Worship, Sunday, January 16, 2011

Worship for Sunday, January 16, 2011

The Second Sunday in Epiphanytide

Theme: Come and See

O God,

you spoke your word and revealed your good news in Jesus, the Christ.
Fill all creation with that word again, so that by proclaiming your love to all nations
and singing of your glorious hope to all peoples,
we may become one living body--your presence on the earth.

We thank you for redeeming life through redeeming lives. We especially thank you today for the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. We thank you for his legacy of loving others--even those who would hate us.

We thank you for the life of Mary Delp, who elevated us with music and inspired us with her tenacious fight for life. Now that she can fight no longer, we pray that you will comfort those who grieve her loss--and all who grieve.

We thank you for new life in the tiny person of Piper Reining. Let us never fail to be in awe of life.

Bring healing to all wounds,
make whole all that is broken,
speak truth to all illusion,
and shed light in every darkness, God of every land and nation,
you have created all people
and you dwell among us in Jesus Christ.
Listen to the cries of those who pray to you,
and grant that, as we proclaim the greatness of your name,
all people will know the power of love at work in the world.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

John 1:35-42

35The next day, John was there again, and two of his followers were with him. 36When he saw Jesus walking by, he said, "Here is the Lamb of God!" 37John's two followers heard him, and they went with Jesus.

38When Jesus turned and saw them, he asked, "What do you want?"

They answered, "Rabbi, where do you live?" The Hebrew word "Rabbi" means "Teacher."

39Jesus replied, "Come and see!" It was already about four o'clock in the afternoon when they went with him and saw where he lived. So they stayed on for the rest of the day.

40One of the two men who had heard John and had gone with Jesus was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother and tell him, "We have found the Messiah!" The Hebrew word "Messiah" means the same as the Greek word "Christ."

42Andrew brought his brother to Jesus. And when Jesus saw him, he said, "Simon son of John, you will be called Cephas." This name can be translated as "Peter."

“Come and See”

This is the story of Andrew.

But, I’m going to tell it backward.

The General Board of the newly constituted Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) was seeking a new symbol for the church--something that could serve to easily identify our churches and that would say something about us.

The story is told that Bob Friedly, who later would edit two different Disciples magazines (and who’s also from New Orleans), sat down to lunch in September of 1970 with Ronald Osborn, a Disciples Historian who was a dear friend of mine up until his death in Oregon a dozen or so years back. The legend goes that Ronald began drawing on his placemat with a red felt tip pen. He drew a chalice with a a St, Andrews cross on it. Another version of the story is that it was not lunchtime, and the thing was drawn on a bar napkin.

At any rate, the crude drawing was sent immediately a commercial artist. The logo went around the church like wildfire, becoming adopted as our symbol even before the General Assembly made it official the next year.

Why a St. Andrews cross? The Chalice was an easy choice--we are known throughout the wider church for our weekly-if-not-more-frequent gatherings at the table. But why St. Andrews?

Osborn said the idea came to him in a couple of ways. The early leaders of our movement were all Scots, giving us historic ties to Scotland. And Andrew is often called the “First Evangelist,” which we’ll get to in a moment. At that time, and even earlier in our history, we prided ourselves on evangelism. More on that, later, too.

Around the tenth century, St. Andrew became the patron saint of Scotland. Some centuries before, some relics, that is body parts were taken there and the church in Scotland is deeply rooted in Andrew’s lore.

Speaking of Andrew’s lore, the traditions hold that Andrew left the middle east after Jesus’ ascension to go and preach the Gospel in what is now Eastern Europe--Ukraine, Romania, Russia, Georgia, the Island of Malta, and Greece, where he was martyred for his evangelistic efforts.

So, the legend goes that he deemed himself unworthy to die on a cross similar to Jesus’, and was bound to an X-shaped cross, from which he preached for three days before dying.

In the Gospel of John, Andrew appears three times--and each time he is an evangelist as he is bringing someone to Jesus.

In the last reference to Andrew--in the 12^th chapter--some Greeks who were in Jerusalem for Passover, and they wanted to see Jesus. They went to Philip and then Philip went to Andrew, then the two of them went to tell Jesus. Interesting that Philip and Andrew were the only real Greek names among the Disciples. Maybe that made the Greeks comfortable in asking them to help them get to Jesus.

In his second appearance in John’s gospel, the merry band of followers of Jesus had gone out across the Sea of Galilee, and a crowd gathered, because people were hearing about Jesus, and wanting to be around him. John tells it that there were 5,000 folk there--not counting the women and children, because in those days, women and children didn’t count.

Jesus wonders how they are going to feed these people--probably closer to 20,000. Philip figures it would take a year’s pay to buy enough food--that is if you could find a deli open. And Andrew pipes up, “Uh, there’s this kid over here with a lunch box--whaddya got--five fish and two pieces of bread. No, five loaves, two fish.”

He brings the boy to Jesus, and something miraculous happens.

Today’s scripture is the first appearance of Andrew in the Gospel of John. Andrew asks Jesus, “where do you live?”

And Jesus replies, “Come and see.”

Andrew spends a day with Jesus, probably just walking around, because Jesus didn’t own a house--or even an apartment.

Andrew then performs the very first act of evangelism--he runs to his brother Peter and says, “we have found him! Come and see!”

The late great Sri Lankan missionary David Niles once described evangelism as simply, “one beggar telling another where to find bread.”

I’ve told you before that I have a personal goal to invite at least one person to church every week. Friday I was at breakfast with Denny and invited three people--so I can coast for a couple of weeks.

Come and see what we’re doing a First Christian Church. Come and meet some really nice people. Come and hear our amazing organist. Come and listen to fantastic preaching.

No. I invite them so that they can come and see Jesus. So that we as a body, can invite them to experience Christ in our midst. Come and see--come and meet Jesus at 3^rd and Bowman.

Andrew encountered Jesus, and nothing could stop him from running and telling his brother that the Messiah was here!

There’s a lot of folks in our community who are hungry--and I don’t just mean the folks that were here in our fellowship hall yesterday. Those folks were hungry! But, they are also hungry for the bread of life. And we, as the spiritual descendants of Andrew, are given the task to run and tell everyone we can--come and see. Come and see what we’ve found--together in this place.

What do you think?

If Jesus could feed twenty thousand with a picnic lunch, imagine what he can do with our tithes and offerings!

Dearest God, you have given us so much. We bring this gifts to you that you might multiply them, use them, and use us to bring your kingdom of love and justice to bear on this world. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

And now in our going,

may God bless and keep us.

may the light of God shine upon us

and out from within us

and be gracious unto us

and give us peace

and the will to practice peace.

For this is the day we are given;

these are the lives we are given.

Let us rejoice in the miracle that it is so.

Amen.

Worship, January 2, 2011

Worship for Sunday, January 2, 2011

The Epiphany of our Lord

Theme: Revealed to the Whole World

1^st Lesson: Ephesians 3:1-12

3:1 Christ Jesus made me his prisoner, so that I could help you Gentiles. 2You have surely heard about God's kindness in choosing me to help you. 3In fact, this letter tells you a little about how God has shown me his mysterious ways. 4As you read the letter, you will also find out how well I really do understand the mystery about Christ. 5No one knew about this mystery until God's Spirit told it to his holy apostles and prophets. 6And the mystery is this: Because of Christ Jesus, the good news has given the Gentiles a share in the promises that God gave to the Jews. God has also let the Gentiles be part of the same body.

7God treated me with kindness. His power worked in me, and it became my job to spread the good news. 8I am the least important of all God's people. But God was kind and chose me to tell the Gentiles that because of Christ there are blessings that cannot be measured. 9God, who created everything, wanted me to help everyone understand the mysterious plan that had always been hidden in his mind. 10Then God would use the church to show the powers and authorities in the spiritual world that he has many different kinds of wisdom.

11God did this according to his eternal plan. And he was able to do what he had planned because of all that Christ Jesus our Lord had done. 12Christ now gives us courage and confidence, so that we can come to God by faith.

Morning Prayers

O God of light and peace, whose glory, shining in the child of Bethlehem, still draws the nations to yourself:

dispel the darkness that shrouds our path, that we may come to kneel before Christ in true worship, offer him our hearts and souls,

and return from his presence to live as he has taught.

God of revelation,

as we gather in praise for the gracious mystery of your Son, we remember the many needs of your church and your world.

We pray for:

· the sick

· those who grieve

· those who govern

· those who serve

· those whose resources are not enough

· those who do not know your belonging

Guide us on the path of salvation, O God,

that the radiance and power of your Holy Spirit

working in the world will gather together all peoples and nations in one community

to offer you worship and proclaim your splendor. Amen.

Second Lesson: Matthew 2:1-12

When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men^a from the east came to Jerusalem ²and said, "Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east^b and have come to worship him."
³When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. ⁴Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, "Where will the Messiah be born?"
⁵They told him, "He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,
⁶'Bethlehem in the land of Judea,
you are very important among the towns of Judea.
From your town will come a leader,
who will be like a shepherd for my people Israel.' "
⁷Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. ⁸He told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I want to go and worship him too."
⁹The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰They were thrilled and excited to see the star.
¹¹When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh^c and gave them to him. ¹²Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.

About ten years ago, our family visited the Mashantucket Pequot museum in Connecticut. The Pequot tribe was nearly wiped off the face of the earth by Kate’s ancestors, but they got even. They built what is now one of the five biggest casinos in the world called Foxwoods.

And they took a tiny billion or two from what they’ve taken back from us and built this massive museum to tell the story of their tribe. When you have your own museum, you can tell the story any way you want.

About twenty five years ago, Kate and I went to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas. When you have your own library, you get to tell the story any way you want. The war in Vietnam can be depicted as a “disappointment.”

There’s a Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle which tells the story of the settling of the Northwest by Scandinavians, and a National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia--both designed to recount the history of America in their own way.

An article this past week in the New York Times by Edward Rothstein describes an even more recent trend in the “me, me, me,” museum and exhibit syndrome. There’s now an exhibit at the New York Hall of Science on Muslim inventions. And a new exhibit on the ruins of the original “President’s House” in Philadelphia retells the story of the first ten years of the Presidency of the United States from the perspective of the slaves who were owned by George Washington.

Please hear me: I think it’s absolutely crucial for us to hear these voices which may have been silenced or muted in the past--after all, it is winners who write the official version of history. We need to hear the stories of the non-winners--the folks on the margins.

The problem then becomes not which is true, but what “center” is it that holds us all together?

Paul, in the Ephesian letter before us today looks at the incarnation of God in flesh as the center that holds everything together. God chose the nation of Israel to be a “light to the nations.”

In other words, Abraham and his descendants were chosen--not because they were “special,” but for the mission of showing God’s love to the rest of the world. But, the plan failed miserably--or if you’re a predestinarian-gone-to-seed, like some folks I know, the failure of that plan was intended by God to pave the way for Jesus to come into the world.

Either way, the Epiphany of Our Lord, and the reading from Matthew which is associated with it are significant. What they signify is the revelation, the revealing, of Christ to the whole world.

The tradition of the church is that the first “foreign missionaries” are the magi who came with gifts to Joseph and Mary’s home in Bethlehem. While we don’t know their number, we sing “We Three Kings” because three gifts were described. And we have given the three magi names and assigned them to the corners of the earth. The tradition is that they left Bethlehem after worshiping the babe and scattered to the North, East, and South of the known world--telling the story of God-in-flesh--God With Us.

While we can’t know the objective facts of this event, we can look at the significance. In this event, as Paul describes it, the whole world (Gentiles--eqnasin--which literally means others as in other nations) is now a part of the body that is connected to God. The promises of God, made to the Jewish people, are now the promises to everyone.

In Galatians, Paul sums it up in one sentence, “²⁸Faith in Christ Jesus is what makes each of you equal with each other, whether you are a Jew or a Greek, a slave or a free person, a man or a woman. ²⁹So if you belong to Christ, you are now part of Abraham's family, and you will be given what God has promised.”

In other words, this Epiphany event was supposed to unify the world--so that no matter how we tell our own stories, Jesus Our Christ is at the center of them all.

So why should care and think about this? We often think of this event as compelling us to bring our gifts to the Christ child. That’s fine, but we should consider this: we are the eqnasin--the others the Gentiles. We are the recipients of the gifts of the magi, in that we are those to whom Christ had been revealed. We not only know of Jesus Christ, but have been brought into the family of God through him.

So, the greatest gift we can give to Christ is to continue the spreading of the Good News--to take the joy of the magi and continue to share it with a world that is hurting. We are called to Bethlehem (here) to see the child, and then to go joyfully into the world (out there) to continue to reveal the Good News to the whole world and parts of Ohio.

But, talk is cheap. The Pequots, the Indian nation with the casino and museum we started our sermon with, were told the Good News by the Christians who came into their territory four centuries ago. But, very few of them became Christians--because in their view, those who called themselves by Christ’s name were not very Christ-like. Christians, at least as the Pequots saw them, didn’t act like Christians.

Talk is cheap. Mohandas Gandi, whom the Indian people gave the title Mahatma, was a follower of Jesus Christ--yet he never became a Christian. Why? Because he knew too many of us.

Talk is cheap. Malcolm Little was the son of a minister who didn’t see that being Christian made people better. He ended up embracing Islam and became known as Malcolm X.

There’s a whole bunch of people out there--hurting people--who need to have Jesus revealed to them. The magi and Paul are dead and gone. That leaves us--not only to tell this wonderful story of Jesus--but to live it out. To let the Christ-Child be so embodied in us that our lives will show our neighbors that Christianity is not made up of empty words, but of changed lives.

What difference does it make to you that Jesus has been revealed to you--by Magi, scripture, church? What difference does it make in your life?

What do you think--or maybe, what do your neighbors think?

For today’s offering, cash or checks preferred, gold accepted. Frankincense and myrrh, not so much.

Instead of gold and frankincense and myrrh, we bring to you, O God, the treasures you have first given to us - our hearts, minds and bodies, to be used in your service. We offer these gifts - of money and our lives - as signs of our total giving, praying that they will be used to herald the coming of your kingdom. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

The Light has pierced our darkness.

Go in the name of God -

Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, to follow that

light.