Christ our Mother

Luke 13:1-9

I am convinced that one of the most powerful forces in all the universe is a mother’s prayers for her children. An inspirational example of the efficacy of such prayer comes from the life of Saint Monica, the mother of Saint Augustine. Of all of the children she bore, it was Augustine that proved to be the source of the greatest anxiety for Monica. Augustine was not always a saint in fact in his early days he lived a pretty rock n’ roll life style of womanizing, heavy drinking, and partying. He even got sucked into a religious cult called Manicheism. In his autobiographical work, the Confessions, St. Augustine writes that through it all his mother never gave up on him, but continued to pray for his conversion. In her agony for the soul of her son, Monica sought the council of Bishop Ambrose who told her, “God’s time will come. Go now, it is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish.”

If you are a mother who worries for her troubled children, you should be encouraged by the story of Saint Monica. Not only did her son finally accept the Christian faith, but he went on to become one of its most powerful and articulate defenders, a Bishop and a doctor of the Church.

The love of a mother is often the Hound of Heaven in the life of a wayward son. The country singer Merle Haggard said it best,

  
 I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole
No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied
That leaves only me to blame 'cause Mama tried                                          

            

There is perhaps no better image of the relentless, unwavering, way that God’s grace pursues us in our sinfulness. We address God as Father—I believe it is appropriate for us to do so not least because that is what Jesus taught us to do. I think it would be a mistake to change the Lord’s Prayer from ‘Our Father’ to ‘Our Mother’ like some liturgical revisionist suggest—yet nevertheless there is a maternal as well as a paternal side to God. God, as an eternal spirit, transcends the categories of gender. Both male and female, fatherhood and motherhood, find their source, their virtue, beauty and truth in their creator. Both man and woman were created in the image of God and both are meant to represent him in their unique way.

The Bible at times uses maternal language to speak of God’s loving-kindness. For instance Isaiah writes, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isa 49:15), and “As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you” (Isa 66:13).

Nowhere is God’s motherly compassion and tender mercy better seen than in our Lord Jesus Christ who says to his rebellious people, “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” Indeed many spiritual writers and theologians, such as Saint Anselm and Julian of Norwich, have spoken of the motherhood of Christ.   The metaphor of Christ as mother is appropriate in a number of ways.

First, Christ is the one that his people run to for protection from danger and comfort in sorrow. A mother hen will gladly sacrifice her own safety for the protection of her young. If a fox or some other predator sneaks into the hen house the mother will call her young to her and shelter them with her own body, putting herself between them and the danger. The chicks will instinctively run to her for safety and shelter. In the same way Christ puts himself, his own body, between us and our sins. He bears the brunt of their consequences on our behalf. He yearns that his people might run to him for safety and protection.

The mother is the fiercest and most selfless protector of her young. For instance no one wants to get between a mama grizzly and her cubs! The mother’s bosom is the universal place of safety and security. When we are endangered, when we are perplexed, when we are sorrowful, Christ wants us to find our solace in him. He covers us with his righteousness when we are fallen in sin, he shields us when we are attacked by temptation and despair. As Psalm 91 says, “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”

Secondly, the motherhood of Christ is seen in the fact that he washes, feeds, and nurtures us. It is one of the wonders of nature that a mother is able to nourish her child with her own body.  Julian of Norwich writes,

“The mother may suckle her children with her own milk, but our precious Mother Jesus, he feeds us with himself. And he does this most courteously, with much tenderness, with the Blessed Sacrament that is our precious food of true life. And with the sweet sacraments he sustains us with every mercy and grace.”

Just as an infant depends on his mother for all his needs, so are we dependent on Christ. He cares for us in our helplessness just as a mother cares for her young.  He washes us in baptism and the blood of his cross and feeds us with his own body and blood.  

One of the oldest symbols for Christ, dating back at least to the second century, is that of a Pelican feeding her chicks. The image is actually rooted in an ancient legend that predates Christianity. The legend was that in a time of famine a mother pelican actually tore pieces of her own flesh out to feed her starving young with her flesh and blood. In one version of the story the mother bird revives her chicks from death. The Church embraced this story as an image of Jesus’ motherly love for his people and it became a fixture in church architecture.
 

Third, and finally, Christ is our mother because he suffers the pains of labor to bring forth a new creation. Jesus spoke of his own imminent suffering in terms of a mother’s labor pains. He said, “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.”

In the same way, Jesus considered the agony of his passion to be pure joy on account of the new creation account of the new creation it brought about. He bore each of us, our sin, our guilt, our shame, in his own body on the cross. He considered the pain to be worth it in order that we might be born again and saved from the power of sin and death.

When Christ died on the cross, a roman soldier pierced his side and out gushed blood and water. The Church Fathers see great spiritual significance in this fact. Blood and water, they say, represent the two chief sacraments of the Church, the Eucharist and Holy Baptism. Just as Eve was taken from the side of Adam, so here is the Church born from the bleeding side of Christ. We are the children of his labor and passion.

Brothers and sisters, if we have Christ for our mother, we should take great comfort in our salvation. Whatever it is we struggle with we shall be delivered. It is not possible that the sons and daughters of so many tears should perish.

The Sound of Silence

Luke 4:1-13

Everyone needs a little peace and quiet from time to time, but researchers have found that too much quiet can actually drive a person crazy! Scientist at Orfield Labs in Minneapolis have developed what they call an anechoic chamber—that means no echo. The room is so constructed that walls, floors, and ceiling absorb all sound rather than reflecting it like most surfaces do. The average quiet room has a decimal level of thirty, but this room holds the record for the lowest decimal level at just nine. It is so quiet that test subjects could hear their own blood flow, the beat of their heart, the churning of their stomach and even the functioning of their own inner ear! Scientist suggest that there is even a kind of electrical whine that our brainwaves make that is normally drowned out by our surroundings. As it turns out this experience is literally maddening. After being locked in the room subjects experienced hallucinations and became extremely disoriented. The longest anyone has been able to stand being inside is forty five minutes.

 But one doesn’t need to be in an anechoic chamber to find the experience of silence uncomfortable. There is that constant existential buzz of self-consciousness that is always just below the surface of our awareness. When we slow down and listen to our own heart we are confronted by our own sin and brokenness, by our fear, and our desperate need for God. We feel his probing gaze and shrink from it in shame. We do our best to distract ourselves with the noise of business, of entertainment, and other diversions. Sometimes even worry is preferable to it. We find a million other ways to occupy our thoughts to avoid the inner silence where we are alone with God.

Silence can be difficult and uncomfortable, but it is a necessary element in a healthy spiritual life. Jesus demonstrated this in his own life. Throughout his ministry he would retire to quiet places away from the crowd. In our Gospel lesson today, at the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus goes out into the wilderness for 40 days of solitude, silence, and fasting. In what does the value of silence consist?

Silence gives us the focus that we need to hear from God. Since ancient times men and women have sought out quiet places in the wilderness to hear from the Lord. After his victory over the priest of Baal on Mt. Carmel, the prophet Elijah retired to a desert place. God sent to him a mighty wind that shattered the rock, but God was not in the wind. He sent an earthquake and fire, but Elijah found God in none of these dramatic manifestations. Instead he found him in the gentle whisper, the still small voice. I believe this is often the case in our lives as well. We expect that if God were to speak to us it would be in some loud an ostentatious way, but more often than not God speaks to us in such a way that we can easily miss him if we are not attentive. God’s presence is opened up to us, his voice, and guidance made available to us as we turn our attention to him and invite him into our heart.  

It is so important that we take time in our busy day to quiet ourselves and hear from God. When I was I kid, I can remember my father always being awake before everyone else. He worked early, but he would get even earlier than he too. This was his quiet time with God. If you came down stairs you would find him sitting quietly with a cup of coffee and the Bible open in his lap.

 Not everyone is a morning person. Maybe the best time for you is just before bed at night, or during your lunch break at work. Whatever the time, I encourage you to set it aside for God. He really does speak to us. During Lent, we are offering times of quiet meditation on scripture in our chapel, Sundays at 9 am and Thursdays at 12 pm. I hope you will take advantage of them.

Not only is silence important in growing closer to God, it is also essential for understanding ourselves better. Self-knowledge is a necessary element in spiritual growth. The first step in getting well is knowing what is wrong. If we want to grow in holiness we need to confront our sinfulness at its root. We need to ask ourselves, what strongholds does the devil have in my heart and mind that keep me in bondage? As the psychologist Carl Jung said, “Whatever does not become conscious, returns to us as fate.” Silence and solitude provides the opportunity we need to do that inner work, to allow God to undo the knots created by our sinful patterns and habits. 

 As I said moments ago, such self-knowledge is not comfortable. We tend to avoid it at all cost. It is a bit like going to the dentist. The experience is rarely pleasant, but the cost of not going at all can be much more painful and unpleasant. It can also be pretty frightening. God wants to meet us in silence, but it is often the devil that shows up before God! We are assailed by anxiety and by condemnation. He will try his best to draw our attention away from God and onto ourselves, our sins, our short comings, our passions.

This brings us to the third and final benefit of silence I want to share with you. Silence is the battleground for spiritual warfare. In our gospel reading today we see how Jesus battled against Satan in the desert. The devil tries to tempt Jesus. He appeals first to Jesus’ physical hunger, the desires of the flesh. Next he tries to tempt Jesus with riches, the lust of the eyes. Finally he tries to provoke him to some demonstration of his power and divinity. Here Jesus is tempted with the pride of life. Each time, however, Jesus answers Satan with Holy Scripture. This is an example to us. Knowing God’s word is like keeping arrows in our quiver. When the devil attacks us with his lies or tries to lead us astray, we can use God’s word to defend ourselves and put him to flight.

Often times we simply unconsciously and unreflectively absorb the devils lies. We allow his temptations to take us aware. Silence gives up the opportunity to come face to face with the world’s lies and the evils in ourself, to confront Satan and to stand our ground against him.

When we enter into the silence, when we listen for God’s voice, when we examine our heart, when we confront the devil, Jesus is beside us. He entered into the silence and solitude of the desert for our sake, in union with us. Jesus shared our humanity, the weakness and frailty of our mortal nature, he knew all the temptation that we know, and yet he was without sin.

When Adam and Eve were tempted in the Garden, they fell, bringing the power of sin and death into the world. We Christ was tempted in the wilderness he emerged victorious. If the first Adam brought weakness and futility to our human nature, Christ the new Adam brings strength and life. When we go down into the dangerous wilderness of silence, let us make Christ our shield and sword and receive the grace that comes from him.

Sidekicks and Discipleship

Luke 9:28-36

About a year ago, two other young priests and I began a podcast exploring our mutual love for comic books in light of our shared Christian faith. We called it “God and Comics.” For those of you who are not familiar, a podcast is kind of like an internet radio show. Besides having a bit of fun, we had a few other goals in starting our podcast. The first was to model thoughtful, Christian engagement with popular culture. Second, we hoped to engage in a bit of contextual ministry. Comic book fans are a strong niche demographic and one that is not always known for its piety. We wanted to talk about our faith in a way that would be relatable to them. Finally, we wanted to share our love for comics with a wider audience. We believe the medium has some really exciting possibilities for artistic expression. Comics have come a long way since the funny papers!

My reason for telling you about the show isn’t just a bit of shameless promotion, although I do hope some of you will give it a listen, but because I wanted to share with you how recording our latest episode helped to shed some light for me on this week’s gospel reading.

The title of last week’s show was, “Sidekicks andDiscipleship.” In it we explore the history of the superhero sidekick and what they can teach us about what it means to follow Jesus.

Probably the best known superhero sidekick is Robin, the BoyWonder, the junior partner of Batman. Even if you have never read the comic book, you have probably seen the campy 1960’s Batman TV series in which he appeared. The creators of Batman introduced the character of Robin in the 1940’s  to lighten things up a bit when comic books were coming under fire for being too dark and violent. The character also served to give younger readers someone with whom to identify. The idea was that through Robin, and other kid sidekicks, young readers could imagine themselves having adventures alongside their favorite heroes and helping them to solve crimes.

I wonder, when you read the Gospels with whom do you identify? If you are anything like me it is probably with the disciples! When I read the Gospel stories, I am filled with admiration, awe, and worship for the person of Christ. I long to be like him, but it is his disciples—with their slowness of heart, their hardness of mind, and their occasional foolishness— in whom I recognize myself! This is perhaps true of no one else so much as with Peter. Peter, like myself, always appears to have more eagerness than wisdom, courage, or fortitude. Just look at the way he first falls asleep and then puts his foot in his mouth in today’s gospel lesson!

The picture of Peter that emerges from Holy Scripture, is one of a man in process. He is struggling to become the man that Christ has called him to be and making plenty of mistakes along the way. He, and the other disciples, are in training. They are walking with Jesus, working alongside him, trying to do the things that he does, and seeking to faithfully teach his Gospel. In this way, they are a lot like superhero sidekicks. Sidekicks are apprentices. They are training to do the things that their mentors do. They just want to be heroes, and deep down so do we!

We long for the heroic virtue, the righteousness, the greatness, and the glory in the face of Christ. As disciples of Christ, we are his apprentices, training to be like him, to do the things that he does, that our lives too might shine with the radiance of God.

Sidekicks are often miniature versions of their mentors, having similar powers, and wearing a similar uniform. For example, there is the Flash’s sidekick Kid Flash, Aqualad the sidekick of Aquaman, and Speedy the crimson archer who works alongside the Green Arrow. In a similar way each of us is meant to reflect in miniature a bit of who Christ is.

Martin Luther was fond of saying that the Christian was a “little Christ” called in our own small way to be Christ to the world. If we are little Christs, it is our Lord’s desire to lead us along so that we grow up into the full stature of Christ.

This morning, at Christ Church, we are commissioning young people to serve as acolytes in our Church. For many, the role of acolyte, is the first step in a life of service to the body of Christ. Our Acolyte ministry is a training ground for disciples. Jesus is taking these young people on as his own sidekicks! He wants to form them into heroes for the gospel! He does the same for all of us through the various ministries we serve.

When Jesus led Peter, James, and John up the mountain, he gave them a glimpse of the glory he intends for them, the end result of their training. What we see in Christ’s transfiguration on the mount is our own human nature, glorified, shot through with the eternal light, made a partaker of the divine nature.  Our Lord wants to lead us too up the mountain with him, so that like him we can know the depth of union that he enjoys with his father. To become a disciple of Jesus is to embark on a journey, and to begin a process that when complete will result in our own glorification, and in the transfiguration of our human nature. He wants us to shine like stars!

Peter thought that he could stay with Jesus forever up there on the mountain top. He suggested that he could build little houses for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, but he was mistaken. He still didn’t realize that Jesus’ mission was to suffer and die. That the path to glory would be through the agony of his crucifixion. 

There are some who want a crossless Christianity. They want all of glory, but none of the sacrifice. This is impossible. To quote WilliamPenn, 

“No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.”  

There  is no short-cut to glory, no fast-track to Christ likeness.  We must be willing to undergo the long process of formation, the discipline and sacrifice that is required. We cannot have Easter and the glory of the Resurrection without Lent and Holy Week.

If we wish to share in Christ’s glory, we must also be willing to suffer with him. Jesus said, 

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

The Church Without Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

What is it that makes a parish church truly great in the eyes of God? What is the one characteristic we all should aspire to, that thing which to lack would be disastrous, and would make us wholly unprofitable?

There are many important elements that contribute to making a parish one that truly honors God, you may even say that they are essential. For instance, reverent liturgy. The Apostle instructs us in Holy Scripture, “Let all things be done decently and in right order.” Others might say that a church in which the spiritual gifts are not active is sadly lacking, that the church’s worship should be spirited and passionate. Many also say, quite rightly, that a church that glorifies God is one which teaches sound doctrine. Still others say that the church must advocate for social justice and serve the poor.

I wouldn’t want to subtract from the importance of any of those things, but none of them—in themselves—are enough. In our epistle reading today, Saint Paul instructs us that without love, none of these things matter at all. He writes, “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

Some parishes have beautiful and well-choreographed liturgy, perfectly adhering to the rubrics, and yet the people are rigid, arrogant, judgmental, and just plain snotty! They are haughty and look down on others. What good is it to expertly perform the liturgy if you are proud? What good is it to be arraigned in beautiful vestments if you have a dreary soul? What is reverence without love? All these things they ought to have done without neglecting the other, without neglecting love.

Again, some churches can boast vibrant, charismatic, worship. They may be bursting at the seams with worshipers having a cathartic and emotional experience. There may even be signs and wonders, dramatic healing, and speaking in tongues. Yet with all the flash, they lack real substance. When Saint Paul says, “If I speak with the tongues of angels but lack love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging symbol,” he is making a comparison with the pagan revelry of the worshipers of Bacchus, the god of wine, who used bells and drums in worship. In other words he is saying, “Without love you are no better than pagans!”

To use a more modern comparison, one might say, anyone can take LSD at a rock concert and feel at one with the universe, but that doesn’t mean they have the love of Christ. If just beneath the surface there is materialism, sensuality, pride, and divisiveness, charismatic worship isn’t much different. If your faith makes you look down on others, if you are more concerned with self-aggrandizement than the needs of others or the glory of God, if you lack love, you may be full of something but it isn’t the Holy Spirit!

Some churches have all the right doctrine, they are theologically rigorous, and yet they are harsh and combative. What good is belief if we lack love? Saint James writes, “You believe that God is one; you do well, but even the demons believe—and shudder!”  What good is it to know the truth if it does not change our hearts?

It is even possible to do all the right things for the wrong reasons. We can perform heroic acts of sacrifice and service, but be motivated more by a desire for recognition than love. In our quest for justice, we can even put our politics before people, and our ideology in the place of God.

God once rebuked his wayward people through the prophet Amos saying, “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.” Does God have a problem with feast days or solemn assemblies? Of course not! He is the one that commanded them in the first place! The point is that without love, all these good things are worse than useless, they are downright offensive to God!

But what is this love without which we cannot please God? Is it a feeling or a sentiment? Not quite. The type of love that Saint Paul is referring to here is sometimes translated as charity. It is the divine love that graciously reaches out to all people. It is more than feeling. Love is a verb. It rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. That is not to say that it leaves our affections unchanged. There are charitable and uncharitable feelings. 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 takes no delight in evil.

This kind of love is not of human origin. It is the presence of Christ working in us, the power of his reconciling grace. It is the gift of God. If what I have said makes you nervous, let me assure you, the kind of love I am speaking about is not a condition for our salvation. We love because God first loved us, and God loved us while we were still loveless.

This love is not a condition of our salvation, but it is the essential evidence of our salvation! Love is the fruit of salvation. God will judge whether we have received the grace of God in vain by whether or not we have love. The scriptures tell us, “by their fruit you shall know them” and “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

As we approach the season of Lent, let us examine ourselves. Are we as a church bearing the fruit of love or have we received the grace of God in vain? Are we seeking to grow in the love of God? Are we kind? Are we patient with one another in our weaknesses? Are we quick to point out the faults of others or do we charitably give them the benefit of the doubt?

I believe we will most certainly find that we have a tremendous amount of growing to do, both personally and corporately. “Love,” as Saint Paul writes, “never ends.” It is fathomless. In this life, we only scratch the surface of what it means to love like God loves. Paul continues, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” Brothers and sisters, let us put away childish things. Let us seek to be mature in faith and in hope, but most importantly in love. 

Many Members, One Body

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

I once read a science fiction novel called The Naked Sun by Isaac Assimov, and its premise has really stuck with me. It is set in a future where human beings have colonized other planets. It focuses on the strange traditions and culture of one interplanetary colony in particular. The people of Solaria have a rigidly controlled population of about 20,000 people. As a result, each person has a large personal estate and lives alone. In fact, they are conditioned from birth to avoid any personal contact at all. Their needs are attended to by robots who largely outnumber humans, and all communication with other people is done through technology. In this society, merely being in the physical presence of another person is considered to be obscene. Even reproduction is managed artificially, at a distance, and in a laboratory.

I read the book in high school but as the years have passed by, and I have observed that there are fewer and fewer reasons for people to have to leave their homes, I’ve often thought the story to be uncomfortably prophetic. The internet in particular has made it so that many do their shopping almost entirely online, they have any number of options for home entertainment, and can even conduct their social lives through online networks like Facebook and Twitter or via text messaging on robot master smart phones. There are even an increasing number of ways for technologically savvy Christians to worship online through live streaming religious services.

Even as we slide closer towards it, I think most us can recognize the world of isolation described in Assimov’s novel as monstrous. In the book of Genesis, when God creates the first man, he declares, “it is not good for man to be alone.” God created us for community, and not merely online community either, but real, messy, and up close community. We were made for relationship with one another.

In our epistle reading for today, Saint Paul addresses the subject of Christian Community. Throughout his letter Paul is addressing some of the complexities of doing life together. Even in the early days of the Church there were difficulties. There was immorality, disorder, factions, and petty rivalries. In other words, it was like any organization of sinful people! In our passage today, however, Paul attempts to express the true reality of the Church and how we should conduct our lives together on the basis of that.  The Church, he tells us, is the body of Christ. What does that mean?

First, it means what we have just been speaking about, togetherness. In order to have real togetherness, authentic community, you need more than just a group of individuals assembled together in one place once a week. A crowd at a movie theater together, riding a bus together, or eating at a restaurant together, may be in the same proximity, but they are not yet a community. In the same way, a group of individuals who merely  sit in church together on Sunday morning, sing the same hymns, and listen to the same sermon are not yet a community.  It is possible for a group to be together, but remain mostly strangers to one another.  This meal that we share together, the Holy Eucharist, is not meant to be taken in solitude like an individually packaged TV dinner. It is a community supper, a fellowship meal. It expresses not only our connectedness to Christ, but to one another.  We cannot be joined to Christ, but separate from each other. If we are members of Christ’s body, we are also members one to another.

So what does it mean to be members of one another? It means being involved in each other’s lives. It means supporting each other, encouraging each other, speaking into each other’s lives, holding each other accountable to God, and even when necessary gently rebuking each other in love. It means that our lives are not entirely our own. We belong to each other. As Paul tells us, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it, if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.”

If you are here today worshiping with us, but remain on the periphery of our community, we are so happy to have you with us, but we also want you to know that we long to get to know you on a deeper level. If you have joy in your life we want to rejoice with you, if you have struggles we want you to know that you don’t have to struggle alone. You can always share those struggles with me, one of our Stephen Ministers, or another member of our congregation. We encourage you to become more connected through participating in our classes and bible studies, our ministries, service projects, or one of our many opportunities for fellowship.

The second thing I want to say about community is this, although being in community means being together it does not mean being exactly the same. A group of people that only includes people who are alike is not a real community. It is a clique. If we want our fellowship to be authentic, we must be willing to reach out to people who are different from us, even people with whom we have disagreements.

  

In today’s lesson, Saint Paul writes to the Church in Corinth that the body of Christ consists of both Jews and Greeks, slaves and free. Likewise, the church today is made up of people of many different cultures, nations, and ethnicities. We are rich and poor, liberal and conservative, gay and straight. Here at Christ Church we are cradle Episcopalians, new converts, attenders from other denominations, high church, and low church. Despite our profound differences, God has called us together in Christ. We are the body of Christ but we are also individual members each different from one another.

Saint Paul says, “the body does not consist of one member but of many” and “If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body.”

                                                                                                                            

To use another illustration from the world of science fiction, the Church was never meant to be like the Borg, an alien race from the television series Star Trek, a species of cyborgs that dominate other species and assimilates them into their hive mind, destroying their individuality, and making them identical, mindless drones. Our unity is based on something more than conformity.

This brings me to my final point which is this: as Christians the source of our unity does not consist in sharing a common race or culture, agreeing politically, or even having the same opinions on every subject–although we do share some fundamental convictions in common. The source of our unity is Christ who has reconciled us and brought us near to God through the blood of the cross. Despite our differences, we have all accepted Christ as  Lord and we have been joined to him through the covenant of baptism. Paul writes, “for in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.”

One of my favorite contemporary artists is a painter named Chuck Close. He does these very large scale paintings that are basically composed like a grid. When you are up close to it you can see how each square in the grid is like its very own composition. It has its own beauty and integrity, and yet each unit works together in one unified piece. As you step back and see it from a distance it is revealed that each part works together to form one huge portrait. The painting is one face made up of many individual pixels.

In the same way, as the Church, each individual, each member, has its own uniqueness, but each of us in our unique way is meant to contribute to the larger whole, to reveal Christ to the world. Together we are one spiritual man, one portrait, one presence and revelation in the world, which is Christ. God has given us his Spirit in order that each of us can embody the presences of Christ to one another and together we can embody the presence of Christ to the world. 

The Bond and Covenant of Marriage

John 2:1-11

In 2011 my wife and I moved to Ambridge, a small town just outside of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, in order for me to attend Trinity School for Ministry. Ambridge looks like any other old factory town in the region, but I soon discovered its fascinating history.
   

While walking around our new neighborhood for the first time, we noticed that just a couple blocks up the street, the streets changed to cobblestone and the houses were all quaint colonial brick homes. It is the historical section of town called Old Economy, and it contains a museum and tourist destination in some ways similar to the Farmer’s Museum here in Cooperstown.  They call it Old Economy Village, and it preserves the home of the original European settlers in that area: a small, utopian, religious sect called the Harmonists. 

The Harmonists, or the Harmony Society, lived a simple and austere pietist lifestyle, modeled after the early Christian Church. They shared all things in common and each member contributed to the life and enterprise of the society through their work. Their industriousness and innovation earned the respect of some of the greatest leaders of their day, including Thomas Jefferson.       

Despite their early success, the Harmonists no longer exist. The last surviving members sold their land to the newly formed American Bridge company who founded the town of Ambridge as a home for their factory workers. The reason for the dissolving of the sect was in large part due to the fact that their leader, George Rapp, instituted a rule of celibacy for all members. He expected the imminent return of Christ and a Millennial kingdom. In anticipation, the harmonists sought to live a purely spiritual life like the angels in heaven. They believed husbands and wives should live together as brother and sister. Jesus was celibate, they argued, and so if his followers want to live a life like his they should be celibate too. Needless to say, Rapp’s expectation was misguided and membership dwindled through lack of procreation.

The error of the Harmonists is as old as the Church itself. Already in the New Testament Saint Paul speaks of false teachers who, “forbid people to marry” (1 Tim 4:3). In contrast the Church has always taught that marriage is a worthy vocation for Christians. It has taught that Marriage is a Sacrament and a means of grace. This conviction is based in part on our Gospel reading for today. Listen to what our Prayer Book says in the beginning of our marriage rite,


“The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation, and our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church, and Holy Scripture commends it to be honored among all people” (BCP, 423).

This morning I would like to unpack this teaching for you a bit. 

First, “The bond and covenant of marriage was established by God in creation.” The foundation of marriage is in God’s creation of human beings as male and female. Marriage is part of God’s original created order. In the beginning God declared his creation to be “good” and marriage is no exception. In fact it isn’t until God’s creation of man and woman in his image that he declares that creation is not only “good” but “very good.”

God made human beings male and female in order that they might be brought together in this special union. After creating man and woman, Holy Scripture tells us that, “God blessed them” (Genesis 1:28).  This is the first marriage! The priest reenacts this act at every wedding, pronouncing God’s special blessing on the couple.

After blessing them God tells them to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth. The unique relationship of marriage is the basic building block of civilization. Our prayer book declares,

“The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God's will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord.”

Next, let us turn to the statement, “Our Lord Jesus Christ adorned this manner of life by his presence and first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee.”  At first look one might be forgiven for thinking marriage to be an inferior state to celibacy, because Jesus after all was celibate. Getting married was not part of Jesus’ divine mission, but we would be mistaken to conclude that he held it in less esteem. Not only did Jesus confirm the goodness of marriage in his teaching, but he also honored marriage through his presence at the wedding of Cana, and the miracle he performed there.



When a couple invite Christ into their relationship through the Blessing of Holy Matrimony, their bond becomes raised to the level of a sacrament and a means of grace. Although God declared marriage very good and blessed it at the beginning of creation, the relationship between man and woman has been weakened and corrupted through the introduction of sin. Without God’s grace and mercy, couples far too easily fail to live up to his intended purposes for marriage. I believe this is what the scarcity of wine suggests at the wedding at Cana. Left to our own resources human beings cannot know the full joy of what God intends for marriage, but through his presence,  Christ is able to transform our marriages and fulfill what is lacking. He changes our water into wine.

Just as in baptism, ordinary water is infused with grace by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God; just as in the Eucharist, ordinary bread and wine is transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ; so in marriage is the ordinary union of man and woman transformed into a sacrament through the presence of Christ.


If marriage is a sacrament what does it signify? Our prayer book answers, “It signifies to us the mystery of the union between Christ and his Church.” In saying this our liturgy merely repeats the words of Saint Paul in Holy Scripture. When writing to the Ephesians about the meaning and purpose of marriage he says, “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:32).                                

What this means is that in marriage, each partner is meant to be Christ to the other. Just as Christ took the form of a servant for our sake, couples should submit to one another in love. Just as Christ died for us, couples should lay down their lives for their spouses. Just as Christ shed his blood to make us holy, so couples should spur each other on to holiness and love. Just as we are Christ’s body through the unbreakable covenant of baptism, couples are one flesh with each other through the unbreakable covenant of marriage.    

The wedding supper at Cana should point us forward to the wedding supper of the Lamb, in which we celebrate our union with Christ. This Wedding Supper of the Lamb is anticipated by the Church in the Holy Eucharist.

Just as Christ transformed water into wine, he is able to change wine into his blood and bread into his flesh. Christ gives to us his Body and Blood, that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. We are given a foretaste of the heavenly banquet we all shall share in the age to come. Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after, but Christ has saved the best for last.

Finally, our Prayer Book teaches us “Holy Scripture commands that [marriage] should be commended by all people.” Christians should regard marriage as a holy and noble vocation. We should treat it with reverence and seriousness. Our prayer book also teaches, “it is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God.”

Moreover, it is the responsibility of all Christians to give prayer and support to all who are called to this holy vocation. When they have children, it is also our responsibility to support and assist them in bringing up their children in the knowledge and love of the Lord.


Unless I be misunderstood, I feel I also need to add that singleness is, with marriage, equally a noble and holy vocation for a Christian. Not all are called to be married. As Christians we also have a responsibility to assist those called the single life, but that is a topic for another sermon.

                                   

They Call It "Timket"

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

I am not much of a world traveler. For most of my life, my idea of travel was a weekend trip to the Jersey shore. In January of 2014, however, I had my horizons dramatically expanded when I joined a group of fellow students and faculty from Trinity School for Ministry on a trip to Ethiopia. It was an eye opening experience to say the least! We landed in the capital city of Addis Ababa. My introduction to the city was through a hair raising taxi ride through the crowded streets. I looked in vain for a seat belt as we sped along. There didn’t seem to be any traffic lights either. Cars flew at us from every direction!

 From Addis we flew into the more remote area of Gambella a couple days later where we stayed with a former professor of mine Bishop Grant LeMarquand and his wife Dr. Wendy. We got to meet the local clergy and even got to celebrate Christmas in a small country church packed with worshipers. Even among Anglicans, Christmas is celebrated there on January 7^th according to the calendar of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It was a joyful occasion. They slaughtered a calf and served us what they described as the best part, a portion of the intestine which I wrapped in injera and discreetly disposed of. 

Later that evening chatting over a cup of tea in Bishop Grant’s living room, he explained to us that although Christmas is an important feast, the real celebration for the Ethiopians wouldn’t occur until January 19^th, the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord, or what they called Timket.

In Ethiopia the event is a three day festival including colorful processions through the street, singing, and dancing along with solemn prayer and worship. The Bishop slid back into his place as our professor and began to quiz us, “Why should that day, of all days, be so important?”

“It marks the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry,” I volunteered.

“Yes, but that isn’t the main reason,” he said, “Think about it. What happens in the story?”

We began to recount the story together of how Jesus came to John in the river Jordan, and of how John initially refused to baptize him, replying that it was he who had need of being baptized by him, of how the spirit came down in bodily form like a dove, and of how the Father declared from Heaven that Jesus was his beloved son in whom he was well pleased. "Is it the Trinitarian reference?" another student volunteered.

“Exactly,” Bishop Grant continued, “In that moment, for the first time in salvation history, the mystery of the Trinity is publicly revealed for all to see. It is what the Greeks call an Epiphany, a sudden appearance or manifestation of God, the revelation of some hidden truth.”

I can honestly say that I never really thought of it in quite those terms, but this is where the distinctly Christian understanding of God as triune really begins. This morning I want to talk about the three ways in which God is reveled in the story of Jesus’ baptism and what that means for us.

First, let us look at how God the Father is represented by this passage. Saint Luke tells us, “the heavens were opened.” When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he taught them to address their Father who is in heaven. Where is heaven? On one level heaven simply refers to the atmosphere around us, the cloudy sky and starry firmament, but I think it would be a mistake to conclude from this that the Father literally lives up in the sky. No, the language of heaven is meant to be figurative. It tells us that God in simultaneously near to us and also high above us, both immanent and transcendent. For the ancients the heavens suggested the realm of spirits and other invisible powers, the hidden dimension of reality. For just a moment the veil between this world and that one is opened.

The Father remains hidden and unseen in this passage. Indeed Jesus tells us that no one at any time has seen the father. He is spiritual and non-bodily, the invisible creator of both spiritual and earthly entities, but here he speaks with a voice that is audible to all. Rarely does God speak in such a direct fashion. More often he speaks through mediators such as prophets or angels. If God is so dramatic and unambiguous about his speech, we would do well to mark with great seriousness what he says. He speaks directly to Jesus saying, “You are my Son, the beloved, in you I am well Pleased.”

We will return to those words in just a moment, but first let us look at how God the Holy Spirit is represented in this passage. Unlike the Father, the Holy Spirit does in fact make a visible appearance. Luke tells us that he descended in bodily form like a dove. I don’t think we should assume, based on this passage, that the Holy Spirit is actually literally a bird. The Holy Spirit, like the father in non-bodily, but he temporarily takes on a physical appearance.

What should the form of a dove suggest to us? The dove has become a symbol of peace and gentleness for us, and perhaps it had many of the same associations for those gathered at the river Jordan, but I believe that it would also have another association for them, that of Noah’s dove. Do you remember the story?

God sent a horrible flood upon the earth to cleanse the world of wickedness. Noah, his family, and the animals were kept safe on the Ark. When the rains had ended, Noah sent out a dove to find some evidence of dry land, and it returned with an olive leaf in its beak.

Both holy scripture and the Church Fathers see the flood as a type of baptism. It is a washing away of wickedness and a kind of new creation, a second beginning. Just as in the story of Noah, the dove brings a token of peace declaring God’s judgement has ceased, so here the Spirit’s appearance as a dove, does the same. He comes from heaven to declare God’s mercy and favor.

This blessing and love fall on Jesus in particular. Let us look now at how God the Son is represented in this passage. In order to do so, we return–as promise--to the words of the Father, “You are my Son, the beloved, in you I am well pleased.” Jesus is the son of his Father’s love. The son whom scripture describes as the image of the invisible God and the first born over all creation (Col. 1:15).  In the Gospel of John we read, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18). In these last days, God has revealed to us the Son. He is the very Word of God, the revelation of his heart and mind, in human flesh. The Father speaks from heaven to confirm this fact.

During the festival of Timket in Ethiopia, a model of the Ark of the Covenant which is present on every altar of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, is wrapped in sacred cloth and bourn in procession by the Priest to the nearest body of water. This is to represent the coming of Jesus to the river Jordan, as the Word of God wrapped in human flesh. The Divine liturgy is celebrated and a blessing is said over the water. It is sprinkled over the people and some of the people even jump in and immerse themselves in the water reenacting their baptism. The environment is one of jubilant praise and celebration, because at the celebration of the Baptism of our Lord we remember the fact that Christ came as one of us in order to restore us to the love of the father. 

When the first man, Adam, fell, heaven was closed to us. A flaming sword was placed between us and intimate communion with the Father. But at Jesus’ baptism heaven was opened to us in the second Adam. When we  are baptized, we are joined to Christ, the peace of God descends upon us, and we hear with him the words of the Father, “You are my Son, the beloved, with you I am well pleased.”

Today, let us give thanks that God has revealed himself to us. That he has made a way for us to share in the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that is from everlasting. Lets us give thanks for our own baptism and the peace we have with God in Christ.