St. Mark's Lutheran » John

The Exclusive/Inclusive Jesus

Parson Brown — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:58:29 +0000

Biblical Text of Sermon: John 1:43-51
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The modern world is one full of distractions. I’m the geek that as a kid you could find reading an encyclopedia. My schoolmates were sure that “Encyclopedia Brown” was biographical. But today I find myself reading a few pages and flitting off to something else. And the Kindle doesn’t help with that. That approach to spirituality and religion goes no place good. Oh you can fool yourself into thinking that you are getting a broader view or are just sharing in the wisdom. The problem is that everything else out there is a shadow compared to the reality of Jesus Christ. That is the Father’s Epiphany to us. Things we saw glimpses of elsewhere we see the fullness of in Jesus. And it takes time to incorporate an Epiphany – sometimes an entire life. Not the least because it usually demands that we change something in ourselves. To accommodate what we have become comfortable with to what Jesus intends. That is ultimately the question of discipleship. Do you want to stick around, go deep, to see the greater things of Jesus? Or is the world’s buffet too tempting?

Who are you?

Parson Brown — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 16:18:58 +0000

Text: John 1:6-8,19-28
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Who are you? That is an identity question. And it is interesting to me that a world that is constantly giving you something to “build your brand” around or upon there is little talk or understanding of identity.

Colin Cowherd – ESPN Radio announcer – is one of the most bracing and upfront announcers I’ve heard. Especially in sports where most coverage is “rah, rah” type. He’d hate this, or not have the vocabulary to understanding it, but he’s one of the best moralists on the air. But back to the point. Tebow keeps winning – and keeps making Colin’s almost daily rant look dumb. For the first four weeks of the Tebow run, Colin was all about how this can’t work and all the reasons it can’t. For an announcer who is usually so left brained logical it hurts, you could here the emotion. His accumulated logic and wisdom wasn’t working and he didn’t like it. If he could be wrong about this, what else could he be wrong about. But then he stumbled across a new line – “Tebow knows who he is; you can do a lot, even if you are limited, by knowing who you are.” He’s talking about identity.

The world pummels us with appeals to base our identity in titles and positions. Or it entices us and bullies us to forming an identity around cool, or traditions or the right way. What Colin stumbled across, what Tebow and his coach should be recognized for, is that they didn’t listen to the siren calls – “you’ve got to have this type of quarterback/team”. The two groups that came to the Baptist are asking those identity questions. And John confesses. He holds on two the only thing he has – the Word of God – I am the voice calling in the wilderness. He revealed the hidden Word, the hidden savior. He witnessed to the light.

We as Christians know our identities. We are children of God. We are the redeemed of Israel. And like the Baptist we have been sent into the world to reveal the hidden Lord. And all we’ve got is the Word – a simple confession.

[FYI, I wish I had a picture of this, but the hymn captured is our Children's Choir. If you hear a voice getting a little louder at certain time, one of the Choristers was right behind the Advent wreath. He decided it would be interesting to see if he could blow the candle out while singing. One of those please stop, because if you succeed I will bust a gut laughing and I know I'm supposed to discipline at that moment.]

The Puzzle of Reformation Day

Parson Brown — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:44:33 +0000

Scripture Text: John 8:31-36
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Traditions tend to pile up. There is nothing inherently wrong with traditions. Most traditions are in fact healthy and good. But they tend to pile up. Just think about Christmas. How many things are there that you “have” to do? Does the holiday just stop if you miss baking the sugar cookies or you don’t get the lights hung? Have you ever said the holiday has been ruined because we didn’t get to do X (fill in with your X)?

Churches are like dumping grounds of traditions. Churches hold on to traditions long after the last people who knew what they were about have been carried out the door. To make matters worse, they often add theological reasons for a tradition. Here is an example. You probably have a US flag at the front of your sanctuary. Why is it there? Are the Kingdom of God and the United States equivalent things? What would happen if it wasn’t there one day? My guess is that someone would make an argument – put it back, Jesus and Paul both said something along the lines of Caesar is the appointed authority, that flag is our recognition of that authority, so put it back. A theological fig leaf for a tradition. Not that the tradition is bad, just that it is a human tradition.

But traditions can pile up to toxic levels. To levels where the core of what we are about as Christians becomes obscured. The original creed was Jesus is Lord. If you listen to the stirring reformation hymns – especially A Mighty Fortress – that is what you will hear. The reformation was about stripping out some toxic levels of tradition and reminding people that our salvation is found only in Jesus, that Jesus is Lord. Our lives should be shaped by that very direct statement. At all times and in all places, a people willing to live like Jesus is Lord do revolutionary and remarkable things. And the best part of that is that if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. You will be part of the house forever. That is what this very personal Lord has done for you.

Hymns We Sing – Praise Be to Christ

Parson Brown — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:52:57 +0000

When we tell the story of Jesus there really are two biblical starting points. You can start like the Gospel of John – ‘in the beginning was the word…”. Or you begin like Matthew & Luke with genealogies or human origin stories. One is called a Theology from Above. The eternal Word descends to earth for a time of humiliation and returns in exultation. The other is a Theology from below which essentially says its fine to talk about the pre-existent Christ and God and God, but we know Him revealed in human form as Jesus. This Jesus was actually born and lived among us. In his life, death and resurrection He revealed His deity. Take a quick look at the Nicene Creed 2nd article. Where does it start? “And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds…” A pure theology from above, the pre-existant Christ. Then look at the apostle’s creed. “And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by they Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary” A theology from below. It begins with the baby and Mary.

If you were asking me, the theology from below is the theology for times of philosophical materialism (like now). The theology from above is for times of philosophical idealism. Big words those, so give me a couple of sentences to explain. If you look at the world and say or even just act on a daily basis that ‘this is all there is’ or that ‘only what I can see, taste, touch, smell or manipulate is real’, congratulations you are a philosophical materialist. If on the other hand you look at a chair or lets say a room full of chairs and ask, “what really makes a chair or defines a chair, what is chair-ness?” then you are an philosophical idealist. Just the fact that “chair-ness” probably caused you to snicker, or if you break out into hives at the thought of someone “finding themselves”, you are at least a functional materialist. This split has been around a long time. A picture nearby is of the famous paint the school of Athens. In the middle are Plato and Aristotle. Plato points up saying –“the chair-ness is not in this world”. Aristotle points down – “it’s all here Plato, baby.”

Long lead up to the Hymn I want to look at. We will sing this hymn this week. It is Praise Be to Christ which is number 538 in the Lutheran Service Book. The words are written by the living writer Timothy Dudley-Smith whose inclusion in the Lutheran Service Book is one of the best things about the new Hymnal. He is a former Bishop in the Anglican Church. An evangelical within that tradition and a longtime friend of the recently deceased John Stott who himself was a leading smart voice in evangelicalism. The tune is a public domain repurposed German Tune from Stuttgart that has some drama. If you listen to it you can feel it build right up until the end.

Now for what hopefully is the payoff. The Lutheran tradition, largely German, loves its idealism. The tune to this hymn was originally paired with the text – O God, of God, or light of light. Idealistic theology from above all the way. This is my and any materialists problem with that – how do I know and talk about such lofty things? The pitfall of a theology from above is thinking that we know the mind of God. We only know about the God from above through revelation. And that is where Dudley-Smith is a great theologian. He thinks as a Trinitarian.
Look at the first line of the first stanza: Praise be to Christ in whom we see the image of the Father shown, the firstborn Son revealed and known…

We can’t know the Father or as even John would say no one has seen the Father (John 1:18). But the human Jesus Christ, the image or to use a more loaded term the icon of the Father shown, has revealed and made known to us God. If you have seen me you have seen the Father. (John 14:9) The Theology from above and the theology from below meet when you think the Trinity. They meet in the person of Jesus. Stanza three of this hymn: Praise be to Him who Lord Most High, the fullness of the Godhead shares, and yet our human nature bares, who came as man to bleed and die. Very God of very God was made man. This hymn holds those in tension. It speaks to the idealist who wants to hear of God above. It also speaks to the materialist who says give me something I can really see. You can have good theology in almost any philosophy. This is a great example of a hymn that stays true to theology.

The Civic Religion and the Sure Hope

Parson Brown — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:28:42 +0000

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As with so much else in America, if you want to cut to the soul or the bone of a matter you need to listen to Lincoln. (And Silent Cal Coolidge, but he didn’t live in exciting times, but his Autobiography and letters are deeply full of wisdom and heart.) But Lincoln instinctively knew the limits and failures of the civic religion. In the Gettysburg address:

…We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here…

The civic religion is part of the law. And the law has no power to save, to grant life. The sure hope is in Jesus Christ who grants eternal life which will surely not be snatched away.

So at St. Mark we juxtaposed the Sept. 11 memorials and our Church’s 110th anniversary. The one is good and proper, the other proclaims life and hope.

The King Comes Anyway…

Parson Brown — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:56:14 +0000

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I find it ironic that in an age full of irony with a people tuned to understanding layers of meaning taking place Palm Sunday in some quarters is being transformed into Passion Sunday. Well not at St. Mark in West Henrietta. Since we have been reading from St. John’s Gospel, I took the Triumphal Entry text for this week.

The King comes anyway is a refrain used. Everyone at that first Palm Sunday was clueless. The King came anyway. And truth be told we are usually pretty clueless ourselves. The King comes anyway. He comes in waters of baptism. He comes in bread and wine. He comes in the simple proclamation – do not be afraid, daughters of Zion. The king comes anyway, full of grace and truth. We ask in are prayers that he come to us also.

Groaning (Jesus’ reaction to Lazarus)

Parson Brown — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:44:48 +0000

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If you had the power to raise the dead, but it cost you your life, would you do it?

That is the central question. I think we could answer that question no. Jesus answered that question yes.

There are a whole bunch of spiritual truths that come from the sacrifice and resurrection pattern. Not the least is the one who holds onto his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life for me, will find it. It’s Good Friday and Easter. You don’t get one without the other. Each one corresponds to a theory of want Jesus did for us – substitute and victory. They are both tied in each other. A church that only preaches one is missing something…

Catching Up

Parson Brown — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 13:33:10 +0000

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Text: John 9:1-41

This text is too big. A man goes from being blind through various confessions to the worship of Christ at the end. From the point of his healing, until that end, the story is about Jesus but Jesus himself is absent. It’s a tight allegory on a Christian life with the counter-point of the pharisees deepening knowledge and surety of things that are false. Its also the type of text that really needs two way communication. Its the type of think you wrestle with with others.

This Well is Deep…

Parson Brown — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:13:19 +0000

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We had a double baptism this week. Yes, it breaks a liturgical rule about lent, but the text was perfect – living water, John 4:5-26. The entire segment of John from Nicodemus through the Samaritan Woman and the well with a picture of actual baptisms(!) in between is full of baptismal images and recognition stories.

Many of my metaphors or ways of thinking come out of the business world. One of the clearest to me is a business/tax term called a safe harbor. Many tax laws create safe harbors where if you do your accounting in this way – you are safe. Lets just say those safe harbors are usually the common sense way you would recognize revenue or cost. Many businesses operate outside of those safe harbors. They are not necessarily breaking the law, but if the IRS pursues them and wins in tax court, the business will owe taxes and penalties. They were not operating in a safe harbor. Businesses do this because: a) they might not get caught, b) their accountants and lawyers say it is within the law as written, c) it allows them to keep and report more income usually and sometimes more cash flow when they don’t have to send money to uncle same, d) it might make sense for their industry and laws move slower than business.

The sacraments are how God wants to deal with us. They are the only sure way that God has given for his grace. Baptism is objectively when the Father puts his Spirit in us and claims us as His children. But we all have our subjective stories to tell. We might practice faith outside of those safe harbors – however risky that might be. Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman are paired stories about recognition of God and how he works. Nick comes in the dark, and leaves in the dark. He doesn’t recognize the birth of water and the spirit. The Samaritan woman comes at noon. At the start she is as far apart from Jesus as, well, as a Jew and a Samaritan. By the end she has embraced the jewish term messiah and hesitatingly applied it to Jesus. She has started to see her subjective story in the light of God’s objective story revealed by Jesus.

This sermon ponders the multitude of layers between our subjective experience of God and how God has revealed himself. The text itself, playfully, in a Romantic Comedy banter, deals with the Bridegroom meeting the Bride at the well. That is a stock OT image. That is what is going on at that Samaritan well. That is what is going on in baptism. If we have been given eyes to see.

“Rosebud” – Discipleship Journeys

Parson Brown — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:18:52 +0000

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The text of this sermon was John 1:29-42. That is two days of John the Baptist’s preaching and the evangelists account of the first disciples of Jesus. By telling us this account -which is starkly different that the synoptic (Matt/Mark/Luke) tradition, the evangelist invites us to ponder our own discipleship journey. Where are we? Are we on Jordan’s bank, but not really hearing the Baptist say there, right there! is the Lamb? Have we heard and are hoping to see? Have we seen and have joined the journey? Have we put the things we have seen into practice?

The connection with “rosebud” is seeing what is really important. Epiphany, the current season of the church, is a season to see. It is a season to ponder what is really important before the trials and tribulations. To find our rosebud’s and to see the rose which is blooming – foretold by Isaiah and seen today within our midst.

In a challenge note, go read John 1:19 – 2:1 and track the days. Keep track of what happens on each day. What day(s) are missing? What day(s) are ours to write our discipleship journeys on? Who revealed Christ to us? How are we part of that chain? How do we extend that witness?