Trinity Blog

Sixteen Already?

Scripture

Luke 1: 57-66
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. 60 But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” 61 They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” 62 Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63 He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.

Devotion
There is no possible way that I am a father of a sixteen-year-old.  These are the thoughts and feelings rummaging around in my head as I write this blog.  Today is my son’s sixteenth birthday.  Sixteen years, where did that come from?  Where did they go?  Last time I looked we were teaching him how to walk and write letters, now I must teach him to drive, I do not think so.  I sit here in disbelief, that the reality staring at me in the face is that I am a middle-aged father of a coming-of-age young man.  My jaw is now firmly on the floor in incredulity and denial.  Disbelief.

So too was Zechariah in disbelief.  His problem was not that he has an almost adult child, his problem was that he had no children and he and his wife Elizabeth were beyond the childbearing age.  So, when the angel Gabriel tells him he is going to have a Son who will return the people to God and prepare the way for God’s Messiah, Zechariah cannot and will not believe it.  His response is not one of acceptance that God can create as God’s good pleasure and will choose, his response is one of astonishment that certainly two old people cannot make a baby.  Unlike Mary who will graciously accept the Word of God, Zechariah mentally rejects that same Word of God as something completely impossible and untrue.  Where did this come from?  How could that happen?  I do not think so.  Disbelief.

We all have a little Zechariah, or perhaps a lot, inside of us.  We hear the Word of God and instead of accepting it like Mary, we reject it like Zechariah.  There is no way that God could make me into a saint.  There is no way that God could forgive me.  There is no way that I could learn a new way of life.  There is no way that I am a sinner.  There is no way that the Word became flesh in Jesus of Nazareth.  There is no way that that Jesus rose again from the dead.  There is no way that….  We are after all living in the world of the scientific method, where miracles are excluded due their unprovability, where reason reigns as Lord over creation, where mathematics, physics and history have theorems and laws that must be respected and believed in more so than the power and good pleasure of the Word of God to re-create and to rule.  Disbelief like Zechariah instead of faith like Mary.

However, the Word of God is more than capable not only of enabling Elizabeth and Mary to conceive but also of enabling of Zechariah and us of believing.  For Zechariah, the method of teaching him the power and good pleasure of the Word of God is the curse of being unable to speak.  Until the day of the baby’s circumcision, Zechariah cannot speak.  Until the day, that Zechariah acknowledges the Word of God spoken to him, that Elizabeth will conceive a son, and that Son has s Godly destiny prepared by God and for God.  Until Zechariah believes and accepts the Word of God by naming the baby “Yohanan”, which means “God has shown favor” in Hebrew, Zechariah cannot speak.  His muteness is teaching him that God can do anything God chooses to do.  The important lesson is that the God through God’s Word can and does teach and transform Zechariah into a believer.  At the end he gets it, by believing in God like Mary believes in God, and he not only talks again, but gives God words of praise instead of denial. Faith.

Can the Word of God not do the same for us?  Do we not have the same lesson to learn?  Will God not also succeed?  The answer is always yes.  We might be like Zechariah, but the Word of God can and does change us from disbelieving “Zechariah’s” into believing “Mary’s.”  The tool of that creating and transforming Word of God, is the testimony about the miracles of God, the written and spoken Word of God.  We read of miracles of speaking people becoming mute and speaking again, all at the Word’s behest and will.  We read of miracles about barren women, conceiving, carrying, birthing, nursing, and circumcising Sons of Destiny, all at the Word’s behest and will.  We read of miracles about the crucifixion and resurrection of that same Word of God made flesh, all at the behest and will of the same Word.  And the only possible result is the transformation of us from disbelief into saving and justifying faith: all because the Word wants to and can!

As we begin this Christmas Season Proper, perhaps we need to be reminded of the miraculous nature of God’s saving work, both in John and in Jesus.  But more than being reminded of the nature of Christmas miracles, we need to be reminded of the purpose of such things: to bring doubters and disbelievers into the sphere of the faithful elect.  The purpose of the miracles of Christmas is to change us from the skeptic into the disciple.  The Word of God did it in and to Zechariah, may the Word become flesh in Jesus Christ, do it in and to us.  This is a time of Christmas miracles, may the miracles of John and Jesus, lead to the miracle of faith in you and in me!  Amen. 

Prayer

Dear God of Grace and God of Glory, we praise you for the gift of miracles this Christmas Season.  Use the miraculous to create in us not only a sense of awe and respect for your creative power but use them to create in us the same acceptance and belief that Zechariah and Elizabeth and Joseph and Mary had by being miraculous parents of the Sons of Destiny.  By the power of your Word become flesh, help our flesh to believe and accept your will for our lives.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen. 

Baking the Pie

Mark 1: 1-8

1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
      See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
            who will prepare your way;
      3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
  ‘         ‘prepare the way of the Lord,
            make his paths straight,’”

4 John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. 8 I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Devotion
I like to bake.  Whether the result is a pie or cookies, I enjoy the entire process of baking.  But any good baker, which I do not consider myself to be, will tell you that before you begin baking, you must first prepare things.  You must first find a recipe, then you must purchase or root through your pantry to find the flour and sugar, then you must determine if you have the right equipment, a mixer, the right pan, and utensils.  Only then after the ingredients are present, the mixer has the beaters in, the oven is pre-heated, then you can crack the eggs, scoop the flour, and soften the butter.  To be a good baker is to be good in the preparations.

Just as it is with baking needing preparations, so too is it with the coming of Christ.  Before the coming of Christ, preparations need to be made.  In the Gospel of Mark, the book begins with a beginning, and we are told that the Gospel is going to be about the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  This is the pie that is going to be created, but it is not a delicious pumpkin pie, the work that is begun is God’s work of salvation in his only beloved Son, Jesus Christ.  But like a pie, preparations need to be made, before the work proper can begin.  In this case, that work is not the purchasing of ingredients or the warming of the oven, but the preparations made by John the Baptist.

Mark uses the prophet Isaiah to characterize the work of the Baptist in preparation: See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John’s work of preparation is about speaking a message.  The preparer is a messenger with a message to be messaged in the wilderness.  The road of the Lord is be straight because the Lord is coming.  In a sense, John’s message is to begin some “roadwork.”  The crooked roads are to be graded straight.  The hilly roads are to be paved flat, the potholes to be filled in.  So, God will have an easy path to get to his people.  The people were to make God’s road or “way” easy, so God had no obstacles in reaching and arriving at his destination, the people.

We can imagine the people putting up orange barrels, firing up the bulldozer to grade the rough places smooth and a backhoe to fill in the holes, and even the paver putting down miles of blacktop followed by the roller to smooth things out.  But the roadwork John calls the people to do is not a literal road, but a metaphorical one.  The pathway is not a spatial path, but a spiritual path.  The path is not from Babylon to Canaan, the path is from Heaven to the human heart.  The distance to be covered is not a location to another location, but a spiritual distance to be covered from a heart far away from God to a heart filled by God.  That is the road the people were to pave, to make the journey easy for God to come back to his people, to come closer to the human heart.

Perhaps, this explains why John transforms the preparing the way of the Lord to a repentance towards the forgiveness of sins.  The exile was not a literal distance from God to people, but a spiritual distance from people towards God.  People leave God, exiling themselves from God’s presence and lordship.  To symbolize the returning of God to the people, John reminds the people, that to confirm the returning of God, the people need to return to God.  The hill that needs to be brought low is human rebellion.  The hole that needs filled in is idolatry.  The curve that needs straightened is self-determination.  The slavery that needs abolished is of our own creation, a slavery to sin and death by our own daily choosing.  God will come and God will come to save, but our hearts need to be ready for such a gracious deliverance. 

As we make our final preparations for this Christmas season and for a new year, we also need to remember that in addition to getting more chocolate for that fudge, or another tube of wrapping paper, or mailing another card, we also need to do some preparations in our hearts to get them ready for Christ.  The road into our hearts needs some paving work: a little less guilt a little more forgiveness, a little less resistance, a little more acknowledgment, a little less self-concern a little more generosity, a little less despair a little more hope, a little less hate a little more love.  But perhaps the greatest roadwork that needs to be done, is our seasonal need to turn away from the world and ourselves and to repent or return to God.  To cease running away and closing ourselves off from God and to run towards and open ourselves to the coming one, Jesus Christ our Lord.  We all have some preparations to make for the coming of Christ we need more faith, more hope, and more love.  My friends, let the way to our hearts be made straight for the coming of the Son of God, to whom be the glory and praises of his people unto the ages of ages, Amen!

Prayer
O God of Grace and Glory, we thank you for the coming presence of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  In this time of anticipation and waiting for his arrival, help us to prepare ourselves for his coming.  Empty us of what is displeasing to you, change us to become more and more into your children, fill us with every good and perfect gift as we prepare ourselves for you.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen. 

The House on the Hill

Isaiah 2:2-4

2 In days to come
            the mountain of the Lord’s house
  shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
            and shall be raised above the hills;
  all the nations shall stream to it.
3      Many peoples shall come and say,
  “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
             to the house of the God of Jacob;
  that he may teach us his ways
            and that we may walk in his paths.”
  For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
            and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations,
            and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
  they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
            and their spears into pruning hooks;
  nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
            neither shall they learn war any more.

My Parents once lived in a flood plain.  Unbeknownst to them when they purchased the house, but the new housing development in which they purchased the second house was next to a creek and the creek liked to overflow.  But, the developer, built the house on a hill, higher than the water level when the creek floods.  So, when the creek overflows, the water goes over the road and into the fields but yet the house stood dry because it was built on a high hill and the water would not come up to it.

So too, is it with the house of Yahweh.  The prophet Isaiah says, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains and shall be raised above the hills.  Just as my parent’s house stood on the crest of a hill above the flood plains so too has the “house of Yahweh” been established on the highest of the mountains and raised above the hills.  Isaiah was looking and thinking of a time to come when the temple of Solomon was considered to not be the highest in physical elevation, but the highest in spiritual elevation.  The passage takes on new meaning, when the house of Yahweh is transfigured from the Temple of Solomon made of cedar and brick into the Temple of Jesus made of flesh and bones.  A temple is the building or container in which the divine spirit rests.  Jesus is in fact the new temple of the Holy Spirit, and due to his exaltation, He has been established as the “highest of the mountains and raised above the hill.” 

The point Isaiah is longing for is the time when all the nations shall stream to it.  Many peoples shall come and say, Come let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob.  Not just a Jewish thing, excluding all others deemed unholy or unclean, but a time when the house and mountain of God receives true glory, when all peoples desire to approach God through the temple.  Once again, he is probably thinking of a time when everybody worships in the temple of Solomon, but however takes on new context in Jesus Christ.  Instead of tied to a physical location require a physical pilgrimage on the behalf of the human, the temple of Christ now makes a spiritual pilgrimage to be where the man or woman is.  The pilgrimage longed for by Isaiah is no longer people making pilgrimage to the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem but the people making pilgrimage to the Temple of Jesus Christ inside them.

But what would be the point of such a journey, either to Solomon’s temple or Jesus’ temple?  That he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  The point of coming to Jesus’ temple is to be taught his ways or perhaps way of life, and that we may walk in his paths or perhaps his attitudes and behaviors.  The way of life, the way of righteousness, these are the reasons for being instructed from the Word of God which comes from the House of God. 

But what would be the point of such instruction?  He shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples.  They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.  The point of the instruction is for God to instruct and teach his people peace.  Through the Word of God going forth and the instruction from God leaving the temple, God teaches people peace and wellbeing instead of conflict and warfare.

After only a cursory glance at our world, one can easily see the need for our world to continue our studies in peace and wellbeing.  How many bombs and bullets are spent each day to maim and obliterate lives and livelihoods?  How many words and accusations are spewed each hour to divide and attack both allies and enemies?  How many blows, either physical or emotional are thrown at our friends and family, to control and hurt?  Nations against nations, peoples against peoples, neighbors against neighbors, destruction, and ruin, instead of wholeness and well-being.  Swords and spears instead of plows and pruning hooks.

But, if God’s house is the highest, if the nations stream to Jesus Christ, if instruction goes forth from Zion, if Jesus shall judge between parties, then… they will beat their swords into plowshares.  The very tools of death and destruction become the tools of life and creation.  Nation shall not life up sword against nation.  Instead of lifting instruments of violence and ruin, those instruments will be lifted against each other for love and compassion; because of Christ.  This means that now is the time for the swords and spears to be transfigured from tools of destruction to tools of creation.  Now is the time for war and conflict to become unity and edification.  Now is the time to build up instead of blowing up each other.  Now is the reign of Peace and Well-being of Christ and the doom of war and destruction!

Playing Soccer

Luke 17:11-19

11 On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13 they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16 He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18 Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

When I was in middle school, I was on the soccer team.  One of the drills that I did at home to hone my reflexes was to kick the soccer ball at the side of our woodpile.  The edges of the woodpile were not smooth due to the unevenness of the wood logs, and this resulted in the randomness of the ball’s return.  I would kick the ball into the side of the woodpile and the ball would bounce off and return to me in a random direction.  Sometimes it would bounce back to the left or to the right, sometimes straight up and sometimes over my head.  But I knew that every time I kicked the ball into the pile it would always come back to me. 

Thanksgiving is exactly like my soccer ball.  God has given us many gifts and now is the time for us to give back to God.  The ball is kicked, and it returns to the kicker, God has given many gifts to us, now is the time for us to give back something to God.  In our story of the ten lepers, Christ has given the grace of healing to ten individuals burdened by an incurable skin disease.  But only one, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice.  He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.  The one leper recognized the gift of healing and returned to give back something to Christ.  He came back to give back thanks and praise.  God, through Christ, gives to us, we return to God, through Christ to give something back: thanks, and praise.  Giving back thanks becomes Thanksgiving to and for God.

For some of us, this day finds us like the leper having been given gifts of healing from our illnesses and injuries.  But for many of us, this day finds us unhealed, coping with many infirmities and difficult circumstances.  Certainly, many are struggling with COVID-19, many are wrestling with financial insecurities of being in quarantine, many are combating loneliness and separation from our families in our self-made bubbles (and we should be).  But we most certainly look at our situations and see the overwhelming problems.  Instead of giving back thanks and praise to God, we see our difficulties and give back to God angst and anguish.  Instead of giving back gratitude and words of blessing to God, we gripe and complain about our sufferings in life.  We do not thank and bless God for what God has given us, we criticize God for we do not have.

I do not have much love, if any, for the old gospel songs, but the message of one of them is so dreadfully important.  The song is “Count Your Blessings,” and if we can get around the style of the music for just a moment, the message strikes home with us.  For all the things that we can see and experience of pain, struggle, and sorrow, we can also see and count the blessings given to us by God.  Instead of naming and counting our troubles we can instead name and count our blessings.  If we can criticize God about what God has not done, we can certainly thank and bless God for what he has done.

Let me suggest three blessings that we all enjoy to this day, regardless of our circumstances, or the circumstances of our world around us:

  1. The Breath of Life – We are all dust and to dust we shall return, but we also are animated by the very breath of God.  God in His loving, freedom chose to form us from the ground and to animate us with his own Breath from his own mouth, giving us life in creation.
  2. The Son of God – We have been given the life and death and resurrection of God’s only beloved Son.  In order that our sins may be forgiven, and we might inherit new and everlasting life.  God in His loving, freedom chose to redeem us from sin and death at the great personal cost of giving over his Son.
  3. The Kingdom to Come – We have been given the new creation, under the Lordship of Christ.  Justice instead of oppression.  Life swallowing death.  Health overcoming infirmity.  Communion defeating isolation.  Joy destroying sadness.  Peace obliterating conflict.  God in His loving freedom chose to give us a blessed eternity in his new creation.

In whatever our circumstances are, whether fair or foul, we have at least these three things and perhaps even a hundred more that we could name and count.  But the point is that no matter what we are dealing with, or struggling with, or trying to carry, or being consumed by, on this Thanksgiving day we have reasons to give back to God words and deeds of gratitude and blessing.  We will give back to God something this Thanksgiving, it will either be gratitude and blessing, or it will be criticism and ingratitude.  What will you give back?  Complaining about the pandemic or appreciation for the breath of life?  Whining about politics or admiration for the Crucified and Resurrected Jesus?  Moaning about what we do not have or the expectant hope for the Kingdom to come?  You absolutely will give something back to God this Thanksgiving season, but you have a choice of what that will be, nastiness and vitriol or gratefulness and glory.  May God be given the Glory, the Honor, and the Praises of his people for all that God has given to us.  Amen and Hallelujah!