Paul in Athens

I should have something good about mothers. But instead I’ll just pass along what they’d want me to say. God says give your mother a call. Honest, it is in the Bible somewhere. Ok, it’s not, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Talk to your mother today. Tell her you love her.

Our first reading for this Sunday from Acts 17 has had its share of acclaim recently. There was a boomlet of taking Paul in Athens as the model for evangelism in the modern world. In some ways it was rehashing part of Richard Neibuhr’s Christ and Culture. That mid-20^th-century work, when the culture at large would still listen to a theologian, examined various ways the church could interact with society. Christ against Culture (the culture war crusaders), Christ of Culture (Christendom) and three versions of Christ above culture (those who opt out like the Amish, two kingdoms overlapping, or a transformation.) As Lutherans, we tend to find a sweet spot in that two kingdoms approach. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is Gods. The call of the Kingdom of God is above the culture without denying that culture has its place. And its role can be good or bad. The Paul in Athens boomlet was very much transformational. Find the best in the culture, claim it for Christ, and demonstrate how it points to the fulfillment of Jesus.

The Athens of Paul’s time was long past its glory days, although they would regale you with plenty of boring stories. That was the main vocation of the Aeropagas. Imagining themselves as the heirs of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Epicurus and debating the ideas of the day. Rich people would send their kids to Athens for a year or two like we would send our bright young things to Boston. Various Philosophers would compete for the tuition dollars and think deep thoughts. Those heirs stumble across Paul reasoning in the Synagogue and preaching in the marketplace and bring him to the Aeropagus to understand what he is teaching. Now that description I’ve given is a little rough, but I think it captures Luke’s feeling when he summarizes, “Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.”

Paul’s approach is classic Christ Transforms Culture. He ID’s something he finds good. “Men of Athens I see that in every way you are very religious, you even worship an unknown god.” He claims this good for Christ. “What you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” Along the way he claims a couple of their poets. “In him we live and move and have our being” and “For we are indeed his offspring.” If you really want to find the fulfillment of what those poets spoke of you need to understand Christ.

This is the method of every evangelical youth pastor. But saying that you can see how easy it is to mock. Instead of claiming the good, the true and the beautiful, we claim the latest Pixar film. “See Nemo/Elsa/Anna/Riley really is a Christ figure.” (And yes, I can point you to every one of those essays. And they aren’t all completely dumb.) Take something your audience already knows and ask them to see something more. It becomes a rhetorical trick. Not something of real transformational value.

Not transformational like the preaching of the resurrection. Paul’s entire rhetorical strategy is a wind up to “an of this he has given assurance to all by raising Jesus from the dead.” Of course our lectionary cuts it out there, because Paul the great Apostle walks off triumphant converting the entire Aeropagus, right? Not right. Continuing past the lectionary end, “Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, some said we will hear of this again, but some men joined and believed, Dionysisus and woman named Damaris.” A far cry from the 3000 that were converted at Peter’s simple proclamation on Pentecost.

After Athens, Paul goes to Corinth. And it is at Corinth that Paul tells us “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified…my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Cor. 2:2,4 ESV).” A complete change of even rhetorical strategy.

The church for decades I think has been trying to be winsome for evangelism. And I’m not saying it is time to be a jerk for Christ. But when we talk about evangelism, I’d turn less to Paul in Athens, and more to Paul in Corinth. We preach Christ crucified. To some this will be a stumbling block. To some foolishness. But the lambs who hear, the power of God. The world is the world. Evangelism is calling the lambs of the sheepfold out of the world to follow the good shepherd who has given his life for the sheep. They will hear his voice.

Anxious Hearts

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Biblical Text: John 14:1-14

What do we really want? Another way of saying that might be what are we aimed at? The fancy term here is teleology. What completes us? Such questions typically fascinated most peoples. We are strange in that we’ve ruled out thinking about ends/goals in anything other than temporal and vague ways. And it is that refusal to think seriously about such things that I think puts all kinds of anxiety on our hearts. Jesus’ words in this gospel passage are a direct balm. “Let not your hearts be troubled.” Why? Believe. The rest is in the sermon.

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A Good Life Script

Sociologists or Psychologists might use the term life scripts. They are simply narratives of how one might see his life playing out if everything went perfectly. Nothing ever goes perfectly in life, but a general life script is rather robust. Before the great disruption these were things fathers gave to sons and mothers to daughters almost by default. Those life scripts did a couple of things. First, they passed on the collective wisdom of the ages. But then they also gave society’s general approval to accomplishments that benefited both the individual and society. Graduating from school, getting a job, getting married and having kids is a successful life script. If you followed it and stuck with it you will find your share of satisfaction out of life.

But for many people those life scripts were thrown out around mid-century. On the one hand, it opened life up to an endless series of choices which could be more rewarding and fulfilling than the defaults parents used to hand on. It opened up self-actualization on a clean sheet of paper. On the other, if you were not able to set your own goals, and society stopped rewarding and often punished as “square” the former choices, many thinking they were chasing self-actualization simply shipwrecked their lives.

It is spring, and as they say that is when “a young man’s heart turns to love.” I also just saw past my 25^th anniversary. And something as a pastor that I do want to encourage is a piece of a life script with biblical backing. The very first act of God toward mankind is officiating a wedding. We Lutherans might not call marriage a sacrament, but that is more because sacraments are a definitional game, and we are very specific. A Lutheran sacrament is for the forgiveness of sins (along with instituted by Christ and having a visible means.) But the first blessing of God to all mankind are the vocations of husband and wife. The right and proper life script of a Christian most likely involves marriage. We will discuss exceptions which are not about self-actualization. Our culture is still pushing that well past its sell-by date and even defines marriage around it. But a marriage that is about individual self-actualization is not a marriage.

So first, what is a marriage? Jesus centers marriage in his teaching in Matthew 19 and Mark 10 and he quotes from that first marriage, almost like he was the officiant. The picture given is that marriage is the creation of “one flesh (Gen 2:24).” The individuals are gone, the marriage is the reality. And from here I am roughly going to follow the marriage liturgy’s description. That reality of our marriages is a reflection, an icon, of the union of Christ and the church. And just as you cannot imagine Christ and the church splitting, a rupture in an icon of it tells us something has gone wrong.

But what is the purpose of marriage? Marriage is first “intended by God for the mutual companionship, help and support that each person ought to receive, both in prosperity and adversity.” If we are seeking self-actualization, when things aren’t working to our personal advantage, we take off. The Christian marriage is made of sterned stuff. Marriage is about the sexual union. “God has not called us to impurity but in holiness.” Sex is an aspect of marriage and apart from that is an act of theft and falsehood. Why exactly? Because “God also established marriage for the procreation of children.” This is the one that bothers the self-actualization folks the most. Marriage has a purpose outside of the self. And that purpose is the creation of the living one flesh union of children. The last purpose the liturgy gives us is that marriage exists so that those children “may be brought up in the fear and instruction of the Lord.” This is a primary Christian calling. God blessed it in Eden before the fall. And paradoxically sacrificing the self for the union and the kids will lead to much greater satisfaction than most self-actualization schemes.

So what can we say about exceptions? The apostles, after hearing Jesus’ teaching on marriage, decide that “it would be better not to marry (Matt 19:10).” It is something of a crude joke ala “heh, if I can’t divorce why would I ever marry. I’ll just fornicate.” And Jesus responds to them that their assumption is wrong. “There are eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom.” The apostle Paul elaborates on this in 1 Corinthians 7. The married person “is anxious about worldly things (7:33).” Things like husband and wife and their welfare. Things like kids and their instruction. But the single person has the ability “to secure undivided devotion to the Lord.” Not to self-actualize to the maximum, to live only for the self. But that calling is to live for God. There is a reason both Jesus and Paul think that is a tougher calling. Jesus adds his phrase, “Let the one who is able to receive this receive it” which I always read as him thinking not too many.

So, you do have the Christian freedom to follow different life scripts. But contrary to the world there are God ordained paths. Marriage is a likely path for most. And something to be held up for honor.

Recognizing the Voice

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Biblical Text: John 10:1-10

This is “Good Shepherd Sunday” in the three year lectionary, although I’m not completely sure why the appointed text cuts off early. I’m guessing it is because in the fuller passage Jesus has two other “truly, truly” passages that preachers would almost find impossible to proclaim if “I am the good shepherd” was sitting there. And honestly the two earlier “amen, amen” sayings are just as important if not more so. This sermon attempts to grasp the image of the sheepfold. It is a picture of the people of God. It is also a picture of the Christian life. There are some hard truths embedded in the image. Like: there are false shepherds and not everyone in the sheepfold might recognize the voice the shepherd. There is also the clearest gospel that Christ himself knows our name and has come to give us life abundantly. This sermon is an invitation to ponder the image of the people of God that Jesus gives us and to think of our place within that image.

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Religious Taxonomy

I’m sure it is passe, or as discredited in elite spaces as the resurrection, but Bloom’s taxonomy for education still makes sense to me as an intellectual model. A Taxonomy is simply a description of the way things are. The glaring error, if there is one in Bloom’s description, is that it is intellectual. It makes no room for emotional reality. And if you think we are first emotional elephants with little riders occasionally with great effort altering the course of the stampede, that is a big error. But it’s the best I’ve seen. It holds that the foundations of all learning are: Knowledge, comprehension and application. Knowledge is simple facts, 2+2 = 4. Comprehension means not just memorization of facts, but some understanding of what they mean. That in 2+2 you are doing addition. And then application means some of the facts can change. If you know 2+2 is 4, and the concept of addition, you can then answer 2+3. Learning things like facts is deeply out of fashion, but without a broad base of facts that you understand and can apply, the rest of the taxonomy is meaningless. The rest of the taxonomy is analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The levels do tend to blur together a bit, but analysis would be something like realizing 2+3 = 3+2. The order of addition doesn’t matter. Synthesis takes multiple analyzed things and creates something new. It’s how you would go from addition to multiplication. But then evaluation at the very pinnacle would ask things like what am I multiplying and should I? Running gain of function research on a virus in a Chinese lab to escape US laws is an amazing act of synthesis. It is a terrible act of evaluation. Somewhere you hope that your rulers are skilled at evaluation, which could also be known as wisdom.

Most of Catechism class is knowledge, comprehension and application. Do you know the 10 commandments? What do they mean? Can you apply them to your life directly? There is a reason that we still half-heartedly attempt to memorize the catechism. It gives everyone a foundation of what the Christian religion teaches. Because I do happen to believe that we are emotional elephants with little riders, catechism also tries to teach a bit about prayer. Prayer is arming the rider or giving him some reins. But I attempt to end catechism with a bit of those higher level skills. Hopefully having a basic understanding of the religion you were baptized into, that your parents have attempted to hand onto you, can we look at other world religions in analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

If anyone went to college and was forced to take a comparative religions class, this is often the exercise that schools used to tear down a naïve faith. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes just because that faith never matured beyond knowledge, comprehension and application. Generations of students who had little depth in knowledge, comprehension and application would be lead through a project of analysis of all religion and fed an evaluation that they were all the same and all false. I run through it in catechism more as an inoculation. You can do this and come to a much different evaluation. Also as an invitation to a mature faith, opening a door that says you have only scratched the surface, and the making of a good theologian is life with reflection.

As my framework I use something original with Dr. Stephen Prothero. His primary categories for religions are: problem, solution, means of solution, exemplars, texts, and organization. So as an act of analysis answering this for Christianity should be easy for a confirmand. Problem: Sin. Solution: Salvation. Means: Grace, Faith and works/love. (As Lutherans we dramatically downgrade works, but we have a tight distinction between justification and sanctification.) Exemplars: The saints. Texts: Bible, The Confessions (which for the students is the catechism.) Organization would be the various denominations or theological traditions. As a comparison Islam. Problem: Pride, Solution: submission, Means: 5 pillars of Islam, exemplars: Muhammed, texts: Quran, Hadith, Organization: Sunni, Shia. When you introduce a second set you can do some evaluation, like asking the question what is the difference between saying the problem is sin and saying it is pride?

Over the years, as I’ve run this final exercise I’ve started to think of another religion. We have all been catechized to some extent in a new dominant religion in the west. What does it say the problem is? Not pride, certainly not sin. I think it would assert the problem is intolerance. The solution is acceptance. I’ve got my own synthesis of what the default religion of the US is. It has means, texts and is creating organization. But it’s an interesting exercise for understanding the world you live in and the mission of the church in it. And then the deeper question is one of evaluation. How does this new dominant religion compare to Christianity (or other world religions)? For me I think its problem and solution are as oblivious of actual humans as Bloom’s Taxonomy not even thinking about emotions, but such things are the mediation of a mature faith.

In the Breaking of the Bread

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Biblical Text: Luke 24:13-35

The Road to Emmaus is a unique resurrection appearance text. This sermon gets into this a bit. It’s main point is how do we recognize the risen Christ among us. As in the Thomas story, for the original Apostles recognizing Christ was seeing him. Although the Thomas story hints at the change coming. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” But after that blessing we might see wonder how we are to recognize Christ who promised to be present. This text, an appearance to two who were not of the 11 or the Mary’s, give us the answer. It is first in the Word, which is the preaching of the Scriptures, by which hearts are set on fire. It is second in the breaking of the bread, in the Sacrament. We recognize Christ in all ages in Word and Sacrament. Which is an important point in these latter days as the conclusion of this sermon will talk about.

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Lord and Christ

Peter’s Pentecost sermon – which a portion of it is our first reading today, the full sermon is in Acts 2:14-41 – is worth pondering deeper.

What gives Peter the opportunity to preach? Something has happened. We know from reading the story that what was happening is the Holy Spirit has come, but nobody else understands that. In fact everyone else, all good Jews who have gathered in Jerusalem for one of the travel holidays, think that what has happened is something scandalous and embarrassing. Peter and the disciples are drunk at 9 AM. The modern environment of the church can be described as being surrounded by good Jews to the extent that Americans right now seem to be in a moralistic and judgmental mood. There are unwritten rules of society that gets enforced in quite extreme ways. You can find yourself canceled. And what the church has to say on many things is scandalous and embarrassing. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told those disciples this before the passion. “And when [The Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness and judgement. (John 16:8).” It is the work of the Holy Spirit in what from the world’s perspective are scandalous things that is the opportunity to proclaim the good news.

How does Peter’s sermon start? He grounds his proclamation firmly in the prior works and words of God. Peter quotes a long passage from the prophet Joel, an apocalyptic passage. What do I mean by apocalyptic? I mean in the simplest definition of that word, a revelation. God has revealed himself. Any time God reveals himself is in an apocalypse. And there are all kinds of apocalypses. There are personal revelations. When the sinner is convicted of their sin, it is an apocalypse. All the way up to the final apocalypse, when every knee shall bow at the revelation of Jesus Christ in all his glory. When the man comes around. The church’s message is always grounded in the self-revelation of God.

What particular revelation is Peter bringing before his audience? “Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.” The greatest of these signs is his crucifixion and resurrection. You killed him, but God raised him up. Whatever prior revelation you are holding onto. In the case of those Jews Peter assumes it is the Davidic promises. We all might have revelations that we are holding onto. Like Peter himself wanting to build booths on the mount of transfiguration. These are all insignificant compared to the bare facts of the passion and resurrection. “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that the Father has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

That proclamation is both law and gospel. It is law to the extent that I and my sin crucified him. To the extent that I want to keep my revelation about him, it is a judgement. But it is also the sweetest gospel. This Jesus whom we know is Lord and Christ. The Lord is not Caesar or any other tyrant, but Jesus. The Messiah, the one we have been looking for, is not some political personage or charismatic movement, but Jesus. This Jesus whom we crucified, but who prayed for our forgiveness. Being convicted of sin is also being convicted of righteousness. My sin killed him, but His Grace has given me his righteousness.

Being convicted the crowd asks, “what shall we do?” Peter’s simple answer is “repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus. Receive the Holy Spirit.” This revelation is not just for some Jews. This revelation is for you and for your Children. This revelation is for all who are far off whom God is calling to himself.

Peter’s sermon has new relevance in our world. The church scandalizes the world. But the church is still a revelation. It reveals to the world its sin, its righteousness and its judgement. It places before the world Jesus Christ. Here is your Hope and Salvation.

Unbelief to Believing

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Biblical Text: John 20:19-31

At the word cloud would tell you, this is “Doubting” Thomas Sunday. But there are really two things in the text. The Thomas story is one of unbelief to belief and the things that stand in the way. The biggest of them I think is simply shame. The sermon goes into that in the 2nd half. The first half is the commissioning of the disciples. We believe, how then do we live? Jesus gives some directions here. The first half of the sermon looks at what it means to be sent as Christ was sent and the role of the Holy Spirit.

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Quasimodogeniti

Did anybody read the Hunchback of Notre Dame? See the cartoon? Does anybody remember what his name was? Hint: It wasn’t “Hey, hunchback.” Insert Jeopardy theme….

Ok, we are back. What was your answer? The right answer is Quasimodo. Which is a strange name. Anybody care to hazard a guess where that came from?

Every Sunday of the church year has what are called propers. They include the introit which is the entrance hymn/chant, the prayer of the day, the appointed readings and a few other things. If you were doing a choir led mass, the propers are all the parts that the choir and minister would probably chant. The congregation itself would probably be relatively non-participatory, the high church version of the worship band. The Lutheran Reformation gave to the congregation the role of the choir. With angels, and archangels and all the host of heaven, we laud and magnify the name. But the important proper of the day for this pastor’s corner is the introit.

The same way that people used to sign letters “On the Feast Day of St. X” or something like that to date correspondence, the weeks were actually known by their introits. Specifically the first word of the introit, in Latin because that is what the church used and many propers even after the reformation would remain in Latin for a long time. If you have an old copy of The Lutheran Hymnal (TLH) published in 1941 lying around, you can see that those old names are still on the church calendar for many weeks – the weeks after Transfiguration, the weeks of Lent, the weeks of Easter. Easter 2 was known as Quasimodogeniti. Quasimodo the hunchback was born on this Sunday and given the name from the Introit.

When the propers went to a three year cycle many of those old names were broken. They had already been strained when everything went into the vernacular as long time ago. But the Introits are meant to carry a theme for the service and the week, which they do very well in the Sundays after Easter. Quasimodogeniti is Latin for “as newborn infants.” As newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow into salvation, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Easter 2 in the church year is a day of infancy on the faith. Thomas hasn’t seen, so he won’t believe, until he places his fingers in the holes in the hands. We start reading from the Epistle of First Peter which tells us that we have come into our inheritance in the resurrection. “He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” And as such infants, “long for the pure spiritual milk.”

What is that pure Spiritual Milk? The Introit’s answers are: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make know his deeds among the peoples, sing praises to him.” Thanksgiving, prayer, proclamation and adoration. What are the things that allow us to grow up into that full inheritance of the resurrection? Hearing the word proclaimed and believing it. Returning in proper thanks for all the Christ has done for us. Trusting in the Lord in prayer. “Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually.” Never forgetting the proper adoration due to God Almighty. “Glory in His Holy Name!” These are the things of pure spiritual milk that you might grow up to salvation.

And unlike our physical selves who outgrow milk, the Kingdom of God is a land flowing with milk and honey. Every Sunday one can return to that pure spiritual milk: the word, thanksgiving, prayer, and adoration. If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Link to the Propers for Easter 2

A Simple Story

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Biblical Text: Matthew 28:1-10

I love the Easter story in Matthew. It is just such a living memory. Not that the other Gospel aren’t, but as this sermon starts out, the meaning you attach to a story changes, deepens, layers, over time. The resurrection in Matthew is such an early memory. The meanings haven’t really started to accrue. It’s just bragging, let me tell you what happened. That’s what this sermon attempts to do. Tell the story. Invite you to the meaning slowly.

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