Manifestation: Teacher Jesus

This week we take on part of Luke's Sermon on the Plain (likely the same event as the one found in Matthew and more commonly called the sermon on the Mount). For this week, we focus on the Blessings and the Woes found in Luke 6:17-26, though I intentionally used a different translation of the text that doesn't use the more familiar language (I used the Common English Bible to set up the sermon this week; see the text here).

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Over the last few weeks following our celebration of Jesus’ birth, we have been focusing on the manifestation of Jesus - on Jesus being revealed to the world as the Son of God. We have had heavenly pronouncements, visitors from far off lands, miracles, and earthly proclamations. We have heard that Jesus is a powerful teacher and healer whose fame is growing as he travels the region. We have seen his prophetic claim to be the Messiah, the one foretold by scripture to come from God and turn the world around. And in between the stories that we have read in worship, Jesus can be found healing those on the margins of society or arguing with the religious leaders about the best ways to follow scripture. And on at least one occasion he does both at the same time - healing a man on the Sabbath and then arguing with religious leaders about whether or not that is appropriate.

But until today, we have not directly seen his teaching ourselves. It has been suggested in the stories we have heard, and we have been able to make some guesses based on what we have read. But it is in today’s text that we finally get to see what it is Jesus is teaching that was causing his fame to spread. And what we find is a message that is just as challenging to us today as it was to the people of his time.

Manifestation: Fishing with Jesus

This week in the Gospel of Luke, we meet Jesus at the end of a disappointing fishing trip (Luke 5.1-11). So we talk a little about Scouting and reflect on being prepared vs. being willing and how our willingness to go in new directions is another form of preparation.

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Many years ago when I was about the same age as my oldest son is now, I began my Scouting journey. I spent a few years in the Cub Scout Pack at the United Methodist Church I attended. Then I followed a couple of friends to a local Boy Scout Troop when we were old enough, eventually going on to become an Eagle Scout. After reaching the age of 18, I became a leader first in my local troop before eventually going on to serve as both a professional Scouter for a time as well as a district volunteer for several years.

Through Scouting, I learned various skills that would serve me well over the years – I met other boys from various backgrounds with different experiences; I developed leadership skills; I further grew in my love of nature; and I began to the explore the relationship between faith and service to others that eventually led me to seminary and to ordination in The United Methodist Church.

Of course, one of my key learnings is embodied in the motto shared by both the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts – Be Prepared. There are many ways to interpret this saying. Sometimes we think of it as physical preparedness, that we should always have tools on hand to assist us in any situation. We see this in our response to anticipated bad weather as we flock to stores to make sure we have enough food on hand or as we stock our cars with implements such as road flares and blankets in the event of an emergency while driving.

Other times we think of this as mental preparedness. We prepare ourselves for emergencies by making certain we have the training necessary to address a potential situation, such as first aid or CPR training or the development of an evacuation plan in the event of a fire or other emergency at home or work. But mental preparedness also means having the ability to adjust to changing circumstances, especially those that you have not explicitly planned for or that perhaps run counter to accepted common wisdom.

As our communities change around us, for good or ill, how do we begin to adjust and adapt to those changes? This is part of what it means to Be Prepared as well.

Manifestation: Prophetic Jesus

Over the last few weeks, we have had several miraculous and divine revelations of Christ to the world:

• The angel announces the coming of Jesus to Mary. 
• A choir of angels announces the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. 
• A star proclaims the divine birth and guides a group of Magi from the east. 
• The Holy Spirit descends on Jesus while a voice from heaven claims Jesus as the Beloved Son.
• Jesus turns the water into wine at a wedding feast.

Each of these events reveals Jesus as the Son of God to different groups of people through some sort of mysterious act of power. Messengers from heaven are not nearly as common as we would like to believe; the accounts of angels in the bible are relatively few and are often separated by many years from one another. We can no more follow a star to a specific location than we can follow a rainbow to a pot of gold. And someone who could turn water into wine would be a huge hit at parties.

But today’s revelation takes a far simpler form. There is no choir of angels, no voice from heaven, and no miracle. Today we hear that Jesus has started to teach in the synagogues. Where John had preached in the wilderness, Jesus meets people where they are. He brings his powerful teaching into the synagogues, and the people praise him for the teaching that he offers to them. As he continues throughout Galilee, reports of his ministry are spreading throughout the area.

Manifestation: An Ordinary Jesus

A reflection on the Wedding at Cana for the Second Sunday after the Epiphany.

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"Mawwiage! Mawwiage is what bwings us together today." 

Well, maybe not us, but a wedding is the setting for today's reading, a reading which follows the trajectory we have been on since Christmas. You see, shortly after Christmas each year, much of the larger church celebrates Epiphany on January 6. Technically Epiphany is celebrated as a single day, but we count the Sundays following Epiphany until Lent begins as the Sundays after Epiphany (though some traditions do think of this as the season of Epiphany).

Throughout this season following Epiphany, we focus on much the same theme as the one introduced on Epiphany - the manifestation or revelation of Christ to the world. On Epiphany Sunday, we hear about the visit of the Magi. We hear how these wise ones from other lands to the east come to see the newly born king of the Jews. They are not Jewish themselves, they followed a completely different tradition. But they knew that the one foretold by the star would be one of great importance to the entire world.

And so Jesus was revealed to strangers from another land.

Last week, we celebrated the Baptism of the Lord, the day that Jesus was baptized. We heard how the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and a voice from heaven claimed Jesus as the Beloved Son.

And so Jesus was revealed to those in the crowds that day.

Today we have a revelation of a different sort. Jesus is at a wedding with his mother and some of his disciples. While they are there, the host runs out of wine for the guests. Mary makes a point of telling Jesus.

Now I am trying to imagine being at a wedding and having my mother tell me they are out of wine. I imagine my response would not be too different from Jesus’ initial reaction - what does that have to do with me?

Manifestation: Jesus is Baptized

Now that I will be preaching most weeks, many more of my posts will be slightly retooled versions of my weekly sermons. I will still have other ideas to share that will not appear in my sermons. But for now, most posts will be based on sermons. On the plus side, for those that may be paying attention, this means more regular posts.

This post is based on my first sermon in the new congregation preached on Baptism of the Lord Sunday, 2019. Beginning with this sermon and continuing until Lent, I will be focusing on the Manifestation of Christ and the various ways in which Christ becomes known in the world.

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Every January just a few weeks after Christmas, many churches celebrate the Baptism of the Lord. This is a day of celebrating not only the fact of his Baptism, but also one of the moments of Christ's revelation to the world. The gospel readings for this celebration rotate through the first three gospels in the New Testament, each of which attest to this moment in Christ's life.

In the Gospel of Luke, we have just five verses appointed for the day (Luke 3:15-17, 21-22), which seems like not very much for our commemoration of the day that Jesus was baptized. Obviously we are stepping into the middle of a story. “As the people were filled with expectation…” doesn’t exactly tell us much about where the story has been, only where it is going.