February 1, 2015 The search for truth

The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

         What is a true story? We look for facts that can be proven, but we know that the storyteller can choose facts to create a story that turns one way or another. We were all expecting a terrible blizzard and we didn’t get one. Did the news tell a lie? We want to know what will happen. We see the future as something mysterious and dangerous. We hold in high esteem anyone who can give us a glimpse of what will be so that we can be prepared – so that we can have some power over what will happen to us.

         This is an illusion. We are as wise as the last weather report. We have no control over the future and perhaps we would be wise to acknowledge this. What we have is this present moment. It is in this moment that we can laugh with joy, or comfort a friend. What we need to know is not what will happen. We need to know how we will choose to live.

         Moses tells the people to expect a prophet. We think of prophets as having a kind of inside knowledge about God (they do.) Mostly, we are amazed at their ability to know the future. They know when the world will end, or when the messiah will return. People are willing to follow the wisdom of prophets, but is this what they are sent for? Moses describes a person who speaks God’s words. Once in a while, God speaks a message about the future through a prophet. Mostly these are words of comfort or warning. The words are not about dates or times. God is not interested in us knowing the exact deadline. God wants us to change, so that we might live good and faithful lives. The warning comes to motivate our change, not to give faithful believers insider information.

         The test of the prophet is the truth of what happens. This may be as simple as correct details. The work or the prophet is greater – to tell us how to live. If we are faithful, we live in relationship with God, and we are blessed. If we move away from God, we are lost and troubled. This is the truth of the prophets. In Moses’ time as in our own, there are always “prophets” who are willing to tell us what we want to hear. There are endless commentators and pundits who will tell a story to make political friends or to gain an audience. I fear they often set truth aside to tell a story that they know will be accepted.

         Jesus speaks the truth about God. He does not appeal to ancient commentators or the wisdom of those who came before him. He does not appeal to popular sensibilities. In this sense he is not like the speakers of our day. He speaks what he knows. We might admire his frankness and I believe that this is the attitude of many of the crowd who heard him. Jesus doesn’t speak truth to shake things up or to make people pay attention. Jesus speaks directly to show us that we too can have a direct relationship with God.

         Jesus speaks truth in a way we recognize. He doesn’t report facts. He doesn’t even very often make a convincing argument. He speaks truth directly to our hearts. He speaks what is true. He tells us what we really need to know. He shows us the way to live into this truth.

         In the middle of teaching and healing, a man with a demon – an unclean spirit – rebukes Jesus. We don’t know what this means. It could be demon possession, madness, or some kind of other worldly manifestation of evil that is alien to us. This demon knows who Jesus is. In that world of magic, the demon tries to hold power over Jesus by knowing his name and knowing his source. It won’t work. Jesus is not bound by any arcane rules of magical power. Jesus is the Son of God. He defeats the strength of darkness. With a word the man is cured.

         We think we have no part in this. Jesus is the healer. He has the power and wisdom to speak God’s words and to transform the world. We are not divine – we are creatures of God’s making. We know the story yet we forget our part in it. We are also disciples. We are also children of God. We have received God’s spirit in just the way that Moses wished for his people so many years before.

         We live in a time of half-truths and ignorance. We wonder if anyone will tell us what is really going on. We forget what we already know. In the letter to the Corinthians, Paul doesn’t appeal to what is right or what is wrong. Paul urges the church to do what they know to be right. The church in Corinth was full of strong believers. One source for food was the local temples – food that had been offered to idols was sold again to anyone who would buy it. Many Christians knew it was only food. Some believers who had recently been converted still struggled with giving up their idols. Paul does not argue the theology. Paul urges the strong Christians to take care of the weak and not do anything to hurt their sisters or brothers.

         We are responsible for the truth of our story. We are responsible for the truth of our speech. Jesus has saved us. Jesus has also empowered us to live the true life. This is what it means to be righteous. We live our lives as close as possible with the ideal of God.

         This seems impossible for us. We cannot correct ourselves in such a way that we are perfect. What we can do is live our lives in relationship with God, seeking the truth and seeking to follow ever closer as the way is revealed to us. The test is how the story comes out. Is it true? Do our neighbors know the truth of God’s love by the way we live? Do we encourage and help one another along the way. Are we transformed into God’s love?

         There is no test we must pass. We are simply living the life of faith. We love, we risk, and we try again. We discern God’s way and as we follow we show the truth of it.

January 18, 2nd Sunday after Epiphany

         In this season after epiphany, we recall how Jesus is revealed to the world. We hear stories about revelation – the ways in which God is made known to us – in our old stories and on our own journey with God. The famous stories remind us how God surprises us. Just when we thought that everything was going from bad to worse – God breaks in and changes everything. This reminder is heartening. God can change the most difficult circumstance. It can also be off-putting. We assume that God performs miracles only in special times with special people. So where does that leave us?

         We live in an age of anxiety. We live in a fast changing culture. The future is not at all certain. We are obsessed with what we have lost and what we lack. Somehow, we also know this is not the whole story. We know how far we have come. There are all sorts of improvements to our lives and our world. In the past, we could project a positive vision of the direction things were moving toward. Now we have no idea what will happen next.

         Samuel is a blessed child, brought to the service of God through a miraculous story. His mother, Hannah, was unable to have children. She endured shame and humiliation until her prayers were answered. Samuel, the answer to prayer was given back to God to serve with Eli in the temple (which was still a tend in those days.) Eli ignored the sins of his sons. They used their position to get bribes and sexual favors. The spiritual life of the temple was not healthy. In this uncertainty, in a time of shame and failure, Samuel hears the voice of God. It turns out to be bad news for Eli, but the beginning of new life for the people of God.

         Samuel listens. The disciples also are listening and looking. We often accept the stories of the calling of the disciples as a kind of magnetism. Jesus sort of walks by and we assume that the crowds simply gathered around him. If we pay attention, what we see is a conversation. Jesus calls Philip. His response is to look for Nathaniel. In their conversation, Nathaniel expresses his doubt, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” He takes second look. He sees the messiah.

         What do you see? What do you hear? Are we stuck where Nathaniel begins, “Can anything good be found here?” When we hear the stories of God’s revelation we can become passive, waiting for the miracle we don’t expect to see anymore. The noise of all our worries fills our ears. We can only see what used to be and what we fear will never change. We can be distracted. This is the sin of our age. We are not tempted to sin. We are tempted to busyness. We are surrounded by so many opportunities and we are exhausted by all the things we should or ought or need to do. No wonder we despair that we will never have enough.

         Epiphany is not about what we do. It is not even only about the few miraculous revelations of God. We are shown these miracles to open up our vision and to unplug our ears. We do not need a guiding star. We don’t need a personal miracle form Jesus himself. God is always at work. God is always creating and transforming our world. Do we see it? Do we hear the voice of God?

         I don’t expect anyone hears special messages directly from God. We would wonder about our sanity. The same goes with miraculous visions. How do we then hear and see God in our ordinary lives? We show up and we pay attention.

         This is a change in perspective. The world seems to offer us an endless stream of news and noise. We choose where to rest our eyes and we choose which voices to listen to. We can turn off the TV and turn off the computer. These can be a form of escape anyway. We can make the choice and take the time to look around us and see the people in our lives and pay attention to what is really going on around us.

         This is not yet another thing to do. This is about choosing what we do and how we do it. The media is entertaining, but it isn’t real. The news we see is very compelling, but it doesn’t show us real people. In this dark and cold season of the year we can be convinced that there is nothing to see and everything is dead. Yet God is at work, transforming the natural world so that is can break out in a more glorious spring.

         This is what we can see. This is what we can hear. God is quietly working in each of our lives. Who has a new baby? Who is being healed of a disease? Who is starting a new job, or making a new home? As we go deeper, who is living through grief or loss? Who is learning how to raise their children? Who is falling in love? Life is tremendously rich and deep. There is a lot going on under the snow and ice. God is working in all of it.

         I’m not asking any of you to be better people. You don’t have to give up a thing (or correct any moral weaknesses.) Jesus is already here. God is working all around us. The Holy Spirit is always speaking to us and quietly nudging us in the right direction. Show up. Take part in life. Savor it. Drink it in deeply. Pay attention to what is happening around you. Don’t be afraid of the pain you will see and the pain you might feel. This is where God works. This is how we know God.

The Second Sunday after Christmas

         What do we make of Joseph? He always seems to be on the outside of the story looking in. He gets no beautiful song to sing. He seems to have nothing but orders to obey, and pretty tough ones at that. In our tradition, he’s the nice guy who sticks around while everyone else gets all the attention. He becomes stiff and old in our minds: an old man who does the right thing and exits the stage as soon as we don’t need him anymore.

         Tradition assumes that he’s an old man, kind and hard working. In our historical rush to lift up Mary, we seem to leave Joseph down on the ground. Maybe we think he is old because he isn’t around to see Jesus as an adult. Maybe we think he’s old because all of the brothers and sisters of Jesus must be Joseph’s children through another marriage – if we believe that Mary had no children except Jesus.

         If we think about Joseph, we remember him steadying Mary on the donkey on the road to Bethlehem. Maybe we bury a statue of Joseph in the garden to help sell our house. He’s a character actor with a bit part. He moves off the stage and is forgotten.

         Joseph is a dreamer, much like his name’s sake. In Genesis, Joseph is the favorite child who irritates his brothers with his big dreams. He imagines himself as better, smarter, and favored over his brothers. His pride and their anger lead him into slavery and much suffering in Egypt. Later, God uses Joseph’s dreams and interpretations to save Egypt and Joseph’s family in Canaan.

         There are many ways to read the story of Joseph in Genesis. It is a story of pride and humility and repentance. It is a story of God’s dream for us and for God’s people. It is a story of integrity and about how to live rightly through suffering and blessing. It is a story about family – favorites and grudges, fights and reconciliation. It is a story about how hatred can turn to sadness and can, even then, turn to joy and new hope. It is a story about the stories we tell to make sense of what has happened to us.

         There is more to Joseph in the gospels than as an extra in the Christmas pageant. He has dreams. He listens to the voice of God. He is open to what God suggests. He does not insist on his own plan or his own needs. What were these dreams? In the gospel we hear dream after dream after dream. Were they commands? Visions? Urgings? Gut feelings? The time is compressed. I suspect they were really quite spaced apart. I suspect that Joseph had to have an open heart and an open ear to hear what God was offering.

         This is in opposition to what else is going on in the story. The reason for all this movement and travel is the angry and fearful actions of Herod. To shorten the story we don’t hear about Herod’s plan to use the wise men to find Jesus (the king of the Jews.) We don’t hear today about Herod’s plan to massacre all the newborn boys in Bethlehem to kill God’s true heir. Herod does not dream, nor does he listen. He makes his plans and acts with haste.

         Like Joseph in the ancient Hebrew story, human plans do not thwart the will of God. The fear and greed of his brothers do not stop God’s plan. The desire and pride of Potiphar’s wife does not stop God’s plan. In staying true to God, Joseph learns the will of God and he can be used by God for great good. In the same way, the gospel Joseph is obedient and ready to take whatever next step God offers.

         We are not part of this kind of miraculous and epic story. God does not speak to us through angels to announce some unexpected plan of world salvation. In other ways we are more privileged than Joseph. We know the whole story. We have already been saved. We are not told what to do. God’s spirit dwells in us to enable us to do what we know already to be right.

         We may know the end of God’s story and we have hope of God’s fulfillment. Like Joseph, we do not know the end of our story. We do not know where we will be tomorrow. We do not know how we will cope with the difficulties of our day. We too are surrounded by strong forces outside of our control.

         Joseph is the righteous man, the stand up guy. He is the stepfather, taking on the responsibility to raise another’s child. He is the hard worker who does what he has to do (if not always what he wants to do.) He is willing to move on to what needs to happen next. He reminds us that there are commitments bigger than our own personal need. It’s not about him (or his own family, or his pride.) Joseph pays attention. He does what he needs to do. He gets out of the way.

         There is no obvious reward for this. We want to be recognized by our good deeds, and often we are not. How often are parents rewarded for staying up late with a child? How often are spouses rewarded for moving to a new home for the sake of the family? We don’t mean to take each other for granted. It’s just that as soon as we do the right thing, there’s something else we have to do.

         So we should thank each other for the good we do. We should also take heart that life is not about rewards. It’s all about living the right way, because it’s what we do. God blesses this. There might not be much fanfare but it is just this way that God saves the world.