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I just got off the phone with a good friend (?) in the ministry who mocked my lack of creativity on this blog, “You only post sermons and rarely link to another blog!” Of course he is right. My blogging is not creative, but I don’t have much time for offering up opinions on Austrian Economics or Brittney Spears or such. It is all I can do to get my meager homiletical offerings posted. I can only suggest to my friend, who does not have a blog, that his thirst for more blogging will not be ended by me satisfying it, but rather only by his extinguishing the thirst. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.Well, Father Serina, at least now I have made a post that is not a sermon or a link. Enjoy.
The seed is the word of God.
Jesus had gathered quite a crowd. He had been healing the sick and driving out demons so people from town after town press in on Him. The people were interested in what Jesus might be able to accomplish for them. You can imagine what brought people out their homes to see Jesus. “Perhaps Jesus can help me with my bad leg?” “Maybe Jesus can give me advice for straightening out my son?” “I wonder if Jesus might be able to fix my finances.” “I have been feeling a little down lately. I hope He can make me feel better.” For many and sundry reasons, the people come out to see Jesus. They have their cares and concerns and they suspect Jesus may be able to address them.
So Jesus addresses the crowd. He is concerned, but not necessarily with their concerns. He offers them a parable, a short story using imagery from everyday life that contains a deeper meaning. Jesus chooses the common image of a Palestinian farmer tossing seed. The farmer was a bit careless scattering the seed and it falls on a path, some rock, and among weeds. It also falls into the good soil. The seed on the path is trampled. The seed on the rock cannot root and withers away. The seed among the weeds is choked out. Of course the seed in the good soil grew and produced a great yield. There is nothing surprising about that story. Jesus sums it up by calling out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Jesus does not explain the parable. Jesus does not tell them what it means. Jesus just leaves the parable alone.
A fun screed at Second Terrace on the true opiates for the masses.
The Road to Damascus was no ordinary road for St. Paul. He was heading to Damascus to pursue the followers of Jesus. Saul was a zealous Pharisee and had little patience for those heretics. He had given hearty approval to the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr. Now he received permission from the high priest to arrest any followers of the Way and bring them back to Jerusalem. As he sets out for Jerusalem, however, the Risen Christ in all of His glory meets him on the road and drives him into the ground. Their exchange is short. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting; but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do” Saul gets up and obeys. What else could he do? The Son of God, risen and ascended, revealed Himself to Saul. He is blinded, dazed and confused. Wasn’t he doing the work of God by persecuting those heretics? No, the Road to Damascus was no ordinary road for St. Paul.
Saul’s companions did not have the privilege of the revelation, although they know something extraordinary had just happened. They make their way to Damascus. For three days Saul remains in the darkness of his blindness, neither eating nor drinking. In that time the Lord commissioned Ananias, a disciple in Damascus, to bring the Gospel to Saul so that his sight might be regained and he might be filled with the Holy Spirit. Interesting, isn’t it, that Saul remains blind and in the flesh even after the brilliant encounter with Jesus on the road. Saul is not yet converted. While the Road to Damascus experience was extraordinary, His conversion was quite ordinary, much like ours.
Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first, and the first last.
What was the landowner thinking? It really doesn’t make any sense to do what he did. I am not talking about paying them the same amount. The landowner can do anything he want. The boss is, after all, the boss. If you own the business, then the decisions are yours. If he wants to pay the last as much as the first, it is his prerogative and privilege. The checkbook is his. I just wonder why he would rub their noses in it.
The grape harvest was ready. If the wine was going to be worthy of a cork rather than a cap, then the grapes needed to be plucked off the vine. The owner of the vineyard knew the urgency and goes out early in the morning to find workers for the vineyard. They agree to a fair days wage and go to work. Throughout the day, the owner goes back time and again to hire more laborers The end of the day arrives and the workers gather to be paid. There are workers who have been there for twelve hours, for nine hours, for six, for three, and for one hour. If you will recall, the only agreed upon wage was the denarius for the workers who were first hired. A fair wage for a day’s worth of work. For some crazy reason, the owner of the vineyard instructs the foreman to first pay the last ones hired and pay the first ones hired last. Well, the foreman obeys his boss and first pays the workers that had been there for an hour. He pays them a denarius! They only worked one hour and made a denarius. You might imagine what the other workers are thinking. If I labored 12 hours in the heat of the vineyard, then I will probably get 12 denarii! It would only be fair.
And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”
There was quite a bit of confusion about Jesus. The people had heard him preach and teach as one with true authority. The people had witnessed miracles. So they buzzed about Jesus. He was someone special, maybe John the Baptist reinvented or Elijah or a prophet. Jesus knows there is confusion. He asks His disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” The disciples had been with Jesus. They had heard His words of power often. They had witnessed many of His miracles. Peter responds on behalf of the disciples, “You are the Christ.” Peter breaks through all the confusion with his confession of who Jesus was, is, and ever shall be. It is a confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the very Son of God. The confession was true then and it is now.
It is also a confession that did not result from Peter’s brilliance or wisdom. Matthew records Jesus’ response, “Blessed are you Simon Son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” It was not in Peter’s capacity to confess the truth about Jesus. It was necessary for the Father to intervene. The Father gifted Peter with true understanding about Jesus’ identity. The Father opened Peter’s mouth to confess the true faith. It was this confession of faith that would be the foundation of the Church.
While Peter confessed the truth about Jesus, He remained confused about Jesus’ mission. Peter did not think it was appropriate for the Messiah to suffer and die. So Peter opened his mouth to rebuke Jesus. In a matter of moments, Peter goes from speaking God’s words to speaking Satan’s words. Peter thought God ought to submit to his sense of decency and good order. Peter did not have categories for crucifixion so He objected. But to object to the redemptive work of Christ is to be aligned with Satan. It is simply not enough to confess Jesus as the Christ unless Jesus’ mission to defeat sin, death, and hell is also confessed.
The confusion about Jesus remains to this day. Most acknowledge that He was a special person of some sort. Some will say Jesus was a prophet, a moral teacher, a philosopher, or a religious guru. Some will say He was a magician. Some will even say Jesus was a great leader and a model for all to emulate. People say all kinds of things about Jesus. Jesus says such things are from Satan. There is only one Jesus Christ. Confession of an alternative and imaginary Jesus turns a person into a mouthpiece for Satan. This is what Jesus says.
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.
The political season has arrived. Iowa and New Hampshire have passed and Super Tuesday is on the horizon. By this time next year the American people will prepare to inaugurate a new president. Right now, however, the candidates are scrambling to find a way to establish themselves as the front runner. Each candidate strives to make a connection with voters and, it seems, will do or say whatever is necessary to gain support. New slogans and buzz words like “change” fill the airwaves. Strategies and policy positions change daily as the spin doctors spin. More than anything they want people to identify with them. So they hit the campaign trail to kiss babies, shake hands, joke and cry, give speeches, interview and answer questions. The marketing professionals coach them on how to appeal to the greatest number of people. The result is an artificial and contrived image so bland that it offends the fewest number of people. Any resulting connection we have with these candidates is mostly the product of perceptions informed by carefully managed media machines. There is little, if any, actual substance. However it is not this way with God’s candidate. He truly identifies with people and makes a connection with them that alters their lives forever and even into eternity.
John the Baptist is at the Jordan, waiting for the arrival of God’s candidate. As he waits, John is preaching repentance to the people. John is not a spin doctor. He is not concerned with image or polls. He is only concerned with truth. The people need to be ready for God’s candidate and only the truth will suffice. It is time for everyone to be honest with themselves, to consider their righteousness before God. With honest reflection, John knows the people can only come to one conclusion: they have failed to live as God’s holy people. Their minds have not been set on God’s law. Their minds have not been set on God’s promises. Instead, their minds have wandered in the wilderness of the world, straying away from the things of God. Their minds are filled with the lusts and anxieties of the flesh. So John cries out, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”
I converted to Mac this week. Being a caveman, I know little about computers. Friends told me they were intuitive. Also, computer geeks scoffed at them when I inquired. These two factors were enough for me to walk down the aisle and make a decision for Mac. It also makes me hum the tune “Mari Mac” from the band Great Big Sea. Who really cares about bytes and such?
St. Augustine’s sermons for Christmas and Epiphany are priceless.
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
In the days of Herod the King, Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea. St. Matthew is quite specific. The eternal Son of God enters into the creation at that specific time and in that specific place. And it was a dangerous place and time. King Herod the Great had filled the days of his reign with violence and terror, reserved especially for those who threatened his kingdom. This was how Herod had operated for over forty years.
At a mere 25 years of age in the year 47 BC, Herod had been appointed as the governor of Galilee. He gained noteriety by suppressing revolts with effective brutality and efficiently collecting taxes to fill the coffers of Rome. In 37 BC, having already been declared King by the Roman Senate, Herod viciously crushed the Parthians and recaptured Jerusalem for the Roman Empire, securing his reign as the King of Judea.
Not all in Judea were pleased that Herod was King. The Pharisees and general populace objected that he was only a half-Jew and he was too friendly with the Romans. Those who publicly opposed Herod were beaten and imprisoned. The aristocracy also objected to Herod’s reign. They liked a different candidate. They wanted another man to be their King. King Herod was not fond of their lack of support so he had 45 of the wealthiest aristocrats killed and then confiscated their property for himself. Herod’s in-laws also proved to be problematic, especially his mother-in-law Alexandra. He eventually killed her. He also was responsible for drowning his brother-in-law and even executing his own wife on trumped up charges of adultery. In this way of violence and terror, in that time and place, Herod solidified his reign as King of the Jews.
