The sermon text for this week (Acts 3:12-19) is a speech which follows on the heals of a miraculous healing. God has just worked through Peter and John to heal a man who had been lame from birth and sat at the Temple gate every day begging. As the man stands to his feet for the first time in his life, a crowd quickly begins to form, amazed at what has just taken place.
As I think about this man standing up and the crowd quickly closing in to see what had happened, I wonder what I would have done in that situation. If God worked through me to heal someone, how would I respond? To be honest, I'm not sure I would really be prepared for that. I think I would be just as astonished as the crowd that was forming and I probably wouldn't know what to say. My intentions and actions would probably wander back and forth between wanting to stay and enjoy the adulation of the crowd and wanting to slip away, trying to remain unnoticed until I could wrap my mind around what had just happened.
But Peter, the same Peter who couldn't confess his association with Jesus during his trial, doesn't hesitate here. As soon as he sees the crowd gathering, he immediately begins to turn the attention away from John and himself and toward God and his servant Jesus. Peter declares boldly that it was not because of any power or piety on his or John's part that this man was healed. It was because of God's action in Jesus' name that he was made whole. In fact, Peter (and Luke as the writer) goes to such great pains to make it clear that this is done through Jesus' name that the sentence structure of v. 16 becomes very awkward. The Greek sentence reads something like this; "And through the faith of his name, this man whom you see and know, being strengthened by his name and the faith on account of him has given to him this complete health before all of you." It is as if Peter is tripping over his own words in an attempt to make it abundantly clear that this is done through Jesus' name. Peter's entire speech in these verses points away from himself and toward the crucified and resurrected Jesus.
I often think of the Book of Acts as a series of stories or snapshots that give us insight into what it means to be the Church; a kind of narrative ecclesiology. In Peter's speech, Luke gives us another glimpse of what it means to be the Church: a community who is constantly pointing away from ourselves and toward the story of Jesus and thereby inviting others to become a part of that story as well.
Monday, April 20, 2009
2009 Annual Report
Yesterday we had our Annual Church Meeting and Elections here at our church. You can listen to the podcast of my Annual Report on the player below or you can read the written text of the report by clicking here.
Monday, April 13, 2009
New Hope for a New Season
Lord, we have been to the cross. We have see you beaten and buried. We have felt the grief of abandonment while you lay in the grave. But now, Lord, fill us with the hope you your resurrection. Help us to see in our broken world glimpses of your new creation. May the new life that you give flow through our veins even now as we live in the dawning light of your glorious kingdom. Teach us what it means to live as disciples of the crucified and resurrected Lord.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
A Song for Good Friday
With good reason, we often remember Good Friday with an eye toward Easter Sunday morning. We know that today is not the end of the story and without the resurrection, Jesus' death would mean little or nothing.
But there is also a sense in which we need to see Good Friday for what it is in itself, apart from Easter. Today is a day that signifies everything that is wrong with out world; a world so rampant and overwhelmed by sin that we put to death our own God and crucified our own savior. Today is a day for reflecting on the pain and suffering that exists all around us; a day for remembering the bruised and broken for whom Christ himself became broken and poured out.
This is a song that often helps me to do just that. (The video is supposed to be just a black screen. The lyrics are provided below.)
The Blues by Switchfoot
Is this the New Year or just another night?
Is this the new fear or just another fright?
Is this the new tear or just another desperation?
Is this the finger or just another fist?
Is this the kingdom or just a hit n' miss?
I miss direction, most in all this desperation.
Is this what they call freedom?
Is this what you call pain?
Is this what they call discontented fame?
It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
I'm singing this one like a broken piece of glass,
From broken hearts and broken noses in the back.
Is this the New Year or just another desperation?
You push until you're shoving
You bend until you break
Do you stand on the broken fields where your fathers lay?
It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in (yeah)
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
Is nothing here worth saving?
Is no one here at all?
Is there any net left that could break our fall?
It'll be a day like this one
When the sky falls down and the hungry and poor and deserted are found.
Are you discontented? Have you been pushing hard?
Have you been throwing down this broken house of cards?
It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
Is there nothing left now?
Nothing left to sing?
Are there any left who haven't kissed the enemy?
Is this the New Year or just another desperation?
yeah, yeah
Does justice never find you? Do the wicked never lose?
Is there any honest song to sing besides these blues?
And nothing is okay
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
But there is also a sense in which we need to see Good Friday for what it is in itself, apart from Easter. Today is a day that signifies everything that is wrong with out world; a world so rampant and overwhelmed by sin that we put to death our own God and crucified our own savior. Today is a day for reflecting on the pain and suffering that exists all around us; a day for remembering the bruised and broken for whom Christ himself became broken and poured out.
This is a song that often helps me to do just that. (The video is supposed to be just a black screen. The lyrics are provided below.)
The Blues by Switchfoot
Is this the New Year or just another night?
Is this the new fear or just another fright?
Is this the new tear or just another desperation?
Is this the finger or just another fist?
Is this the kingdom or just a hit n' miss?
I miss direction, most in all this desperation.
Is this what they call freedom?
Is this what you call pain?
Is this what they call discontented fame?
It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
I'm singing this one like a broken piece of glass,
From broken hearts and broken noses in the back.
Is this the New Year or just another desperation?
You push until you're shoving
You bend until you break
Do you stand on the broken fields where your fathers lay?
It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in (yeah)
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
Is nothing here worth saving?
Is no one here at all?
Is there any net left that could break our fall?
It'll be a day like this one
When the sky falls down and the hungry and poor and deserted are found.
Are you discontented? Have you been pushing hard?
Have you been throwing down this broken house of cards?
It'll be a day like this one
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
When the world caves in
Is there nothing left now?
Nothing left to sing?
Are there any left who haven't kissed the enemy?
Is this the New Year or just another desperation?
yeah, yeah
Does justice never find you? Do the wicked never lose?
Is there any honest song to sing besides these blues?
And nothing is okay
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Until the world caves in
Thursday, April 9, 2009
A Prayer for Maundy Thursday
Our Holy Father,
By your grace, you have sanctified items as common as crushed wheat and grapes.
We pray that by that same grace, you would continue to sanctify us,
A people always common and often crushed,
To be Your Holy people.
In this meal,
May we find ourselves
To be a people gathered in unity around your table
A community centered around and shaped by your broken body and shed blood
Recipients of life in Your New Covenant
Amen.
By your grace, you have sanctified items as common as crushed wheat and grapes.
We pray that by that same grace, you would continue to sanctify us,
A people always common and often crushed,
To be Your Holy people.
In this meal,
May we find ourselves
To be a people gathered in unity around your table
A community centered around and shaped by your broken body and shed blood
Recipients of life in Your New Covenant
Amen.
Monday, April 6, 2009
"and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."
The end of Mark's Gospel is disturbing. At least, what is probably the end of Mark's Gospel is disturbing. If you take a look at the end of Mark, you'll notice that many modern translations print v. 9-20 of chapter sixteen with parentheses, brackets, a footnote, or some other notation to point out that these verses were probably not originally part of the Gospel of Mark. It is thought that some later scribes who were copying Mark's Gospel probably added this verse to give the story a more suitable ending.
Why did these scribes feel they needed to add something to Mark's story about Jesus?
Well, if you read Mark with 16:8 as the ending, the reason becomes apparent. In Mark, similar to the other gospels, the women come to Jesus' tomb only to find that Jesus' body is not there. Instead, there is a man robed in white who tells them not to be afraid but to go and tell the disciples that Jesus is alive and will meet them in Galilee just as he promised. But this is where things get uncomfortable. If Mark ends at 16:8, then there is no record of this promise being fulfilled. Mark doesn't tell us that Jesus ever met with the disciples or that they ever saw him raised to life. In fact, Mark says that the women fled from the tomb for "trembling and astonishment were holding them and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid!"
That can't possibly be the end of the story! It is so unsatisfying. There is no closure. Worse than that, it seems that Jesus, who liberated so many from disease and sickness and was himself apparently liberated from his captivity to death, is unable to liberate three of his own followers from their fear. For Mark portrays their fear as a kind of slavery when he says not simply that they were filled with fear but that "trembling and astonishment were holding them". The story ends with these women held captive and unable to speak. With such an ending, we can begin to see why a scribe may have wanted to add his own more positive and triumphant conclusion.
But maybe that is Mark's point. Maybe in writing such an odd ending, he is inviting us to write our own. Or more precisely, he is inviting us to step into the story and make it our own since the story of Jesus' resurrection does not end with the empty tomb. It is a story continued by the Church. Perhaps Mark anticipates our question of "Wait! How does the story end?" and his response is "You already know and are continually finding out for yourselves because you are the recipients and messengers of this resurrection life."
Or to put it another way, the very existence of Mark's Gospel is testament to the fact that these three women were not held captive by their trembling and astonishment forever. After all, if they had been and they had kept the empty tomb a secret then, at least by Mark's telling of the story, the disciples would have never known about the resurrection. By Mark's account, the resurrection becoming known was entirely dependent upon Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome. Mark could not have written this final chapter and would not have written the rest of his story if Salome, Mary, and Mary were not eventually freed of their fear and able to speak about what they had seen.
Mark is inviting us to see that Jesus continues his mighty acts of liberation even as Mark's own telling of those acts has to come an end.
Why did these scribes feel they needed to add something to Mark's story about Jesus?
Well, if you read Mark with 16:8 as the ending, the reason becomes apparent. In Mark, similar to the other gospels, the women come to Jesus' tomb only to find that Jesus' body is not there. Instead, there is a man robed in white who tells them not to be afraid but to go and tell the disciples that Jesus is alive and will meet them in Galilee just as he promised. But this is where things get uncomfortable. If Mark ends at 16:8, then there is no record of this promise being fulfilled. Mark doesn't tell us that Jesus ever met with the disciples or that they ever saw him raised to life. In fact, Mark says that the women fled from the tomb for "trembling and astonishment were holding them and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid!"
That can't possibly be the end of the story! It is so unsatisfying. There is no closure. Worse than that, it seems that Jesus, who liberated so many from disease and sickness and was himself apparently liberated from his captivity to death, is unable to liberate three of his own followers from their fear. For Mark portrays their fear as a kind of slavery when he says not simply that they were filled with fear but that "trembling and astonishment were holding them". The story ends with these women held captive and unable to speak. With such an ending, we can begin to see why a scribe may have wanted to add his own more positive and triumphant conclusion.
But maybe that is Mark's point. Maybe in writing such an odd ending, he is inviting us to write our own. Or more precisely, he is inviting us to step into the story and make it our own since the story of Jesus' resurrection does not end with the empty tomb. It is a story continued by the Church. Perhaps Mark anticipates our question of "Wait! How does the story end?" and his response is "You already know and are continually finding out for yourselves because you are the recipients and messengers of this resurrection life."
Or to put it another way, the very existence of Mark's Gospel is testament to the fact that these three women were not held captive by their trembling and astonishment forever. After all, if they had been and they had kept the empty tomb a secret then, at least by Mark's telling of the story, the disciples would have never known about the resurrection. By Mark's account, the resurrection becoming known was entirely dependent upon Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Salome. Mark could not have written this final chapter and would not have written the rest of his story if Salome, Mary, and Mary were not eventually freed of their fear and able to speak about what they had seen.
Mark is inviting us to see that Jesus continues his mighty acts of liberation even as Mark's own telling of those acts has to come an end.
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