Category Archives: liturgical preaching

May 24, 2013 · 12:02 am

Second Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 4C

desert-wanderingA Loss of Confidence

1 Kings 18:20-21, (22-29), 30-39 or 1 Kings 8:22-23, 41-43; Psalm 96 or Psalm 96:1-9; Galatians 1:1-12; Luke 7:1-10

As Christian believers we need to understand who should have final authority in our lives. King Solomon, though he wandered from the path during his reign of Israel, was convinced that no other authority compared to God’s. He had proven Himself to Israel over and over:

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. He said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart.   (1 Kings 8:22-23)

The prophet Elijah, we may remember, conducted a contest between God and the false god Baal. The results left no question about who had all authority

What is our conviction today? Are we convinced that God’s word and Gospel is ultimate? The Church of Galatia had started out believing but had been lead astray by some false teaching. The Apostle Paul sent a very stern letter to the Galatians concerning this matter:

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!   (Galatians 1:6-9)

There is no question that the earth our faith is tested. However, we have the opportunity to observe the circumstances in our lives and in the lives of those around us. What do we see? What do we concluded? The centurion knew about Jesus. He knew the works that Jesus was performing. Based on what he had observed he put his confidence in the authority Christ Jesus when faced with a life threatening illness of his valued servant:

After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, `Go,’ and he goes, and to another, `Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, `Do this,’ and the slave does it.” When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.   (Luke 7:1-10)

The centurion was single-minded. He had already determined that Jesus could heal his servant. He was prepared  by settling the matter and, thus, did not waste any time getting to the point of his request. He did so, however, by according Jesus the proper respect, something that many Jewish authorities would not do. Moreover, the centurion was not going to allow his faith to waiver on account of any distracting voices from those around him. His conficence was in Jesus alone.

Today, who is our authority? In whom do we place our confidence when difficult circumstances arise?By Distrusting God we can be lead astray to devastating consequences. The Church in Galatia had lost the treasure of the Gospel of Jesus Christ even though they had received God’s message in the beginning.

Are we prepared to exercise our faith when required? We will be if we settle in our hearts and minds who Christ is and what He will do on our behalf when we ask Him. The Psalmist wrote:

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.  (Psalm 121:1-2)

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· 12:01 am

Visitation of the Blessed Virgin

mary_elizabeth_07Rejoice in Hope

1 Samuel 2:1-10; Psalm 113; Romans 12:9-16b; Luke 1:39-57

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”   (Luke 1:39-45)

God makes promises to us. Have you noticed that they are not always fulfilled immediately? There is often a gestation period. During that time our primary focus should be to hold on the promise with faith and hope. Elizabeth commended Mary for believing in the promise of God when what was promised seemed preposterous. Never had a virgin given birth to a child.

The Apostle Paul, who endured many hardships in his ministry, wrote this advice to the Church at Rome:

Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.   (Romans 12:11-12)

Paul rejoice while he was in prison. How was he able to do so? He held on to his hope and persevered in prayer. He even sung praises to God when all seemed lost. Perhaps he and Mary had something in common that made them believe in the fulfillment of God’s promises. They must have an understanding of the overall purpose and plan of God. God had acted in the past on behalf of Israel and He would continue to do so.

Mary replied to Elizabeth this way:

He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.   (Luke 1:54-55)

Has God helped us in the past? Do we see a continuity in His saving acts in our lives and in the lives of others. Perhaps if we pray for an understanding of His overall plan and purpose for us we will be better able what He made be doing in us in the moment. God is faithful. His Son was faithful to the plan of the Father because He understood the requirement of salvation. Our hope is that the faithful One will lead us in the way that leads to everlasting life.

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.   (Philippians 1:6)

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· 12:00 am

Trinity Sunday, Year C

The Ecumenical Church

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15

The first Sunday after Pentecost is traditionally known as Trinity Sunday. The appointed readings for this Sunday point to the Holy Trinity. One of the important advantages of the lectionary is that it requires us to address Biblical concepts that we might otherwise avoid.

There was a great deal of confusion over the Trinity within the Early Church. Questions arose about the nature of God. Ecumenical councils were convened to address these concerns. The Nicene Creed, a Christian statement of faith accepted by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and most Protestant churches, was formulated to address these questions. The creed gets its name from the First Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.), where it was initially adopted, and from the First Council of Constantinople (381 A.D.), where a revised version was accepted. A contemporary English translation of this version reads as follows:

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. Who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. Who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Why is this creed important? It is more than just a document of passing historical or theological interest. It speaks to us about who God is and what we believe about God. The Christian Faith and the Church itself cannot be fully understood outside the context of the Trinity. The fundamentals of the Faith embodied in the Nicene Creed have been agreed upon my most Christians. Perhaps we need to revisit some of those fundamentals on Trinity Sunday. We want a true and balanced understanding of the Church which Jesus established through the Holy Spirit.

Why is the Church either liturgical, evangelical, or pentecostal? Each of these three “branches” of the church tend to emphasize certain aspects of the Faith over others. The liturgical church seems to emphasize the Law of God and obedience to the Law, but may neglect the concept of new birth. The evangelical church values a salvation by a personal statement of belief in Jesus and, in some cases, that is all that is required – a “once saved always saved” approach. The pentecostal church in its most radical form may value spiritual signs and wonders, in some cases, to the exclusion of all else. Many counterfeit gifts have filtered into certain churches with little discernment and Godly authority in evidence.

Let us consider God. He is Father; He is Son; and He is Holy Spirit. He is all three and He is One. We cannot neglect one person of God in favor of another. God cannot be divided and His Church should not be divided, though we have divided it. Our understanding of the Church should not be divided. We need a vision of the Church that is ecumenical, which does not emphasize one aspect of God over another. The Apostle Paul speaks of a balance in the faith:

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.   (Romans 5:1-5)

Jesus makes it clear that we need the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. Further, He stipulates that the same Spirit will glory Him and not act apart from Him:

Jesus said to the disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”   (John 16:12-15)

We see that the Faith about which Jesus speaks is dependent upon the leading and empowering of the Holy Spirit. How can a church not be pentecostal? We see that our heart needs to be transformed. We need to be born from above by the Spirit. How can a church not be evangelical?

The ecumenical church is as much a right path through life as it is an institution. Let us seek the fullness of God within ourselves and within our churches. Let us pray for those in leadership that they might have the mind of Christ. Let us pray for a revival and reformation by the Spirit under the authority of God.

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May 19, 2013 · 12:01 am

Day of Pentecost, Year C

The Spirit of Unity

Acts 2:1-21 or Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:25-35, 37; Romans 8:14-17 or Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17, (25-27)

When Jesus was accused of casting out demons by the power of demons He offer this defense:

So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.   (Mark 3:23-26)

There is a reason for the disunity we see on this earth. When faced with an enemy who is evil and intends to do harm, steps must be taken to divide him. This is a precept of warfare. Regrettably, humankind has shown a propensity to follow evil. God found it necessary to thwart the plans of those who would not follow Him.

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the LORD said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:1-9)

On the Day of Pentecost, God made it possible for people to comprehend the various languages which once separated them.

When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.   (Acts 2:1-4)

God did something extraordinary. He placed His very nature into the heart of  those who sought Him. Jesus told His disciples that this event was coming:

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”   (John 14:23-24)

Unity can only be brought about in those who are willing to be led by the Spirit of Unity. Are we now ready to be led God’s Spirit? If so, we have a great promise from God.

All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ– if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.   (Romans 8:14-17)

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· 12:00 am

The Season of Pentecost

The Jewish festival of Shavuot (Hebrew: שבועות‎, lit. “Weeks”) is one of three main annual pilgrimage festivals in the Judaism. It commemorates God giving the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai and it also celebrates the conclusion of the grain harvest in Israel. The date of Shavuot is directly linked to the celebration of the Jewish Passover. The grain harvest began with the harvesting of the barley during Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Shavuot. The time in between was seven weeks or fifty days. This time frame also represents the time between Israel’s Exodus from Egypt until the giving of the Law at Sinai.

Pentecost is a major feast day of the Christian liturgical year. It is the Christian counterpart of Shavuot. The word Pentecost (Ancient Greek: Πεντηκοστή) means “the Fiftieth [day].” It occurs fifty days after Easter or Resurrection Sunday which roughly coincides with the Jewish festival of Shavuot. This is not coincidental. Just as Easter is the prophetic fulfillment of Passover, Pentecost is the prophetic fulfillment of Shavuot. The two feasts, Shavuot and Pentecost, have much in common, both historically and spiritually.

During the celebration of Shavuot the Jewish people were reminded of God’s Law:

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.  (Deut. 8:3-4)

Often Jewish participants would spend all night during Shavuot studying the Torah. They would read significant portions of the Torah aloud.

Pentecost has to do with God’s Law as well. The Prophet Jeremiah wrote of a time that the Law would come in a new way:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.  (Jeremiah 31:33)

This is what happens to us when the Holy Spirit comes upon us as it did on the Day of Pentecost for the early disciples. Jesus said that He came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). It is the action of the Holy Spirit to bring us more into alignment with God’s Law. We cannot keep the Law by our own efforts, but we can yield to the Holy Spirit whom Jesus said would lead us into all truth and make alive His teachings.

Pentecost is not simply a static day of celebration of the historical birth of the Christian Church. Surely it marked the beginning of the Church. As with Shavuot for the Jewish people, Pentecost is a time for us to reflect upon God’s Word, allowing the Spirit to renew our zeal for both the Law and the Gospel.

The Season of Pentecost is the longest season of the liturgical year. The Sundays following Pentecost and extending up to the beginning of the new liturgical year in Advent are filled with readings concerning Christian growth. To live in Christ one must grow in the Faith. Spiritual stagnation could ultimately lead to spiritual death and a forsaking of God’s Holy Law.

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May 12, 2013 · 12:00 am

Seventh Sunday of Easter, Year C

shekinahThe Glory of God

Acts 16:16-34; Psalm 97; Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17:20-26

Jesus prayed that His disciples see His glory:

Jesus prayed for his disciples, and then he said. “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.   (John 17:20-24)

To see the glory of Christ is a great gift, but it is not without conditions. One of the difficulties with the lectionary readings is that, on occasion, the authors seem to pick and chose what to emphasize while apparently skipping over more difficult or controversial issues. Let us examine a more complete reading from the Book of Revelation:

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.   (Revelation 22:12-15)

Disciples must wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb of God. This requirement should never be overlooked. But there is a more subtle requirement that seems to escape some of our churches today. The magic arts are ruled out. Witchcraft is a way of seeking spiritual power or experiences that are outside of the blood. There are leaders in the church today who are practicing witchcraft.

We should not be surprised by this. Witchcraft followed the Apostle Paul:

With Paul and Silas, we came to Philippi in Macedonia, a Roman colony, and, as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.   (Acts 16:16-18)

Witchcraft follows after the Church. Leaders must not allow it in and they must not participate in it themselves. Let us heed the warning of Jesus:

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Behold, I have told you before.   (Matthew 24:24-25)

The glory of God is offered freely to those who believe. Let us not look for shortcuts. We must go to the author and giver of life:

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. (Revelation 22:17)

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