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January 29, 2006
Anne Jensen - Jan 29, 2006
Anne Jensen, Jan 29, 2006
(Text not available)
January 15, 2006
Coryl Lassen - Jan 15, 2006
Rev. Coryl Lassen substituted for us on short notice, this week, and did a wonderful job. The audio is from the 10am service this weekend.
January 08, 2006
Anne Jensen - Jan 8, 2006
Epiphany 1B
Mark 1:7-11
"The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is upon the mighty waters. "
So wrote the author of Psalm 29. I wonder if St. Mark knew that psalm? The psalmist is referring to the creation story in Genesis 1. “In the beginning when the earth was wild and waste, darkness over the face of Ocean, rushing-spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters—God said: Let there be light! And there was light.”
Rushing-spirit of God breaking through the darkness… Those words conjure up images of power; images of change. Ruah, that Hebrew word that means both wind and spirit even sounds like a rushing wind. There it was, sweeping across the face of the waters in the very beginning, just as the spirit-wind and voice were upon the waters of the River Jordan at our Lord’s baptism.
In the story of Jesus’ baptism John proclaims that the one who is to come after him will baptize with that same spirit, that same powerful rushing spirit. And then at the moment of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River that rushing wind-spirit of God descends of Jesus. The evangelist says, “He saw the heavens torn apart.” Torn is too tame a word. It is more like “ripped, pulled apart.”
The symbolism is that the space between heaven and earth has been opened up; no longer will there be a great separation, but now God through Jesus has provided for the bridging of the distance between humans and God. And just as the rushing-spirit penetrated the darkness in creation, the rushing wind-spirit has pierced the darkness that comes when humans are separated from God. To make sure that we know who this Jesus is and what is happening, the voice of God says, “You are my son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
This scene is as powerful as any theophany in a Cecile B. deMille or Steven Spielberg movie. Imagine the heavens being torn apart by huge heavenly winds; spectacular lighting, and the thundering voice of God, combined with violins and tympani. Then we hear the intimate words of affirmation. “You are my son, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
It is of this Spirit, this ruah, that Jesus later says “You do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” This is the Spirit that is both blessing and source of fear. We long for a gentle, comforting movement of the Spirit; but the Spirit is not to be so limited. The Spirit blows where it will. Willingness to give up human control is not one of our primary attributes or desires. Anything that demands our giving up control is something we generally feel we can do without. And yet this is the very Spirit we are baptized with. Baptism is the beginning of our journey in faith, and we do not know where the Spirit will lead us.
Let’s go back to Jesus’ baptism for just a moment. In Mark’s gospel we see John hard at work managing a growing revival meeting down on the banks of the River Jordan. People everywhere as far as one can see confessing their sins and accepting God’s forgiveness.
Over the horizon, beyond anyone’s sight or vision, strides in the adult Jesus having walked all the way from Nazareth. Into the water he goes. As he comes up out of the water, the heavens do not just open, they are torn apart – a word we will not hear again until Jesus is on the cross, breathes his last ruah, and the curtain of the temple is torn in two, from top to bottom. Out of these torn apart heavens the Spirit-Wind, the Ruah of God, descends like a dove upon him. And a voice from heaven declares, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Listen carefully to the voice: You are my…Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Now try to let the imaginative gift of the Spirit, which is yours in Holy Baptism, hear those words spoken to you, to us. For you see, we are Christ’s Body. As we come up from the waters of our baptism, these words are meant for us: You are my son, my daughter, my Beloved; I am well pleased with you.
What would it be like to accept our belovedness? How does that feel? How does it feel to know, to really know deep inside in the most secret places of our being that God is well pleased with us? Can anyone among us remember having heard these words at our baptism?
It is altogether likely that in growing up that we forget. We forget ever hearing these words. We forget who we are and whose we are. Sadder still, we come to believe that this could not possibly be God’s word to me, here, now, today. We let our own self-sufficiency get in the way.
Yet, to believe this is to separate our selves, our very self, from the love of God. And to separate our self from the love of God is what our Baptismal service calls sin. This is perhaps our most fundamental sin: to forget that we are God’s Beloved. We let fear and anxiety take over. Such forgetting is the beginning of so much that troubles us. Such forgetting makes it nearly impossible to follow and obey Christ as our Lord and Savior. We think we have to be good all the time on our own resources.
A friend, reflecting on this gospel, says it always reminds him of an experience from his first year of high school. His parents went off to the parent conference while he stayed at home and worked on his assignments. He was a good student, but not the best; he was an okay athlete, but not great. When his parents got home, his father came up to his room and said, “Son, I’m very proud of you.” The father never said why, or what the teachers had said about him. Yet those words of affirmation changed him and made him want to study harder to become a better student. They made him feel more connected to his father , and they made him stretch himself as he grew up.
Perhaps hearing and accepting God’s love will make us want to be more loving, more compassionate, more committed to peace and justice.
It takes a conscious effort to remember who we are and whose we are. It takes daily reminders to accept our Belovedness. It takes daily remembering to internalize this Good News of our Baptism into a living force of God’s Spirit-- alive within us and beyond us.
Friday night and Saturday the vestry was away at Mercy Center for a retreat, and most of our time was given over to reconnecting with our spiritual roots, remembering who we are as members of the body of Christ, before we got down to the organizational work. This interim period is a time for the whole congregation to reconnect with our spiritual roots; to discern who we are and who God is calling us to be. We need trust that we are loved by God and called to continue the ministry Jesus began and let this rushing wind-spirit stir us up…… How do we do this?
For starters, read Psalm 139 once a day for at least 30 days. Your acceptance of this News will deepen with each reading. The secondly we can take to heart this short passage from Henri Nouwen’s little book, Life of the Beloved
“At your center is a voice that says: I have called you by name, from the very beginning. You are mine and I am yours. You are my beloved, on you my favor rests. I have molded you in the depths of the earth and knitted you together in your mother’s womb. I have carved you in the palms of my hands and hidden you in the shadow of my embrace. I look at you with infinite tenderness and care for you with a care more intimate than that of a mother for her child. I have counted every hair on your head and guided you at every step. Wherever you go, I go with you, and wherever you rest, I keep watch. I will give you food that will satisfy all your hunger and drink that will satisfy all your thirst. I will not hide my face from you. You know me as your own as I know you as my own. … Wherever you are I will be. Nothing will ever separate us.”
This morning we are baptizing Wyatt. As we commit ourselves to supporting her life in Christ, let us also remember to support each other, reminding each other of being God’s well-loved child and encouraging each other in our ministries.
God’s Spirit-Wind hovers above us night and day, calling us, forming us, making us God’s own. Listen for the voice of the Lord: “You are my Beloved. With you I am well pleased.
January 01, 2006
Fred Heard - Jan 1, 2006
New Year�s Day 2006
Father Fred Heard
Holy Trinity Menlo Park
Luke 2:15-21
(Audio Recording available here)
The first Sunday after Christmas. The first Sunday in the New Year. The eighth day of Christmas. New Year's Day then is happening and in the eyes of most of the world Christmas is over. Many Christmas trees have come down. Gifts have been returned and exchanged. There are after Christmas sales and even January white sales. Commercialism continues at full force. But as you can see in our worship this morning, Christmas is not over. It is time for us to look beyond December 25. On both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I said in my sermon that December 26 would also come, and it has.
We are not surprised by the thought that birth from a Jewish mother makes one a Jew. But a male is not truly a Jew until he has become a son of the covenant God made with Abraham through the rite called circumcision. This was a joyous occasion which was celebrated with blessings and feasting by the parents with their family and friends. By this rite, a son of Abraham's tribe enters into the special relationship which God established between Himself and Abraham.
Circumcision was and is a big deal in Judaism and this makes it all the more striking that three of the Gospels make no mention of the circumcision of Jesus, and that the one which does, the Gospel according to Luke this morning, does so only in passing. Circumcision is not only just mentioned in one verse; it is only a dependent clause of that one verse, as the occasion of something else, the naming of the baby, Jesus.
According to Jewish custom then, a birth really isn't complete until the rite of circumcision and naming on the eighth day. Most of the stories of Christmas leave out the naming ceremony. According to Hebrew custom, names weren't just names, they meant something and they told who the person was. Benjamin, for example, means 'son of my right hand' Because of this, the 8th day naming and circumcision is more than a ritual. Baptism to us is more than symbolic and the naming ceremony is the individual's connection with the covenant, and to God himself. Just like Baptism, the 8th day is a time of new birth and the taking on of identity and vocation in relationship to God. That is why Abram's name was changed to Abraham, why Jacob's was changed to Israel, why Saul's was changed to Paul and why we name children during baptism. Names, and the act of naming, were and are important. "Jesus" came from the Hebrew "Joshua"or Aramaic "Yeshua" and means "the one who saves", thus showing what the one who is also called "Emmanuel, God with us" was to do.
This morning's gospel which reveals the name of Jesus is paired with one of the rare occasions that the Old Testament reveals the name of God. The name of God was used very rarely in Biblical texts. In order to avoid blasphemy, God was usually represented instead by four dots, one for each of the consonants, and derivations of the word "Lord" were used instead. The four consonants Y-H-W-H (pronounced "Yahweh" or "Jehovah") are usually translated in English as "L-O-R-D" or "G-O-D." The use of God's name was so powerful that it was to be avoided. In today's passage, the name of God is used to solidify the covenant made with Moses through the Ten Commandments. God's name, it seems, was important to make this, the second set of tablets cut to replace the originals, valid.
As shown in the condemnation of the guilty and in Moses' action of falling on his knees, the use of the name of God brought up feelings of incredible fear. Notice how the reverse is true with the name of Jesus. Jesus' name is equally powerful. It is in Jesus' name that we are taught to pray, that healings and exorcisms occur, that life is given. It is in Jesus' that the old covenant is replaced with the new, that sins are forgiven, and that we are saved from the fate implied and implicit in the Old Testament. That is why Jesus' name means in Hebrew, 'the one who saves.' That is why Christmas is not just a day but also a season and not just a season but also a way of life.
Today with the naming and the covenant dedication of Jesus we know for sure that the Christmas story does not end with the shepherds and the angels and sheep. For all of us who were and are made a part of the covenant of faith, the story goes on, we are made part of the covenant of faith. We are Christians. We have been called to be apostles worthy of that name, set apart for the gospel of God.
It is customary on this day to plan New Year's resolutions. How many times have we made those resolutions only to break them by sun down on New Year's Day? As Christians how about a new one? How about truly connecting with God? Why not make living the covenant as you understand it your own? How about reclaiming the identity and vocation that connects us with God? We know that God knows each hair on our heads. We also know that God has something special in mind for each of us. So..if God has a given name and identity and vocation for us, why not take some time during 2006 and find out what those are for you?
Merry Christmas-----------Happy New Year.
Recent Sermons
- Anne Jensen - Jan 29, 2006
- Coryl Lassen - Jan 15, 2006
- Anne Jensen - Jan 8, 2006
- Fred Heard - Jan 1, 2006
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