Isa. 40:25-31; Eph. 1:15-23; Mark 1:14-28

Today we encounter HUNGER.  Hunger for a better world.

Meet John the Baptist.  Moving pretty quickly in the gospel of Mark, only 14 verses in, already Jesus’ Galilean ministry has begun.  It is heralded by John the Baptist, who declares, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Understanding that line from John is key.  Notice that the “good news” for John is not what we are used to hearing, like in Paul where the good news is equated with “Jesus came to save sinners by grace through faith.”  Here, the good news is simply that the kingdom of God has come near.  And the “repent” part is to turn from that negative thinking.  You must repent and believe that the time is fulfilled.

In other words, the people were hungry – hungry for a change.  Much like our present state in America, I sense that the people of that time were so ready for a change of leadership, they could taste it.  They knew that life had to be better than what they had.  Some had bought into the thinking that life was supposed to be this bad, that they deserved this life, and that God was punishing them for not following.

John speaks against this negative thinking, declaring that we must believe that a better life is around the corner.

Jesus taps into this hunger.  His calling of the first disciples seems to be a snap.  He says, “Come, and I will teach you how to fish for people!”  And they go.

It got me to thinking this morning – this element of hunger versus action.  We so often fall into the traps – we expect our churches will grow if we shame them into seeing their rotten lives – or we expect our churches will grow if we offer some wonderful programs.  Only when we are truly hungry will we truly learn to fly.

What God is saying to us today is: Are you hungry yet?  Are you hungry for a better world?  Because that will motivate you!  God is reminding us that our programs will not save us.  The church is not saved by pretty buildings, or great sermons, or fun programs, but by a people who are so hungry for a better life, they must move into the future in a different way.

These first disciples were on fire before they even met Jesus.  And so the keys to growing a church today come: It is not getting people to say “I came to FPC to be fed” but helping people to get hungry for more.

Are you thirsting for justice and righteousness?

-Matt

Isa. 40:12-23; Eph. 1:1-14; Mark 1:1-13

Today is a day of new beginnings.

In these seasons of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, there are a lot of the lectionary passages that represent new beginnings, or actual beginnings like starting the Gospel of Mark.  Mark jumps right in to the good news skipping over any birth narrative or anything about Jesus’ childhood.

Many of us are in desperate need of new beginnings.  Many of you have been talking to me about your hunger for a new start.  Whether it is medical challenges, unemployment, balancing medications, stress in relationships, loneliness, depression, I have seen that many of us carry heavy hearts into the new year.  We are longing to turn the page on the past and embrace God’s new future for us.

Ironically, Mark both turns the page on the past, but also embraces it.  As Mark starts, he takes us back to what is written in the prophet Isaiah, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”

We then with a description of John’s baptism of repentance.  No birth narrative.  The beginning of the good news begins with prophecy.

Mark sees a grander narrative.  The entirety of Jesus’ coming was a fulfillment of the Scripture, a loosing of the chains that once kept us in bondage.  Proclaiming the way actually preceded the birth of Jesus.  John was not the only “proclaimer”.  Prophets of generations past had also spoken of the coming of one who would restore the kingship, a successor of David who would stomp the invaders of Israel.

It is difficult to view a grander narrative when we are in the midst of it.  It is hard to have patience to let God work on us, heal us, give us hope, allow us time to turn the page on the past while at the same time embrace the past.

May God bless you with the ability to trust in the messianic hope that is upon us.  May God bless you with the strength and courage to start again, not dragging past fear and pressure into the present, but bringing enough of the past along with you to where you can see from whence you came and where you are headed.

-Matt

Isa. 63:1-5; Rev. 2:18-29; John 5:1-15

Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.”  At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

Is Jesus providing words of comfort to this lame man?  Healing, yes.  Comfort, not so much.  He seems to be in the mode of shaking up the establishment today.  You see, this day of healing at the pool of Bethzatha was the Sabbath.  Not only did Jesus break the law by healing on the Sabbath, he encouraged this man to take up his mat and walk.  The Jews said to the man, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.”

Jesus invites us to break some rules today, if they violate the heart of God’s law.  He also demands that we get to the business of healing that which is broken in our midst.  He is also saying: Move on!  The time is now for ACTION!

Today as the government shutdown drags on, the political games ramp up, and TSA and Coast Guard members continue to work tirelessly, probably without pay, as morale of the troops deteriorates and more of our national security is put at risk, I say THE TIME FOR ACTION IS NOW.

It is time for us in this country to come to terms with the reality that government is GOOD.  It is not the enemy as is so often portrayed.  Our government is one of the ways we have instituted some of Jesus’ words in this country, providing safety nets of healing for those at the margins.  There are multiple government agencies which do the work of healing, which say to people “Take up your mat and walk” that frankly could probably be done by the Church if we did not live in a representative democracy.  Providing “take up your mat and walk” to all allows for the grace of God to extend far beyond the walls of individual denominations.

So to all the political shenanigans I say: This is not about you.  It is about the safety, security, and greatness of each American.  So open the government, stop holding 328,000,000 hostage because you are not getting what you want, and then we can talk about what God wants next for us.

The government was put in place by the will of the people.  If you want to change it, fine.  Put it to a vote and change it.  But you do not have the right to close down that which we decided was important for our well-being.

Make America Safe Again – make it a place where it is safe for God’s grace to flow.  Make it a place where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is allowed to function at full capacity.  I would think that includes having safe skies for TSA and all the other agencies running fully.

Jesus paid the price for his ideology.  There were many who were not OK with the action that he provided.  He went all the way to the cross for his stance.  He died because some did not want to open the doors of grace and share God with others.

Jesus demands we move past our fears about what others may think – to work for mercy, justice, and peace, even in the face of torment.  We must be compassionate, but not stop at the compassion.  It includes a new way of thinking – of being – that may have new rules and upset the establishment.

This is a challenge that leads many to give up.  All around me I have friends that have thrown in the towel on Christianity.  “Life is easier without that challenge,” they might be thinking.

To that Jesus says hogwash.  Take up your cross and follow me.

Christianity is not meant to be easy.  It is meant to change the world.

-Matt

Isa. 59:15-21; Rev. 2:8-17; John 4:46-54

Every day I hear news of the gov’t shutdown, and our leader’s inability to do the tasks that were charged to them.  The obstinance and idiocy is almost unbearable.

It makes me thankful that we do not follow human authority, but the one who brings new life to all the world.  We follow the Star, the one who brings Light to the world.

The healing of the official’s son in John is about new life and hope.

On the heels of turning water into wine, it is John’s second “sign” of this Word Made Flesh, this Light to the Nations.

Maybe you remember the story.  The royal official is in Cana with Jesus where he had changed the water into wine.  His son is ill in Capernaum, almost 15 miles away.  Jesus begs him to heal his son.  Jesus offers a very strange evaluation of the situation.  “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”

This, in fact, is the point of the whole story.  Oh yes, the boy is healed, and in fact the royal official meets his slaves on the road to his house who bring him confirmation.  But here we are in John, where the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us” and by chapter 4 we are dealing with these signs and wonders.  Our Incarnate Lord is spreading proof that the shake-up of the world has begun.   It is an announcement matching that of the angels on Christmas night.

Jesus declares “Your son will live,” and it becomes the second sign that Jesus did after coming to Galilee.  These signs and wonders change the course of human history, not only for those who are healed, but for those who are scared by his power.  If God has come all the way down to be with us, it would make sense that some would not be happy about this.  Their power is in jeopardy.  Their authority is going to be questioned.  If someone among us has the power to raise the dead, the word is going to get out.  Belief will spread, but so will fear.

We see this in John.  We see that there is a way to the Father, but there is also a way to the cross.  These seem to interrelate.  The road toward betrayal and death is also the way to truth and life.

This is the life we are called to.  It is not a life of belly-aching about our idiot leaders, but a life of self-sacrifice, self-emptying, and bringing new life to dark places.

Join me.  Be part of the Miracle today.

-M

Exod. 3:1-12; Heb. 11:23-31; John 14:6-14

Today’s passage from Exodus is one of my favorites.  Moses is at the Burning Bush.

The passage begins with Moses keeping the flock of his father-in-law.  It is easy to forget that Moses, too, was a shepherd.  It is code word for “nobody special”.  David comes from similarly meek beginnings.  In other words, we are invited to see ourselves in these characters.

And so here stands this ordinary guy, and God speaks to him.

Moses removes his sandals.  He hides his face.  God tells Moses about how he has observed the misery of his people in Egypt.  “So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

Moses smartly replies with shock.  “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”  I have heard some preachers make fun of Moses for this: he is a whiner; he is weak; he is not committed.  To all that I say WHATEVER!  Imagine this: a shepherd being asked to accomplish the greatest military feat imaginable.  Taking people by force.  I don’t know about you, but my reaction would have been the same as Moses’.

God responds: “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”  It is quite a promise.  And it is one that it fulfilled, despite Moses being very, very old.

This is something we all need to hear.  I WILL BE WITH YOU, God says.  In our world of isolation, walls, a government that is shutdown, neighbors doors that are increasingly shut, borders that are increasingly shutdown, God breaks down walls of class and experience, opens doors, comes to meet with us, and says I WILL BE WITH YOU.

This is a message our lonely world needs to hear.  Perhaps it is a message you need to hear.

Connect with a church and discover the community of Christ in your midst.

-Matt

Gen. 28:10-22; Heb. 11:13-22; John 10:7-17

As with every day of the Christmas readings, today’s are filled with new beginnings, fresh starts, and new births.

Today the city of Bethel is born.  Jacob, in his vivid dream, awakes and declares “Surely the Lord is in this place – and I did not know it!”  He rose and took the stone he had used as a pillow and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on it.  He was honoring this place, and named it Bethel, or Beth-El, which means the city of God.

What was cause for such an act?  It turns out Jacob’s first vision was a similar promise that had been made to his grandfather – a double promise of land and progeny.  “The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.”  God also declares that “I am with you.”  This promise of presence is what makes it a Christmas reading as well, a time when God-with-us declares this same promise, but in the form of a tiny babe in a manger.

We follow a God who breaks all the rules.  This didn’t start with Jesus.  Back up to Jacob.  Remember the rules?  Land and blessing passes from eldest son to eldest son.  Jacob was not the eldest, and yet God chose to use him in profound ways.

God has never followed human constructs, but breaks down barriers.   God chooses differently, preferring to side with the outsider, the outcast, the lowly.

This extends to our Christmas narrative.  Did Mary and Joseph deserve to be the parents of the Messiah?  Were they royalty?  Shining moral examples?  No.  And Jesus’ twelve disciples…did they deserve being chosen?  No.  Do we?  No.  And yet Jesus the Messiah came to that time and place, and even to this time and place, and chooses us.  Are we worthy?  No.

But God did it anyway.

God comes in unexpected ways, and breaks down our rules and standards along the way, instead preferring the way of grace and goodwill to those in whom God’s glory may shine best.  Today it is Jacob.  Tomorrow it might be you.

-Matt

Gen. 12:1-7; Heb. 11:1-12; John 6:35-42, 48-51

We are now over half way through our Christmas celebration.  The mystery of the incarnation continues to unfold.  Today: “I am the bread of life!” Jesus explains in the context of a discussion with his followers about food, work, the ancestors.

When Jesus says, “I am the bread that has come down from heaven,” it is already in the context of manna in the wilderness.  He has invoked the name of Moses and spoken of manna.  He cryptically explains about himself that “This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.”

To those theologians who demand that we take ever word of the Bible literally, I always want to point out this passage.  Jesus spoke in metaphors and in parables.  No one actually believes that he was a walking loaf of bread.  He was a man who died on a cross.  And these words, spoken in the 6^th chapter of John, to the reader, evoke images of the Lord’s Supper.

These metaphors are meant to dance in our head and evoke ways in which he fed the world and how we can now as the Body of Christ.

It is a rich image.  To feed the world is one thing.  To be manna from heaven….

This is the gift that keeps on giving, even when it doesn’t feel like it.  It rains from heaven.  Abundantly.

So those disgusting communion wafers at communion that I grew up have actually come in handy!  They have evoked for me the manna in the wilderness.  The memory of them has connected me to our past, of wandering in the wilderness.  The people did not think they had plenty then, and maybe they didn’t.  But our meager loaves at communion are only foretastes of the true feast, a feast in heaven, and a feast for all ages.

When Jesus says he is “living bread” and that those who partake of him will never be hungry, and here I stand with this little wafer, again I am reminded that God is speaking to me in metaphor.  Certainly he doesn’t mean I won’t get physically hungry again.

No, it means something a heck of a lot deeper.  Often I say in my Eucharistic prayers that Jesus is the one “in whom ancient hungers are satisfied.”  To eat of the living bread means that spiritual hungers are satisfied.  It means that the darkness of hunger and want are but a shadow.  God is talking about the spiritual hungers that go well beyond that of “daily bread.”

The power of the Lord’s Supper is that of one that transcends even time.  The power of the cross and of the table bind us together in a way unseen and unheard before.  To those who feel unloved, there is love surrounding you at the table.  To those who feel they have no family, they find family at the table.  To those who harbor emotional pain, there is relief at the table.

This is the true power of the Incarnation!  This is the true power of the Christmas message.

This bread of heaven came down in this Christmas time to be one of us, and share in this life.  He came down only to be rejected, condemned, crucified, and on the third day resurrected.  He doesn’t just bind us to “feel-good” ideas, but to his death and resurrection, so that we can be free of this world and its anxiety.

May our ancient hungers be satisfied as we find a place at his table, this day, and always.

Lord let it be!

-Matt