * *

Gordon Conwell Seminary is providing daily emailed Advent devotional prepared by their faculty.  It's just one of many great ways to keep yourself oriented to appropriate preparations during Advent.  Click here to go to their website and sign up.

Never Give Up (Pray Continually!)

In January it will be two years since my maternal grandmother died.  She was the only grandmother I really knew, and she had an important place in my childhood and youth.  All I have left to remind me of her (besides my fond memories) are a handful of old snapshots and a rather large jade ring.

The ring doesn’t look like it was expensive, just a ¾-inch oval of unremarkable jade, in a 4-prong setting with some cutout swirls and leaf appliqués decorating the sides.  While charming in its simple way, it’s not a piece of jewelry that speaks pure beauty and pleasure to my soul in the way some other jewelry can.  When it was offered to me, I took it as something to remember my grandmother by, not because of the ring’s inherent appeal.

Granny's ring on my ring finger!

That changed last week.  The ring didn’t used to fit my ring finger, and I had to use a thick guard to keep it on my pinky.  I wore it like that a few times, and then set it aside.  Tuesday morning, though, I was inspired to wear it and to my great pleasure, found that (because I had lost some weight) I could wear it on my ring finger!  Being able to slide that ring onto my now slimmer finger was a gift in and of itself.  But as I looked at the ring on my hand, I remembered my grandmother and heard in my mind the words “never give up.” 

“Never give up.”  The last time I saw my grandmother, she’d had a stroke or attack of some sort, and was in the hospital, unable to speak.  So I spoke for both of us, chatting on about family and circumstances.  I watched her eyes as I spoke to her.  I don’t think I’d ever looked at them as intently as I did during that visit.  Even though she obviously couldn’t speak, I could see in her eyes that she was still “in there,” still present, still understanding my presence if not my words.  She had not given up.

“Never give up.”  Those were certainly words I need to hear these days.  It’s been a tempestuous couple of months, filled with a wide range of challenging circumstances, difficult people, and reminders that God has called me to do something which I haven’t fully responded to yet. 

“Never give up.”  During the day, each time I happened to catch sight of my hand and that ring, “never give up” came to mind.  It felt like God’s Spirit whispering to my heart in the guise of my grandmother:  “Never give up.  Remember how she held on, even to the end, even when she couldn’t speak!  You are strong and in the prime of life – how can you do less than she?  There are things only you can do.  Never give up!”

When I first came to faith, I decided that washing my hands was a good reminder to turn my heart to the Lord in prayer.  The warm water on my fingers reminded me of the warm love of our Lord, and I made it my habit to pray at least briefly.  Now I find that I have a new reminder to turn to God: my grandmother’s jade ring.  I expect to be wearing it more often, and I intend to let it be a reminder to me of the simple, ancient discipline of prayer, a reminder of turning my heart and mind to Jesus and remembering the abundant goodness that God grants us at all times and in even the most difficult circumstances.  A reminder as well to never give up...

I encourage you be on the lookout for the reminders God is providing to you to help remember to turn to Him in prayer.

 "Pray Continually"

   -1 Thessalonians 5:17

No Crisis? No Problem!

You’ve probably seen that old favorite Christian bumper sticker slogan: “No Jesus, no peace.  Know Jesus, know peace!”  I recently came up with a new version: “Know crisis, know care.  No crisis, no care.”  

You see, my church is starting a teaching series on distinctively Christian care giving.  And as challenging as it can sometimes be, it’s still relatively straight-forward to care for people who have certain kinds of specific problems.  When someone: loses their job; is in a car crash; gets told they have cancer; loses a loved one; is divorced by their spouse; and things of this nature, they are experiencing acute crises and we KNOW they need help. 

Any Christian community (and even secular groups) will rally to the need for help, raising funds, providing meals, gathering resources, and otherwise rounding up and providing whatever sort of tangible assistance is needed by those in crisis.  “Know crisis, know care.”

More mature Christian communities will also work to provide intangible needs, like a sympathetic ear to listen, spiritual guidance, prayer, worship, and (perhaps most valuable of all) the simple presence of another.  Offering the compassion of Christ to those in need is important to distinctively Christian care.

But there is a dark side to this equation.  While those with overt crises receive care, those without apparent crisis are easily overlooked.  Since crisis-based care is necessarily REACTIVE, it isn’t engaged until some circumstance puts it into gear.  Only in crisis does the care machine start rolling.  Without crisis, care is easily overlooked.  “No crisis, no care.”

There is a better way, though: “No crisis? Know care anyway!” 

As Christians, we have a duty to be part of a small group for our mutual support, for fellowship and learning, for accountability and CARING.  We owe it to our small group to know them well enough to know when they need our care.  We also owe it to our small group (and to ourselves!) to allow ourselves to be known, so they can know when we need their care. 

That’s the best way to experience Christian care whenever it’s needed, and not just at times of crisis.  And wouldn’t we all benefit by frequent and on-going care giving and care receiving in the midst of a group of people we know and love?

But we also need to be alert for people without the relationships to supply this kind of non-crisis care.  There are many people – even WITHIN our Christian communities - who need care but are not in crisis, people living lives of quiet desperation, in dire need of loving attention, invisible to the “care machine” and not part of small group where they might be cared for.

We need to watch for these “outsiders,” these people on the fringe, people who need to be asked or invited into relationship.  We need to continually ask ourselves “Who can I care for today?”

And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.  –Matthew 10:42

Don't Let those Dogs Out!

My dog Lily loves to run! When she tears off at top speed after a ball or a deer, it is beautiful to behold. She runs like a thoroughbred racehorse, body long and extended, and her feet pounding the ground as she runs by sound like small hoof beats.

She also sometimes runs like a creature possessed, with a wide stance, haunches tucked under, and her tail strangely cocked. She is running after nothing, just running because - for some doggie reason I don't understand - she simply must.

When she runs for any reason, she is used up afterward. Her feet drag. She sprawls somewhere to pant and cool for a bit, then curls up on her bed to sleep. One good running session will settle her for the day. And sometimes I take advantage of that fact!

You see, Lily is a very excitable dog. If people come to our house, she gets so overwhelmed with doggie joy that she simply cannot contain herself. The best I can do is shoo her out the door to run it off, encouraging her to take a couple laps around the yard to take the edge off before we try to greet the guests again. Better still, if I know people are coming, I can take her out for a run before they arrive. That way, she is already tired when they arrive, and she more quickly settles, loses interest, and goes to nap in her bed.

I realized a few days ago that I was trying the same strategy with my "inner Pharisee." You know the inner Pharisee - it's that legalistic, judgmental, self-righteous corner of the psyche. It's the part that is always evaluating others by various rules and standards and in such a way that others are always coming up short and itself is always the superior example of doing things right!

The inner Pharisee loves a chance to get out of its kennel and "run" - thinking about all the ways it is superior and others are inferior. It gets excited when it considers an area where it feels especially superior - it can barely contain itself in its desire to think about how wonderful it is!

A circumstance arose where I felt entitled to judge another person by "the rules" - rules I feel rather passionate about! - and I considered the other person to be severely lacking. And I thought to myself that if I indulge my little Pharisee - let her go on and on about all the ways this other person broke the rules - then she'd get tired and shut up for a while. And if she shut up, it would be easier to interact with the person I was judging. I treated that excited little Pharisee like I treat Lily when people come - I let that dog out and encouraged her to run!

I think many of us make this mistake - indulging our self-righteousness (or any bad thought habit) for a while, believing it will "get tired" and subside and be easier to deal with later. And, of course, it feels quite satisfying to watch that dog run - it makes us feel good about ourselves, albeit at the expense of others...

But here's the problem: letting our dogs out to run may quiet and satisfy them for a little while, but over time it just makes them stronger and ever more eager to run. We are, in fact, training and conditioning them to run. Oops! There's the law of unintended consequences in action!

But in Christ there is a better way. St. Paul says to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:5) Thoughts and ideas have consequences - shut out unrighteous thoughts, don't indulge them for even a moment. For Jesus himself warns us:

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Matthew 7:1-2)

Don't let those dogs out! Don't encourage them to run! To do so is to be led astray.

Investment Opportunity

My husband and I are taking a personal finance course. The main point of the teaching is that debt is bad. We’re to avoid debt, pay off the debts we have as fast as possible, then going forward, buy only what we have the money for and save up beforehand for large purchases. Because, according to Proverbs 22:7 “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” And who wants to live as a slave?

It’s a great message and terrifically counter-cultural, because we live in a world driven by debt. Everywhere you turn there are advertisements of one sort or another encouraging you to buy now and pay later. Because by golly, we deserve to have what we want, and we deserve to have and enjoy the things we want RIGHT NOW! Our culture believes that only the naïve and unsophisticated actually save for something before buying or *gasp* pay with hard cash. (are those little green slips of paper even real money?)

And that is the behavior of the masses. That’s what “everybody” does. But that’s not what the truly wealthy people have done. Folks with millions in the bank now didn’t bog themselves down with credit card and other consumer debt in order to play with toys they couldn’t afford. Folks with millions in the bank now started out by living well under their means, and using what they saved to invest and grow their wealth. Only once they become millionaires did they buy the expensive toys, because then they could go buy them and pay with cash in hand.

That’s a great lesson and always applicable in the world of money. But as I was thinking about this idea of debt, and the rule of avoiding debt if you want to gain real wealth, it occurred to me that there is one area in our lives where debt cannot and should not be avoided.

There is one facet of life where we MUST incur debt, but where “everybody” steers clear of it. And that area is the salvation of our souls, because you can NEVER “save up” enough good or righteous behavior to “buy” your salvation. You simply can’t earn it. The same masses – the same “everybody” – who are so eager to whip out the plastic and dig themselves deeper in debt for the latest toy or gadget, are strangely unwilling to take on debt to save their souls.

But why not, why are they unwilling to take on spiritual debt? There is so much good to be had! From the moment you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are his. You are saved, you are free. You get to enjoy all the benefits of salvation and a personal relationship with God RIGHT NOW! Just like thatnew living room furniture you just charged, you enjoy your new status in the family of God immediately. You don’t have to wait while you save up, because you can never be good enough.

And so many people have it all backwards. They rush into financial debt and become the slaves of their creditors. But they avoid the spiritual debt that would actually set them free! How very confused, and how very sad they are.

Like those who are rich in dollars, the spiritually wealthy people have also gone against the behavior of the masses. The spiritually wealthy have put themselves in debt to Jesus. They’ve acknowledged their inability to be “good enough” or to save themselves. They’ve gotten on their knees and begged mercy and forgiveness, and found themselves crowned with the glories of Heaven.

Trust Jesus: He’s the best investment you can possibly make.

Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.

For this is what the LORD says: "You were sold for nothing,

and without money you will be redeemed." (Isaiah 52:2b-3)

Faith Is a Gift

(a sermon for St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Ada, VA, June 13, 2010)

The Readings for the Third Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 6, Lectionary Year C):
1 Kings 21:1-21a, Psalm 5:1-8, Galatians 2:15-21, Luke 7:15-21

Pondering these readings, I was struck by all the people behaving badly. First we have the story of Ahab and Jezebel conspiring to steal the land of hapless Naboth. Naboth just wanted to keep his family’s land. And when Jezebel saw her husband Ahab all petulant and pouty and depressed at not getting what he wanted, she conspired to have Naboth killed so Ahab could have what he wanted. Talk about people behaving badly!

In the reading from Galatians, Paul is talking about justification coming through faith and not through works of the law. And why did he have to remind the Galatians of this? Just before this passage, Paul tells us that Peter has been refusing to eat with Gentile believers so that Jewish believers won’t take issue with him. Peter has gotten particular about following the eating requirements of Jewish law – with doing “works of the law”. Paul’s discussion of faith and works is inspired by Peter behaving badly towards fellow Christians in order to comply with the law.

And then we come to the Gospel reading. Simon, a Pharisee has invited Jesus into his house for a meal, and even respectfully addresses him as “teacher,” yet he fails to offer him the basic hospitality of the day, and hospitality was a big deal at this time. He fails to provide for Jesus’ feet to be washed, and when a sinful woman steps up to do the job the Pharisee has overlooked, all he can think about is the woman’s sinfulness. His own oversight in hospitality never comes to mind.

Yes, the Bible is filled with stories of people behaving badly, and doesn’t that line up perfectly with our own experience of the world? We live in a world filled with sinners, and the news headlines are always brimming with the latest in crimes and bad deeds, large and small. And this despite the fact that, as our Psalm this morning says, “you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, and evil cannot d well with you.” Thankfully for us all, God is willing to tolerate our wickedness and evil ways for a time, or we would all be in big trouble!

Yes, our world and our readings this morning are filled with “people behaving badly.” But what about the one person in our readings who is explicitly labeled as bad, the “sinful woman”? When we look at the purported sinful woman, we find a very different sort of behavior. The “sinful woman” in the gospel reading provides the personal service to Jesus that has been overlooked by his host. She washes his feet, not with water, but with her own tears. And she dries them not with the towel, but with her hair. And she anoints his feet with expensive perfume, which may well have cost all that she had.

It embarrasses me even thinking about the scene. This woman holds nothing back, spares no dignity for herself. She is unreserved and unabashed in her lavish service to Jesus. Why? Why this extravagant gift of her person and her resources to Jesus?

Jesus later says to her, “your sins are forgiven.” And why is this sinful woman forgiven, when the Pharisee is not? We often give the Pharisees of the Bible a bad rap because most of them oppose Jesus. But they’re not bad people. They very much want to follow God’s rules. They spend their lives studying the law and trying to live it out to the most minuscule detail.

So I’ll say it again: why is the sinful woman forgiven and the Pharisee is not? It’s because of their attitude of heart: the heart of giving versus the heart of getting. The Pharisee is operating out of a “getting” heart. The Pharisee is focused on his own actions. He looks to himself and what he can do in order to earn his salvation from God. The Pharisee follows the law to be right with God, and since the Pharisees were the best law keepers around, they were pretty confident that between them and God things were pretty good. They may have a few small stumbles here and there, but in general there’s not much that God needs to forgive them for. That is the mindset of the Pharisee: intent on “getting” his own salvation from God.

The sinful woman, however, is operating out of a “giving” heart. She knows she’s an outrageous sinner, and that she can never do enough to get right with God. She’s done so many sinful things, it’s too much to think about. There aren’t enough sin offerings in the world for her to get right with God. And so when she hears the Good News, believes in Jesus and finds herself forgiven and made right with God, she is overwhelmed with love for her unexpected Savior and wants to give him all that she can. And this is the mindset of the sinful woman: overwhelmed by God’s grace and intent on “giving” to the one who saved her.

Jesus’ little story of the two debtors, one with a small debt and one with a large debt, perfectly illustrates the difference between the Pharisee and the sinful woman. As Jesus says, “the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” And that one who loves little is the Pharisee, which reminds me of a book I just read called “The Prodigal God,” by Tim Keller.

Tim Keller takes a close look at the story of the prodigal son. I’m sure you’ve heard of this story. A man has two sons. The younger son demands his inheritance from his father, then goes off and squanders it on high living. When he finally decides to come home, destitute, and prepared to beg for a place as a hired hand, the father welcomes him back with great joy and restores him to the family as the son. The elder brother who stayed at home is offended by both his brother and his father.

Interpretations of this parable usually focus on the loss and restoration of the younger brother, even though Jesus was also telling this story of the prodigal son to an audience of Pharisees, and the Pharisees are likened to the older brother. What Tim Keller points out that both of the sons were lost, and that both of his sons just want what they can get from the father.

The younger son goes the way of outrageous sin to get “stuff” from his father. He demands his inheritance, and blows it. But when he returns, he is forgiven.

The older son goes the way of conformity to get “stuff” from his father. He follows the rules and expects to get his inheritance in due course. Why does he follow the rules? In order to get the inheritance. But unlike his young brother, the older son feels no need of his father’s forgiveness. Instead, he is self righteously angry about his brother’s bad behavior and his father’s generosity with the estate he expect to be his one day. The older son is more lost than the younger, because he doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong…

Keller’s point here, is that we need to repent of the very reasons we ever do anything righteous. If we are righteous in order to get things from God - things like a promised inheritance, a blessing, even salvation itself – then we are lost.

Love is the only motivation of true righteousness. But we humans so easily take the Pharisee’s path of righteousness - righteousness in order to earn salvation. The Pharisee’s way puts us in control. We follow the rules. We think we’re good with God because we’ve done what we think he wants. But the Pharisee’s path makes it very hard to see our sin. We focus on how well we are following the rules instead of how far we are from God. But it’s the very knowledge of how sinful we are that breaks our hearts and changes us – changes why we do thing.

The sinful woman knows her sin and does her works of service out of love for the unmerited salvation she’s been given. The Pharisee does his works of service to earn his own salvation. And there’s a huge difference of heart between those two.

Consider for a moment this bit of scripture from our Galatians passage. “A person is justified (counted as righteous) not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” Now let’s add this saying of Jesus from the Gospel of John (6:44): “no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” Take these two together and we get this fact: it’s faith in Jesus Christ that saves us and that faith itself is a gift from God! God grants us faith – we don’t create it in ourselves. The Father draws us.

If God gives us faith as a gift, then the works that we do in response to that faith is our contribution. That's our part. The faith itself is God’s – choosing to respond is ours. A devotional book I’ve been reading put it well, from the perspective of God speaking to us: “You have faith in Me; this is good but faith without works is dead. Faith I can give you as a gift, but the works I can do through you only when your ego moves out of the way. For they are not your works, but My works, just as Jesus said, ‘I must work the works of Him who sent me.’ (John 9:4)” (from “Come Away My Beloved” by Frances J. Roberts)

“Faith without works” is like a two-part epoxy glue that hasn’t been activated. If you go to the hardware store and buy some epoxy, you’ll get a package with two tubes of chemical, tube A and tube B. If you make the mistake of trying to use either tube separately, you’ll find that the glue will never harden. It stays soft and runny and isn’t much of an adhesive. It’s only when the two ingredients are mixed together that the epoxy is activated and can form a strong bond.

God gives faith. God gives opportunities for us to do his works. Unless we accept his gift of faith and use that gift to do the works he’s given us to do, unless we mix tube A and tube B, there is no glue! Either one alone is insufficient, but together they are powerful!

The things we do out of love for Jesus Christ are strong epoxy. The sinful woman has that kind of epoxy. She was given faith, and accepted it. And the intimate and extravagant service she gives Jesus in response is the activated glue, and it is powerful indeed.

The Pharisee will never “stick” – he’s missing faith. He keeps trying to get saved, to get things from God, by his own actions. The Pharisee needs to “let go and let God.” He needs to let go of trying to pay his own debt – whether it’s tiny or huge – and accept and only Jesus can pay it, and in fact has already paid it!

We need to accept the faith we’ve been offered, AND RESPOND TO IT, and stop trying to glue our lives together with ineffective unmixed epoxy. We need to give up our own efforts, and accept the salvation that Jesus has already provided for us, let His love save us – let God save us!

And when we give up our own efforts and let God save us, then we will respond by doing God’s works in the world. Like the sinful woman, we will freely give loving, selfless service to God and others. Instead of working to save ourselves, we will do works that flow out of the sure knowledge of Jesus Christ’s saving love.

Will you pray this prayer with me?

“Father, give me the grace to accept that no matter how hard I try, I cannot save myself. Help me to let go of the ways of heart and mind I use to try to earn my own salvation, and to accept instead the gift of faith you freely offer. Activate that faith with works of love, and show forth your power to change the hearts of your people. And please, Lord, start with me, an outrageous sinner. Amen”

To Love for the Glory of God

a sermon prepared for St. Andrew 's Episcopal Church, Ada, Virginia, May 2, 2010
5th Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year C: Acts 11:1-18; Psalm 148; Revelation 21:1-6; John 13:31-35

“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.” Glory, glory, glory, there is an awful lot of glory happening here! Some form of the word glorify is used five times in just two short sentences.

But all that glorifying seems just a bit misplaced to me. Think about it: the setting is the Last Supper, and Judas has just left to go betray Jesus. One of Jesus’ closest companions has just left to betray him. And instead of speaking of sorrow or disappointment that one so close should stoop so low, instead of that, Jesus speaks of how he has been glorified. His torture and death lie before him in a few short hours, and instead of recriminations Jesus speaks of glory.

Glory. Really? Now? In the face of betrayal? The disciples don’t yet realize that Judas has left to complete his betrayal, but they do know that one of their number will betray Jesus. They know, because Jesus just told them so in the paragraph of Scripture that comes before our gospel reading this morning. “One of you will betray me….” Jesus tells them, “…It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread.” Jesus knows who will betray him. Yet in the face of betrayal he speaks of glory.

Now, just to make sure we’re all on the same page here, let’s clarify what we’re talking about when we speak of “glory”. It has several shades of meaning that include: praise, honor, and distinction given by common consent; a source of honor, fame, or acclamation; a state of splendor or magnificence; or adoring praise and worship. I don’t know about you, but betrayal by a friend or companion is not generally the sort of thing I think of as a source of glory, a source of honor, a state of magnificence. It seems that Jesus was confused, if betrayal inspires him to speak of glory. But I’ll come back to that again a little later.

Next, from the glory of betrayal, Jesus moves on to instruct his disciples to love one another as he loved them. Jesus loved his disciples but one of them turned on him and betrayed him anyway. And what will Jesus get in exchange for his loving care of his disciples? Betrayal. Desertion. Torture. Persecution, mocking and jeering from the crowds. And all this followed by a hideously painful death on the cross. That sounds like the polar opposite of glory to me.

And yet it is love that Jesus calls us to. To love in the same way that he himself loved us. Love that led to death… Thankfully, we are not called to do anything quite so difficult as what Jesus did. Jesus died for the sins of the entire world for our sake, once for all. Just once. So there is nothing quite that difficult for us to do, because Jesus already did the hardest part. And thankfully, we live in a part of the world where we don’t generally need to risk our lives to share our faith or love our neighbor, although not everyone is so lucky.

But even if we don’t need to risk our lives, loving others is still difficult. And Jesus’ command to us to love one another raises two main questions. Who are we to love? And what does it mean to love? Even the early disciples had trouble answering these questions. And these were people who saw and remembered Jesus death and resurrection, or who heard the gospel from others who had seen Jesus death and resurrection!

Our reading from Acts tells of how the Jewish believers criticized Peter for eating with uncircumcised men, with Gentile believers. You see, there was a conflict in the early Christian church. There was a group of Jewish Christians who believed that Gentiles must become Jews first, and be circumcised and live by Jewish law, in order to follow Jesus. This group still observed the dietary rules of Jewish custom, which made some foods okay to eat, and others not okay or unclean. To eat unclean food, or to eat with unclean people, would make one unclean.

But these Jewish Christians forgot that Jesus himself ate with sinners and tax collectors, people who were unrighteous and most likely unclean. And what were they thinking, when they judged it okay to refuse to eat with others who also claimed to be following Christ? How did that demonstrate loving behavior?

These Jewish Christians sound a lot like Pharisees! They are concerned with following the rules, and not so much concerned with loving their neighbors. In fact, they probably didn’t consider Gentile believers to even be their neighbors.

Even Christians can behave like Pharisees, and the religion of Pharisees is all about “me”. I follow rules so I can be righteous. I do these things so I can get to heaven. Others must follow rules so I can look good. Others follow rules so I can feel good about how I measure up. The religion of the Pharisee is all about what “I” do, not about what Jesus did. The religion of the Pharisee is driven primarily by love of self, not by love of God.

The sort of love that Jesus urges us to, however, is not about ourselves, but about God and about others. Authentic love is all about the beloved, and not at all about self. Just listen to these words about love from the well-known passage in first Corinthians Chapter 13. “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.”

Jesus did all these things for the sake of his people. And when you consider his crucifixion and death, he most especially “bore all things”, and “endured all things.” And why? Why did Jesus bear all things and endure all things? Did he do this for his own sake? Was Jesus personally glorified as he was crucified and died? Did he find praise or honor or splendor for himself? No! He was reviled and mocked.

So why? Why did he do it? Jesus endured crucifixion and death for love of God the Father. He endured suffering and death so that the Father would receive glory; so that the Father would receive praise and honor and fame and magnificence.…

Let’s look back at the “glory” passage at the beginning of our gospel again. “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.” Do you see that Jesus is glorified because God is glorified? And look how God glorifies Jesus because Jesus first glorifies God. It sounds a bit confusing, but the bottom line is this: there would be no glory for Jesus if God were not also glorified.

Think about it: there is nothing inherently glorious about suffering and dying. There is nothing inherently glorious about being wrongly accused. Praise, and honor, and distinction – glory – only accrue when things are done for love of God. Actions are glorious and worthy of praise only when done with a heart for the beloved.

And with that in mind, let’s remember Jesus instruction: “just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” So how does Jesus love us? Jesus loves us because he loves the Father. If we are to love like Jesus, then we also must love others because we love the Father.

As soon as I do something for my own reasons and not for love of God, then that action no longer glorifies God. If I do something for my reasons, then I do that thing to glorify me, to bring praise, honor, and distinction to myself. And what I do for my glory does not glorify God - even if it happens to benefit others in the process.

For example, how many politicians have we seen who say they are promoting this cause or that legislation for the sake of others, but who really just seek their own advancement? And how many church leaders work in their churches for the sake of self-glorification rather than God’s glorification? How many businesses do good works merely to improve their image… and their market share?

And closer to home, how many of us help the poor and needy only because of the opinion of others - only so that others will think well of us? How many of our “good works” are actually motivated by love of God, and not by self-interest, or self-righteousness, or rule-bound Pharisaical Christianity? That is a question that we should each ponder in our hearts: what are we doing for our own sakes, and what are we doing for no other reason than that we love God? Would our answers show us to be loving the way Jesus loves?

And that thought will bring us back to the question I left dangling earlier – that Jesus seems confused, if personal betrayal by Judas inspires him to speak of glory. Betrayal and glory are clearly not related, right? Well, in this case, WRONG! In this case, betrayal leads to glory, because Jesus is submitting to betrayal out of love for the Father. And his submission to suffering and death – even death on a cross – is the means of saving us all. Jesus selfless act that saves us, brings glory to the Father because it was done for the Father’s sake. And that is how Jesus loves… and how we also are to love.

God reaches out to us in love, so that we, in turn, can reach out to others in love.

And to God be the Glory!

Pride and Predators

(a sermon prepared for St. Andrew 's Episcopal Church, Ada, VA, March 28, 2010)
Lectionary Year C, Palm – Passion Sunday: Palms: Luke 19:28-40; Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; Passion: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Luke 23:1-49

The premise: “Pride turns People into Predators.” It’s a catchy little phrase, but what does it mean? And how does this relate to our readings? Let’s start by considering the people part.

“People” means simply human beings: creatures created in the image of God, with the ability to think and feel and act; beings with the free will to choose their actions, and minds able to consider the consequences of those acts; men and women with imagination to create new things from the materials and ideas around them; individuals, yet made to live in community and relationship with others; people created live in love with one another and with God.

As people, we are the crowning glory, the final flourish, the finishing touch of God’s creation! Wow – what potential we have as people of God, created in God’s image!

Ah, but too often we behave more like predators than the people we were created to be. The definition of “Predator” is “an animal that naturally preys on others.” So first and foremost, a predator is an animal, and animals survive by following their instincts of self-preservation.

A carnivore doesn’t stop to think about whether or not it’s right to kill and eat another creature. If you find yourself facing a hungry lioness, you’d better have a side of beef handy to feed that big cat, or she’s going to kill and eat you without a second thought. The lioness will have no regrets, no second guessing her actions, wringing her lion paws and wondering “if I’d waited a bit longer perhaps something else would have come along to eat so I wouldn’t’ve had to kill that nice lady…”

Animals don’t think like that. Animals don’t think and reason, they don’t distinguish between good and evil. They have no morals. All they know is what they’re programmed to do to survive. If they’re hungry, they kill to eat, and if they’re threatened, they attack to survive. They prey upon other animals naturally – it’s their basic inclination, they were created to behave that way.

Now, you may be thinking “well, sure, a wild animal will behave like that. But I KNOW my dog loves me, and would never try to eat me even if he were starving.”

Your dog may be your devoted companion, but your dog is in it for the kibble! Dogs are social creatures. On their own in the wild, they live in packs and hunt in packs. Their hunting is most successful when the best hunter is the leader. The whole pack prospers by following the lead of the strongest dog, the wiliest hunter. The pack members behave in ways that make the top dog like them, because if the top dog takes a disliking to you and drives you out of the pack, you’ll have a hard time surviving on your own.

Its instinct to seek acceptance from the pack leader - that’s ultimately what inspires the apparent devotion of your pet dog. Fido’s behavior may feel like love, but Fido’s devotion is as much about self-preservation and instinct as the hunting behavior of a hungry lioness.

So, what does it look like when people start behaving like predators, like animals, following survival instincts? Well, our two gospels stories, the Palms and the Passion, show us two different ways this animal behavior can look.

In the Passion story, we see Jesus attacked by the chief priests and scribes, the elders and leaders of the Jews in Jerusalem. They arrest him, accuse him, beat him, take him to the Roman authorities and demand his death because they’re threatened by his teachings. Theirs is an unthinking, animal-like response to the threat of Jesus. There is no love or humanity in it. Teeth bared and claws slashing, they lash out against the perceived threat like a cornered lion.

In the Palm story, the animal behavior is more subtle. The people aren’t attacking Jesus, they’re welcoming him and cheering his arrival. Ah, but why? Look at the motives of a typical man in the street and we’ll see the animal-like behavior.

You see, the Jewish people have been awaiting a Messiah, a powerful king to restore Israel to the glory of former days under King David and King Solomon. Crowds have been following Jesus, watching him perform deeds of power: healing the blind and lame, feeding multitudes. And now he’s entering Jerusalem. What the people see is a new King arriving.

They see a new and powerful “top-dog” stepping up into leadership. This new “pack-leader” will increase their status, create better conditions for the Jewish people and make them successful in all they do. The people are looking out for themselves as they cheer the Messiah and welcome him with palms, paving his way with their garments. They seek his favor much as your dog does. They’re securing their place with the new pack leader. There’s no love in it.

And as soon as it’s clear he’s not the sort of powerful King they were expecting, not a new top-dog, they turn and follow the Jewish leaders in attacking Jesus and demanding his death. The crowds turn their loyalty to another top-dog (the Jewish leadership) that seems more likely to help them survive.

So far we have people and we’ve seen how they can act like predators, like animals. Now let’s look at how pride fits into the picture.

First of all, let’s clarify what pride is. Pride is that deep pleasure or satisfaction you get from achievements: things you’ve achieved yourself or things achieved by your family, clan, team – by some group that you feel close ties to. Pride can also come from having “something” that others admire, like money or power, beauty, wisdom, status (or the latest electronic gadget).

To have pride, first you’ve got to place a high value on “something”, and then having or possessing that special “something” inspires the pleasure and satisfaction of Pride. Pride comes through doing or possessing. It’s about having prestige in your own eyes or in the eyes of others, or both.

The Jewish people were proud of their special status as the chosen people of God. It gave them pride that even though they were under the thumb of Rome right now, their God was going to vindicate them by sending a Messiah to end their suffering and oppression.

So when it looked like the Messiah had arrived, it was pride that inspired the people to jump on the Jesus bandwagon. They wanted to be part of what Jesus the Messiah was going to accomplish. They wanted the special status they could get by joining this latest Messiah movement. But Jesus didn’t turn out to be the kind of Messiah the people were expecting.

That’s when the pride of the Jewish leaders took over. The chief priests and elders and scribes had a long, proud tradition of having a special place among God’s special people. But Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God didn’t match up with what these leaders believed. Jesus’ teachings threatened the pride they took in their special place in God’s order. And it was the threat to their pride that inspired them to seek Jesus death.

“Pride turns people into predators.” Pride inspired the crowd to their self-serving cries of “Hosanna!” And pride goaded the Jewish leaders to demand Jesus’ death. When we people fail to exercise our uniquely human ability to love, we’re no better than animals.

“Pride turns People into Predators.” And it can do the same thing to each of us. When the things that give us pride are threatened, we tend to behave badly. We oppose and threaten and vilify the people or ideas that threaten us. And we’ll jump blindly onto the bandwagon of any cause that seems likely to succeed, just so we can take pride in being on the winning team – whether or not the cause is truly right and good.

As people, as human beings, we might perhaps take pride in being created in the image of God. But even the most righteous person has squandered the potential to live in love as a fully human being, created in the image of God. Since Adam and Eve, all have sinned and all have fallen short of the mark.

As Christ followers and people of God, the only source of pride we should indulge is pride in the Gospel message – that Jesus Christ came to save sinners - that God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son.

And Jesus himself is the only person to ever live the fully human life that God desires each of us to live. To exercise discernment and judgement, to choose good and not evil, to create and enjoy and live in relationship with God and people. To love God and to love our neighbors: that’s what it means to be the human beings God intends us to be.

The antidote to our sinful pride in our own achievements and possessions is shown forth in the life of our Savior, and is so beautifully stated in the reading from Philippians:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death--
even death on a cross.

Jesus didn’t take pride in His equality with God. It was not the thing that gave pleasure and satisfaction to His life. Only relationship and love with the Father gave Jesus meaning in his life, therefore, he could set aside all things – even life itself - for the sake of that love.

I invite you to join me this Holy Week in following Jesus example, striving to set aside the sinful pride that inspires us to behave as animals, and indulge instead in the humility of Christ, the only thing that will make us the fully human beings we were made to be.

Amen