I Need Control (Luke 8:26-39)

Church of the Nativity Episcopal Church

6/23/13

Luke 8:26-39

“I Need Control”

Not too long ago, a well-known Methodist bishop, Will Willimon, told a story to a group of pastors about an elderly lady he once visited in the hospital.  This woman had just been given some horrible news—she would no longer be able to use her legs.  Like a good minister he came to be present with her—he came to listen, he came to console.  After about 45 minutes, his not-so-subtle body language hinted at the fact that it was time for him to go.

       "Well, aren’t you going to pray for me?” she asked.

“Oh, sure,” he said.  “But you haven’t mentioned anything that you’d have me pray for.”

At this she looked at him funny.  “Pray that I’m able to walk again, of course.”

“Oh, okay,” he said, half-heartedly.

So the bishop said that he prayed the weakest prayer he’d ever prayed.  Something like, “Lord, Sally would really like to be healed.  Please give her patience with her new set of circumstances.  And, if it be your will, please heal her. Amen.”

When he opened his eyes he noticed that Sally was trying to get out of her bed.

“Sally, what are you doing?” He asked.  “You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“I’m healed! I’m healed!” she yelled excitedly.  She then proceeded to hop out of bed, run out of the room, and shout for joy along the halls of the hospital.

Bishop Willimon told the group of pastors that in that moment he sneaked out of the hospital to hide in his vehicle.

In the safety of his own car he looked up and said, “Lord, don’t ever do anything like that again.”

The bishop had witnessed a miracle and it terrified him.  So what did he do?  He ran.

Still This Troubled Heart (Galatians 1:1-11)

St. Thomas Episcopal Church

6/2/13

Galatians 1:1-11 (I used the NRSV and J. Louis Martyn's excellent translation)

"Still This Troubled Heart"

When I was in college I was worried about my salvation.  I was worried about whether or not I’d go to heaven.  I was no axe-murderer—like the guys you see on the 10 o’clock news—but, at the same time, I was no activist, no monk, no “saint.”  So I took a few religion classes to find out more.  I took these classes hoping I’d find answers.  So I read and I read and I read. 

 “God will not deny grace to anyone who does what lies within them.”  I distinctively remember reading these words by the late medieval theologian Gabriel Biel.  I read further: as long you “did your best”—rejecting evil and trying to do good—you would be saved.  These words, originally meant to be assuring, proved to be anything but that.  In fact, they had the opposite effect on me.  As I noted earlier, I wasn’t a bad guy—at least, I didn’t think I was—but I had no way of knowing if I had done enough.  I had no way of knowing if I had done what “lies within me.”  In my quest for assurance I was left with doubt.  I was left with fear. 

But this all changed when I encountered the good news of the gospel.  And I am excited that for my first sermon here at St. Thomas I get to talk about the balm that quieted my troubled heart.  I get to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  What one theologian refers to as the one-way love of God for suffering sinners like you and me.[1]  What the New Testament scholar F.F. Bruce summarized using these words, “Christ died [not for the healthy but] for the ungodly.”

"The Sinners Heard Him Gladly" Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Trinity Cathedral

3/10/13

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

“The Sinners Heard Him Gladly”

On this fourth Sunday in Lent we take a look at the well-known parable of the prodigal son, which is probably better referred to as the parable of the two sons. 

The lesson begins by showing us who this parable is directed towards.  The text says that the tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus.  The Pharisees and scribes see this and complain about Jesus.  How could a true righteous and holy man welcome and eat with sinners?  In those days to eat with someone was a sign of acceptance, something the Pharisees would never do with prostitutes and tax collectors, murderers and thieves. 

So we have two groups at hand for Jesus’ parable—the sinners and the “righteous.”

With both groups gathered, Jesus tells the parable of the two sons.

He starts with the younger, more well-known son.  From the start the son says to the Father, “Give me the share of the property that will belong to me.”  Now this may not sound like a deeply irreverent and disrespectful request to us, but in the ancient world asking for your inheritance before your father died was anathema.  It was tantamount to wishing your father dead.  This request would have been scandalous to Jesus’ listeners.  The younger son was essentially saying, “Father I want your things, I don’t want you” (Tim Keller “Gospel in Life”).

Now the listeners, both sinners and Pharisees would probably have expected the Father to discipline the son severely, if not disown him.  But this does not happen.  So it came as a surprise, in Jesus’ parable, when the Father not only doesn't discipline the son, but he grants him his request.

A Nod to "And God Spoke to Abraham"

To avoid prepping for the General Ordination Exams (that I take in two days!), I've been commenting on various year-end lists. On one "Top Theology Books of 2012" (I have other hobbies, I swear!), I suggested that the author check out Fleming Rutledge's collection of Old Testament sermons--"And God Spoke to Abraham." It's brilliant, accessible and existentially satisfying, while being faithful to the biblical texts. When I simply can't bring myself to pick up the Word, or find my own ears and eyes completely deaf and blind (numb) to him/it, her clear yet round-about proclamation always seems to penetrate my obliviousness, unclogging my ears, unscaling my eyes. Rutledge's corpus has served as a daily devotional for most of this year.

Rutledge's blog: http://www.generousorthodoxy.org/

*Rutledge lists Gerhard von Rad and Brevard Childs, Ellen Davis and Patrick Miller as major influences.

Faith and Prayer (James 5:13-20)

Heinz Chapel

9.30.12

James 5:13-20

“Faith and Prayer”

“Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

“Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to
hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire
or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy,
forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid,
and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy
to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus
Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

I don’t pray enough.  I’ll admit it.  Passages like the one we read from the Epistle to James make me realize this all the more.  As I was preparing for the sermon this week, I began to wonder if I even believe in the power of prayer.  I began to wonder if the reason why I don’t make prayer a priority in my life is because I’m scared of being disappointed.  Afraid of getting my hopes up, only to have them dashed.

Samaritans, Prophets, Fire From Heaven (II Kings 1:2-17 and Luke 9:51-56)

Heinz Chapel

9.12.12

II Kings 1:2-17 and Luke 9:51-56

“Samaritans, Prophets, Fire From Heaven”

"Be Ye Perfect..." Matthew 5-7

Trinity Church, (Beaver, PA)

2/15/11

Matthew 5-7

"Be Ye Perfect (or Complete, or Mature)..."

Every December 24^th my family—on my mother’s side—comes together to celebrate the holidays.  Only we don’t actually celebrate Christmas.  Instead, being good Reformed/agnostic Jews, we celebrate each other’s company and catch up on happenings of the past year.  We eat potato latkes, listen to Hanukkah songs, and say “uh vey” quite a bit.  I always look forward to Christmas Eve, for it never fails to be my favorite day of the year.      

With that said, my family is a loud and opinionated bunch—and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  They’ve got their opinions on sports, celebrities, and fashion, but they save their most passionate speech for issues of politics.  You see I’m from New Jersey, and in Jersey most people are pretty liberal.  Being fairly politically apathetic myself, I enjoy hearing my family rant about health care, the war, and especially Sarah Palin because—quite frankly—it’s entertaining.

My family is concerned about great things.  They hope to see the poor no longer go hungry, they hope to see peace reign supreme, and they hope to see bipartisan polarization extinguished.  And while all these are good things, something always bothered me about the way we talked about these things.  And I couldn’t put my finger on what it was until I read a book by the Catholic novelist Walker Percy called The Moviegoer.