Sunday, February 23, 2020

Seeing Jesus


A Sermon preached on Feb. 23, 2020 (Last Sunday after Epiphany) at a Family Service at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden
2 Peter 1: 16-21, Matthew 17: 1-9


Who can show me Jesus? Point to some image or picture of him? [e.g. crucifix over altar, pulpit, charred crucifix in entrance] We don’t usually have any other pictures or paintings of Jesus here in our church, except soon, during Lent, when we will put up the paintings we use for the stations of the cross. So, all of our images of Jesus either show him on or have to do with the cross. But that is not the picture of him that is being painted in today’s Gospel reading, the story of the Transfiguration. 

“And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.” (Matthew 17:2) This is the picture of a divine being, almost a being of light, and this godly identity is immediately confirmed by the voice from the bright cloud saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” (17:5). You should know those words, they are the same ones we heard a voice from heaven say at Jesus’ Baptism, (Mt. 3:17) in the Gospel passage read on the first Sunday after the Epiphany. We begin and end the Epiphany season with this revelation about Jesus’ true identity.  And it is on this mountain top, traditionally identified with Mount Tabor in Galilee, that the disciples get to see the fully divine Jesus in all of God’s glory for the first time. 

They have seen him every day, ever since they chose to follow him, and in every act of healing and compassion some of that divinity has shone through. But this is a spectacular confirmation that Jesus is both sent by God and is of God. In the words of the author of the 2nd Letter of Peter: “we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him.” (2 Peter 1:17) A couple of weeks ago we heard Jesus say, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil.” (5:17) The figures of Moses – the Law/Torah – and Elijah – the prophets – who appear at the moment of transfiguration are further evidence that Jesus fulfils both in his person. God first sent the Law, and then the prophets, and now God’s Son.

But actually, the Jesus of the Transfiguration and the Jesus of the Cross are one and the same. Both events are about seeing who and what Jesus is – they reveal something about his nature. And the mountain top transfiguration of Tabor and the hilltop crucifixion of Golgotha are also not as different as they seem. Sure, in one case we have Jesus revealed in glory and as divine, his clothing shining white, flanked by Moses and Elijah, covered by a cloud of light, and with a voice from heaven confirming him as God’s son. In the other case Jesus suffers a shameful death, is naked, flanked by two criminals, and a cloud of darkness covers the land at the moment of his death. Yet at that very moment the centurion echoes God: “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Mt. 27:54) According to the theologian Tom Wright, the Transfiguration allows us to understand and interpret the Crucifixion. We must “learn to see the glory in the cross [and] learn to see the cross in the glory.”[1] As Paul writes, we proclaim Christ crucified and in glory – however foolish that may sound (cf. 1 Cor. 1:23).
Jesus is God, but also a vulnerable, suffering, compassionate God. Jesus is King, Messiah and Lord. And Jesus is fully human, our sibling, and our servant. Jesus is all-powerful and Jesus dies for us. The Jesus of the Transfiguration is important and true, but we must be careful to not get so blinded by that light that we forget the Jesus of the crucifixion, the one who even shares death with us.

But coming back to my opening question, I want to show you another Jesus, right here in this church. You see Jesus shares his divine light with us. In the same passage I quoted earlier, the one about salt and light that we heard two weeks ago, Jesus told his followers: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Mt. 5:16) And later in Matthew’s Gospel he will say “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!” (Mt. 13:43) Listen … the same words we heard from the cloud: This is my Son …. Listen to him! Because this is important. We share in the light of Christ, the same divine light with which Jesus was transfigured. We receive the light to use it just as he did, to give glory to God, and to love and serve one another. Where is Jesus? He is in everyone who serves and who is served. Listen to our Baptismal Covenant: “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?”

I’ll show you Jesus. Turn and face one another. Look at each other. There he is. He is in you. And not just here in this room. Go outside (not yet, after the service, after Communion). Jesus is in anyone and everyone you see, whether they know it or not, and it is our job to let them see Jesus in us and find Jesus in themselves. To quote Thomas Merton:
If we believe in the Incarnation of the Son of God,
There should be no one on earth
In whom we are not prepared to see,
In mystery,
The presence of Christ. Amen.[2]



[1] Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone, 15
[2] New Seeds of Contemplation, 229

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Salt and light


A Sermon preached on Feb. 9, 2020 at Christ the King, Frankfurt
Isaiah 58:1-9a, 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, Matthew 5:13-20


In the gospel reading from Matthew, we hear Jesus compare his followers with salt, “You are the salt of the earth,” (Matt. 5:13) and with light, "You are the light of the world." (5:14) Why those two comparisons, and what do they mean for how we live as followers of Christ? 

According to Pliny the Elder, a Roman writer and contemporary of Jesus: "Nothing is more useful than salt or sunshine."[1] Why are they so important?
Salt, as a seasoning, brings out the flavor in food. At my weekly Bible study one person said it is salt that makes an egg taste of egg: used properly it enhances the existing flavor. Salt also preserves food and was indispensable in all cultures for this purpose before the introduction of refrigeration. Salt was also extremely valuable. The word 'salary' comes from the Latin for salt as Roman soldiers were paid at least in part in salt. And, even though Pliny didn’t know that, on the cellular level in the human body, salt is indispensable for life, since it holds water, without which cells would dehydrate and die.

What about sunshine? The light of the sun makes vision possible and it brings out color. Plant life depends on light for photosynthesis. Light – with water and minerals – makes plants grow. And because light reveals, it is a biblical symbol of revelation – one reason we hear so much about light during the season of Epiphany. The OT often also uses light as a symbol of the shining forth of justice and truth, just as we heard in Isaiah: “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn.” (Isaiah 58:7).

So, there are plenty of precedents for Jesus’s use of salt and light as examples. But he is not just saying that his followers are important, or valuable, although you are, but that we have a particular role to play. Let’s start with salt. We bring out flavor in people, and the flavor we are called to bring out is their full humanity, best expressed in a life lived in relationship of love with God and with one another. In today’s gospel passage Jesus also refers to the law and the prophets, “whoever does them and teaches them,” he says, “will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:19) Much later in Matthew’s Gospel (22:36-40), Jesus teaches that all the law and the prophets can be summed up in the two commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” As “salt of the earth” we are called to model this relationship.

The other use of salt is as a preservative, it stops things going bad. That too is very much part of our calling as baptized Christians, to preserve what is good, to stop rot. We must do all we can - personally, in prayer, in action, also politically – to stop bad and evil things. Isaiah tells us what God wants: “To loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke.” (Isaiah 58:6) This was one of the promises we made at our baptism too, “to renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy and to renounce all sinful desires that draw us from the love of God.”[2] Salt cannot really lose its taste, but it can be contaminated and would then be thrown out as no longer kosher. It is that contamination of ourselves and the world through the powers of evil,  expressed as greed, abuse of power, hate, fear and separation that we must avoid if we are to be salt of the earth and, as we also promised in one of the components of the Baptismal Covenant, to strive for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being.”[3]

What about light then? Last Sunday at Candlemas, Jesus was welcomed by Simeon as a light to lighten the Gentiles – as the light of the world. This Sunday, in the reading from Matthew, Jesus said to his followers: "You are the light of the world." Jesus is passing the baton - or perhaps better beacon - on to those who follow him: you and me. What does it mean to be the light of the world? Well for one thing, it should not be hidden: "No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand." (Matt. 5:15) Just as it makes no sense to hide a light, so we should not be hiding that light that is our faith in God through Jesus. As a beacon it needs to be visible, drawing people in. That is not something we should be keeping secret. We are called to proclaim and preach the Good News, to take the light that we have been given, and to bring it into the world – it is the light of eternal life. 

For another, being the light of the world means living out that faith. Jesus goes on to say: "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." (Matt. 5:16) What might those good works be? The reading from Isaiah once more gives us some clues: "Is not this the fast that I choose….  Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?" (Isaiah 58:7) You will find the same good works described used later in Matthew (25) in what is called the parable of the sheep and the goats or the judgment of the nations: feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and those in prison are all signs of the righteous. But that’s not why we do them, to be righteous or for a reward. These works are all simply good in themselves, and worth doing in any case. But they are also good because they point to the God of love, peace, and justice whom we believe in and in whose image we are made. 

Following me, Jesus says, means taking these valuable gifts and employing them, making them visible, using them as pointers to God. Followers of Jesus are always outward looking and active in the world. It is good that we come together in our church buildings for worship, for formation, for fellowship, and yes even for fun. But that is not our primary purpose. Just as salt needs to come out of the salt cellar, if it is to bring flavor, so we must come out of churches. And a lantern that is covered, with closed shutters will not show us and others the way. Where does the world need salt and light right now? That’s the question we have to answer.

Light as an image for God and as an image for what is good has been a theme all through the season of Epiphany. To be the light of the world means letting God's light shine within and through you. Go and shine!
Amen.


[1] Natural History, 31.102
[2] BCP, 302
[3] BCP, 305