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+ 18. Yr. A epiphany series, "Called to Servanthood" To search for other articles by category. click on one of the following> Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter* Pent. 1-14 * Pent 15-end * Child * Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission
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During this season after Epiphany the lectionary invites us to be in touch with our call to servanthood; to reflect on it and to renew it. Sunday by Sunday we can lift up and open our hearts and wills to a different aspect of this calling, and ask the Spirit to transform us. Most significant to me is the constant focus on justice, and both personal and communal faith, action and 1st Sunday after Epiphany, Baptism of Jesus We are called by the Spirit
Is. 42:1-9 This is my servant, on
whom I put my spirit who will bring forth justice On these Sundays after Epiphany I find myself seeing each Sunday between Epiphany and Lent as furtrher epiphanies, It seems to me that each of these Sundays reveal to us something crucial about Christ whose birth we celebrated at the end of December. These epiphanies also reveal to us important truths about the ministry to which we are called. Theme: As envisioned by Isaiah, the Spirit calls people of every generation into justice- seeking servanthood As we remember the call of Isaiah, Jesus, and other leaders in the faith, let us celebrate our own experiences of God's Spirit moving in us ("my beloved") individually and in community. I challenge each of us to put ourselves in that long line of faithful people whom God has called to play a role in bringing God's shalom to the earth and to all its creatures. As we think of that long line of faithful women and men moving through the story of humankind, picture yourselves in that line. Let me name just a few figures from that line and the role they played. As you listen to this list you might find your own calling in one of these I am about to name. In our biblical tradition this line begins with Noah. With Noah God made an environmental promise never to destroy the Earth (Gen. 9:8-17). Do you feel called to continue what Noah started in caring for all living things? Then, the line continues with Sarah and Abraham and Hagar. With these, God make a religious covenant, promising that there would always be communities of faith (Gen.17;1-22; 21:8-20). How about you? Do you feel called to ensure the continuance of the church? Next, we might recall Miriam and Moses through whom God gave freedom from slavery and a code to live by (Ex. 19:3-6). Maybe you have a particular calling to be in solidarity with those who are in bondage in our world. Then, David the shepherd boy who became king, and Esther the girl who became queen. With David and with Esther God make it clear that political leaders are accountable to God (2 Sam.7-9 and Esther ch. 8). Maybe you have an interest in the reform of politics. Then we recall the great prophets. Through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea and Mica God makes it clear that God expects all nations and peoples to exercise justice and equity in every land (Is.9-10; Jer.65:17f; Hos. 11; Amos 5:14-15; Mica 6:8). Do the prophets speak a word that moves you to action? These are a few of the heroes of the Hebrew Testament. This is the work of God's Holy Spirit moving through the ancient people of God, as She also moves through us When we turn to the Christian Testament we find that God expects all this of us; God expects us to continue the work from Noah to Mica - from the environment to social justice Then God expects of us one more thing. That one more thing is Love and Grace. We are called to go into all the world proclaiming the gospel of Christ; telling and demonstrating everywhere that God is a god of Love and Grace (Mt. 28:19-20). This is a mission to which we all are called - a mission which gathers up all that we called to do and be. All this, we are called to do as as sisters and brothers of Jesus. When we feel that calling we can be sure that it is the Spirit moving in us. That same spirit which came upon Jesus at his baptism is in us also. Praise God for enlivening us with this Spirit. Search: Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter* Pent. 1-14 * Pent 15-end * Child * Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission 2nd after Epiphany - Called to Reconcilliation (Resources page #18) While these notes do not speak directly to the recent horror experienced in Asia, the images of light and reconciliation do powerfully apply to our response to these our neighbour "nations."
Acknowledgement: In preparation I
read Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Yr. A, Abingdon. Psalm 40:1-11 - As a response to Is. 49:1-7, the psalm sees the servant in a troubled state when God's call to servanthood filled this one with a new song and an assurance of God's support and care.
I Corinthians 1:1-9 - This
is the first of three passages from 1st Cor.1 for this season as follows:
I find a current example given by
David Suzuki in his most recent film, "Suzuki Speaks." He
identifies as false wisdom, our modern assumption that we are
separate from creation and our compulsion to see out future in
continual growth and consumption. In contrast, spiritual wisdom
(wherever we find it - Suzuki finds it particularly in aboriginal
teaching) calls us to see ourselves as one creature among many, and
therfore find our hope in care for the Earth and in the
interconnectedness of all life and its elements. John 1:29-42 - It occurs to me that the first 35 verses of John's gospel give us the Johnian view of who Jesus was: the incarnate presence of God the Source of all, whose role in human sacred history is to bear the cost of reconciling humanity to God and to creation and to offer us renewed life through connectedness with the true Spirit. I find echoes of this theme throughout John - for instance in the passion: 18:37; 19:30; 20:22. The lectionary verses for today portray John the Baptist confessing these things, and directing seekers to Jesus. Preaching and discussion resource - On these Sundays after Epiphany I find myself seeing each Sunday between Epiphany and Lent as furtrher epiphanies, It seems to me that each of these Sundays reveal to us something crucial about Christ whose birth we celebrated at the end of December. These epiphanies also reveal to us important truths about the ministry to which we are called. The readings for today remind me that we are called to have three essential roles in our life together as Christians. First, we are asked to accept that God has called us. Along with Isaiah, St. Paul, John the Baptist, we are to accept that God has chosen us (read again the verses that say this). Like them, God has chosen us to be and to do something special among humankind. There is an interesting question about Jesus in this notion of being called. The question is: was Jesus, like others, chosen by God, or does Jesus embody the One who chooses us. Some would say that Jesus too was chosen; as a human person he did not know his role until he was called - when the Spirit came upon him like a dove, and drove him into the desert for forty days of wrestling with Satan. Others would argue, no Jesus was not chosen - he was and is the one who chooses us. Maybe both are true. Now, back to our calling; I think that the very fact that you are here this morning says that you have accepted that call from God in Jesus name. That is the first insight I get from these readings. Secondly and thirdly, this calling lays upon us two specific tasks. The first task we are called to is that of reconciliation. The second is tp be bearers of the Spirit. These two roles, econciliation and bearing the Spirit, embody the ministry of Isaiah, John the Baptist, and St. Paul. They come to us also through Jesus whose whole life and even his dath was devoted to reconcilliation, and bearing the Spirit. As I say this I am aware that this calling to be reconcilers and bearers of the Spirit may sound quite abstract. It may not sound like something we can get our teeth into. However, there was a saint who understood these roles very clearly, and expressed them in a way that makes them very concrete. I refer us to Francis of Assisi, and in particular his prayer, "Make me a channel of your peace." This prayer has been set to music and is in many collections of hymns (Voices United 684. United Church Publishing House). Let us sing it together and then look at what it says about these two ministries of reconciliation and spirit-bearing to which I believe we have been called. It can speak to in an especially strong and clear way in light of the recent tsanomi which swept accross the Bay of Begal. R.1 Make me a channel of your peace:
V. 1. Where there is hated, let me bring love,
R.2
O Spirit grant that I may never seek so much
R 1
V.2. Where there's despair in life, let me
bring hope,
R2
V. 3. It is pardoning that we are pardoned,
Now, let us look at this prayer to see how it
expresses an accptance of God's call to a ministry of reconciliation
and bearing the Spirit. When I do this, I assume that when St.Franci
uses the term, Peace, he intends what is meant by the Hebrew term ,
Shalom. I remember that Shalom is much more than cessation of war.
Shalom is a state of human reconcilliation grounded in Spirt-
inspired respect for life, much like that which is called for in the
United Nations Universal Charter of Human Rights, and beyond that to
include respect for the Earth. Then, when you have done that, I leave it to you to identify practical and specific ways, using St. Francis prayer as a guide, you can demonstrate yourself to be a person called by God to be a reconciled and reconciling spirit-filled person in the world. Search Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter* Pent. 1-14 * Pent 15-end * Child * Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission
In the Picture
Acknowledgement: In preparation I
read Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Yr. A, Abingdon. Isaiah 9:1-4 (New English Bible) The light comes with God's victory over the power which has oppressed the people. Military images are used much as such analogies are used in the hymn, "Onward Christian Soldiers." Psalm 27:1-9 A faithful person and community experiences many adversaries in the world, but finds encouragement and renewed hope in the strong presence of God which God gives through worship within the Temple. 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Already at this early date in the life of the emerging church Paul is able to invoke a shared christological doctrine and a common christological ritual in calling for an end to divisiveness: Christ crucified, and Baptism in Christ's name. Matthew 4:12-23 Matthew sees Jesus setting up the headquarters for the proclamation of the Reign of God at Capernaum in Galilee. In its history Galilee had known God's power in liberation from Midian (Is. 9: 4). In Jesus' day, Galilee was under the rule of Herod who arrested and executed John the Baptist. Jesus' first act as Galilean champion of the Reign of God is to recruit fishers, not soldiers. Matthew will show Jesus going out from Capernaum to proclaim and enact the Reign of God (Mt. 5:1-7:29; 9:1-9; 20: 25-28). In doing so, Jesus challenges the people and powers (12:38-45; 21:1-17) where they have become infiltrated by Satan (12:22-20; 16:23); Also, Jesus makes alliance with any who put their trust in God (8:5f; 9:18f; 15:22f.); Thirdly, Matthew shows Jesus and those he recruits doing the tough work of inviting God's people to renounce their present allegiance and shift their loyalty to the Reign of God (ch.10; 18:1-5; 19:13-15). Finally, as I read it, Matthew portrays the opposition , including the Cross, as a response to Jesus' ministry, not as a pre-ordained inevitability (ch 12; 16:21;17:11; 20:17). Preaching an discussion notes: In the Epiphany Picture This was may first Christmas in Alberta. It seemed like a hectic time in the Edmonton Malls. The television advertising seemed to have a theme: buy a gift that will show how wonderful you are. Remember that television ad which show a couple of parents seeking for that gift that will lead their adolescent child to exclaim: Mom and Dad how did you know!? It seemed that the worst thing that could happen would be to give a present that was blah. One of the gifts I like to receive is a picture. Like many grandparents and great grandparents I am thrilled to get pictures of my family. I also like to give pictures. This past Christmas I gave my step grandchildren two albums of things Jean and I did with them at our house in 2007. As I said in the childen's special time, one reason I like these pictures is that I find the sacred in these pictures. This leads me to see that God communicates with us through pictures. Much of the Bible is a series of stories. For instance, when we open Gods gift of the Christ we find it to be a series of pictures - We have just come through a time os many sacred pictures: Mary visited by and Angel, askin her to be the mother of Christ; the Manger Scene of the birth, with more angels, and shepherds. In this season of Epiphany we have more sacred pictures: Jesus baptism, Jesus choosing disciples, and Jesus on the first day of his minstry. In the children's time I spoke of seeing the sacred on our family pictures. Now I want to turn this around and invite us to see ourselves in God's pictures. I invite you to put youself in the picture of Jesus baprism - can you put yourself there beside Jesus, being baptised with Jesus? The first Sunday after epiphany focused on Jesus' baptism. Matthew tells us that as Jesus rose from the waters of baptism he heard God call him "My beloved Child." Can you put yourself in this picture? Like Jesus, we too have been baptised to live as the beloved daughtrs and sons of the Creator. We too are God's beloved child! What a wonderful gift! The readings for the today and last Sunday give us pictures of Jesus calling disciples. Lets put ourselves in these pictures. God has come to us and has chosen us too. We talk about joining the church as if we chose to be on God's team, while the truth is that God has chosen us. God has crossed over whatever gap there might have been between ourselves and God, and has tapped us o the shoulder and whispers in our ear, "I choose you." Our part in this is to say, "I accept your choice of me, O God!" See John 1:35-42; Matthew 4:18-2. As I say this, I am aware that Mathew pictures only the call of male disciples,but Luke and John remind thatus there were women disciples who traveled with Jesus too: (Luke 8:1-3) Luke names four women, Mary of Magdelen; Joanna and Susanna. and writes there were many more. We would also count Mary and Martha as stay at home disciples. So, if we can picture Jesus going out from Capernum to begin his minsitry, we might picture ourselves going out with him whatever our gender. When I picture Jesus calling disciples (Peter and Mary Magdelene) I am reminded that, like them, we too are called to be companions of Jesus.And, like Jesus, we are called to be active in the world, attending to its hurts and joining with all people in their hope and desire for the good life which the Creator intends for us all. So, now, I would not so much picture us with Jesus, but rather pictures of Jesus with us. Can you imagine Jesus going with you yesterday and tomorrow? I am sure this is not a new idea for you. Most of us in this room have had Jesus as our companion for many years. So, lets imagine some pictures of us and Jesus with us. I showed the children a few pictures from my life and spoke of God being with me. I could have shown lots more pictures of the many experiences of my more than 70 years. I imagine Christ walking with me in all of them. - Christ with us at home; acting in ways that show love and respect. Now, I don't want to be too gushy about family life, becauue I know from experience that our homes can be pictures of great pain and bruised relatiionship. I have been through divorce. My ex wife Shirley and I have decided to be friends and sit at table together with our adult children. I know this is not possible for every divorced couple. But whever our expereince of family Christ wants to be in the picture. Christ does not leave us because we have troubles. - World Neighbours via Mission & Service Fund - Finally, we can picture Christ with us in our role as citizens of Canada and the world. Christ is in the picture of us acting as citizens of this planet. This is far from being strictly a church matter. Friday's paper tells us that most Albertans want the environment to be cared for. I picture Christ in that picture too. Lloyde Axeworthy our Canadian former Minister of foriegn affairs (and also a United Church member) has written a book about a concept known as the "responsibility to protect." This is the notion that every government has the obligation to protect its citizens from harm. No government has a right to harm its citizens. This idea is defines sovereignty as "the responsibility to protect" the life and security of all citizens. Another Canadian, Louise Arbour, served in the International court to try cases of genocide. Two years ago, the United Nations adopted what is known as Millenium Goals - these goasl are to ensure an end to poverty: that all families have work, food and a home and that children have access to a school, For myself as a Christian Christ is in this picture. It is a bringing into being the hope which has been planted in our hearts and wills by Jesus and the prophets of all ages.This third Sunday after Epiphany reminds me that we are called by Christ to citizenship in the Realm of God. For me this does not mean imposing our religion on people. It does mean imposing responsibility to protect and care onto the governments of every nation. Praise God. Did it lead us to exclaim: How did you know!? What a wonderful God you are!? So, let us put ourselves in the Gospel pictures of Christ, and let us have Christ with us in the pictures of our lives. * See the Spring 2003 issue of Plougshares Moniter. www.ploughshares.ca
Search Bible *Advt.-Xmas- Ep. * Lent -Easter* Pent. 1-14 * Pent 15-end * Child * Story * Liturgy * Social * Pastor * Mission 3rd after Epiphany Called to be Servants of the Reign of God Acknowledgement: In preparation I read Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Yr. A, Abingdon. Isaiah 9:1-4 (New English Bible) The light comes with God's victory over the power which has oppressed the people. Military images are used much as such analogies are used in the hymn, "Onward Christian Soldiers." Psalm 27:1-9 A faithful person and community experiences many adversaries in the world, but finds encouragement and renewed hope in the strong presence of God which God gives through worship within the Temple. 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Already at this early date in the life of the emerging church Paul is able to invoke a shared christological doctrine and a common christological ritual in calling for an end to divisiveness: Christ crucified, and Baptism in Christ's name. Matthew 4:12-23 Matthew sees Jesus setting up the headquarters for the proclamation of the Reign of God at Capernaum in Galilee. In its history Galilee had known God's power in liberation from Midian (Is. 9: 4). In Jesus' day, Galilee was under the rule of Herod who arrested and executed John the Baptist. Jesus' first act as Galilean champion of the Reign of God is to recruit fishers, not soldiers. Matthew will show Jesus going out from Capernaum to proclaim and enact the Reign of God (Mt. 5:1-7:29; 9:1-920: 25-28). In doing so, Jesus challenges the people and powers (12:38-45; 21:1-17) where they have become infiltrated by Satan (12:22-20; 16:23); Also, Jesus makes alliance with any who put their trust in God (8:5f; 9:18f; 15:22f.); Thirdly, Matthew shows Jesus and those he recruits doing the tough work of inviting God's people to renounce their present allegiance and shift their loyalty to the Reign of God (ch.10; 18:1-5; 19:13-15). Finally, as I read it, Matthew portrays the opposition , including the Cross, as a response to Jesus' ministry, not as a pre-ordained inevitability (ch 12; 16:21;17:11; 20:17). Preaching and discussion notes: On these Sundays after Epiphany I find myself seeing each Sunday between Epiphany and Lent as further epiphanies. It seems to me that each of these Sundays reveal two things: first they reveal something crucial about this Christ whose birth we celebrated at the end of December. Secondly, these Sundays also reveal to us important truths about the ministry to which we are called. The readings for these Sundays remind me that we called to be companions of Jesus. Like Jesus, we are called to be active in the world, attending to its hurts and joining with all people in their hope and desire for the good life which the Creator intends for us all. I am more and more convinced that the gospel we bring in Christ's name under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is much more than perpetuating our religion. The first Sunday after epiphany focuses on Jesus' baptism. Matthew tells us that as Jesus rose from the waters of baptism he heard God call him "My beloved Child." This reminds me that, like Jesus, we too have been called to live as the beloved sons and daughters of the Creator. On the first Sunday after Epiphany we were reminded that we are God's beloved. We are invited to believe this Good News. This is good news which empowers and inspires good action. The reading for the second Sunday after epiphany reminds me that the first step in our ministry is to accept God's call; to embrace profoundly the proposition that God has come to us and has chosen us. We talk about joining the church as if we chose to be on God's team, while the truth is that God has chosen us. God has crossed over whatever gap there might have been between ourselves and God, and has tapped us o the shoulder and whispers in our ear, "I choose you." Our part in this is to say, "I accept your choice of me, O God!" This crossing the gap between us and God is called, "reconciliation." It is said that God was in Christ reconciling us to God's own self. So, to be called by God is to reconciled to God. Now let me share with you what I find in the readings for today, the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany. In the readings for today I hear that God choice of us has political and social implications. It means that for me, I am a citizen of Canada, but I also carry another passport which reads: Realm of God. We are to live as citizens of the Realm of God. I say this has political and social implications because we are being asked to insist that our government's policies express love for neighbour. We are to be among those citizens who insist that government policies are fair and just to every member of society. This is far from being strictly a church matter. In fact, this is a revolutionary concept that is being debated around the world right now. In the councils of the world's nation's leaders are wrestling with the notion that every government has the obligation to protect its citizens from harm. No government has a right to harm its citizens. This idea is defines sovereignty as "the responsibility to protect" the life an security of all citizens." Up to now, the way governments treat their citizens has been considered strictly an internal matter. Governments could treat their citizens, particular minorities, as they wished. We have many examples of this. A few come to mind: In Canada and the USA laws of the land kept Blacks in slavery. In the 70s Argentina and Chile, agents of these governments legally tortured and disappeared any who did not support the government. In the 90s we saw genocide practised in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and in Sudan in this century. Palestinians have been in refugee camps within their own land since 1948. But now, the world is beginning to say, we won't stand for this any more; governments have the responsibility to provide a safe environment for all people within their borders. This rethinking the role of rulers has its modern beginnings at the end of World War 2. Nazi Germany's abuse of its Jewish and Gay citizens led the world to declare genocide to be unlawful. In 1948 the world agreed to an "International convention against genocide." As we have seen this did not stop genocide. However, the world is getting read to take a further step. The world is saying that sovereign governments have a responsibility to protect all its people. Not only that, but nations who do not protect the people within its border, will be brought to a world court, or even to the courts of their own country as is happening with Pinoche of Chile. Of course the new way will apply beyond genocide. Nations will be acountable for the rights they provide for their people according to the United Nations Internation convention on Human Rights. These rights will not be optional. I see this as the natural outcome of the the Hebrew injunction to love God and to love neighbour. I believe that this is one of the outcomes of generations of years of work by many justice -seeking people - including many churches. I see this as a manifestation of the Realm of God. The nations of the world are saying that the people of a nation are being set free to declare that their loyalty is not primarily to a national flag, but to the welfare of all people under all flags. Canadian General Romeo Delere, who witnessed the horror of Rwanda, and the world's refusal to protect. descended into the darkness of depression and became suicidal, wanting to depart this murderous uncaring world. Then decided to stay with this world, and become a spokesperson for humanity. Recently (Jan 16/04), on CBC's program One on One with Peter Mansfield he declared that he decided, in spite of seeing a similar situation of killing and rape in Sudan, to stay with this world because he has come to a living hope that within 200 years, we will stop murdering one another. He basis this hope in the pressure the people of the world are putting on world leaders to make human rights the basis of all governance. For myself as a Christian this is being loyal to the Realm of God. It is a bringing into being the hope which has been planted in our hearts and wills by Jesus and the prophets of all ages. This fourth Sunday after Epiphany reminds us that our calling has political and social implications. We are called to citizenship in the Realm of God. This does not mean imposing our religion on people. It does mean imposing responsibility to protect and care onto the governments of every nation. Praise God. * See the Spring 2003 issue of Plougshares Moniter. www.ploughshares.ca
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