Sound Down

"The word 'catechism' derives from the Greek word katecheo which is found in several places in Scripture. The most familiar is Luke 1:4, where Luke explains why he wrote his Gospel: 'that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed [catechichized].' Like many Greek words katecheo is put together from two words, in this case kata, meaning 'down toward,' and echeo, meaning 'to sound.' Katecheo is 'sound down.'"

-Donald Van Dyken, Rediscovering Catechism, 12-13.

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Like, Who's that Naked Guy?

It's no accident that there are four gospels. God intentionally gave us four records of the life of Jesus. More so, God gave us four records that are fairly similar (obviously), and they were canonized as the first four books of the New Testament. This means that the faithful, diligent reader must read through the same material four times.

This means that thinking through the literary and theological effects of four gospels seems a worthy pursuit. Assuming that the Bible is meant to be read straight through, we run into repetition in a few places in the Old Testament. Chronicles is a retelling of Kings, and there are portions of stories that are retold such as 2 Kings 18-20 and Isaiah 36-39 as well as songs (compare 2 Sam. 22 and Psalm 18). Deuteronomy recaps various portions of Exodus and Numbers and Leviticus. Judges overlaps with Joshua. And the instructions of the building of the tabernacle are repeated at the end of Exodus as those instructions are carried out. We might also point out the genealogies that repeat names and family lines in various places of Scripture.

But when a reader comes to the gospels there is something even more obvious and startling going on. The three synoptics with John's fourth gospel piling on top emphasize, underline, and echo with various stories, parables, sermons, teaching, miracles, and of course the passion narratives in particular. If there are various portions of Old Covenant Scriptures that repeat themselves, the gospels are way over the top.

What kind of readers/hearers does this kind of repetition create? What is usually called the "synoptic problem" with regards to sources and dissimilarities seems rather actually to be something of an intentional solution, part of the plan. As the Word has its way with God's people, there are a number of tracks that are meant to be played repeatedly. If God wanted us to have to plow through the same material four times every time we started the New Covenant Scriptures, we might ask 'why?'.

What does a fourfold repetition of very similar stories do to us? For example, the repetition makes minor characters closer to major characters. Mary, the mother of Jesus is important as the Virgin Mother of Jesus, but she really does not play much of an explicit role elsewhere in the New Testament, but her presence in the gospels gives her a four-fold standing in the story. By the time we get to John, and she is asking Jesus to help with the wine-shortage problem at the wedding in Cana, we feel like we really know this woman a bit more than when we began in Matthew's gospel. A relatively minor character (in terms of time on stage) grows and expands and matures over the course of four gospels.

But this works not only by repetition, but also by absence. Because of the similarities, there is a constant invitation to compare the gospels, and therefore especially the first three. And then not only do the similarities stand out, but so do the dissimilarities. Like, who's that naked guy running in the garden after Jesus is arrested in Mark's gospel? A seemingly tiny detail becomes huge, startling, and seemingly important. We might not remember a random event like that in Judges as well as we ought to if we're regularly reading straight through the four gospels.

What else does having four gospels do to readers? What kind people does a fourfold repetition of the central story of our faith create?

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Seeing Jesus Alive

In Luke 24, there is a famous episode where Jesus meets two disciples leaving Jerusalem brokenhearted and disappointed that Jesus is dead, not recognizing that He is the one talking to them. Jesus rebukes them by asking why they don’t know their Old Testament better. Don’t you know that the Messiah was supposed to suffer and die and then be revealed in all His glory? The point is that His disciples don’t recognize Him in the flesh because they did not see Him in the Word. If they knew the story, if they knew how to read their Bibles, they would know that Jesus was supposed to die and be raised again on the third day. Rather than leaving Jerusalem in disappointment, they would be waiting expectantly for the news that His tomb was empty and that Jesus was alive.

If Jesus rebuked those disciples for what they should have seen in the Old Testament, how much more so are we held accountable for the entire Bible which includes the actual record of the resurrection of Jesus? But we still do this. We do this as we read history, as we hear current events, or perhaps as we look at our own lives and families. We read history and it seems to be a story of failure. We hear about current events, and we are tempted to despair. Or perhaps your own life and family seems unfortunate or regrettable in various ways. And when people seem a little too optimistic or cheerful, we are quick to ask, are you the only one not paying attention? Haven’t you noticed what has happened in the church? Haven’t you noticed what has happened in DC? Haven’t you noticed the immorality all around us? But the response of the Risen Jesus is not, “Oh really? Maybe I should tune in to CNN a little more often.” Jesus points us to His Word, and He calls us fools. Fools read the world as though the world is a straightforward story. Fools read politics and economics and cultural trends as though they are what they seem. Foolish Christians only see sin and failure in their own lives. And Jesus says that we are fools because we are slow to believe His word. You don’t need another newspaper, another radio talk show host, another breathless report about what is going on in Jerusalem.

You need to see Christ. And first of all you need to see Christ in His Word. You need to see Christ in Moses and all the prophets and all the Scriptures. And when you see Christ in His word, when you see Him there, you will look up and see Him right in front of you. You will see the story of history and the story of current events and the story of your own life as the story of Jesus’ sufferings and glory. You will see Jesus enthroned in glory sending forth His Spirit and filling this world with His glory, putting all His enemies beneath His feet. To miss this story is to miss the resurrection. It is to act as though Jesus is still in His grave.

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CRF: Preparing for Summer

Introduction
I’d be a little worried that a talk like this could end up being something like new years resolutions. Maybe you all are far more disciplined, but there’s no sense in have high hopes and good intentions and not achieving much of anything. The way to plan well for the summer is by beginning now what you hope to achieve and accomplish over the summer. And for most of us, some kind of accountability and planning is necessary.

Planning for Summer from Holy Week
As it turns out, today is Monday of Holy Week, a week in which Christians have traditionally focused prayers and meditation and worship on the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus. So I’ve grouped my exhortations around three passages thematic linked by the approaching passion and death of our Savior. But it should be pointed out that all human planning ought to always be done from the vantage of the passion and death of Jesus. And this week happily underlines that for us. Who we are is bound up with the death and resurrection of this man. How could it not affect everything for us?

Set His Face Toward Jerusalem
“Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem… ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’” (Lk. 9:51-53)

There came a point in Jesus’ ministry in which He knew that His ministry was coming to a climax. Sometimes we talk as though Jesus was God controlling a man suit from a robotic control center somewhere inside the person of Jesus. But if Jesus was in fact one human person with both human and divine natures fully present, we must realize that the psychology of being Jesus is far more complex than we can really imagine. There are hints that Jesus knew and understood a great deal, but there are also hints that Jesus truly faced the unknown, pain, temptation, etc. truly as human being. However these realities sorted out in the consciousness of Christ, He nevertheless made the decision to go to Jerusalem, and this resolution is to be mimicked by His disciples.

We cannot know the future, but we are to be lords of time by faith in the One who rules time. We must always say, ‘if the Lord wills’ and at the same time, we must plan and execute those plans with courage and wisdom. This means assessing the lay of the land with regard to your interests, gifts, strengths, weaknesses, proceeding to get counsel, and then planning to use your time and resources to the best of your ability. It is always freeing to be ‘in the will of God’ and the Word and the Spirit are the leading for this.

Is it lawful (Word)? Is it strategic for the Kingdom (Word)? Are you good at it (Spirit)? Is their opportunity/need for it (Spirit)?

Loved His Own, Loved them to End
“Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.” (Jn. 13:1-5)

Jesus loved His own, and He loved them to the end. In other words, He loved them to the death. Who are your own that you are called to love? How are you planning to love them this summer? And how are you planning to love them to the death? Obviously, this should include people like your family and relatives, your spouse or future spouse/children, and other friends.

Notice that this love also extends to the unlovely and to enemies. Jesus knows that one of His closest friends will betray Him, but this does not mean that Jesus shorted Judas with any of His love. Jesus washed Judas’s feet too. Who are your own betrayers/enemies that you are called to serve and love? Maybe they are not personal enemies, but they are enemies for the sake of the gospel. Who are they? What are their names? And how will you love them this summer?

I love the fact that it says, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands … rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself… poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet…” Jesus was given all things. All things were in His hands, and He knew that He was to return to the Father in glory. And with that knowledge of great power and authority, He laid aside His garments and began to wash the disciples’ feet.

We rightly emphasize the fact that service is the path to glory and greatness, but there is another sense in which when God gives us opportunities to serve, we ought to see those opportunities as gifts that God gives to those who are authorized for them. In other words, if greatness is serving, then God reckons us great enough for the task that He gives. This looks ahead to the next passage, but do despise little jobs, lowly tasks or service. For those who would be great must become servants of all. So who will you love this summer? How will you wash their feet?

The Child is the Father of the Man
“But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Mk. 10:42-45)

One item to note here is that Jesus is not rebuking his disciples for wanting to be great. He’s rebuking His disciples for settling for something less than great. It’s like a child who saves up $100 and declares that she will spend it all on M&Ms. Of course there’s a place to splurge, and there’s even a time for candy and M&Ms. But a wise parent will probably encourage the child to diversify a bit.

Ruling like the gentiles is childish. It’s based on the power of force and violence and manipulation. But it’s not real authority or power. It’s temporary and short-sighted.

Jesus did not wait to start serving either. Jesus came to serve and to give His life as a ransom. Of course this principally points to the crucifixion, but His entire life was practice for the main event. Wherever you find yourself this summer; make sure it’s practicing for the main event.

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Second Sunday of Advent: Is. 40:1-11, Phil. 1:1-11, Lk. 3:1-18

Introduction
We continue our Advent series this morning looking at our three readings, meditating on what it means that our God is the God who comes to His people.

Isaiah 40:1-11
The prophet begins by declaring God’s word to His people, crying, “comfort, comfort!” God says to “speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry out to her that her “armies are full” and that her “iniquity is satisfied,” and she has taken from the hand of Yahweh double for all her sins (40:1-2). This comfort is bound up in the fact that a new Exodus is coming. The voice issues a command to turn to the “way of Yahweh” and to make straight a “highway for our God” (40:3, cf. Is. 11:16). The “way” goes back to the first sin after which God guarded the “way” to the tree of life (Gen. 3:24), and the story continues in the Exodus where God led Israel in the “way” out of Egypt arrayed for battle (Ex. 13:17-18). Like the original Exodus, Isaiah foretells great upheaval: the topography of the world is going to dramatically change (40:4-5). And in the context of the Exodus we should not miss the fact that the “topography” is primarily people. The “voice” says to cry out that all flesh is grass, it fades and withers, and only the word of God stands forever (40:6-8). This reminds us of the “voice” that thundered at Sinai and how the people cowered in fear and asked that they might not hear the voice any more. But that word is a good word, good news that God Himself will come and rule in righteousness and truth (40:9-11).

Luke 3:1-18
Luke says that John fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy when he began preaching a baptism of repentance at the Jordan River. Notice the seven rulers listed in the opening verses of this passage: From Caesar to the high priests (3:1-2). But it is not to any of those seven that the “word of God” comes. The word of God comes to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness (3:2). John is the beginning of the new week, the new creation, a new conquest of the world. He is like Moses and the seven powers are set up as various sorts of Pharaohs. John is also like Moses on the far side of the Jordan promising that Joshua is coming to lead them across the Jordan into the new Canaan. John may appear to be a nobody, but the Word he has received is designed to seriously mess with the landscape (3:4-6). John calls his followers the “children of snakes” and calls them to bear fruit worthy of repentance (3:7). His baptism is also a baptism of “repentance” (3:3). Given the Exodus imagery, John is calling the multitudes to embrace the calling to be the second generation in the wilderness that went in to possess the land. The baptism for repentance is a crossing of the Jordan into Canaan. And if they are baptized, they must take the land though bearing the fruit of repentance which is justice and mercy (3:10-14). This is why they must wait for the Christ who will lead them into the land in the power of the Spirit (3:15-17, cf. Josh 3). This is the good news that Isaiah foretold.

Philippians 1:1-11
Paul and Timothy identify themselves as “slaves of King Jesus” and address the “holy ones” in Philippi with the grace and peace of God (1:1-2). They rejoice in the fellowship they share in the “good news” from the “first day,” knowing that God will complete the good work in them that He has begun. Paul may have several thoughts in mind as He writes, including the beginning of the gospel in John’s ministry as the “first day” of the new creation, the new good work that God has begun in the world and in us (1:3-6). In that sense, “the day of Jesus Christ” may refer to the coming judgment in 70 AD, and it may also look forward to the final seventh day, the final Sabbath. Paul emphasizes that fellowship by describing how the Philippians are “partakers of grace” with him in defense and confirmation of the good news (1:7). And Paul’s prayer is for this to increase and abound, that their love and knowledge may overflow with the fruits of righteousness (1:9-11).

Conclusions and Applications
One of the great messages of Advent is “repent!” And the challenge is getting this command right. God calls all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30), and this still applies, whether you are an unbeliever, a new believer, or an old believer. The command is to repent because the conquest is not yet finished. And the lessons of Joshua continue to be lessons for us. That second generation was faithful in beginning the conquest, but they grew weary and relaxed as time went on. Their great failure to drive out the enemies from the land left their children to pick up the pieces (e.g. Judges). Repentance is the call to continue the work of the new creation by the Spirit, turning the old crooked world into the new heavens and new earth, and this conquest comes through the fruits of justice and mercy and love. And God gently leads us in this way by speaking comfort and grace and peace to us in Jesus, assuring us that He will complete the good work He has begun in us.

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These Stones

John the Forerunner famously says that his listeners cannot claim their Abrahamic lineage as protection against judgment. John says, "... and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones." (Lk. 3:8)

What are "these stones" that Jesus is referring to?

Frequently I believe it is assumed that "these stones" is just a generic reference to the power of God. He can make sons of Abraham out of trees, rocks, geese, whatever. Don't be so arrogant, O Israel.

But remember where John is. John is at the Jordan. And all the indicators are that John is inviting his listeners to join him in a new conquest, to cross the Jordan in baptism and join the new Joshua (Jesus) in His conquest of the land.

That being so, is it possible that "these stones" are the very stones that Joshua had the people set up on the shore of the Jordan River centuries before? Or even if John isn't pointing at a literal pile of stones, could he be referring to "those stones"?

If that is the case, John's point could still be partially concerned with the arrogance of Israel and God's power, but it makes it more pointed referring to the previous Jordan crossing and conquest.

First, it's a reference to the fact that God has performed this sort of thing before. Refusal to follow the example of that second generation of Israel across the Jordan means that they are really more like the first generation in the wilderness, whose bodies were scattered in the desert.

Second, "those stones" clearly represented Israel. There were twelve of them for the twelve tribes, and therefore, perhaps the "power of God" is not so much that God can turn anything into sons but rather specifically resurrection power. God is able to raise the dead; He is able to even raise that ancient and faithful generation of Israel from the dead. If God needs an Israel with enough faith to take this Canaan, He can raise "these stones" from dead.

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Our Signs in the Heavens

When the Lord comes, He comes to judge, He comes to unmake old worlds and comes to remake them into something new. He comes to break up fallow ground and make it fruitful. He comes to break the sea in two and bring His people through in safety and drown His enemies in the same waves. He comes to break Adam open and remake Him with a wife in marriage. The Lord comes to break families apart, even parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and He comes to break apart the old world in order to make a new one. He shakes the heavens so that those things which may be shaken, are shaken and fall, so that He might establish that which cannot be shaken more and more. And so here we are enacting the Advent of the Lord, here at this meal. We come, we take, we break, and then we eat and rejoice together as a new loaf, a new body, a new family. The sacraments are called “signs,” and in the gospel text for today Jesus tells His disciples that they will see signs that prove that one world is coming to an end and a new one is being established. This meal is an ongoing sign of that very fact. Here we display the sign that our God rules over the world, and He comes and judges, He comes and shakes the nations, shakes our families, shakes our lives, and when we see this sign, like the signs in the sun and the moon and the stars, then we, like the first disciples ought to look up and lift up our heads, because our redemption draws near. If God has come for us in Jesus, then we can have no doubt that He continues to come for us, He comes to break us open by His Word and Spirit and to shake us and remake us in His image and glory. So come, come and be broken, come and be shaken, come and be healed, come and rejoice. Your redemption is near.

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Holy Saturday Homily: Luke 24:13-35

Opening Prayer: Pour out your Spirit upon us, O God, pour out the Spirit of Jesus on us, that we might see Him and know Him in the Scriptures. Amen.

We can’t see Jesus. Sometimes my son reminds me of this fact. We serve a King that we can’t see. Jesus is absent; He’s not here. And that’s particularly startling in some ways when we come to Easter, when we come to celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. When it comes to declaring to one another and to the world that He is risen, that Jesus is alive, it can seem a little awkward when He’s not here.

And there is an important sense in which this reality will not change until Jesus returns, until the great and final resurrection. That will be wonderful and glorious, and it is exciting to imagine what that will be like, what it will be like to see Jesus, to walk and talk with him. Of course that is part of what we long for when we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting. We long to see Jesus, we long to be with him. We long to walk and talk with Him. But then we’re celebrating Easter. We’re celebrating Jesus alive again from the dead. And He’s not here for the celebration.

But our text in Luke suggests that there are different ways for Jesus to be absent, different ways for Him to be missed. And Luke’s point is that the problem is not just that we cannot see Jesus. The problem is not merely with Jesus being absent. It’s not merely a question of proximity or presence. We sometimes think that if Jesus were here, if Jesus were only closer, then we would see Him. He’s just too far away, we think. But that’s not really true. That’s not true because sometimes he’s right in front of people and they don’t recognize him. Sometimes he walks along with them and talks with them, and their eyes are restrained so that they do not know Him.

The story is of course fascinating, ironic, but also somewhat troubling. Jesus apparently overtakes these two disciples who are leaving Jerusalem. Their hopes have been shattered by the events of the last couple of days. It is the third day since these things have happened (24:21). And now there are strange reports of visions and angels saying that He is alive, but no one has seen Him (24:24). The problem is that no one has seen Jesus alive. Apparently this has all been too much for these two disciples, and they are leaving. No one has seen Jesus; they will not nurse false hopes.

And notice that Jesus does not rebuke them for leaving Jerusalem or for not recognizing Him. He rebukes them for not believing. Their problem is fundamentally a problem of faith. He says that their problem is that they don’t believe all that the prophets have spoken (24:25). And Jesus gives the two disciples a Bible lesson so that they might know what to believe concerning the Christ (24:26). Jesus starts at the beginning and works his way all the way to the end, from Moses, through all of the prophets, and all of the scriptures (24:27), showing how the Messiah was to come, suffer at the hands of wicked men, and then enter into His glory (24:26). The problem with the two disciples is that they have not been reading their Bibles correctly. They have a faulty hermeneutic.

Jesus says that they have been slow to believe what the prophets have spoken, slow to believe what Moses and all of the Scriptures taught concerning the Messiah. They can’t see Jesus right in front of them because they can’t see Jesus in the Scriptures. They can’t believe the reports of the angels and visions because they have not believed the words of the prophets. They have heard the words, they have read and sung the words, but they have not believed them. And of course it’s all the more painful to read this episode knowing that it is Jesus Himself who is explaining all of this to them. He is the one showing them Himself in the Scriptures. But that’s strange; that’s really troubling. Why not just shake their shoulders and look in their faces and tell them? Why does Jesus point away from Himself? Why does Jesus allow them to walk with Him and not see Him? Jesus is there, and yet He is not there for them. Would Jesus do that to us? Would Jesus walk and talk with us and point us away from Himself?

They draw near to where they are staying and convince Jesus to come with them (24:29). It is evening, and they invite him to fellowship with them, to eat and rest with them. And of course it is finally in the breaking of the bread that their eyes are suddenly opened and they recognize Jesus (24:31). But perhaps the most troubling thing about the story is that He immediately vanishes (24:31). Just as they finally see Jesus, He disappears. Just as they see Him, they do not see Him. What is Jesus doing? When He was with them, they did not see Him, and He pointed them to the Scriptures, and then when they finally see Him, He’s gone. When He was there they did not see Him, and when they finally saw Him, He was not there.

The disciples recall the whole conversation, the whole walk, His explanations of the Scriptures, and they know that He was with them. He was speaking to them through the words of Scripture, He was showing them Himself in the prophets, and it was finally in the breaking of the bread that He was made known.

And even there, the disciples draw our attention to the breaking of the bread. In one sense of course, their eyes were opened and they saw Jesus when He gave thanks and broke the bread, but the disciples themselves draw attention to the fact that it was in the breaking of the bread, that they knew Him (24:35). The breaking of the bread was not merely a time marker i.e. that was when it happened. The breaking of the bread is something more like a key to the explanation. The breaking of the bread was how they saw Him, it was the means by which they finally recognized Him.

But why does Jesus point away? Why does Jesus point away from Himself to the Scriptures, and why after He has gone, do the disciples remember the breaking of the bread? Why does the resurrected Jesus only seem to want to show Himself elsewhere?
Sometimes the post-resurrection elusiveness of Jesus has been a cause of theological slipperiness. Maybe the point of the resurrection really is more about an idea than a fact, some have wondered. Maybe Jesus seemed to be raised from the dead, but who’s to say if it was really a bodily resurrection? If the resurrection was so true, so real, why did He leave so quickly afterwards? Seems kind of convenient to have the Ascension so fast after the resurrection. And when Jesus was actually around, He wasn’t really Himself. He’d show up randomly, walk through doors, and then vanish without a word. If the resurrection was so real, so true, so glorious, if Jesus really did burst out of a tomb with His body all alive, all vigorous, why was He so elusive? Why when disciples were troubled and sad, did He point them away from Himself? Why didn’t He just speak up? Why didn’t He stay around for a few more years just so it all got documented really well? Was Jesus shy about the resurrection? And many critics of the Christian faith have suggested this very thing. And other, confused and troubled Christians have been sometimes been willing to waffle on the resurrection for these very reasons.

Why does the resurrected Jesus point away from Himself? Why does the Resurrection look somewhat fleeting, somewhat hidden, somewhat shy?

Perhaps part of the answer has to do with what is coming, what is next in the story of redemption. When the Scriptures declared that the Messiah would suffer and enter into His glory, part of that glory is the beginning of a new ministry that points away from Jesus. The cross was His moment in the spotlight, but the resurrection was the beginning of a transition from His moment in the spotlight to the ministry of the Spirit. And so Jesus points away from Himself. He points to the words of the prophets, the work of the Holy Spirit. He points to the breaking of the bread, the Eucharist, and the work of the Spirit. He doesn’t introduce Himself, He doesn’t stay around very long, He doesn’t look every disciple in the eyes and reintroduce Himself. No, He points away from Himself. He points them to the Spirit.

Later in the chapter Jesus does appear to all of the disciples, and again eats with them and fellowships with them. But once again He immediately points them to the Scriptures (24:44-48) and then tells them that they will be the witnesses of these things but to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, the power from on high, the gift of the Spirit (24:49). After the resurrection Jesus points away from Himself, He points to the Scriptures, He points to the Spirit. John the Baptist had pointed away from himself and said that there was One coming who was mightier than him, and it was Jesus who was then baptized and the Spirit came upon Him. But now Jesus is doing the pointing, and He’s pointing at the Scriptures and pointing at His disciples and telling them that they are about to be endued with power from on high.
And of course Jesus did pour out His Spirit at Pentecost, and that Spirit has become the main character in the story of redemption. The Holy Spirit has become the center of God’s work in this world, and this work takes place in the Church, in you. And of course John’s gospel dwells on the fact that this Spirit is the presence of Jesus with us. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Resurrected Jesus. But Jesus still points away from Himself. He points to the Scriptures, He points to the breaking of the bread, He points at you, His beloved people as His presence.

And in that sense it is highly fitting that we should be celebrating the resurrection some two thousand years later, that we should be declaring that Jesus has been raised from the dead, and He not be here. It’s resurrection style to point out where the Spirit is at work. It shouldn’t be surprising that we can’t see Jesus at this moment right in front of us. He’s pointing away from Himself, pointing at the Scriptures point at the bread broken, the wine poured out.

As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, Jesus wants us to look where He’s pointing, Jesus wants us to see the work of the Spirit. Resurrection Life is fairly obsessed with the work of the Spirit. Resurrection Life knows the work of the Spirit because it has experienced it first hand and can’t stop pointing out where it’s working now. Look over there, the Spirit is making that person new. Look over that, the Spirit is feeding the hungry. Look over there, that’s the Spirit empowering the Scriptures and showing us Jesus. Look there, in the breaking of the bread, there’s the Spirit of Jesus giving Himself away again.

When Jesus jumped up from the grave, He immediately began pointing at the work of the Spirit, the Scriptures, the Eucharist, His people. Look, He says, I’m right here. And He calls us to believe. Don’t be slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Don’t be slow to see Jesus in the Scriptures, slow to believe in the Christ proclaimed there. Don’t be slow to see Jesus in the least of these His brethren. Don’t be slow to see Jesus in the woman next to you, the child in your lap. Because the warning is that if you can’t see Jesus there, you’ll not notice when He’s standing right in front of you. You wouldn’t notice if He was walking and talking with you. Because part of the declaration of Easter is that He is. He is standing right in front of you. He’s sitting right in front of you. Part of the triumph of Easter is that the Risen and Ascended Christ has poured out His Spirit in us, in His body, in the Church. When Paul says that we are the Body of Christ, He is not just trying to come up creative sermon illustrations. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit; we are the presence of the Resurrected Jesus as we gather around His Word and around His Table. We are the witnesses of His sufferings and death and resurrection. We are the proof of the resurrection. Jesus points at us. He points at us in our weakness, in our trials, in our suffering, in our hardships, in our pain. Jesus went to Jerusalem for the joy that was set before Him, and then in glory He pours out the Spirit upon us and says, now you do it. Now you go to Jerusalem in joy, now you take up your cross and follow me.

And so in one sense we cannot Jesus, but in another sense, Jesus keeps pointing at His Word, pointing at the breaking of the breading, pointing at us, and He says there I am, I’m right there. I’m here with you. I am with you always.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!

Closing Prayer: Gracious Father, we give you great praise and thanks that you have raised Jesus from the dead. We thank you for the glory of the resurrection which is the glory of the Spirit, your powerful working to bring life from the dead, to turn sorrow into dancing, your determination to recreate this world, and undo every evil, and put everything right. Give us grace that we might walk in the Spirit, that our lives would be walking proofs of the resurrection, that as Christ points at us, we might more and more evidence the life of the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, in whose name we pray, who died but now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, unto ages of ages. Amen!

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Beware of Premature Repayment

"He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." (Lk. 14:12-14)

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Sixteenth Sunday in Trinity: Theology of Other People 6: Lk. 7:18-50

Introduction
Today we consider the call to love the other people in our homes and families by considering a few more portions of our liturgy. The logic of the gospel is that we have been made alive together with these other saints, and we continue to live out an ecclesiology in our homes whether we realize it or not. Today, we think particularly about how God grows up and teaches us as his children in a context of mercy.

Lord Have Mercy
Since the early church, Christians have begun worship with the prayer, “Lord have mercy.” This is one of the common ways we see people addressing Jesus in the gospels (Mt. 15:22, 17:15, 20:30, Mk. 10:47, Lk. 17:13), and it comes with rich covenantal overtones in the Old Testament (e.g. Ps. 136, cf. Dt. 7:9, 12, 1 Kgs. 8:23, Neh. 1:5, Ps. 89:28). And the birth of Christ is the fulfillment of that covenant and mercy (Lk. 1:50, 54, 58, 72, 78). The Kyrie is a plea for God’s covenant promises in all of life for the whole world in Jesus. And as soon as we begin talking about covenant, we’re talking about generations, and that means children. We come as suppliants, inferiors, servants before a master, subjects before a king, as children before the Father. And this raises the question, how does our Father respond?

Jubilee is a Person (Lk. 7:18-29)
This mercy is not merely forgiveness, but comes in the form of sitting at the feet of Christ, listening to his teaching and instruction and finally being invited to eat with him. This pattern is played out vividly in the gospel. John has sent messengers to inquire if Jesus is the “Coming One,” and Jesus responds by describing his ministry (7:18-23). This description is in part a reference to Is. 61:1 which was the passage that Jesus began his ministry with in Luke (Lk. 4:16-21). Jesus has said that his ministry is to proclaim the “acceptable year of the Lord.” This word for “liberty” is only use a few other places, one of which is Lev. 25:10, describing the year of Jubilee, the year of forgiveness of debts, the return of land and inheritance (cf. Is. 61:2, 49:8). Jesus reflects on the ministry of John, and even tax collectors justify God (7:24-29).

Wisdom is a Forgiven Sinner (Lk. 7:30-50)
Because the Spirit of the Lord is upon Jesus, we should expect him to be filled with wisdom (e.g. Ex. 31:2-3, 28:3, Is. 11:2, Acts 6:3). And therefore, Jesus responding to the rejection of the Pharisees and lawyers (7:30), says that this generation is like foolish children who are amazed when the world doesn’t conform to their whims (7:31-32). Neither Jesus nor John the Baptist conformed to their preconceived notions (7:33-34), but Jesus says that wisdom is a woman whose children justify her (cf. 7:29). This flows right into the story of Jesus eating in a Pharisee’s house (7:36), and the implication is that the woman is an example of this wisdom. Notice that Jesus has just described his ministry as characterized by eating with sinners, and the very next episode is Jesus eating with a Pharisee and woman shows up who is a “sinner” (7:37, 39). The woman’s actions are lavish, overdone (even grotesque perhaps to us), but they are acts of hospitality and love (Lk. 7:44-47). While there is perhaps room for nuance, the parable suggests that these great acts of love are a response to a great act of forgiveness (7:41-42, 47). The word for “forgave” means to release, to free, to bestow liberty (e.g. Acts 3:14, 25:11, 16, Phm. 1:22), and of course it also frequently refers to how God has dealt with us in Christ (Rom. 8:32, Eph. 4:32). And as this story teaches us, forgiveness forgets debts. If this story is a picture of the liturgy, following the pattern of our worship, then Christ’s teaching and instruction comes in the context of mercy and forgiveness at a meal. The love of the sinful woman is evoked by the embodiment of Jubilee in the person of Jesus. Jesus is the return of the inheritance, Jesus is our return home, Jesus is our invitation to begin again.

Conclusions & Applications
As we consider the pattern of our worship as a blueprint for treatment of other people, and particularly those other people in our own home, it should be noted that the entire liturgy works as a good outline for disciplining our children in general.

Jesus eats with sinners; Jesus is a friend of sinners. And this means that we are called to imitate this in our homes cheerfully. The sinners that come to your table need to be invited in the spirit of Jubilee: Welcome home.

Bestowing forgiveness is an act of nobility and royalty. God wants us to live lavishly, with forgiveness to spare at every point (Mt. 18:22). We have endless supplies of grace, treasuries of mercy untold. We are rich because God is (Eph. 2:4). Fathers, you are called to this in particular.

We want our homes to be rich with mercy and grace. This is not to downplay the need for discipline, it is to insist that it be surrounded with mercy and forgiveness. He who is forgiven much will love much, and we are required to believe this and live it even when it doesn’t look like it’s “working.” Grace works.

We are called to live as embodiments of Jubilee, and Jesus says that there are particular rewards for those who bestow mercy upon the youngest and most insignificant disciples (Mt. 10:42). This is wisdom.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!

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