What’s The WORD?
December 25, 2014
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Christmas III
Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-4; John 1:1-14
John’s gospel account of Jesus coming into the world is powerful and poetic. It doesn’t tell of the birth of a child in a stable in a little town called Bethlehem, but instead, the opening words of John’s gospel bring to mind the creation story of Genesis, which begins:
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. (Gen 1:1-5, NRSV)
But, John’s gospel backs up even farther. It doesn’t begin with the creation of the heavens and the earth, but instead, with the nature of God. In light of the incarnate Jesus, God can no longer be understood in the same way God was understood before. After the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, there was a deeper understanding of the complexity of God – that this one-God whom the people of Israel followed is actually a three-in-one-God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Now, while this doesn’t seem too complicated to you and me, having heard of this Trinity God from the beginning of OUR religious context, this was pretty radical stuff a couple of thousand years ago; certainly for the people of Israel. One thing that set them apart from the gentiles was their devotion to ONE God, not may gods. Remember, the first commandment brought down by Moses from Mt. Sinai was:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods besides me.” (Ex. 20:2-3)
So, then comes Jesus, and Houston, we have a problem! Read the rest of this entry »
Got Wheat?
July 20, 2014
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Proper 11 – RCL Year A
Genesis 28:10-19a; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
In today’s gospel we have another parable from Jesus to the crowds, and as Matthew seems kind enough to do, we also have an explanation of the symbols in the parable, shared only with the disciples… and us, it seems.
Like the sower and the seeds parable we heard last Sunday, Jesus continues to use farming imagery familiar to his audience. But in this parable the seeds no longer represent the spreading of God’s word. Instead we have two kinds of seeds. The seeds of wheat are the good seeds sown by the Master. The other seeds are weeds, sown at night by the enemy. We are told that the good seeds represent the children of the kingdom, while the weeds represent the children of the evil one, sown by the devil.
Now, some might look at this text and conclude that one’s goodness or evilness is predetermined – that when we come into this world, we are either cast as a seed of wheat or as a weed, and there’s nothing we can do about it. I don’t believe that this is how things work. And, for the purpose of Matthew’s gospel, this parable is more likely about Jesus’ hope to expand God’s kingdom in the world.
Source: http://blog.illumina.com
Through this parable, Jesus is beckoning the crowd to be WHEAT… that is, to hear his message about God and live into God’s call to love others. The alternative is to fall under the influence of those who act contrary to God’s message of love; those who focus on, or get distracted by, worldly things.
Still We Rise!
June 1, 2014
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
7th Sunday of Easter – RCL Year A
Acts 1:6-14; 1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11; John 17:1-11
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” This Henry David Thoreau quote confronts me each time I open the refrigerator door. It sits as a framed, limited edition work of art, created by my niece, Kayanne. The card arrived in my mailbox four years ago announcing that she would be graduating from college with a degree in Graphic Design.
Although I’ve never asked, I’d like to think that Kayanne’s connection with this quote may have been partially inspired by a time she and I spent together just four years earlier, at the time of her high school graduation. As a graduation present, I got tickets for Kayanne and me to hear Dr. Maya Angelou when she came to Houston. Angelou had been a favorite of my older sister, Kathy, Kayanne’s mom, who had died a couple of years earlier. So, sharing this experience with Kayanne was one way of bringing her mom into the celebration with us.
During the evening we were captivated by the inspiring and poignant words of Angelou. Her message was optimistic while she encouraged each of us to share our unique gifts with the world. She attributed each person’s unique strengths to their ability to rise above the struggles in life, and she assured us that “each of us has the power to change someone’s life,” saying, “Sometimes if you just speak to someone it can change their whole day.” (1) Read the rest of this entry »
Both Shepherd and Lamb
April 18, 2014
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Good Friday, April 18, 2014 – Year A
Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Hebrews 10:16-25, John 18:1-19:42
If you were here this past Sunday, you heard me explain that these narratives about Jesus’ death are called “The Passion” because the Latin root of the word is passio, which means suffering.
Throughout the Passion narrative from Matthew read on Sunday, we got a sense of the suffering Jesus endured, yet today’s account from John is quite different. In John’s gospel Jesus is the one directing the course of action, from beginning to end, and this is reflected in the Passion story, as well.
In today’s reading, after Judas brought the soldiers and temple police into the garden where Jesus was, instead of Judas kissing Jesus on the cheek, as told in Matthew’s version, here we have Jesus stepping forward on his own. He asks the soldiers who is it they seek, and when they say “Jesus of Nazareth” Jesus responds, without hesitation, “I am he.” Read the rest of this entry »
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