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"Made His Home"

1/28/2020

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Matthew 4:12-23, 
 January 26, 2020
When I first moved to Manhattan to attend Union Theological Seminary, I was smitten by the neighborhood of Morningside Heights: filled with academic institutions it felt like a college town in the middle of the big city.  Imagine my shock when a friend expressed her fear of visiting me.  “I never go above 96th Street,” she said, recalling a time when those blocks beyond 96th street had a reputation to be dangerous and crime ridden. What a change crossing a street can make. Current statistics indicate that the overall crime rate in Morningside Heights is 29% lower than the national average. Morningside Heights is safer than 67% of the cities in the New York. A big change from my friend’s days.

Geography is important. We are shaped by places. The philosopher José Ortega y Gassett once said, “Tell me the landscape in which you live, and I will tell you who you are.”   Most of us sense the truth of that. New York City and Washington DC are both places of power but Washington DC stands for a political power that captivates the entire country. Us New Yorkers would boast New York City the capital of the world!  So, our values and outlook on the world are shaped where we are brought up: on the farm or rural countryside, a city, or in the suburbs or a grand metropolis.

 Place matters. In the gospels we often forget all this. We shouldn’t, because in the stories of Jesus, place is important. We are reminded that it was important for Jesus too. And not just because Jesus, as a real human person, always had to be somewhere.  But there is more theology involved in locale than we sometimes realize.  Our gospel lesson today is a good example.

No sooner does Jesus hear about John’s arrest, he high-tails it north some eighty miles to Galilee. Jesus then moves out of his backwater hometown of Nazareth and settles in at a place called Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee.  In other words, eighty miles may not sound like much to those of us accustomed to driving 70 miles an hour, but in a day when nothing moved faster than a donkey could plod, eighty miles was quite far indeed. Jesus has taken himself very far away from Jerusalem, from Judea, and from all things powerful and religious.  It seems like an unusual decision at just the beginning his ministry. Why not start in the religious center of the nation, where one is more likely to get an ear of the influential and powerful?   Jesus turns this down. Instead Jesus heads north, and made his home and the beginning, the hub of his ministry, at Capernaum by the sea.

Hard on the heels of his baptism by John and his wilderness temptations, Jesus preaches his first sermon.  He does this right after he hears that John has been arrested. Jesus picks right up where John left off.    As Matthew reports it in 4:17, Jesus’ first sermon is a word-for-word repetition of John the Baptist’s sermon from Matthew 3:2.  On one level it is good to see Jesus affirming the ministry of John, telling people what John told them: “Turn around, change your life: the kingdom of heaven is coming!” But that’s what John said. Shouldn’t Jesus say something more? John said the kingdom of heaven was near. Well, with Jesus on the scene shouldn’t he say, “The kingdom of heaven is not just near it is now here!”? But no, Jesus echoes John: it’s near, so get ready. That’s the first surprise about Jesus’ inaugural sermon: it’s just a knock-off of John the Baptist’s work. He affirms John. But the second surprise is even bigger: namely, the locale Jesus was in when he gave the sermon. Jesus doesn’t give his first public speech in Jerusalem or the Judean wilderness near where John was.  The location for this sermon is in Capernaun in Galilee by the sea.

So surprising is this shift in geography that Matthew feels the need to bring in a prophetic voice like Isaiah to re-assure his readers that this move is appropriate. Matthew was right: Isaiah did associate God’s promised One with Galilee. But even those familiar with Isaiah did not necessarily think this is where the Messiah would begin his work! Matthew 4:13 quotes Isaiah and gives insight about how the people of this small City accepted the Messiah. The passage reads, “O land of Zebulum, O land of Napthali, the way to the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles! The people who dwelt in darkness saw a great light, and upon those who dwelled in the country and in the midst of the shadow of death, light shone.”  Maybe God could grandfather in the outlying regions once Jerusalem was taken care of, but to start out in the sticks?! It did not look like a logical choice.  

Actually, Capernaum was a good location for Jesus to choose. Its name meant “Place of Comfort.” It was a hard-working city with a strong fishing and farming industry so Jesus would find people who understood the simple things in life and faith.  It had a large Jewish population but unlike the Jewish community in Nazareth this community was open to new and fresh ideas.  The Gospels record twelve miracles in Capernaum, more than anywhere else in the Holy Land. Capernaum is mentioned 16 times, one of the most prominent locations in Jesus’ life.  It was his home and a major location of Jesus’ ministry.

The population of Capernaum was highly stratified: fishermen, farmers, artisans, merchants, publicans etc. They all lived in the same village, but apparently without any strident economic inequality. Even the relations between the inhabitants of Capernaum and the Romans were surprisingly cordial. For example, it was a Roman centurion who built the synagogue for the Jewish community, while the elders of the village reciprocated in kindness and pleaded earnestly with Jesus asking him to heal the centurion's servant (Lk 7:1-10). Jesus chose many of his apostles either among fishermen (Peter, Andrew, James, John - Mt 4:12-22) or publicans (Matthew - Mk 2:13).  So, Capernaum became his home. Capernaum became the place where he first preached and where he chose his first disciples proclaiming, they would become fishers of people. 

Despite the importance of location, interestingly, to most people, it matters little where this or that gospel event took place. One locale is as good as the next–it’s all the Holy Land, after all. Jericho or Jerusalem, Capernaum or Bethsaida: the places matter little compared to the presence of Jesus in those places. Unless we are actually in Israel on a tour group, we are typically interested in what Jesus said, not where he said it.  In fact, if we gave the average congregation a quiz on gospel geography, even those who are quite biblically literate would not do too well.   “Where did Jesus meet Zacchaeus?” “Where was it that Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ?”   Many folks, off the top of their heads, wouldn’t have a clue – and might not even matter.  So why does place matter?
Jesus makes a point to proclaim the nearness of the kingdom in his first sermon. Jesus has come to this world for the sake of this world–for all of it.  There are no unimportant places, but there had to be a starting point. Ultimately the whole world needs Jesus, and so Jesus begins by making a foray into the wider world.  But he begins with a home, a home in a place of comfort and not of power.  Home is where we begin, as we too are called out into the world as disciples.

Place matters. We have a spiritual home here at Merrick Church. It is a home that calls us to engage in worship. It is a place where we are called to be and learn to be fishers of people It is a home where we are called to commit ourselves into a spiritual family and to support one another to grow in faith.   It is a home where we call others and support them into fellowship.

Place matters. Every place. Every person in every place.  Because in the end the “Holy Land” is not over in Israel:  however, every place where the Spirit comes into our heart is holy ground. Where we live and choose to work matters to God. Our goal should be to keep proclaiming and living out the kingdom until the knowledge of God, the justice and righteousness of God, covers the earth the way the waters cover the seas. For then it will indeed we can proclaim, “The earth is the Lord’s and all who live on it.”  And in there we shall find our home.  Amen

 
https://www.areavibes.com/new+york-ny/morningside+heights/crime/
 See more at: http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/sermon-starters/epiphany-3a/?type=the_lectionary_gospel#sthash.zG3cbErd.dpuf
 

 


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"What Do You Want?"

1/21/2020

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Isaiah 49:1-7       John 1:29-42
 
 
This week end and tomorrow on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, his famous speech, “I Have a Dream,” and other of his statements and comments will be heard on television, read in newspapers and internet articles; memes will flood people’s walls on Facebook and twitter, all to commemorate the civil rights leader who was assassinated over  fifty years ago.  “I Have a Dream” was first delivered at the Lincoln Memorial at the end of a long hot day on August 28th, 1963, as 250,000 people marched for jobs and freedom. The “I Have a Dream” speech has endured and lives in the American imagination, as a perennial call to action and hope, especially now at a time of great divide in our country. It is a call to discipleship. You will find a copy in your bulletin.
        Our gospel lesson from John is also a call of discipleship. John sees Jesus and declares, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”  John’s ability to act with such personal integrity and commitment – convinces his own disciples to check out Jesus. This was a powerful prophetic statement, for Jesus is not declared a king or a warrior by John.  John calls him a lamb.   A lamb isn’t a mighty figure.  In fact, a lamb was sacrificed in the morning and evening in the Temple for the people’s sins.  A lamb was at the center at the sacrificial Passover meal.  Despite this helpless image, they were drawn to Jesus.    “What do you want?” Jesus turns and asks them. Jesus asks them a loaded question: he’s asking them what they want out of  their life, what do they want from him.   So, Andrew shares with Simon Peter -- we have found the Messiah – the Messiah who asks who probes, who digs deeply into your psyche to encounter your truth.  Lives are changed as a result.  Lives will take on a new direction. Lives that will now be marked by discipleship.
        Such is the power of God’s word to us, when we listen to Jesus’ words “What do you want?” What are we looking for?  A decent job?  A car to survive the Long Island Expressway?  A great reservation at the trending restaurant in town? What do you want, Jesus asks. Really. To understand the scriptures. To embrace Good News.  What do we want as a nation?  Peace? Forgiveness? Equality? What do we want as a church? What vision and goals shall we claim for 2020?  What do we want? What’s our answer?
As we grapple with the question, what do we want, we are shown a discipleship that is not just about learning dogma and teachings. It’s about relationship.  Relationship with Jesus at the center of our life. Through discipleship we are taught to care for others. We are taught to share and sacrifice our resources when they are needed. We are taught to speak out and protect the vulnerable and poor when they are suffering.  To be a lamb of God, like Jesus.
        This is what Rev. King knew so well and learned so well.  The nonviolent action he took with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and later the freedom marches around the country grew out of his powerful experience of God’s life, love and divine word within him.  Acting from that place of love and joined with thousands of other disciples he spoke the word.  As a result, the civil rights movement took on a potency that made segregation illegal first in the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights act of 1964. 
        What do you want?  Jesus asks us.  How do we become more committed in service, in sharing the love of Jesus Christ, in proclaiming the lamb of God? 
In the last years of his life, Dr. King’s prophetic word deepened, and he broadened his platform of racial integration to a Poor People’s Campaign to address the root causes of poverty for all peoples. King connected truth, to world, to being and action.  He was a faithful disciple of Jesus.  There is nothing more powerful than that.
The life of Rev. King and the gospel witness invites us to a similar experience of discipleship.  The work of repairing and redeeming the world is carried out in the context of discipleship that declares a new heaven and a new earth.  Jesus was about building and being in relationship in witness to the kingdom of God. So, Jesus spent time with his disciples. And in turn the disciples didn’t just attend a two-hour lecture or go to a service once a week. They spent as much time with Jesus as possible. They listened to Jesus. And when Jesus died, he didn’t leave behind writings, buildings or any possessions.  He left behind disciples, with the living word of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide them. And that was enough.
Ultimately discipleship means our lives deepen to the point where we take a stand for others—even people we don’t even know.  The gospel calls us to a place of wholeness and power—which can only be realized in the context of community.
Today, we are reminded that the power of Dr. King’s word and discipleship, are forceful because they are rooted in the witness and deeds of Jesus.  We can experience the power of God’s word within us, shaping up into disciples of the beloved community.   We are called to the very home of Jesus, the very heart of Jesus, who says “Come and see.”  Come and see where he lives. In our hearts.  In our holy acts of kindness, our promotion of the gospel in our community.
Today let us make a commitment to follow Jesus.  Let us listen to our brother the Rev. King, who proclaimed “I have a dream.”  I have a dream that former slaves and former slave owners will be able to sit down at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream…that little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers…I have a dream.”
What a power word from a powerful disciple. As we claim our journey, let this word bore deep in our hearts, and move our hearts and bring us closer to Jesus.  And together as disciples, we discover what we want to do: let us speak the word the world desperately needs to hears, that our hearts yearn to know, that we desperately need to say that that we too, like Dr. King we can have a dream that can live in the hearts of all people. Amen

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"Well Pleased"

1/16/2020

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Isaiah 43:1-9; Matt. 3:13-17 

 
        There is a story about the 41st President, George H.W. Bush. It seems the senior Bush was touring a nursing home.  As he walked down the hall with his entourage of aides and reporters, he came upon one old man who was slowly making his way in the opposite direction, 

The president reached out, took the patient’s hand, and asked gently, “Sir, do you know who I am?” The ma started blankly for a moment then his eyes focused. Slowly he shook his head from side to side. “No,” he admitted “I don’t know who you are but if you ask the nurses, they can tell you.”

        Do we know who we are? It is a question that haunts us all our lives.  Having a sense of self, a sense of who of you are is critical to having a life of purpose and direction. There I nothing more unbearable than to go through life with no sense of meaning, a sense of being loved and accepted.  Poet Maya Angelou put it this way: “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you.” That is our task. To uncover who we are. To get that story out. To become clear about our identity.  To name our gifts, clarify our life’s vision, and how we are called to apply them. We can’t do that unless we know our value. That we are loved and we are pleasing.
       
        Our gospel lesson today is built on the question of identity. Just before Jesus’ baptism, the people were wondering who John the baptizer was.  Was he the messiah?  Yet despite the pressure, John the Baptizer did not succumb to the crowd’s expectations.   John knows firmly who he is and what his mission is.  He is the one to prepare the way and point the way to Jesus, who is the messiah.
    
    In Jesus’ act of baptism Matthew tells us the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus in the form of a dove.  The dove in the Hebrew Tradition was the symbol of the Spirit.  The Dove which once returned to the Art as a symbol of hope now returns to Jesus, making him the bearer of reconciliation peace and atonement. So, Jesus’ baptism tells us of the kind of relationship God extends to us, make visible through baptism. 
Notice that Jesus hadn’t done anything yet, except to show up at his own baptism.  It would have been very different if he had already been healing the sick and preaching good news to the poor and outcast.  Then we might think God was pleased because of all the good things he was doing, that somehow, he did something to earn this blessing from God.  But the blessing came first.  God’s love was the beginning and foundation of everything Jesus was to do in his ministry. 

And so, for us.  God’s grace and blessing in baptism is not because we have been good, or somehow done something to deserve it.  God’s love and forgiveness are a gift, and the beginning of all that we can do and be.  Everything starts with love, as it says in I John (4:19), “We love, because God first loved us.”  God’s declaration to us, that we are beloved children and God is pleased with us, is the foundation we build on. 
Many of us don’t feel worthy of love. We strive to earn love. I wonder how manner of us, deep down, are naturally insecure, and it’s only made worse by our competitive, consumer-driven culture that thrives on creating all sorts of anxieties to get us to buy. Buy the latest iphone and you’ll be cool in eyes of others. Get those nikes and your worth is increased.  Get reservations at the hottest restaurant in town and suddenly you’re in. Wear the latest designer clothes for the latest IT appearance. Look at all those fancy car dealerships on Sunrise Highway and that will tell us if only we have a Lexus, a BMW, an Acura NXS, and we have the public’s admiration and approval. We believe that we have to change or improve ourselves in order to be accepted, that if only we would lose more weight, work out more, get a better job, or accomplish something important, then we would be worthy of love and respect. 

But God gives us a different message in baptism.  God tells us: you are my beloved child  I love you.  I choose you. I am pleased with you. I was there when you were created, and watched you grow in your mother’s womb.  I have taken you by the hand and kept you (Is. 42:6).  God’s love is unconditional. 

That’s why baptism is so important.  It’s something we can see and feel to remind us these things are true.  It reminds us of our true identity as beloved children of God, well pleased, and that we deserve to be treated with respect and love.  But since baptism only happens once for each of us, we need ways to remember it.  Believe it.  Keep it in our hearts. 

Now, one more thing happened to Jesus in his baptism. Remember what we said earlier? It says the heavens were opened and he received the Holy Spirit.  And with that Spirit, Jesus had the power to begin his ministry of teaching and healing.  In our baptisms we also receive the power of the Holy Spirit, the power to take part in what God is doing on the earth, to join in Christ’s ministry of love, peace and justice.  Through the Holy Spirit, God’s power is in us, and God will use each one of us to change the world.

Everyone who is baptized receives the Holy Spirit and is anointed and empowered to serve.  You may be called to teach or to sing in the choir.  You may be called to take care of our building, to keep track of our finances, or participate in a mission project.  You may be called to assist in worship, or simply to pray.  And we are also called to serve outside the church.  You may serve God through your job, your volunteer efforts, or your friendships and relationships.  The point is to let God use who we are to show God’s love and justice in the world. 

We recall what we heard from the prophet Isaiah this morning, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights: I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”  Some people believe Isaiah was writing a job description for Jesus.  And certainly Jesus fulfilled what the prophet described.  And today the work of God belongs to all of us as well, not just one special person.  Each one of us is a servant whom God chooses and upholds and delights in.  And we are each given the power of the Holy Spirit to bring forth justice on the earth. You don’t need nikes or a lexus, wear designer clothes. God already accepts you. Loves you. Is Well pleased with you.

So I invite you to renew your baptismal vows by answering these questions: 

Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, do you turn from the ways of sin and renounce evil and its power in the world? 

Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your Lord and Savior, trusting in his grace and love? 

Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his Word and showing his love?
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Know that you are Loved, not for anything you own or do, just because of who you are, God’s child.  You have God’s favor. Knowing God is pleased with us, may we be filled with the power of God’s spirit to do God’s will in 2020, and spread this love and favor to all we meet.  Amen.



“Here Is My Servant” Rev. Debra Given, the Presbyterian Church in LeoniaJanuary 12, 2014  Baptism of the Lord, Year A

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    Moirajo is a minister, social worker, wife, mother, writer and animal lover. That's just for starters. Join the story, there's so much we can share together! 

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