21 Feb - Tempted to Fear

Romans 10:8b-13, Luke 4:1-13

At Vestry Bible Study this week, one of the vestry people said that this passage, for them, really pulls out the human side of Jesus. I totally agree!

So there’s Jesus, newly filled with the Holy Spirit after being baptized, and he goes out into the wilderness for forty days to be tempted. And after forty days of fasting – no food, it said – the devil comes to him and says: “Why not make yourself some bread?” But Jesus says: “it is written: we don’t live by bread alone.” All the temptations touched some core human fear and in this case the fear is not having enough, not being able to sustain. And Jesus, when he replies “we don’t live by bread alone” is saying that we need more than just food to sustain us. We need God. We need the Holy Scripture.

Then the second temptation – the devil shows all the kingdoms of the world and says to Jesus: “I will give you authority over all of this, if you will just worship me.” This touches on our fear of being inconsequential, powerless. But Jesus says: “nope. We’re only supposed to serve God – God only” because if he were to give in, he wouldn’t really be in control. It’s an illusion. The devil would be in control.

And the third temptation – he takes Jesus up to the pinnacle of the temple, the highest point in Jerusalem and says: “Jump!” Because after all, “isn’t it written,” the devil says, “God will send his angels and servants and make sure your foot doesn’t hit the ground.” This, pretty obviously, touches on our fear of death and fear and doubt that God doesn’t exist. And Jesus says: “Don’t put God to the test.”

Temptation is all around us.

What is God asking us and teaching us in this? To discern. Jesus, in each case, addresses a human fear by quoting Scripture, assuring us that God is there and saying, “read the fine print”. How many people or stories have we heard about getting duped out of their life savings in a pyramid scheme or some other con, all because they’re worried about something; they’re fearful that they’re not going to have enough. So – to discern. If you get the feeling that it might be too good to be true, it’s probably too good to be true. Read the fine print. Ask yourself, where’s God in this? What am I being fearful about? So whether it’s fear of not being able to sustain, fear of feeling inconsequential, fear of death, fear and doubt, we have a God who fills us with the Holy Spirit at our baptism, just like Jesus; who forgives us when we fall down and who hopes that we will turn to him because, just as the devil moved away from Jesus for a more opportune time, the devil moves away from us for a more opportune time.

Peace,

Deacon Sue

14 Feb - Dazzling With Spirit

2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2, Luke 9:28-36, (37-43)

On the last Sunday of the Epiphany season, we have the story of Jesus’ transfiguration. Jesus has gone up on a mountain with a few of his disciples. While there, his appearance suddenly changes. His faces changes and his clothes become dazzling white. For us, living in the 21st century, these are not what we might think of as extraordinary images. We have seen all kinds of special effects in movies and television—the more spectacular, the better. A shining face and dazzling clothes? That is pretty ho-hum stuff for us. What happens if we shift from our position as modern-day onlookers and enter into the story? Put ourselves in the place of the disciples—in their time, in their setting. Jesus, a leader and teacher whom they know well, has changed in some dramatic way.. The writer of this account describes the change in terms of physical appearance: changed face and dazzling clothes. The response to this? Jesus’ followers are stunned. What is familiar has disappeared. They are plunged into uncertainty. They have to stretch their minds and their hearts to take in this new experience.

The transfiguration is a sudden, dramatic event, but it is part of the on-going story of Jesus’ ministry. The story of Jesus and his disciples. Time and again, we hear how Jesus stretches their understanding, leads them to new places. The story of those early followers is one of constantly being stretched. Embracing Jesus’ vision of a better, different world. Moving into the unknown. We have much in common with those early disciples. Like them, we listen to the teachings of Jesus and his challenges, his commands. Calls to move to new places of understanding. To respond to needs in the world. To reach out in acts of love and compassion farther than ever before. We know the story of those early followers of Jesus. They listened. They responded. They made a difference. It is up to us to carry on that story.

Peace,

Deacon Sue

10 Feb - Fish With Faith

1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Luke 5:1-11

In today's Gospel, Jesus said to his disciples "You will be catching people."

If we claim to be Jesus disciples today, what can this promise mean for us? It will mean different things for each of us. It will mean risking more, being not quite so comfortable in our pews, holding back less, investing more of ourselves in living.

I hope it will mean our being less of the "establishment church," and more of being like the people that pressed after Jesus, seeking his teaching - people who look for, and see, the holy in living.

Surely it means for all of us, that we find some way of sharing with others - that our faith in Jesus Christ is an important factor in our lives. After all, if you or I discovered something of tremendous help to us, wouldn't we share it with people that we care for?!

Maybe this day, what we need most to pray for, as the people of God, is a return to being like the people who pressed after Jesus - "in-between people" if you will - people who dwell neither completely inside nor outside the structures in our society, but once again to live primarily, in the freedom of God's Spirit. Amen.

Peace,

Fr. Bob +

1 Feb - Unconditional

1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Mark 1:21-28

Many of us have heard the 1 Corinthians chapter 13 lesson read at a wedding or a funeral. I would propose, though, that we shouldn’t have because it’s not a lesson written for individuals and the love is not romantic love. As with any time one takes a passage of scripture out of context to create its own meaning, we miss the point of the overall big picture.

Last week we heard chapter 12, where Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the gifts of the Spirit and he was aware that the Corinthians were using these gifts of the Spirit as a form of competition. So, chapter 13 is a continuation of that conversation where Paul is chiding them. Love is not an emotion, as he writes of it; it is a state of being and an action.

For Paul, love is the center of all things. Through the spiritual gifts and our actions we stay connected and in relationship with God. Now you might notice that the word “God” is not in this passage at all.. However, God is throughout this passage. Two sentences that are most commonly quoted: “Love is patient. Love is kind”; those words are how Paul describes God in his letter to Romans in chapter 2: patience and kindness.

Then there’s verse 13: “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” Well, what does that mean? William Barclay writes: “Faith without love is cold; hope without love is grim. Love is the fire which kindles faith and it is the light which turns hope into certainty.” The heart of our Christian faith is these three things. Paul is asking us, and the Corinthians, to strive to be Christ-like, to express love in a state of being and in our actions; actions such as simple things like taking out the trash, doing the dishes, not screaming and yelling and making obscene gestures to the person who cuts you off in traffic. Will we fail? You bet! I do. However, what are we called to do?

And I propose that Paul says it best in the first sentence of chapter 14: “Pursue love.”

Peace,

The Rev. M.E. Eccles, LPC