Sermon for January 28, 2024

Readings:

• Deuteronomy 18:15-20
• 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
• Mark 1:21-28
• Psalm 111

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Lj7EUicarnw%3Fsi%3DJf2cjm3BXvn9oiex%26start%3D1408

People are astounded at Jesus in the gospel this morning, even before he casts the demon or the unclean spirit out of the man in the synagogue. Even before Jesus performs this miracle people are astounded at his teaching because he is teaching and preaching as one with authority. Authority. Jesus is talking to folks as if what he says actually matters. He is talking to folks, not as some speculative, starry-eyed philosopher asking “what if” questions; he is talking to folks as someone who has more than just questions, but also answers. Jesus has answers and Jesus has authority. That is what astounds people. That is why they start following him.

Now if you are paying attention on Sunday mornings and listening to Jesus in the gospel, then you will know that Jesus doesn’t always give folks straight answers; he often answers people with more questions or stories, but still he speaks with authority and that authority is demonstrated in his actions. He has more than knowledge; he has power. 

One wonders what kind of anodyne, lukewarm sermons the people in Capernaum must have been used to. Certainly there had been bold and gifted prophets in the past. And certainly there must have been plenty of faithful rabbis teaching and interpreting God’s law, but was there anyone who could stand up and speak authoritatively and compellingly? And in comes Jesus, talking to them like he knows what he’s talking about and like what he has to say to them actually matters. Can you imagine having a preacher that has important things to say and actually knows what he is talking about? 

Don’t answer that. That’s a rhetorical question…sort of.

I can imagine that there are many people in churches today that would be quite sympathetic with the people of Capernaum, with clergy rambling on at length without any discernible point whatsoever, trying to be inoffensive to everyone, without making any clear claims about God or truth. Preaching like they have never read the scriptures, or don’t particularly care what they have to say. Obviously, I don’t think that happens here, but I know it happens. Religious folks either lose their zeal or they become zealous about the wrong things, but either way they lose touch with God’s revelation. They lose the fire of conviction and then they lose their power. But that is not how Jesus spoke. Jesus spoke with authority. Jesus offended people. Jesus made claims about God and truth. And then he demonstrated to people that there was power behind those words. It is true that Jesus left many questions unanswered, but he does answer some and he does so with the authority of the son of God. That is why people are astounded by him, and that is what has drawn people to Jesus throughout the ages. 

Jesus’s words have power and authority. The demons and the unclean spirits in this world know that, but how often we forget it. 

There are, of course, always prophets and preachers and rabbis and priests who will say MORE than what God has told them to say. This is what I mean when I talk about religious folks who become zealous about the wrong things. There’s a reason why Moses had to threaten death to any prophets speaking falsely on behalf of God in our Deuteronomy passage this morning. There are always those who want to definitively know more than what God has revealed to us. There are those who want to put words in Jesus’s mouth or God’s mouth and have him say things that he didn’t say. There are folks who will say that things are God’s will when we have no idea if they are God’s will or not. There are folks who will project onto God their own values, their own ideas, and their own politics. It has always been this way, and it is not just preachers, but average, everyday religious folks do it too. We have folks who want to speak about things with an authority that they don’t have.

Well, our response when we encounter priests and prophets claiming too much authority to speak on behalf of God is often to do just the opposite. We humans are always prone to being reactionary. If I think that some Christians go too far and say things they shouldn’t say or make claims that they can’t make, then my reaction may be to do just the opposite and say nothing, believe nothing, and to make no claims about God or truth. But you see, that’s not helpful either. Jesus came into the world, teaching and preaching, as one with authority. Through his miracles and demonstrations of power, and chiefly through his death and resurrection, Jesus confirmed the authority of his teaching, so his words still speak with the authority of the son of God. Those of us who claim the name Christian and profess to be followers of Christ, we may not be able to say more than Jesus says about God and truth, but we dare not say less. 

Jesus still speaks as one with authority and there are still people in the world that need to hear his words and experience his power. We have authority, as Christians, to share Jesus’s words with the world. We have the authority to share the truths that he has revealed to us. We have the authority to answer the questions that Jesus answered. Maybe we can’t, and shouldn’t, answer every question, but we do have some answers. We may not have a blueprint of heaven, but we do have a vision. It is possible to share one without claiming to have the other. It is possible to answer some questions, without pretending to have the answer to every question. That is the tightrope that we are all challenged to walk as Christians. It is definitely true for priests and prophets that we can’t say too much, but we shouldn’t say too little, but it is true for all of us as well. 

Do I completely understand demons, unclean spirits and the forces of evil in this world? No I don’t, but I do know that Jesus has power over them. Do I have the authority to say whatever I want about God? No I don’t. But I do have the authority to share what Jesus says. No more, no less. His words actually matter. His words have real authority. And it is his words that people really want to hear whenever they come through those doors. All of our power and authority as Christians, come from his words.

Sermon for January 14th, 2024

Readings:

• 1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20)
• 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
• John 1:43-51
• Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17

https://youtube.com/watch?v=57k94PRHnRI%3Fsi%3DE3OEK1AcXwazdW6d%26start%3D1466

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are beneficial. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything.

The Apostle Paul, in his characteristic style, is trying to tackle how some folks are misunderstanding the Christian faith. Is Christianity meant to be a more strict, or less strict version of Judaism? How are Christians meant to relate to God’s law? What should direct and drive Christian behaviour? What is the relationship between Christian freedom and Christian responsibility? These are some of the very practical questions that Paul addresses in his letters, including his letter to the Corinthians that we heard a moment ago. Funny thing is, Paul was addressing these issues with the Church in Corinth a couple thousand years ago, but these issues and these questions are still very much present in our own day. They aren’t irrelevant.

I know that there are many people in the world that think that church (and possibly religion in general) is either one of two things: a get out of jail free card that offers a pie-in-the-sky promise of heaven for those who subscribe to the correct beliefs, OR an ethical system of dos and don’ts that is primarily designed to make nice people nicer. Plenty of people look at us and think that that is what Christianity is about: no rules or all rules. There may be many faithful Christians who see their faith as being about one of those two things: Correct beliefs or correct actions. Believe the right thing and go to heaven, or do the right things and go to heaven, or even more common nowadays for those who strain to believe in an afterlife: do the right things and make heaven for ourselves. But what if I told you that it’s not an either/or situation? What if it isn’t a choice between believing and doing? What if it isn’t a choice between waiting for heaven and trying to make the world a little better? What if belief and action are married to each other and walk hand in hand? 

What I think Paul really wants the Corinthians to understand is that in Jesus Christ God has revealed his love to us in this most astounding way. God has shown us self-sacrificial love. Christ offers himself as a sacrifice for human sin. He fulfills but does not negate the law. He offers us freedom from this cycle of sin and death that we get trapped in. The same God that led the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, offers us all a way out of slavery to the forces in this world that dominate us. Sometimes the forces in this world that dominate us are very personal demons. Maybe it is addiction or anxiety or greed or anger. We live in a world filled with good things, including amazing food, but any of those things, when taken out of perspective or out of balance, can dominate us. That is Paul’s point. Christ offers us freedom, but with freedom comes responsibility. We have this amazing promise of forgiveness of sin and everlasting life, and we have been given a foretaste of this resurrected life in Jesus’s resurrection, but that tremendous gift still calls for some response from us.

There was a biblical scholar named John P Meier, who once wrote that “if religion is grace then ethics is gratitude.” “Radical demand, flows from radical grace.” If religion is grace then ethics is gratitude. What that means is that if our religion, our belief system, teaches us that in history and in our own personal lives, God has shown us unmerited grace, meaning God gives us love, forgiveness and salvation that we don’t deserve, then our ethics, or how we live our lives, the code of conduct that we willingly subscribe to, that should be a reflection of our gratitude for that grace. God acts first. God gives us life. God knows us, God calls us. God offers us forgiveness, love and salvation. That is all grace. God’s work in the world is grace. When we stand up and recite the creed, which is the core belief of our religion, we are reciting and retelling a short history of God’s grace. God acts first.

But does an encounter with that grace change us in any way? Does it change how we live moving forward? God may indeed act first, but does that mean that everything we do as humans is irrelevant and bears no consequences? The Apostle Paul certainly didn’t think so. Jesus didn’t think so either.

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he talks about being free from a rigid and narrow understanding of God’s law. He talks about being free from this idea that in order to be saved we must fulfill God’s law perfectly, meaning that we must be faultless in our actions. If, in Christ, we are free from that kind of slavery to a rigid interpretation of law, does that then mean that we should just do whatever we want? Paul doesn’t think so. All things may be lawful for me, he says, but not all things are beneficial. Just because you can do something and get away with it, doesn’t mean that you should. We live in a very free society here in our country, and that is indeed a blessing, but with freedom comes responsibility. There are many, many things that are perfectly lawful for us to do, but that doesn’t mean that we SHOULD do them. It doesn’t make them good for us, or for anyone else. 

Christianity is not just about rigid adherence to a bunch of rules; nor is it about willfully just doing whatever the heck we want, regardless of the consequences to ourselves or others, just because we are confident that God has an ultimate place for us in his eternal kingdom. It is about freedom AND responsibility. A responsibility that comes from gratitude, NOT guilt. We are called to be people who witness to God’s grace, not only with our lips but in our lives. We are people who value rules and traditions, NOT because we think that our eternal salvation is contingent upon adhering to them, but because we find in them wisdom. They are good for us and they help us to not be dominated by the forces of this world, even our own demons and desires, that would dominate us. If Christianity is about grace, then the Christian life must be about gratitude. If my life means so much to God, then it should mean something to me too. If your life means so much to God, then it should mean something to me too. That is Christian ethics in a nutshell. Just because we can do something, doesn’t mean that we should.