Sermons |
|
A sermon is a manner of oral communication and therefore words and sentence structure/order would be added, altered, or deleted at the moment of delivery. + In Nomine Jesu + The Rev. Evan Gaerther During this Epiphany season I am talking about growing our knowledge of who Jesus is and what he has done. The Wise Men who saw the star came to Jerusalem to find the newborn king and worship him. They came to see who this king was and what he would do. They discovered that he was not going to be like any other king; first off he was in Bethlehem and not Jerusalem where they expected to find him. Second he was more threatened than they anticipated and had to go home by an alternate route to avoid Herod. The season of Epiphany includes in its readings the baptism of Jesus when John the Baptist declares that he is not worthy to baptize Jesus, but he sees and discovers who Jesus is. John points his own disciples to Jesus saying, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The readings last week showed us Jesus saying, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” The men dropped what they were doing and began a journey of discovering who Jesus is and what he was doing. The See through the Scriptures Bible Study is happening on Sunday evenings and Wednesday mornings. This is a Bible Study that is meant to help those attending get a handle around the Big Picture of the Bible. Every time we meet we are growing in our knowledge of who Jesus is and what he has done. As we look at creation, Noah and the ark, the tower of Babel, or the covenant made with Abraham, we are growing in our knowledge of the grace of God. As we grow in our saving knowledge of Jesus Christ we find ourselves pointed in today’s Gospel lesson, the Beatitudes, to what a life lived in Jesus and looks like. What does it look like to live in Jesus? It is not a utopia. The New Testament church that Paul wrote to in Corinth is evidence of that. Paul writes that Christ is the source of their life, yet even so, Paul would need to make a painful visit and write again to this church in order to deal with their conflicting personalities. The reality of God at work in our lives can be seen in the Beatitudes also. Listen to what is going on in the lives of those who are so called blessed: The poor in spirit, the meek, those hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Rejoice and be glad. Jesus has just given a dose of reality of what a living faith in Jesus looks like to all those crowds that are following him as his fame spread throughout all Syria. They brought him all their sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics and he healed them. But even as he heals them, he also opens him mouth and taught them. The crowds were attracted by the fame, the healing, and they learn that life lived in Jesus is not always going to be about fame and healing. There are mega churches that people are attracted to because of the crowds and the fame and what great things they hear are going on. There are others that go from church to church frustrated at always discovering conflict exists and so they move one. We are a hungry people for something that works without work but the reality of living our faith is not so poetic. The reality of living out our faith is spelled out in the beatitudes. I know that these verses are so poetic that they are well known by Christians and non-Christians alike. These verses can found on cards, bookmarks, and all sorts of doo-dads. These words have poetic beauty and offer spiritual insight, even among unbelievers. But beyond the beauty of the words, what in this season of Epiphany do these verses bring to the kingdom of God at work in our lives? What vision of living and growing in Christ do these beautiful verses offer? The verses invite us to rejoice and be glad. But the goal of the beatitudes is not to seek after my own bliss. The beatitudes are not meant to be a recipe for my personal bliss. Life in Christ is not blessed from the perspective of add a little poor in spirit, a dash of mourning, preheat oven to 300 degrees of meekness, put together in another bowl a cup of hungering and thirsting for righteousness, a cup of mercy, fold in pure in heart, and season for taste with peacemaking. Add all these ingredients. Let rise in a warm moist place under cover , put into oven for 20 minutes and you will find blessing. The motivation proposed by many when hearing the beatitudes is strive to be like Jesus and you will be blessed. This is a route that leads to a dead end. Whenever we by our own ventures try to attain what God is promising to give to us, we will find ourselves stuck in sin instead of freed in blessing. The beatitudes that Jesus gives to us are not guidelines of how to be to be blessed. The beatitudes of action and blessing are simply what is, when we live out our faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus does not offer a pie in the sky scam of promised blessing with a heroic pursuit of righteousness. Do these things, become poor, mourn, hunger and thirst, and be a peacemaker and you will be blessed. The beatitudes are not attainable virtues through which I can manufacture blessing. These heroic actions of suffering are not a recipe for bliss. The kingdom growing that you and I are invited to see in the readings for the time after the Epiphany comes not from what we are doing but through Christ on the cross victorious. You and I can rejoice because the difference Jesus makes is the difference the gospel brings. When I go to the cross I find Jesus desiring to have a relationship with me. In my weakness, sadness, and brokenness Jesus reaches out to me. He doesn’t reach out with a pie in the sky scam. He reaches out with his hands nailed, his feet nailed, a crown of thorns piercing, and a mocking crowd that passes by him. He reaches out and forgives and loves and cares for me. I walk away not from but with the cross, not finding all my problems go away, but I find the perspective that in Christ all things are different. “Rejoice and be glad for yours is the kingdom of God,” Jesus said. Jesus brings to our lives the reason to rejoice and be glad in the midst of the negative curses of this sinful world. He comes to us make his blessings flow far as the curse is found. Jesus reverses the curse of poor in spirit, by giving us the promised inheritance of the treasures of heaven. How? By giving the treasures of heaven to die on the cross, with this great exchange the poor in spirit are filled. Jesus reverses the curse of mourning. We will still mourn. But the curse of death being the end of the story and our mourning being a lost cause is removed when our savior rose again on the third day. Indeed as we go through this beautiful passage of poetry I find beauty even grander than the sound of the words. Jesus has taken what has been the cursed and painful nature of our world and turned it into his redeeming vision. It is his deeds on our behalf that brings blessing. What an epiphany that God’s good will, mercy, and grace brings. Soli Deo Gloria -->> Home |